Rainbow Finish Line

It is January 31 and I am happy to report that my goal for the month is complete!  The second rainbow blanket is off the needles now.  (Goal was off the needles, not ends woven in and blocking as you'll recall.)

I knit 2 blankets this month!  Both were mosaic patterns and both were knit in worsted weight acrylic on US size 9 needles.

I'm pretty darn proud of myself.  But, despite my best efforts to use up all of the yarn- I still have leftovers.

Probably enough to do yet another blanket.  I'll get to it at some point, but probably not for a little while.

I guess that means it's time we look ahead to February.  And since I'm a big fan of alliteration, I immediately joined the "February is for Finishing" group over in Bubbo's Pants.  This is a group that I lurk in often on Ravelry.  (They are awesomely supportive of one another and usually pretty funny... they just seem like a nice bunch of people so I sort of hang out there, even if I don't participate all that often.)  I liked the idea of planning on working on finishing things so much that I decided to join.  Here's what I'd like to finish and for February:

1) Knit 2 hats for charity** (more on that below)

2) Finish the 2nd pair of Polaris mittens

3) Fully finish (ends/blocking) of Rainbow Swirls

4) Fully finish (ends/blocking) of Rainbow Hugs and Kisses

5) Finish the Preschool socks

I'm not going to lie.  It's a lot.  It's going to be a challenge.  BUT- I also know that I feel so much better when I don't have a bunch of things lying around on the needles- and so, I'm really hoping I can accomplish this!  Here's a shot of everything in the "finish pile".

Good lord, I've bitten off more than I can chew- haven't I?!

A quick aside about the hats... as usual I have a 2015 hat project planned out.  I have a lot of just scrap bits of sport weight yarn I want out of my stash.  And so I'm going to knit it in hats.  It probably means more ends to weave in than I'd like but.... oh well.

How many hats are in this bag?  I think there are 14.  (That's just an entirely random number because I'm not even sure I'm close on that.)

So there you have it- I've laid out my February goal and I'm ready to dive in.  (Hopefully it will mean several updates and finished things to look forward to in February!)

(To track my progress on my finishing you can just watch the "On the Needles" bar over on the right hand side.  I usually take the finished bars off after I've completed a project, but I'll keep them up for February.  100% will mean it is ends woven in, washed, blocked, FULLY, 100% done-zo.  {Except for hats... obviously- I only need to knit 2 in February.})

Sneak Preview

This is just a quick update- progress continues at a hurried pace on the blanket.  When you're on a fairly tight deadline- it's hard to get anything else in... including blogging.  But.... on the upside- PROGRESS!

Cross your fingers that this will be off the needles on Saturday.

I'll update you more then but just know there will be more to say in February as I have a HUGE "to do" list for that month's goals!

Rainbow Knitting Continues

Welp- that was quick... blanket 1 was off the needles on Jan 16 and I need to jump and move quickly if I'm going to get blanket #2 going and done for Jan 31.  Here's a sneak peak on what I'm doing for #2....

Can you guess is yet?  Haha.  There is more than enough colors left, so I'm not worried about running out of yarn.  I bought some black this time to have a more consistent color theme throughout and we'll see how #2 turns out!

Wanna see #1?

Pretty colorful.  It's not ready for it's glamor shots yet.  I need to weave in ends and block it a little, try to even it out.  I now know what it would look like to graduate the colors like that.  It's um... bright.  It looks cool  but I will admit I'm not wildly in love with it- so to WCOBB it will be donated!

I've decided that the rules to knitting 2 blankets this month does not include finishing- because GAH- that acrylic is going to take forever to block and GAH... that'll just be too much.  I joined the "February is for Finishing" knit-a-long in a Ravelry group and will make finishing the blankets as part of that priority.  (I've also signed up my second set of Polaris mittens and the preschool socks for the finishing in Feb.)

I know that in January I usually do a great big stash analysis and WHOO BOY- I still want to do it- but right now frantic blanket knitting is the priority so there hasn't been time to really get into the cabinet and photograph what's in there.  (There is so. much.)  BUT, in a fit of organization, I did organize my knitting notions that I keep upstairs to have access at any time.

I store my knitting stuff in this little pencil case the lovely Knitting Water (Hi Anne!) gifted to me one Christmas many many moons ago.  (Pre-babies!)

I love it.  It's not too big, it has just the right number of side pockets and (bonus) it's pink and Hello Kitty!

Here's the content all dumped out....

YIKES!  Chaos!  Let's organize shall we?

So- what exactly is in here?

Well for one thing, the next time I see a row counter, ANY counter, I am just going to walk away because GOOD LORD that is a lot of row counters in the right corner there.  And sadly, that's not all of them, there are probably like 3 or 4 other ones kicking around in various project bags that require my attention.

Also holy smokes do I not need any more stitch markers.  I had no idea there were that many in there!!  Truthfully I use my donuts and rainbow yarn balls almost exclusively as they're a little more whimsical but the other ones do tend to serve purposes from time to time.

Apparently my next greatest need as a knitter is lip balm?  HUH?  I hate HATE chapped lips.  But I think 3 is probably a little excessive don't you think?  Haha.  It's a good thing I cleaned this thing out!

The rest of the stuff is used every so often, and probably good to be in there.  I like those cable needles-  in my opinion a shorter cable needle is better and I like that it varies in sizes.  Crochet (ew!) hooks are also a necessary evil, especially now since I've mostly made my peace with crochet.  My poor little tape measure has been around for a long long time and it's starting to show it's age.  (It also happens to be an often used "toy" my son favors.)

So tell me- am I missing anything in my little notions kit?  What do you keep fairly close at hand?

Rainbow Fun

As you've seen here on the blog, I belong to the WCOBB (Western Canadian Odball Baby Blanket) society- where we knit a 6" section in scrap acrylic yarn that is donated to the Foothills NICU ward.  I've been involved for awhile now and it's a brilliant way to bust stash out of your acrylic bin of shame.  (Which 'fess up... we ALL have!)  Sometimes the blanket has a theme, or an outlined instruction or color pattern and other times it's just a free for all.

The further I've been involved on the blankets the more I've learned that I like the theme, or instruction blankets, as, in my mind, they tend to look a little more cohesive.  You can't always guarentee that the next knitter is going to follow the instructions though, and every once in awhile you get a blanket that looks a little... um... off? 

A popular "instructional" blanket to sign up for is one that incorporates mosaic patterns- which always really pop.  I've, for a long time, had in my head an idea for a mosaic blanket that incorporates Rainbow colors in the traditional "Roy. G. Biv" order.  And, well, as you recall, I bought a "schwack" load of rainbow acrylic on boxing day.  (Much to the shock of well, everyone.)  I just decided to indulge my curiosity.

First I needed to swatch out a few ideas.

I realized then that I had a bunch or leftover acrylic in the exact same brand, so I could swatch AND get a gauge swatch- so I switched to green and yellow.

I knit a lot of swatches, but I kept coming back to liking the "Swirly" pattern.

And so, satisfied that I had a decent plan, I cast on and was immediately transfixed.  To be honest I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the blanket.  If I love love LOVE it- I'll probably keep it and gift it to someone who would prefer the "upkeep" of acrylic over the "upkeep" of wool.  If I don't love love it, I'll probably donate it to the WCOBB group.

I already know that I'm going to have leftovers.  Like, a lot of leftovers.  So there's going to be another rainbow blanket after this one.  I haven't decided it's direction yet- but needless to say I'm having fun with all of this color.  My little goal would be too try and eek out 2 rainbow blankets this month.

What a great way to make up for the lack of color in January than to knit with Rainbows!  (Even if it IS acrylic.)