Thank goodness for March!  Spring is on the way, even if we have just experienced our first real snowfall of the Winter.  Flowers will be starting to popping up soon, the rain will come by the end of the month, and we may even see the return of some birds shortly.

February was not quite as productive as I would have liked.  We did, thankfully, get Baby Man back to sleeping through the night.  He is so much happier now that his crib has the side off and he has a small rail to keep him from rolling out.  I managed to start sleeping again, and I’ve even survived my first cold in almost three years.  (I forgot how unpleasant they could be.) As for the goals I shared at the beginning of the month, they were:

• Finish Francie socks (I’m aiming for a pair a month right now, I think)
• work on my husband’s socks
• work on Egypt Garden for the Stitching Olympics
• work on Sewing Seeds
• seam up that baby jacket I had finished for my dad’s co-worker
• repair my Enchanted Dreamer pillow which Baby Man tore the beads off of
• chart border for Kitchen Blessings

Let’s see: I did finish the Francie Socks (and I love them).  I didn’t work on the socks for my husband, or repair my Enchanted Dreamer pillow.  I did do a wee bit of stitching on Egypt Garden, but I decided to participate in the Ravelympics/Knitting Olympics instead.  The baby jacket was finished, and I also finished the Hope panel of Sewing Seeds.  Overall, I think I did pretty good for a short month.

So, my Ravelympics/Knitting Olympics project.  Do you think I finished it? Of course I did! And without the extra ball of yarn I thought I would need.  The last seam was finished yesterday afternoon, and I am very pleased.  I still need buttons, but I say I am finished because I’m not able to get out to stores that sell buttons often and Hey Teach is totally wearable without the buttons.  (I’m hoping to get out on Thursday to look for buttons.)

Hey Teach Cardigan from Summer 2008 Knitty

How will I top all of this for March?

• Finish a pair of Broadripple Socks (my socks for this month)
• Complete at least half of the Friendship panel of Sewing Seeds
• Fix the Enchanted Dreamer pillow (I mean it this time, and I’ve even started already)
• Stitch at least half of the Kitchen Blessings border
• Start a Christmas gift, even if it is a token attempt

I think that is pretty good.

Like last month I have a couple of personal goals.  I didn’t have success with last month’s, so, this month I will share in hopes that I will do better.  First, I need to get back to eating well.  I had lost about 30lbs from late 2008 into mid-2009, but I’ve put back on 15lbs, most of it in the past 4 months.  That isn’t acceptable to me any more, and it is time to smarten up.

My second goal is to limit my stash buying.  I don’t need anything.  I don’t even need to collect for the sake of collecting.  I’m overwhelmed. New charts aren’t really a joy for me any more because I have so damn much.  They make me feel antsy and like I will never accomplish anything.  That isn’t what stash collection is supposed to be about.  Even new fabric and fibres make me feel that way, unless they are for something I am working at the time.  (I will admit I need a couple of small charts to finish a series, and I will probably buy them, but only on sale. I mean it!!! Seriously.) Clearly, I need to make a change.

March may end up being a difficult month for me.  I know it isn’t wise to be too hard on myself, but at the same time I really do need to make some changes.  Wish me luck!

February Review and March Goals; and a Gold is a post from Reflections in the Pond

Happily, I am moving along very well with my Knitting Olympics project Hey Teach.  Last night I finished up the back and left front and seamed them together using the invisible 3-needle bind off (sometimes called Japanese 3-needle bind off, I think).

Hey Teach - February 20th Progress

I have a 6th ball of yarn on the way to me, but I’m pretty sure now I’m not going to need it, even though I’ve lengthened the cardigan by a little more than 2″.  I suppose it is much better to know I will have extra than to worry about running out at the end.

And speaking of the yarn, I really like the 2nd Time Cotton I am using.  It is from Knit One Crochet Too, and is a 75% cotton/25% acrylic blend that comes from recycled sources.  I think possibly leftovers from commercial knitware manufacturers.  It is very soft and has a nice drape.  The only issue I am having is that the off-white ply in my colourway sometimes has a wee bit of fluff stuck in it.  It is easy to tease out, though, and is none the worse for wear afterwards.  I do think that this is a yarn I would knit with again.

I also finished up the Love panel of Sewing Seeds last week.  It is lovely, and I am really looking forward to getting back to work on it once Hey Teach is done.

Love Panel of Sewing Seeds

Out of curosity, does anyone know of any cross stitch-related iPhone/iPod apps?  I’ve found several great knitting ones, but nothing for cross stitch.

Knitting Olympics Update 2 and Love is a post from Reflections in the Pond

Happy Chinese New Year! Gong hei fat choi!  (That more or less means “Congratulations and be prosperous.”) Welcome to the year of the tiger.

I’ve been a bit of a busy bee the last few days.  On Friday afternoon I finished up my pair of Francie Socks. They are fabulous and fit perfectly.

Bottom of Francie

A Pair of Francies

Oh, aren’t those awfully pale legs, and so chubby looking because of the angle!  And there is my weird strawberry birthmark. Yikes.  But the socks are great!

On Friday evening I cast on my Knitting Olympics project, Hey Teach.  So far I’ve finished most of the left front and made some progress on the back.  I haven’t finished the left front for a very convoluted reason.  You see, I’m a wee bit curve on the top.  So, to make sure the banding sits in the right place, I wanted to do a front piece first and make adjustments.  But, when I reached a certain point for the front it said “continue until the same lenght as the back.” Ack!  So, I’ve put the nicely adjusted front aside, and I’m knitting the back to match the front adjustments, and then I will return to the front.

But, all of this means I might not have enough yarn to finish the project. Oh noes!  I’ve sent notes to the people on Ravelry with the same colourway for sale, and hopefully I can get some yarn from one of them.  I think it will just be the button bands that I won’t have enough for, so if the dye lot is a little off it won’t be the end of the world.  My other option is to get another (solid) colour of the same yarn to do the button bands.  I’m not sure how things will go yet, though, but I am forging ahead.

Hey Teach - February 14th Progress

This project is going so fast because it is worsted weight yarn on US9 (5.5 mm) needles.  That equals a quick knit (I hope!). So, onward!

I did take some time to work on Sewing Seeds today, but I want to make a wee bit more progress before I share another picture.  The Love panel is nearly done! Yay!

Knitting Olympics Update 1 is a post from Reflections in the Pond

It looks like I will be going with Hey Teach for my Knitting Olympics/Ravlympics.  I’ve registered using the Yarn Harlot’s form here and I’ve set up my Ravelry project page here (registration required to see).  I even swatched the project yesterday.

Hey Teach Swatch

My swatch is not a thing of beauty.  I started out with 26 stitch cast on, aiming to measure for a gauge of 17 stitches for 4 inches.  I did manage to get that with US9 needles. So, I figured, since that went so well I would give the lace pattern a try just to see how it looked with the yarn.  That ment I needed to to do increases to get to the right number of stitches, which is why the swatch flairs out at the top.

Overall, I am happy with the drape of the yarn for the given gauge, and with how the lace pattern looks.  Now it is a matter of waiting until this evening to cast on (assuming I don’t go to sleep early).  In the meantime, I’ll work on Sewing Seeds and try to get my Francie sock done.

Knitting Olympics Training is a post from Reflections in the Pond

Last night was stitching night at my LNS.  Actually, it isn’t very local to me with no car, but the lovely Erica and her friend Barb take pity on me and come out of their way to pick me up.  Stitching night is like a little bit of balm for my soul.  I get to spend a few hours in a needlework shop with no one rushing me.  I get to talk to people about things like fabric choices and colours, and why I like one thread better than another and no one thinks I’m weird.  And, there is no Baby Man crawling all over me.

I hope Erica and Barb, and everyone at stitching night, know how much I appreciate them.

So, what did I get done last night?  Not too much.  I’m still pretty tired, so I’m not working very quickly. (I did get nine hours of sleep last night! Yay!!!)  With what I did last night, and some work this morning, I have the border around the Love panel of Sewing Seeds nearly done.

Sewing Seeds - February 11th

I also picked out some thread to replace the one I didn’t like for my version of La-D-Da’s Roses are Red.  The part of GAST Old Hickory will now be played by Crescent Colours Roasted Chestnut.

Roses are Red with Crescent Colours

I’m still debating what project I will be working on for the Knitting Olympics/Ravlympics.  My two possibilities right now are Hey Teach from the Summer 2008 Knitty, using Knit One Crochet Too’s 2nd Time Cotton in colourway English Heather or Crafty Diversion’s Carmen Bolero using Vanna’s Choice in colour Dusty Purple.  I may just give them a miss entirely.  I think at this point it depends on if I get any more sleep.  But, with the Olympics starting tomorrow (!), I need to decide and at least swatch a little bit.  Anyone care to share their opinion?

Love and Some Roasted Chestnuts is a post from Reflections in the Pond