Playing catchup

Well, things have been crazy with the remodel. Whatever knitting-related time I can squeak out is spent on actual knitting. I've not even been very active on Ravelry for the last month or so.

Projects - well, several things started (of course). Let's see what I can find.

Entrelac purse - nearly FO. Need to weave in icord ends, insert a lining, and attach commercial handles. I like the look of icord handles but they take 4FR to knit up at a time when you just want to be DONE. Plus they do tend to stretch unless you thread some cording inside it. I have some nice black leatherish handles I can put on this, in the Yarn Room. However, it is currently being used as a staging area, moving stuff around during remodel. I don't expect to work on this again for several months because I'm not sure where those handles ARE.

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Celery Baby Aran - started this for a friend who wants to have another baby. Not sure why I put it on hold, there is quite bit more than this done on it, it just wasn't photographed recently.
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Yellow Baby Aran - I think my color preferences are changing. I would normally never be drawn to yellow yarn, but this was striking. I thought a coworker was going to be first-time grandfather, in duplicate, so I got the two colors. Turns out there's only one baby after all, and she's not due til late January. In the meantime, I found out that another coworker is also awaiting a baby, and sooner, so this might go to her instead. I figure I could pretty much always have a baby sweater on the needles, much like many people always have a sock project going. There will always be more babies!

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Speaking of socks, I have generally been averse to making them, never understood the addiction. However when the Summer Knitty came out, I had to immediately cast on for these. I love the wiggly-squiggly of them. Of course, they are on hold now because I am a fickle, ADD knitter.

Next thing on the remodel: excavation for foundation. It's been quiet on that front for the last week or so, as the GC General Contractor, also known as DH, interviews potential subs for this work. Link on the sidebar to the remodel blog.

I keep saying, I need to do this more often. I'm trying to email this to blog and then fine-tune with blogger. Let's see how that works.

Lime Greeny Goodness

I got a lot done on this sock during my appointment day on Tuesday. First sock was done 18 months ago. I hadn't even started the second sock. I finally pulled it out last weekend and got started on it. Tuesday morning, when I left for my marathon day of appointments and busses, I was at where the blue line is. I am stunned by how much I got done because I am just not a sock person. I think. I might be going through another flirtation right now, but it's just a crush - I'll get over it. I always do.

I took the big green bag to work on during commute. I expected that might be inconvenient, and it was. But I got my 10 rounds done for today. I figure if I do 5 rounds on this first, then I can work on something else. There are 100 rounds total, and I have about 46 now. At round 90, I need to attach some hardware, so I better find it or order it pronto. I'll add an updated pix later if I can get one before dark.

Wow. I gotta get out of Ravelry more often

Ravelry is a complete time-sucker, and I've ignored this blog because of it. Not that anyone ever READS this blog because, you know, I've been ignoring it (grin). I'm gonna try to change that.

I've started and finished several items not on the progress meters at the left. I will try to update those in the next couple of days.

Not much progress on the remodel; we have applied for financing and run into some snags. Apparently, one of the previous mortgage companies filed a lien against the house when the loan was sold on the aftermarket, and never cleared it. That mortgage companies is now out of business. I'm sure these sorts of things happen all the time, but they are frustrating when they are happening to YOU.

Projects - Stained Glass Felted Bag. This is an amazing pattern which you can see and purchase here. I'm very pleased with the way this one turned out:

There are more pix if you want to see them, but I like this one the best.

Currently, there are two main projects. One is another felted bag, the Noni Green Earth Grocery Bag:


The other is the Flower Basket Shawl, from Interweave Knits, done in Kauni. This was in TimeOut for a while, but I'm not sure why, most likely set aside for Christmas crazies. I've got 6 or 7 repeats done, quite a bit more than what shows here.

While it is my intent to make it larger than pattern calls for, it won't happen any sooner with stuff like this to deal with:



The one on the left, I gave up and frogged back to lifeline. This particular repeat was done 4 times, I think, before I got it right. The jury is still out on the reddish one at the right. I've redone it and frogged that already once this evening, and will try again before bed. It SHOULD work, but maybe trying to fix lace on a city bus isn't the best way to go.

Hopefully, this will get the new habit started. People who blog daily, or 3 x week, wow. I have a lot of admiration for you. I just can't be clever on command.

Serial Monogamy? Hardly....

So, today I took *4* projects to work. It's only about a 30-minute commute, so I don't know what I was thinking. The completed, but not blocked Dog Paw Lace (meant to show it to someone, but didn't), the Brea purse (two main pieces are done - I finally decided what to do about gusset and strap; Noro Silk Garden for a pillow, not even cast on yet. And the Morning Glory cape, which is what I worked on mostly.
The Brea bag should not have been that complicated. The original pattern called for a knitted gusset, in seed stitch, I think, with a leather strap attached. Well, I couldn't find a leather strap at several of the local places, not just LYS, but fabric stores, etc. One issue is, it was my intent all along to slightly felt the bag, which I can't do once leather is attached (can I?). I did find some nice purse straps, but no way to remove the strap for felting or laundry. DH cleverly suggested using a split ring and attach strap to split ring and split ring to bag. That actually would have worked. Finally, I came upon this idea. Knit a double-thickness gusset, with a seam on the inside center. Slide plastic canvas or some sort of reinforcement into the envelope of the gusset. At the top of the bag, I decrease the stitches, and make three separate i-cords. Braid them together LOOSELY, and then kitchener them to the other side of bag. This is what I have so far.

This weekend, while looking for something else (isn't that the way it is?), I found this knitted lace doily. This was to be a wedding present for a coworker, now long gone. It is complete but for blocking. Do I need to put a pin in each one of those little crocheted loops on the edging? There's 200+ of those !! Yikes!