Work-in-Progress Wednesday 56

Hi everyone! This is going to be short today as it's kind of late and I have to get up at the crack of dawn (as I write these posts Tuesday night). I'm excited that I should have time to check out some WIPW posts this week!

Some of you may be wondering where my Candy Skein post is for this week! I've decided to move that to Thursdays, due to my sanity. I'd like to keep it. ;) Mondays/Tuesdays wasn't working out and was just too stressful trying to get the new yarn finished. Look for a post tomorrow (Thursday) to see new colorways. Also, I have big big news next week to share regarding Candy Skein. I can't wait to tell you all. I'll be releasing the new KAL next week, too!

Let's get to WIPW!



My Little Shells so far. I've actually finished all of the charts except for the border, but due to having SOOO much yarn left (I still have 72 grams out of 100), I'm going to probably end up doubling the lace section. I started to today at my meet up group, but then realized that it wasn't working out right, so I'm having to tink back about 200 stitches. NOT fun! LOL I still love the project though, the yarn is great for it and I can't wait to block it!





Many of you asked about my skirt last week (thank you for that!). I just didn't have much more to show you, so I figured since I will be working on this for a LONG time, I wouldn't bother posting it. This week, I have a bit more done, so I thought I'd include it. It's now getting too wide for my picture set up! Slowly but surely....



That's it for me today! Happy WIPW!


For those that are new to WIPW, to share your WIPW post with us, just fill out the Mr. Linky below. Despite it saying you must comment, don't feel as if you do. That is something Mr. Linky automatically adds. I just ask you to check out a few of the links posted to see what everyone else is working on and comment there if you can. Everyone loves feedback and a little encouragement on their projects! Also, please link back to this post in your post to get the word out! The more the merrier!

Work-in-Progress Wednesday 54

Hi everyone! I hope you're getting through your Wednesday with your sanity intact. I'll be watching my nieces today, so won't have too much time to comment on yours posts, but all of your comments here are greatly appreciated. This coming weekend is a big one in my household, as it's Tiki Oasis! It's a tiki convention in our own city, which is awesome since we don't have to travel to go! It's a 3 1/2 day event (starts Thursday night at the local tiki restaurant/bar) and ends Sunday. There will be tons of music, symposiums, a marketplace and more! It's a blast and I think I'll even get some knitting time in. My husband is participating in a few classes/symposiums that I won't be. I'm so excited. :)

Now on to WIPW!

I finished one of the socks I was working on, so you'll get to see that Friday. I know, kind of cheating since it's only 50% of the project finished, but a finished sock is a finished sock in my book.




Remember the shawl I was knitting for the Candy Skein KAL? Yeah, well, I frogged it. It just wasn't speaking to me and I just couldn't get the pattern down right. I was working on Dane, but decided to do Little Shells instead. It's coming along great. I just started it Monday evening, so I don't have much, and it's just the boring stockinette part. I'm using the same yarn, Delicious fingering in Blueberry Sorbet and still loving it. For those of you wondering, it also frogged beautifully.





I'm also still working on my skirt. I'm almost finished with the second pleat and loving it still. I haven't had a chance to work on it, since I was finishing the sock and starting the new shawl, but it's such an easy pattern I'll be able to take it with me this weekend. For those asking what yarn it is, I'm using Knit Picks Stroll Tonal in colorway Thunderhead.

Well, that's it for me today! I hope you have a great rest of the week, and I'll see you all on Friday!

Work-in-Progress Wednesday 53

Howdy, all! I didn't have time to post my YoP post, so I thought I would combine it with WIPW today. I hope you don't mind. I want to start the post off with a bang, since I don't have too much to share with you today. I'm going to announce the winners of the skein of Candy Skein Yummy sock yarn, and a knitting or crochet magazine. Thank you all who entered and to all for participating in WIPWs throughout the first year! I picked the winners at random (via two different people picking number) to those who commented and were eligible. Here are the winners!

elephantJuice

and

Dina


Please email me at candyskein@gmail.com with your choice of a knitting or crochet magazine and also what colorway of Yummy fingering you'd like me to send you from what is currently in stock!

Now onto WIPW!


I don't have a new picture of my shawl yet, as I haven't worked on it much. I messed up and need help fixing it (and advice if I should frog or not), but now I'm back on track. It's just not enough to show, so next week. It's hard to get good knitting time on this, as I'm having trouble knitting without making a mistake when I'm at a group, watching tv, etc.




The sock has grown since last week, that's for sure! I'm on the home stretch of sock 1 and it fits great for him so far! I need to do a few more inches until decreasing for the toe. Smooth sailing. Then on to sock two!





So here's the skirt. I frogged part of it yesterday to bring the pleat to a decent length. They are bigger than the pattern calls for, but I liked the way it looked. Now I'm back to working on it and happy! I moved the stitch markers to work with my pattern now, so I'm happy. We'll see how it goes from here.

That's it for me this week! Have a great Wednesday! I'll try and comment on as many blogs as possible, but will be watching my nieces today.

Work-in-Progress Wednesday 1 YEAR & Blog Anniversary!

Edit: HOLY CRAP!!! Thanks everyone for pointing out it's my blog anniversary, too! Sadly, I didn't even realize it was yesterday! :O So yes, the giveaway is for my blog AND WIPW. HA!

Happy 1 year of Work in Progress Wednesday!!!!! Can you believe it!? Technically a year exactly would be August 11th, but since this is our 52nd WIPW, close enough, right? Thanks to everyone who has participated. I never would have guessed it would have grown like it has or that it would still be going. I'm going to be doing a giveaway to commemorate. All you have to do to be entered to win is comment on this post today, August 3rd. You have to have participated in at least 3 or more WIPWs to be included. I'll draw the name (randomly) of two lucky winners and will ship internationally. Each will receive:

1 knit or crochet magazine (based on preference)
1 skein of Candy Skein Yummy fingering (from a colorway in stock at the time of the drawing)

The winners will be announced at the next WIPW post.


Now on to WIPW 52!


I started my Dane shawl for the Candy Skein shawl KAL/CAL. This is my first real lace work and my first major shawl, other than my Age of Brass and Steam shawlette. It's going pretty good so far, though I have a slight mistake in it. I don't think it's a HUGE deal, as it's in the set up chart and I think I can fudge it so it's not too noticeable. I decided to go up a needle size since I usually knit SO tight. I'm using Candy Skein Delicious Fingering in Blueberry Sorbet. This is my first time using the Delicious series, and it is SOOOO soft and silky as it runs through my hands. It also runs along my Knit Picks Harmony needles like butter. I have a little more than you see above in the picture, but I figured not enough to justify getting the camera back out and uploading a new one.




Since I had an issue with my skirt this weekend (it's in time out), I wanted a new project that was easy to work on before starting the KAL, which began August 1. I also thought it would be a good idea to have something to work on that didn't take much thinking. I decided to start my husband's socks. I was going to do them for Christmas, but he wanted them before that, so he'll get them whenever I'm finished. So far it's going nice and easy. I'm not using a pattern, so just working on it based on how he wants it/what fits. I'm using Knit Picks Imagination in Frog Prince. This is my first time using this yarn, and I really like it. It's not superwash, so we'll have to be careful not to felt, but since it's just for around the house, I figured it wouldn't be a huge deal. He actually picked the yarn out either around the end of last year or beginning of this year. As you can see, I'm working on the ribbing.

That's it for me. Don't forget to comment to enter! Good luck!

For those that are new to WIPW, to share your WIPW post with us, just fill out the Mr. Linky below. Despite it saying you must comment, don't feel as if you do. That is something Mr. Linky automatically adds. I just ask you to check out a few of the links posted to see what everyone else is working on and comment there if you can. Everyone loves feedback and a little encouragement on their projects! Also, please link back to this post in your post to get the word out! The more the merrier!

Year of Projects: A Dilemma

So I have a major dilemma. If you've read my previous posts, you know that I'm working on a skirt for A Year of Projects. I've been working on it now for about 3+ weeks and have already had to frog and re-do part of it.

I've had an odd feeling about the skirt pattern as I've been going along and my pleat has been getting bigger and bigger. Now, the pattern is horribly written, in one giant run on paragraph. So, that being said...Umm yeah, I realized I’m making it all wrong. I should have checked on it again when I was questioning my pleat. I’m working the pattern backward (which isn’t hard to do with all garter stitch) so that my pleat is where the top should be. Does that make sense? So anyway, I considered frogging the whole thing, but that kills me, as I love how it is so far. There are a few options other than completely frogging and I wanted your feedback.

I can:

A) Frog all (not really an option in my mind right now)
B) Keep going and have really big pleats, which might actually turn out cute, but I won’t know until a LOT of work has been done
C) Ripe out about 20+ rows to make the pleat a little smaller. I think I would keep it bigger than the pattern calls for but it would be a little smaller than it is now.

With B and C, I’ll need more yarn, but luckily one of the lovely ladies at my Monday night knitting group has one skein of the same dye lot as mine (the yarn is Knit Picks Stroll Tonal in Thunderhead), and was kind enough to offer it to me and I can buy her a new skein when they get it back in stock (it’s out of stock right now). So that isn’t a huge issue anymore.

What would you do?

Moving on...

Monday is the start of the August-September Candy Skein KAL/CAL!! I was going to do Springtime Bandit since it was on my YoP list to start, but I've decided to swap that with Dane. I'll be using this yarn, Candy Skein Delicious Fingering in Blueberry Sorbet:

I can't wait to get started. I'll need to wind the yarn this weekend so I'm ready to go. The perfect part is, I may need a little help starting (as I did my Age of Brass and Steam shawlettte) and I have my Knitting group the night of the start date!

With all of that (not) going on this weekend, or at least until I can decide what to do with my skirt, I may start one of the Christmas presents I have on my list. Socks! We'll see how it goes. :)

Work-in-Progress Wednesday 51

Happy Wednesday everyone!!! It's hump day, so don't get too excited, as we still have a few days until the weekend. Speaking of weekends, how did Comic Con go you ask? Splendid (see below, especially if you're a Doctor Who fan)!

That's right, me with the Tardis. WITH THE TARDIS!!! It even lit up and made the Tardis sound. If you don't think that's cool, check out my next picture.

Who is that, you ask? Well, I'll give you a few guess, but it shouldn't take long. That's right...MATT SMITH AND KAREN GILLAN (though she got totally cut off by the stupid guy standing in front of her, BUT you can see her profile kind of.)

Not the best photos in the world, but the ones I got closer were blurry as people were knocking into me. It was mad. If you'd like to watch the interview they were giving while I took this pic, you can watch it here. I wanted to go to the Doctor Who panel on Sunday, but people were already lining up at 12pm Saturday afternoon for the 12:30pm Sunday afternoon start time. Insanity. Matt and Karen were actually handing out Tardis burritos to those in line around midnight. So so awesome.

Okay, this IS a WIPW post, so I better get to it.



Why doesn't the skirt look any bigger you ask? Is it ACTUALLY smaller than last week, you ask? Why yes, yes it is, or maybe around the same. That's because I took it to my sister's house last week while watching my nieces. Garter stitch with short rows, how hard could it get? Well, apparently when a 2 year old gets tangled in the yarn while getting down from the couch when my head is turned, promptly pulling off several stitches from the needles...very hard. I realized at the time of panic, that I don't know how to fix dropped garter stitches. I didn't realize I did it wrong until I had already knit several rows more. I took it to a friend the next day who's in my knitting group (and works at one of my LYS) to see if she could drop down and fix it, but alas, I had screwed it up too much. Not only did I fix it wrong, I twisted stitches when trying to put them back on, as well as knitted too many rows. Once she dropped down to fix my mistakes, she couldn't successfully pick them back up without it looking like...well, crap. So, I sat as I watched her frog to the point of the problem (which was okay since she was doing it. I didn't have the strength to frog that much). I also had a little other mistake that was fixed with the frogging, so no biggie. I hope to get jamming on this again, but I've had to finish my swap monster.

That's all I'm currently/actively on. Can you believe it? August 1st I'll have to start my shawl for the Candy Skein KAL/CAL, so I'm kind of holding off starting something new. That doesn't mean I'm itching to get something new on the needles! Then again, I have a few WIPs that I've put down and haven't picked up recently. Maybe I should finish those before even thinking of starting something else (other than the KAL shawl).

Friday I'll have the monster to share, if my swap partner gets it in time. If not, I'll have to share it next week. :(

Don't forget, next Wednesday is week 52, a WHOLE YEAR OF WIPW! Look for something special to turn up.

Please remember to use the new link to your post from this week, overriding the one that Mr. Linky saves from the previous. I've had quite a few links still linking to their old posts, or links that go straight to their blog's URL instead of the actual posts URL. Thanks!

For those that are new to WIPW, to share your WIPW post with us, just fill out the Mr. Linky below. Despite it saying you must comment, don't feel as if you do. That is something Mr. Linky automatically adds. I just ask you to check out a few of the links posted to see what everyone else is working on and comment there if you can. Everyone loves feedback and a little encouragement on their projects! Also, please link back to this post in your post to get the word out! The more the merrier!

Work-in-Progress Wednesday 50

I have to admit, when I just wrote the title of this post "Work in progress Wednesday 50" I almost had a heart attack. 50, the big 50. Holy crap, when did that happen? Now, I know I seem to bring this up each week, but can you believe it? We've been participating in WIPW for ALMOST A YEAR. That's right, in two weeks it will be a year and I'm so proud that I have yet to miss a week. Let me just pat myself on the back for a moment. ;)

Okay then. I'm going to say this, we need to do something special for WIPW 52, or should it be WIPW 53, because that's the start one the new WIPW year? I plan to do some kind of giveaway (I've been thinking about it, but have been in denial that it's so close now), but I'm not 100% sure what yet. I also plan to do a special giveaway/celebration for the year anniversary of Tami's Amis, which is coming up on August 2nd. You should expect some Candy Skein yarn to be included, that's for sure!

Okay, now onto WIPW!




Again, I'm still working on my monster for the swap. Sorry to say, I still can't share it too much, but here is another ambiguous picture, just so you can believe me that I've been working on it. LOL I was afraid to do the feet, but once I got into it, I realized that it wasn't as hard as the instructions looked. Of course, I'm not finished with it, but so far, so good. For those asking last week what yarn I'm using, it's Knit Picks Chroma in Prism.






The skirt doesn't look like I've worked on it TOO much, but I have, honest! Though I've been focusing on the monster, I've been giving some time to the skirt, but the pleat takes forever because it's short rows. I'm almost done with the first pleat! YAY I really like this project, because it's pretty easy since it's just garter stitch and I don't really need to pay too much attention. As long as I remember (or can tell) which stitch is the wrap and turn, then I'm golden. It's great TV knitting. I will say though, I'll be working on this for awhile because it's in fingering weight. I should have just done worsted, even though the pattern calls for fingering. LOL

That's it for me this week! Hope everyone has a great day and I look forward to checking out all your projects.

Please remember to use the new link to your post from this week, overriding the one that Mr. Linky saves from the previous. I've had quite a few links still linking to their old posts, or links that go straight to their blog's URL instead of the actual posts URL. Thanks!

For those that are new to WIPW, to share your WIPW post with us, just fill out the Mr. Linky below. Despite it saying you must comment, don't feel as if you do. That is something Mr. Linky automatically adds. I just ask you to check out a few of the links posted to see what everyone else is working on and comment there if you can. Everyone loves feedback and a little encouragement on their projects! Also, please link back to this post in your post to get the word out! The more the merrier!

Work-in-Progress Wednesday 49

Happy Wednesday everyone! I want to start off by apologizing that I've been bad about getting around to everyone's links from last week. I'm so sorry if I didn't get to your blog for WIPW or FO Friday, but frankly, it's hard to keep up! As you can see from my Candy Skein post, I was very busy dyeing yarn, not that I'm complaining! I just feel bad when I don't get around to commenting. I try to read each post and comment, and feel that if I'm going to quickly click each and just say something about the picture, it wouldn't give yours posts a fair shake. That being said, I have to watch my nieces this week, so I won't get to many today, but I promise to try to visit all of them by Thursday night. ::crossing fingers::

Now to this week's knitting!




Well, that doesn't look like the cowl, does it? You guessed it. I started something new instead of doing the button band for it. You can just call me a coward now and get it over with. Instead, I started the pleated skirt I've been dying to make! It's knit in short rows, all garter stitch. This is my first time trying to do the wrap around & knit thing to not cause holes. Actually, who am I kidding, this is the first time I've done short rows that weren't socks. With a little help from my Monday night knitting group (I just love them!!!), I think I understand, but we'll see. Thanks Teri! Oh yes, and you probably want to know the yarn, right? I'm doing it in Knit Picks Stroll Tonal in Thunderhead. It's soooo pretty! Get used to looking at this project, because it is going to take awhile!




Next up is this really close up picture of the monster I'm knitting. I don't want to show more of it than this because it's for a monster swap I'm doing and JUST in case she checks out the blog, I don't want to ruin too much of the surprise. He's going pretty good, and I'm happy so far! :)


Well, that's it for me this week. What are you working on?

Please remember to use the new link to your post from this week, overriding the one that Mr. Linky saves from the previous. I've had quite a few links still linking to their old posts, or links that go straight to their blog's URL instead of the actual posts URL. Thanks!

For those that are new to WIPW, to share your WIPW post with us, just fill out the Mr. Linky below. Despite it saying you must comment, don't feel as if you do. That is something Mr. Linky automatically adds. I just ask you to check out a few of the links posted to see what everyone else is working on and comment there if you can. Everyone loves feedback and a little encouragement on their projects! Also, please link back to this post in your post to get the word out! The more the merrier!

Year of Projects: To Start a New Project or Not...

That is the question, right? As I sat down this morning, ready to knit, I realized that the few WIPs I've been switching back and forth to are at stopping points. Now, not good stopping points mind you.




You see, I'm working on my cowl (seen above), which is the Pedestrian Crossing cowl. I like this cowl, love the yarn but I'm at a crappy part. What's that you ask? Well, if you follow the blog for WIPW and FO Friday, you'll know it's the button holes. You see, these are the first button holes I've ever had to make, so I'm a little nervous. The instructions are a little funky and I'm afraid of ruining it. I know, I know, I can always frog back to before the button holes, but I'm scared. That's right, scared. I just need to get over it, because I seriously have the button holes and then a few rows of garter stitch before I can cast off. Sounds easy, right? Well, we'll see.


The second project is a monster I started awhile ago, and then when I joined a monster swap on the Knit Picks Ravelry group, it spurred me on. I've gotten to the point of needing to stuff the body, add the eyes and the belly button. I know it's not hard, and this isn't the first monster I've made, but I'm always a little apprehensive because this really determines if the monster will be cute or not, you know what I mean? I'm not going to share a pic of that one right now, because as I said, I'm doing a swap and don't want to ruin it for the recipient if she's checking this blog. I may just post a close up pic of him for WIPW this next week, but won't give too much away.




So, those are my two projects. Instead of just getting down to business on either, what did I do this morning? I cast on for the knitted skirt on my YoP list. I won't share a picture (though the pic above is the yarn I'm using for it), Knit Picks Stroll in Thunderhead), because all I have is the cast on, so not very exciting. Now I have to sit down and figure out the weird short row instructions before I get started. We'll see how it goes, but I figure once I get the short rows down, it should be easy since it's all garter stitch. ::crossing fingers::

I know I should just concentrate on finishing the cowl and working more on the monster, and I will...maybe tomorrow.

How are you doing on your YoP list? Have you cast aside a project for another? Are you working on multiple projects or trying to finish one as fast as possible to start another?