Year of Projects: 2 Swatches Forward, 1 Frog Back

This week I swatched for:

8. Ravellenic Swap Hap

and  9. Twist

Both of these yarns are beautiful and I can't wait to cast on. I'll probably wait until the fall to cast on for Twist because I'd like to get a couple of projects finished first and the yarn has a fall feel to it.

Now the bad news....

On project #6 Alexandria I had this:

but unfortunately now I have this:

I was having issues making the 3 stitch applied i-cord border (you can see one stitch is really loose) and it didn't seem to be getting any better so I decided to frog it before I got too much more done. I think I'm going to replace the i-cord border and hem with a  3-4 stitch seed stitch border. It will be easier and will look neater, but I'll swatch first and see how it looks.

Ending on a positive note though, on # 2 Allegoro, I'm about to start the last stripe/ribbing which will be brown. In pattern, the next stripe should be blue but I don't have enough left to make a full stripe and I'd rather use it on the sleeves so my husband suggested going back to brown which will also match the neck.

Year of Projects: Strips and Stripes Forever

Knitting:

# 1. Vodka Gimlet: I finished the body of the sweater and sewed down the hem and the hems on the sleeves. All that is left is the collar. I knit the collar once already but it had issues and I had to frog it so I decided to take a break from this sweater for a bit before tackling the collar again.

# 2. Allegoro: Thanks to car knitting time on our trip to Asheville, I've made quite a bit of progress on this project. I have ~3 inches left to do on the body then the sleeves/neckband which are just a few rows each. My goal is to get this project done before start of the Ravellenic Games.

#8. Ravellenic Swap Hat: I decided to make the Winter Hiking Hat for the games with the yarn I received from the Newlywed Swap. I need to swatch this week or next so I'l be ready to cast on during the Opening Ceremonies.

Quilting:

#2). I Wish I May Quilt: I'm using the paper templates Thangles (Terrific Half Square Angles) because they make making half square triangles SO easy. I need over 1000 for this quilt so I'm all for easy.  They also allow you to cut matching squares from the same strips used for the hst. To make the half squares triangles, you pin two pieces of fabric to the paper, sew on the dotted lines, cut on the solid, press with the paper on (it stabilizes the bias seam), remove the paper and voila 6 hst!

I was off for a couple of days last week so spent a morning drinking tea and cutting the print fabrics into strips then into fourths (the length needed for the thangles strip):

Next I'll cut the white background fabric strips into fourths then I'll be ready to start sewing the strips together.

Year of Projects: Increasing

Thank you so much to everyone for all of the kind comments about my YoP list! I have really enjoyed seeing what everyone else has planned for the year.

We're only on week #2 and I've already decided to add 2 new projects to my list (my list was originally only WIP):

#8) Hat - pattern tbd

I participated in a swap through Ravelry's Newlyweds group (which was a blast!) and I just got this scrumptious yarn from my swap partner:

It is sooo soft and beautiful and I can't wait to cast on with it! I was going to work on my shawl for the Ravellenic Games but I was fairly sure I wouldn't be able to get it done especially since I'll be out of town for the first week so I have decided that this will my games project instead and if I do finish early I'll work on the shawl too.

#9) Sweater - pattern also tbd

I spent this past weekend in Asheville, NC (blog post about it here) and of course we went to the lys. While there my husband picked out this gorgeous yarn for me so I am itching to cast on with it as well!

Every color of yarn that I wanted to use he pointed out that I either already had a FO or a WIP in that color (and yes I was amazed that he paid that much attention) so he chose this green (called peat) for me because it goes really well with my hair (dark brown) and eyes (hazel):

Despite adding 2 non-WIP to my list, I did make some progress on a few of the projects on my original YoP list, but since I'm already a few days late with my update I'll blog about those next week.

Asheville Weekend

This past weekend my husband and I took a weekend trip to Asheville, NC. It was slightly cooler than home  - mid-90s as opposed to over 100! Asheville has a great downtown full of bookshops, art galleries, cafes and restaurants. We stayed at a fabulous B&B: Carolina Bed and Breakfast which was within walking distance of downtown.

Views of the front:

I could have just hung out on the front porch and knit the entire weekend but there is so much to see and do so I didn't. I did buy some yarn, however :)

Friday night we  ate dinner at a great tapas restaurant in downtown:

We sat outside on this patio/alley:

Sat morning we  got up and decided to walk around downtown before it got too hot. We passed several interesting houses on our way:

First stop, the lys - in the brick building on the left:

When I did the KCBW I discovered that I've never used green so my husband picked out a shade (peat) that he said would look great with my hair (dark brown) and eyes (hazel):

After a coffee break at a cool bookstore, we headed off for a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway:

Sunday morning we got up and explored the NC Arboretum:

My sweet husband:

Bonsai exhibit:

Quilt Garden: 

A 2nd Year of Projects: The Project List

I read about the Year of Projects Group on Ravelry on this blog and decided to take part this year in hopes that it will help motivate me to finish all my WIP! I thought it would fun to start the year with photos of each of them as to where they stand now. 


Here is the list beginning with the most complete to least complete (not that I'll necessarily work on them in this order):


Knitting:


1. Vodka Gimlet aka Something Blue: I started this project last fall when I was planning my wedding in hopes that I would be able to wear it on my wedding day last February as I was getting ready. That obviously didn't happen, but it is close to being done. Just a bit more on the 2nd sleeve and the collar to go.

2. Allegoro:  I started this project in May 2010 and I have ~1/3 more to go.

3.  Dark and Stormy: I started this project in November 2010 and have the rest of the body, both sleeves and the collar left.

4. Shawl That Jazz: My oldest WIP - I started it in April 2009!  This will likely be my Ravellenic Games project.

5. Perfect Sweater aka Something New: My newest WIP - I started it while on my honeymoon last February.

6. Alexandria: I started this project 2 years ago on July 4th. It took me several tries to get it CO correctly then I had to reknit several inches so this project has been in time-out for quite some time. The yarn is very light (wool and silk) so I should work on it during this very hot summer!

7. Lanata: I've started several different project this yarn and didn't like any of them so I hope this pattern will work.

Sewing/Quilting:

1. Bali bag: I bought this pattern and and fabric at a quilt show 4 years ago and only seem to work on it when I'm home visiting my parents every summer. Will this be the summer I get it done?

2. I Wish I May Quilt: I saw this pattern in one of my Quilt Sampler magazines and decided to make it using fabric I'd used in 2 other quilts. This will be one of the most difficult quilts I've ever made as it has over 1000 half square triangles in it! I've got most of the strips cut out so can start assembling half square triangles soon.