What goes down must come back up again

I am referring to my never-ending struggle with my project count. For the first time in a very very long time, my project count hit the single digit category for two glorious days.

And then I kept on cleaning my craft room. I found two more partial projects, which is kinda cool because hey- I already have the first sock done...for two pairs! The not so hot part? I'm back up to 11 projects, and I have two more projects that I'm itching to start. I'll quit my bitchin' though, I already found the rest of the yarn for both pairs of socks AND know what size needles I used for each. I'm going to put these in their own special bags (because I have so many free now!) and get to them after I finish this $%$&)*5 cross stitching.

You still have a couple days to enter the "what should Paige make in Vegas" contest for a handwoven scarf- see the previous post for more details.

Three down to one

I'm just going a little nuts here with the UFO's (unfinished objects for the non-crafters that read) and it feels really good. Over the past few months I've knocked out perhaps a dozen never ending projects, many of which I had not touched in several years. I'm now scraping at the bottom of the barrel for little projects to finish before my trip to Vegas July 3rd. I've only got a few "small" projects left, one of which is not small at all, but it fairly close to being finished. They are as follows:

1. Filet crochet name doily- wedding gift for the couple getting married in Vegas. No actual rush on that one, but I'd like to have it out of the front seat of my car and in their house for good. They do have a fairly long last name though, which sort of blows.

2. Button stitch markers. If you're confused, that's because I haven't posted them on the blog. They're a work project and I'd love to finish them and turn them in because while it's a little project, it's a big mess all over my desk. Every time I show the house I put it all away which just delays completion all over again.

3. Dolly Mama cross stitch project. I know you're tired of hearing about it, I'm tired of saying I'd like it to be done and then not working on it. Must. Kill. Project. And then I'll frame it nicely.

4. Doily/Small tablecloth/Queen Anne's Lace. I'm improvising after my uber-flub, and I'm really pleased with how well that's going. Going by my new guesstimations, I have roughly 12 rows left. The downside? Those rows take about an hour each. Bleh.

5. Woven scarf. I've had the warp on the loom for a couple months now, and I even bought enough yarn to finish it. I'm actually going to give it away to a reader (keep reading for details).

6. Lace cowl for class I'm teaching late July. Doesn't have to be done before the Vegas trip, but it would be really awesome if it was.

I've also outsourced 2 crochet projects because I'm a terrible person. Okay, I didn't outsource, I traded. Jasmine from my Sunday knitting group crochets very well, very tightly, and at the speed of light. She and I worked out a deal that involves me handing over roughly a pound of roving and her finishing my sheep pillow by crocheting a back for it and then crocheting me a tote/market bag out of some farm wool I bought several years ago and have made several market bags with, all of which were really very terrible. A few years ago after I decided I was done with novelty yarn, I went on a farm-wool binge as it was the furthest thing removed from novelty yarn that I could think of. I made a sweater out of some minimally processed Border Leicester, which I wore once before felting and fashioning in to a cat bed. After that, 9 hanks remained, 6 in off-white, 3 in deep green, and they were banished to a drawer in the craft room. I had started knitting two more cat beds at some point and a market bag, because those partial projects were thrown in that drawer of doom too with needles and notes still in there. I frogged everything and this week, 4/6 off-white hanks became a crocheted granny-square cat bed and the rest went to Jasmine to return in tote-form. Here's the cat bed/ yarn vacuum. I'm very pleased with how much yarn it took and how it only took 3 days. Possum-cat is pleased with how it feels as she rubs it all over her face while chirping.

So now that all of these little projects are vanishing, here is what will remain after these 6 projects are finished.

1. Brown alpaca sweater on size 4 needles. I started this late in December and worked on it for about a month before getting tired of brown stockinette on size 4 needles. Really looking forward to getting back to it though!

2. Green and black striped sweater, started during the ice storm. I'm doing this top-down and am past the yoke and working on the body. Could probably knock that out in a couple weeks if I really tried, but is on very pointy needles and it starts to hurt after knitting for more than an hour.

3. Mitered square sock yarn blanket. Itty bitty squares, itty bitty needles. This is going to take me 5 years, and I'm totally okay with that. I'm in no rush at all to finish this.

4. Crochet circles scrap yarn blanket. This will also take me a while, but I'm totally okay with that.

And that's it. I will have spinning projects, but those don't seem to pile up like the knitting and crocheting projects do (thank goodness). I also do have a couple more sweater projects lined up, but nothing beyond the 10 projects mentioned today actually in progress, which makes me panic a little. So I guess the question I'm going to ask my readers is...

What should I make on the Vegas trip?

*I'm looking for a small project. By small I mean something I can tuck in my purse and drag all over town, not necessarily something that I can knit in 2o minutes- it's a long flight and a quick project does me no good.

*Something that keeps my interest is good. Something that requires 30 charts, an Ott light and reading glasses is not so good.

*It would be really awesome if I had yarn in my stash that would work. I have tons of everything but bulky.

*It doesn't have to be a knitting project.

*Be as specific as possible please! (ie Monkey socks by Cookie A, not "socks")

I'm open to any and all suggestions, leave them in the comments below. If your suggestion is chosen, then you'll get a green and purple woven scarf! If your suggestion is chosen and you don't like green and purple woven scarves, we'll working something out. Leave your suggestions by July 1st, leave as many as you like. I look forward to hearing from you!

Tubby hates socks

I finally finished a pair of socks...

....and Tubby Custard is NOT HAPPY.

Red Scarf Liberation

Since I'm still on this crazy finishing-spree, I decided to dig up a little project I've been dreading for a while. Like, 8 years-while. I started a red scarf for my very first boyfriend out of rather nasty acrylic yarn on size 6 needles in 1x1 rib because I'm crazy like that. I worked on it every night for the entire two weeks we dated, and after the very juvenile Instant-message breakup I threw the partial scarf in a see-through drawer in my craft room where it has sat, catching my eye ever since, reminding me that it is, in fact, my oldest and probably easiest WIP. So since I'm finishing things I figured the best project to finish next would be this scarf so that I never had to see it again and so that something positive could come out of that little container that was collecting dust and various craft supplies. And it took me two days of knitpurlknitpurlknitpurl but dangit, that scarf is done. So there you have it.

And just to make it a little bit better of a finally-finished-project, it is going to the FCS Red Scarf Project, a charity that collects scarves as part of a winter care-package for orphans.

Back from the Show!

Wow it's been a crazy week. TNNA was last weekend, and while parts of it are quite fun, I'm really glad it's over. It's a very tense week leading up to TNNA with last minute-prep and I could do without the spotlight feeling that I have the whole time I'm there. That being said, I knitted a lot, cross stitched a lot, drank a little, ate A LOT and had a good time. I even came home with a souvenir and there should be more souvenirs coming in the mail in a few weeks.

My first little prize is from "Moving Mud", this new little artist that I saw at the show. It's a shawl pin- isn't it fun? I feel like I need a bright pink or blue shawl to wear with it! I just love it- so unique!

And I ordered some goodies from Lantern Moon again, but they're not here yet. They're all sheep- surprise!

I did do quite a bit of knitting and even took down a good chunk of Bam's cross-stitch pirate, finishing it up on Tuesday night and framing it yesterday. I think it turned out really well, but a pro cross-sticher reading this might disagree. Oh well, it's going in a man-cave, so it's good enough for me.

And lastly, I'm trying my best to take out a few more projects before my Vegas trip at the start of July, including the lace beast, Queen Anne's Lace. I flubbed up pretty bad at row 138/160 so I'm just going with it and making it a design feature. I threw out the pattern and am finishing it the way I want to finish it. Stay tuned- this could end badly.

*** my 300th post is coming up and I'll be doing a little give-away, so stay tuned! I'm also open to suggestions for a comment topic for people wanting to get the prize. Let me know!

The incredible depth of Orange

The project finishing spree continues, and I have finishedone work-knitting project and hit the halfway point in a work-beading project (that I have been *working on* since February but we all know how I *work* on things). No pictures of those yet, but we'll get there.

The end is in sight for a current cross-stitch project and a request has been made for the next cross-stitch project: Bam Bam would like a pirate cross-stitching to hang on the wall at his place. Those who know me personally may remember the Pirate-Paige phase where I ate, drank and slept pirates. I still want a skull and crossbones tattoo, but instead of proper crossbones they would be knitting needles. And now I'm rambling- Bam Bam asked for a pirate cross stitching, I said yes, and now I really want to finish my current project so that it doesn't get lost to Davy Jones' locker again for five more years.

And finally, the incredible depth of orange. This is one of my fastest spinning projects to date and I'm madly in love with this heathered orange merino. I picked up a grab-bag at Fiberworks in Beaver Creek Ohio last May because this obscene orange merino called out to me from a dark corner. We guessed it to be about 4 ounces and I paid the woman and was on my way. Anyhoo, finally spinning it and it's going insanely fast. Like 1 episode of Treme and half of Game of Thrones and my bobbin is full of singles. So I'll stop rambling and just show you my pretty orange in order of it's creation. I've still got about an ounce that wouldn't fit on the bobbin, so I'll try to tackle that tonight during Letterman. So here we go, my beautifully heathered orange.

The birthday post

Yes, I realize it's been nearly a week since my birthday (and a little longer since I've finished anything) but I feel like I've got to brag on a few of my gifts.

1. A picture frame. My mom took my apple pie sampler and had it steamed, matted (twice!) and framed. It's currently hanging in my bedroom but it goes in the kitchen of my someday house because my someday kitchen is pale yellow and in my world, those colors go together.

Anyhoo, it's framed beautifully and it makes me look like I knew what I was doing!

2. Cherry Tree Hill "Silky Kidd". It's naughty. 52% silk, 22% merino, 18% mohair, and 8% nylon. 6 hanks- she done good. I'm thinking a cowl-neck pullover but am very open to suggestions.

3. A pie I made from last year's mulberries. A gift to myself- I ate most of it.

4. My very favorite from my Bam Bam. I'm ridiculously in love with this ring- it was his mom's and she's passing it on to the next May baby- me.