WIP Wednesday: Navona Cardigan

Decided to be a cliche this week and post a WIP Wednesday.

I started the Navona Cardigan on the 1st of February with the Woolly Mammoth Knits KAL, which you can find at the link below on Ravelry.

http://www.ravelry.com/groups/woolly-mammoth-knits

I used some stash fingering weight yarn I received as a gift from the lovely knitters in Ithaca (Thanks again! I am currently making plans among plans to use all the colorful yarn you gave me!)

The main color is Dove Heather colorway of Knit Picks Stroll, of which I have 5 balls.

The contrast color is a beautiful turquoise in Brown Sheep Wildefoote.

It's proved to be a very good "multi-tasking" project.  I've worked on it while listening to podcasts, watching the super bowl, listening to lectures and therefore got a good chunk done already.

This is not the most updated photo (probably about half of what is actually done) but I've been lazy and haven't gotten a new photo yet

I've gotten to the point where I divide for the sleeves and then I will start the first stripe of color, which after all that grey, I'll welcome :)

I have paused on it, because though it is probably a stupid question, I'm not sure what kind of yarn is best to use for waste yarn.  Normally I just use whatever I have available but what I have is worsted weight or a very thin/weak fingering weight that broke on me the last time I used it as waste yarn. Most of my stash is at home (I'm at school right now) so I don't have a lot of options as to what to use.  

Do you have yarn you specifically use for waste yarn or do you just use leftovers?

What characteristics make a good waste yarn?

Works in Progress: August Edition

Some knitters cast on a project and stay faithful right through the end.  I, on the other hand, am a very unfaithful knitter who likes to jump around between projects, possibly leaving a project untouched for weeks or months only to come back and be unsure where I left off.   I've tried to focus more on the already started projects and make some progress on them.

I can't only work on one project at a time because sometimes I want something challenging that requires almost full attention, like Lacy December Scarf:

But sometimes I need something mindless because I'm hanging out with friends chatting and I know I'll lose count of which row I'm on, such as Smittens:

And sometimes I need something that I can start and finish in a day or two because everything else is becoming too much of a chore, like my newest finished object, Cotton Candy Hat (which I'm including in my works in progress because it went so quick it hardly had a chance to be a WIP):

I almost always have a pair of socks on the needles, like Texture Socks, though I messed them up royally and need to restart them:

And when, amongst all the other projects I have on the needles I have the time, I'll cast on with a group from Ravelry to create something that is a mystery right up to the end.  Here is a photo of the first August Mystery project so far:

I have no idea what it is, but my guess is a cat scarf.  What do you think?

A week worth of catching up

I've been MIA for many reasons, but mainly because I haven't turned my computer on for a week.  No, I haven't been completely without a computer for a week, I just used my parent's computer.  I didn't want to upload photos to their computer so I kept putting off updating my blog.  I kept saying: today I will write a few posts and schedule them to go up... but alas it never happened. So I'll give you a quick update on the last week:

My knitting is cursed:

Texture socks went up in flames: second sock pattern proved to be much nicer but I started the sock a size too small.  I've decided to get new yarn to remake that pattern because I'm getting sick of the black, purples and greens and feel I'll go insane if I continue to try and make it work.  I've made notes of what I did for the second sock and will be remaking them when I get new self-striping yarn.

P.S. I am not using this as an excuse to buy more yarn. My dad actually suggested it!

I was doing great on my December Lacy Scarf... until I lost a stitch and had to go back about 15 rows.  I got to confident and stopped using the lifeline regularly and then I messed up.  Again I lost motivation on that project.

Smittens are going fine, though I haven't worked on them in a while because I had done the 3 I wanted to do in July so I took a break from them to focus on the above projects.  I'm not sure I'm ready to get going on August's 3 yet.

I bought some bulky yarn at the sidewalk sale and started making Shroom only to find out that it was too small and wouldn't be comfy so I  ripped that out and plan to redo it.  It is a pretty quick knit, but I had spent most of my afternoon on it and don't feel like spending all evening.  That shall be part of tomorrow's quest.

--------

I went blueberry picking with Maddie and Erin and we picked tons of blueberries.  That night we made blueberry buckle and my dad and I used ours to make blueberry muffins and blueberry pie. Yum!

We went to a few fellow EA graduates' performance the other night at a bar in Buffalo. It was an adventure for sure.  There were 5 bands total: RedBeard was very good as was Arctic Death (the two we knew people in).  The other three had some good numbers but for the most part were mediocre.  Crush, The Everlasting was on right before Arctic Death and were a good band to bring the crowd back to focus.  After 3 bands everyone was getting a bit tired (at least from my crew).  We saw bunch of people from EA whom we hadn't seen in years.  Overall, fun times.

Uncle Sean stopped by for dinner on Saturday on his way through town to go up to Canada for vacation at the cottage.  I get to go next week after Celia's wedding... I'm very excited for both!

... And I would have tons more photos to show you but my camera isn't reading my card.  Ugh. The world is against me today.  Maybe if it starts to work I'll update with photos at a later date.

A 5K race and some works in progress

Lindsay Matthews Memorial 5K

If only the race had started at 8 AM it would have been a perfect day for a run.  I woke up earlier in the morning to rain, and hoped that the rain would stick around so that we'd stay cool for the run.  No such luck.  It was in the mid-80s and sunny for the race, which really was nice minus the humidity that made it sticky to breath.  Cait came with me and we ran into Katie which made for a pleasant morning despite the heat.  Cait took off ahead of me shortly after the first mile and I ended up doing more of a walk/run for the last mile and a half.  It started out on the road, wrapped around back to the park it started at and then ran on some gravel, up a hill (short but steep, Ithaca would have been disappointed in me for walking it) and then finished on a soccer field.  It was nice to have a change in surface, though running on the gravel when you're not used to it takes a lot out of you.  I have to say this race had great food for the after party: pizza, pasta, salad, veggies, fruit, drinks of all sorts.  Not that I go to a race for the after party, but it is nice when they provide more than fruit and water.  I finished in 33:15 which is reasonable for the heat but not quite fast enough to support a trip to the yarn store.  There is another 5K this coming weekend so I think I'll try again and see how things go!

Project: Late February Lace Scarf

I started this scarf yesterday as a break from the easy straight knitting I've been doing a lot of. I had started it back in February (thus the name) but got busy with school and kept having to rip it out so I put it aside for a bit.  I finally decided to pull it back out now that my mind is free and I don't have anything to really focus on.  It had been going quickly but once I finished the increases I haven't been able to get past line 5 of Chart B.  I keep losing a stitch somewhere though I can't figure out where.  I'm going to start again from the beginning of Chart B (Thank god for lifelines) but this time I'm going to count stitches every row and be very focused on the pattern: no talking, no distractions.  It is turning out very nice and I really hope I can get past this one spot in the pattern.

Project: Smittens

 This project is a fun on going project.  I'd go insane if I tried to make all 24 mittens at once but I've gotten to the point with the pattern where I almost don't need to look at the pattern anymore.  I plan to make it into an Advent calendar and put chocolates in each mitten for my parents and brother.  I'll have to finish it by Thanksgiving in order to set it up for my parents before I go back to school.  I have 14 mittens done, 10 to go and 3 months to knit them.  About 3 mittens/month if I can get one more done before August!

Found my first sweater pattern!

Something I have always wanted to do is knit a sweater.  I have such a hard time finishing the small projects I often wonder if I'm crazy even to consider making a sweater, but I want to try.  I have looked all over the web for the "perfect first sweater" but nothing quite hit me as "the one." (I sound like I'm talking about men at a bar...)  But I think I may have found one in the Fall 2011 edition of Knitscene I picked up last night at Tops:

Pattern: Counterfort Pullover by Melissa J. Goodale

Photo copyright of Knitscene Magazine

It is a top-down construction and once I get past the yoke it's mostly shaping so it shouldn't be too intimidating.  It might even be easy enough for me to do some knitting in lecture.  I'm so excited to make this!  I really hope I make my 5K goal soon so I can go splurge on some yarn :)

~Giveaway Opportunity~

If anyone reading this also has a craft blog, go over to The Craft Book Project and fill out a survey and be entered to WIN $100 at Michael's!  Even if you don't win it's a nice way to help out a fellow blogger and crafter :)

Finished Object: Beaded Purse

 

Pattern: Exploring Waves by Laurie Lee 

I made this as part of the group Mystery 220 on Ravelry.  Each week the moderators of the group would post a "clue" that we would knit and then wait eagerly for the next installment of the pattern.  This was the mystery from January (as embarrassed as I am to admit it).

Yarn: Dale of Norway Baby Ull in a nice heather grey

I'm not usually big on neutral yarns.  I'll go for bright colors, fun variegates, or stripes but I rarely go for black, grey or brown.  I decided since we were putting beads on this one that I didn't want anything too crazy.  Oh, and there's a little bit of blue variegated Yarn Bee Snowflake yarn in the cord which I used to double the yarn so I could crochet the cord instead of making an i-cord as the i-cord was getting on my nerves!

What I'll remember from this project: Beads! I was slightly intimidated by the beads but after working with them a little bit they weren't nearly as hard as I thought they would be.  I used the pre-strung method and hope some day to try the other method that uses a crochet hook. 

This project really shouldn't have taken me this long but I kept getting distracted, then I brought it home for break and left the yarn and needles when I returned to school.   I am glad that I finally finished it and that it turned out nicely!

----------

Update on 5K goal:

It has been really warm here so I haven't been great about running but I'm trying to make myself go out for a run no matter what, even if its a short run, hoping it will get me used to running in the heat.  I'm not sure the 5K on the 24th will be the goal maker but I'm going to do everything I possibly can to make it the best run possible!

What I Want to Do This Summer (well, the rest of it anyways)

As I was putting away the "Cryocuff" at my internship this morning I realized today was the 30th of June, which meant not only do I only have 3 weeks left at my internship, but the summer will soon come to an end.   So what do I want to do with this last month?

1. Make a hula hoop

My roommate this past year made hula hoops and on a warm sunny day would turn on some Moe., go into the back patio and hula hoop.  She did more than just your regular old "circle your hips" hula-hooping.  She did all sorts of tricks that were kind of fun to just watch.  When I was stuck with homework, unfocused or didn't want to run in the rain, I would grab one of her hoops and hula for 20 minutes as a way to let off steam. I kept meaning to ask her to show me how to make one, but I never found the time.  I found a website that shows how to do it, so my first goal is to make a hula hoop to have as a stress-reliever this coming school year.

2.  Run a 5K in 30 minutes or less

I enjoy being active but it is still sometimes a real chore to get myself out the door.  My best time for a 5K is 32 minutes and some seconds, even though I know I can do better than that because I've done 8K in 49 minutes. I think my biggest problem is that I look at the 8K as a real challenge, while a 5K doesn't seem like such a big challenge anymore because I've done a bunch of them. Then I show up at the starting line out of shape because I "got busy" and hadn't found time to run and start thinking that it was all a big mistake. I've registered for the Lindsay Matthews Memorial 5K on July 24th. I've printed out schedule and plan to place a sticker (yes, a sticker, just like in kindergarten) everytime I complete a planned run.  I hope to show up at the race in good shape, ready to run my best and set my PR.  Visit this site to register for the race!

3. Finish the books I've been reading all summer

I tend to start numerous books in a time frame and then read snippets of each one until I really get hooked into one and then I finish it and abandon the others for a while.  Currently I'm reading:

• Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
• Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
• A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton
• Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby (Audiobook)

I listen to Juliet, Naked on my way to my internship, it's only a 15 minute drive but its still nice to have instead of having to listen to the radio.  The other 3 I have been essentially reading all summer and am at various points of each book.  I'd like to finish them and hopefully start and finish another book or two.

4. Finish 3 knitting projects

I have more than a few knitting projects that I have started but have yet to finish.  I hope to finish three of them this summer so maybe this fall I can justify starting a sweater!  I have a few choices as far as which I will finish (Sheldon, Gloves, Smittens, or Socks)  we'll have to see what I'm in the mood for when I get a chance to knit.  

I got my photos from these websites:

www.newsdaylaura.com

http://www.eclipsemultisport.com/

www.lindseypollak.com

Finished Object: Little Blue Hippo

It has been a while since I've had the time to finish a knitting project.  I still haven't finished a knitting project, but I started and finished my first crochet project! I'm really happy with the way it turned out, though he is a little bit lopsided.

Pattern: Hippo by Tami Snow

From the book: Tiny Yarn Animals by Tami Snow

Yarn: I used some old Red Heart yarn I bought at Vidler's way back in middle school when I first decided I was going to learn to knit.  I've been dragging that yarn to and from school for the past 4 years and finally used it! Unfortunately I'll have to make many a more hippos before I use up that yarn.

What I'll remember about this project: It's my first crochet project I've finished, it's also the first project I've finished within a month in a long time ... if ever.  It felt really nice to finish off the animal and have something to show for the time and effort I put into it.  I really enjoyed crocheting and though I struggled with counting stitches and rows at first, I finally figured out how to keep track of where I was in the pattern.  I had fun taking him outside on a sunny morning to catch a cute photo that makes him look as if he is on the banks of the Shalimar!

I enjoyed making the hippo so much that I have started the Octopus from the same book.  I'll post photos when I've finished.

Slightly off-topic:

The newest edition to the family:

Sarsparilla aka "Sassy"

Born: May 2, 2011

Moxie is not pleased, but every day she seems to tolerate her a little bit more, though I could be imagining it...