I headed south to the Oregon Coast this weekend with the family. I confess that I am not the biggest camper but the trip so far has been pretty fantastic I even managed to get some knitting in and have swatched for a Funky Grandpa.

I forced myself to bring all my obligatory knitting and surprisingly I enjoyed it. I  am still on pace to finish my Cashmere Ombre Wrap (by the time my daughter enters Kindergarten in 2016), but felt I won a battle when I hit the 25% completion mark on the project.

I also was able to weave in all the end on my Freshly Fallen ( I think I counted 55+). To say I am relieved would be an understatement. I think my neck is already thanking me that I won’t have to be continually looking down. I  am going have to fly caution to the wind an try to pick up and knit the neckline(a little nervous about figuring out the rate). It will likely come down to trail and error and I am pretty okay with it as long as I get the project done and off the needles by the Plucky Shindig.

It feels good to get obligatory knitting done. It has been kinda stressing me out work has been nuts and honestly I just keep seeing a giant “todo” list. Being able to cross things off that list feels pretty fantastic.   The most stressed out I got this week was playing Jenga with my husband(honestly how can moving little wooden bricks make your heart beat faster or make you hold your breath?)

Well.. Until then here are some quick moments I captured from this week’s vacation…

 

 

 

 

Trip prep.. Getting ready for my trip to the Oregon coast this weekend and the Plucky Shindig…. I really do want to cast on all the things. Winding the yarn for “all the things”seems to take most of my time….

I was able to knit a few rows  on my Cashmere Ombre Wrap today (I know I shouldn’t even be working on it..I have deadline knitting) and it occurred to me  how long this project will take to complete.

I have a little more than 1 out of 8 stripes completed. Since I picked this up in late May I think it took my 3 months to get this far ( okay, to be fair I also completed the body on my Freshly Fallen, knit 2 sweaters for my daughter, 2 wraps, and 4 hats).

So if I continue at this pace it will take me a year and a half to complete (Yes, thats right people my daughter will be in Kindergarten by the time this is done). I can’t worry about this now.. I need to just keep plugging along.

 

 

Acquisitions:

Soooo.. I might have joined Hedgehog Fibres Sock Club

An online photography class focused on knitting and crochet

 

Work In Progress:

Freshly Fallen by Amy Miller

Cashmere Ombre Wrap by Purl Soho

 

Completed:

None:(

 

I probably won’t have a lot to say on the knitting for a while because I am preparing for the family vacation, the Plucky Knitter retreat, some test knitting, and Rhinebeck. Okay, I am getting ahead of myself (a bit), but I seriously I need to whip out projects. I think my daughter is fairly covered on the knitting front although overtime she sees me knitting she asks “Is that for you or me?” as if those are the only two alternatives.  She has a pretty fantastic sweater collection and too be honest if she didn’t insist to wear some of the sweaters when we ask her to put on a coat or hoodie I probably won’t be so gung-ho.

Well anyways, I thought  I would comment on something that has been on my mind a bit. There are a lot of people posting pictures about knitting.  I like pretty pictures, but to be honest most of the time I push crap from one side of the coffee table over to the other side to get a picture. Sometimes when I look at pictures on Instagram  it looks like there are a lot of the images that could have come from a Martha Stewart publication, and well while I appreciate the beauty of it, that just isn’t possible for me, at least with how my life is structured(at least for right now but likely not in the future either). Case in point … in the last pictures I posted of my daughter in her sweater… her hair was braided by the wonderful staff at her daycare (most of the time it is up in a ponytail or down in the style of  Princess Ariel or Princess Aurora (but not as pretty).

So in an effort to be true to myself I thought I would snap off a few shots that are reflective of  me (and while I am brave enough to show you these pictures, no one is getting to look at the mess on my dining room table, there are some places that no one needs to go:).

I don’t know if anyone reads what I post, but I do hope that if you do, I successfully communicate that I am not trying to knock how anyone creates, styles, edits, or beautifies their photos. I am sure that there are people who do really live a lifestyle reflective of what they photograph.  There are a lot of people who use these photography for business  purposes. I am just adding some background  on my amateur photos  and into what my life is like.

 

I only have one more WIP I have to get off the needles by my birthday…. unfortunately all I want to  to do is procrastinate. I did some mindless knitting on the Cashmere Ombre Wrap(which is not really ombre but more of a gradient), and well when I started knitting with something soft I don’t want it to end. I know it is kinda ridiculous how much I love cashmere,  but I just love it (If I could knit with cashmere all the time I would:).

Sorry, I got off topic…. (apparently I will do anything to procrastinate on my WIPS:)

So…. I  decided to put my big girl pants on this morning. I re-looked at the Freshly Fallen and Ob Li Da patterns  and picked up stitches to start the sleeves…Here goes nothing.

 

So happy to finally be able to announce that my Maya sweater is off the needles. It was a test for Tweedysheep on Ravelry. A good friend of mine texted me when she became aware  of this test knit and told me I had to do it.  She was so  right, I  started to get exited  when I saw that the pattern and my daughter shared the same name. The pattern has  so many things I love in a sweater (aside from having the same name as my daughter), it has a beautiful twist pattern, is easily memorizable and is a quick knit.

If you haven’t done twists before I recommend this pattern as a good one to try Tweedysheep’s instructions are very clear and you do not need a cable needle to make the twists (you  don’t need one for twists, but just incase you are unfamiliar with them I thought it is good to mention).

The pattern is clearly written and my daughter has already declared she wants to wear it all the time. This is clearly a win win for everyone because I also got to use stash ( yes, that’s right I used existing stash on a project). I think I bought it last year.. but I can’t be sure. The yarn is by Lioness Knits and is oh so soft. It is a beautiful blend merino cashmere nylon blend at a dk weight. It was a really pleasure to knit with and my daughter who is a big sucker for soft loves it.

Acquisitions:

None

Work In Progress:

Cashmere Ombre by Purl Soho

Freshly Fallen by Amy Miller

Completed:

Maya Sweater by Tweedysheep

I’ve never been so happy to be on Sleeve Island. I cast off the body and just have sleeves to knit.. beaver I can start something new. I never thought I could get excited about sleeves, but apparently it can happen.

Once I finally get the sweaters off the needles I have decided that I am going to knit Funky Grandpa. I have wanted to knit this for what seems like forever. I am pretty excited about this. I have started looking at my favorite Rarely projects to look for modifications, color selections, and any issues people encountered with the project.  I will need to swatch but my current reward for just getting to Sleeve Island is to bring the yarn down from the area where I stash most of my yarn. I think once I finish one of the projects I will either pick color combinations and or wind the yarn for my reward.

In the meantime… I finally took some pictures of the hats I finished last month for the Amy Miller Summer Accessory KAL.

 

 

Ohhhh So no major buying spree but in all honesty I did buy the following at the local Japanese bookstore today.

I need to get things off the needles…. I don’t know how I let myself get in this situation(actually I know exactly how I let myself get into this situation). I have 3 projects that I need to get off the needles(well I am down to 2, so that is some progress).

I thought I would have all the time in the world to finish a test knit sweater for Tweedy Sheep  (in actuality I do because the deadline is August 24th), finish the sleeves on my Freshly Fallen, and  complete my Quick Silver(YAY!!!! it is done.. minus weaving in the ends).

So I pretty much blinked and noticed that the month was August and I have about 21 days and change to get these projects out.  It must be kind of a sickness because I actually like deadline knitting. I guess if I were super athletic it would be reducing a minute of how fast I can run a mile.

I like the late nights, the lunch break knitting, and waking up early to finish the project… I enjoy testing my limits… but I think maybe next time I should pace myself to doing 1 deadline knitting project at a time (who am I kidding, I totally did this to myself when I knit 3 hats last month and procrastinated on my Freshly Fallen)..

Well gotta run I have a bunch of knitting I need to get to.

Acquisitions:

NONE

Work In Progress:

Freshly Fallen by Amy Miller

Maya (Test knit) by Tweedy Sheep

Ombre Cashmere Wrap by Purl Soho

 

Completed:

QuickSilver by Melanie Berg… ( Yes, I am counting this as done because the knitting is done.. for any naysayers I am putting my hands over my ears and going “LALALA I can’t hear you.. my project is done….)