Must... Stripe... Evenly

Hello friends! Last week I talked all about the socks that were being knit over here. This week I'd like the share the neckwear. I finally finished my last Christmas knit, the Deep Sea Wanderer cowl for my brother.

Connor was kind enough to model it for me, but then he started making sounds about how nice it was and that maybe he'd like to have one at some point. I have a feeling this isn't my last dance with the pattern.

I also finished up weaving a University of Kentucky themed scarf. I used the fibonacci sequence as a starting point, but didn't stick to it 100%.

Meanwhile, I still love socks. I started my Christmas socks...

And promptly abandoned them in favor of finishing my Denature socks. I'm not sure how everyone else decided to get things done, but I check things off the list by what is bothering me the most. The Denature Socks have been on the needles since July and I'm ready to have them finished.

Connor and I watched Stranger Things and I was able to power through much of the leg of the second sock. Just last night I got to the heel and realized that my stripes were not going to match. Mismatched stripes are too much for my little knitter's heart to take, so I ripped back, got some spare grey that I had wound off the ball earlier, and made the grey stripe before the heel longer.

Although.... now that I'm typing this, I'm thinking that I might rip back again and make the green stripe before the final grey stripe a little longer so I can hide how thick the grey stripe is.

Something tells me the saga of this sock is not over. Is anyone else out there as obsessive about their knitting as me? Or you you more of a "No one will see that mistake" kind of knitter?

Accidental On Purpose Sock Matching

I'm still knitting away on socks. I'm happy to report that the Peeta socks are going well. I've had my Dad try them on twice and it looks like it is the right size for him. (Phew!) Although as I'm knitting, I keep feeling like they are giant. They are much wider than I would knit for myself.

I'm entirely sure I don't have enough yarn for both socks, so my plan is to use another color for the heel/toe. It turns out that was easier said than done. Despite my robust sock yarn stash, I had trouble finding a color that I liked alongside Abstract's Alfalfa color way. I've narrowed it down to either this skein of Malabrigo Sock in the Chocolate Amargo color way or Whimsical Colors Silk Whimsy in the Darkened Forest color way. Any thoughts, fellow knitters?

Left: Malabrigo Sock in the Chocolate Amargo color way; Right:Whimsical Colors Silk Whimsy in the Darkened Forest color way

I've also continued on with my The Big O sock, although it's only seen action while I've been sitting in the passenger seat of the car. It's also looking more and more like this pair is going to match. I can't begin to tell you all how hard I tried not to have them match. It just so happened that when I finished the first sock, I finished the color progression. 

Ok, ok, in the interest of full disclosure, I DID rip out two rows of the sock blank to make the socks match. But having two socks that almost match is far worse than having two socks that don't match at all.

I've also finished weaving another scarf. This one was supposed to be for me, but after finishing I wasn't sure the colors were "me." Connor was quite happy to lay claim to this scarf.

Spun Right Round Merino Worsted in the Holy Crow color way 

No Moss On This Rolling Stone

It's been another busy week at the Bear Ears household. Connor and I have been working hard to get the daily comic site up and running. It's been quite a job, but we have split up responsibilities and are making lots of progress. One of the things we successfully managed to do was get the banner to line up correctly on the site. (It was a feat, I assure you.) I'm not sure when we will be ready to show everything off, but I think that this year will be the year I finally have a daily comic website.

I've only been talking about having a daily comic website since 2010...

Of course that is not all that has been going on. This past weekend we celebrated a friend's birthday. We hiked, picnicked, and painted. I hadn't touched my gouache paints since last July. It's silly really, but I had painted a hideous painting, lost my confidence, then switched to watercolor because I couldn't bare to try with gouache again. Well, this time around I decided that I wasn't going to tape the edges to make it nice, I was just going to paint and if it was ugly, it was ugly. It ended up turning out quite nice, so I'm a bit sad that I didn't make the edges nice and straight.

I decided to paint a smaller composition rather than a whole landscape. I think that helped me from being too overwhelmed to try again.

I've also managed to finish my Haleakala Socks that have been on the needles since January. It's funny, when I cast them on I immediately didn't feel like knitting them because I just wanted to knit good old vanilla socks. What finally got them knit was the fact that I wanted to wear them. Of course it is too hot to wear them now, but they are ready for when the weather cools again.

I have also woven another scarf. I think woven scarves are going to be a constant theme in the blog for a while: I'm clearly obsessed. When I took the class in February with Deborah Jarchow, she talked about how she could do a scarf in an evening. I thought that was crazy talk, but on my third scarf, I was able to do it in an evening. I was sore afterwards, so I might not try to do that again...

So, what projects could I possibly be working on now? Well, my The Big O socks are moving along quite well. The first sock practically knit itself and now I'm on to the second. I did have to get creative with the heel. I didn't want to lose the lovely color progression that was going down the leg, so I took some yarn from the other end of the sock blank to knit in a heel flap.

I've also cast on another sock. This pattern is called Peeta Socks and I'm using Abstract Fiber O'Keefe in the Alfalfa color way. The pattern is heavily charted, so I haven't gotten too far since all my brain cells are being used on the comic website. It's still nice to have a slightly more complicated pattern on the needles.

I've already mentioned scarf weaving, but I couldn't end a post without showing off what I've got on the loom now. I'm using the yarn I bought at The Black Squirrel: Spun Right Round's Merino Worsted in Holy Crow. I'd seen 783Nora's Cosmic Wonder Dust Scarf on ravelry and knew I wanted to weave a scarf with speckled yarn. Mine is a bit different because I'm using worsted weight and she used fingering, but it is still looking pretty neat.

Whew! I can't believe all that got worked on in the last week. I've been highly productive and I hope I can keep it up. Despite the great momentum, that little voice in the back of your head that tells you that you aren't good enough has moved from being an occasional thought to a constant, loud shout. I've been drowning it out by listening to the Your Creative Push podcast. I highly recommend it. If you don't know where to start, I quite liked episode 203 and 220.

Does anyone else have any strategies to keep that "your not good enough" voice at bay?

Iceland Sweater And First Woven Scarf

I think it is a tradition for me to finish a sweater just in time for the hot weather. I attached the last button on the last day of sweater weather we are going to have for awhile.

Pattern: Iceland from Rowan 42; Yarn: Naturally Harmony 10 Ply in color 803

I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out though. I made quite a few modifications to transform the sweater being shaped like an oversized bag to something a bit more flattering. Most of the modifications I made had to do with the ribbed body portion of the sweater; I added length and shaping. The details are more in depth on my ravelry page.

I'm also pleased to say that I have managed to complete goal #4 of this year's goal list: knitting sweater out of stash. 

I also finished my first woven project: a scarf!

Pattern: Made up by yours truly; Yarn: Little Wool Company 4-Ply 100% Pure Wool in White, Oatmeal, and Silver

Connor immediately swooped in and claimed it as his. I suppose that is fair; I claimed his first knitted scarf.

I'm really pleased to have finally finished some big projects.... but I'm already looking at what I can weave and knit next. I think it might be time to give the ole' stash a good tossing (like a salad, not to the garbage... as I explained to Connor) and see what treasures I might turn up.

Has anyone else finished something that has been on your list for a long time? And how many of you have given (or thought about giving) your stash a good tossing?