Solid D+

Thanks to all who voted with confidence in me this weekend!! You're all so sweet to believe that I can achieve! That's why it pains me to tell you that I didn't achieve. In fact, I barely passed.

If you recall my goals were these:

1) Block the Welsh Blanket
2) Finish Moving Mountains and weave in all ends
3) Knit a baby hat for August
4) Swatch and cast on for next "portable blanket" project

At the end of the weekend here's where I ended up.

1) Block the Welsh Blanket : 0/1
Didn't happen. For one, I'm having second thoughts on blocking it- the ends might just ruffle despite blocking... but I feel like that's the lazy in me talking and not necessarily the practical side of me. I don't really enjoy the blocking process so I'm trying to come up with excuses to not do it. When I went to block something else today though I also discovered a problem. I have no idea where my bloody blocking pins are!! I have looked everywhere. TWICE. It appears a trip to a sewing shop is in my future.

2) Finish Moving Mountains and weave in all the ends: 1/2

Okay some progress here. The blanket is off the needles and it's completed. I used 9.5 balls of yarn so I'm satisfied with the stash down. This is a photo of the wrong side of the project and as you can see I failed to finish weaving in my ends. I'd like to get that done this week.

3) Knit a baby hat for August: 1/1

YEAH I accomplished a whole goal. August hat is donezo! (And if you're wondering "what's up with all the purple?" lately- I just have a lot leftover I want to use up and out of my stash.)

4) Swatch and cast on for next "portable blanket" project: 1/2

Swatch is done- but cast on is not. It became apparent last night while I was frantically knitting this swatch that it's going to need to be blocked before I can get an idea of what the measurements will be. I'm actually blocking that right now (with safety pins... I need to find those blocking needles!) and I'm glad I waited. The yarn grows. A lot. I need to let the swatch dry before I can adequately determine how many stitches I need to cast on to get a satisfactory sized blanket out of this pattern.

So there you have it. Three out of six things I had hoped to accomplish- or just barely a pass, a solid D+ showing. Contributing to my non-success was an exceptionally hot and beautiful weekend that I spent a few moments just basking in. It was officially too hot to knit outside. (At least blankets) I also spent the weekend girl bonding with my sister and the dogs- and well, sometimes you just need to put down the needles and give them a little attention too. I'm not too heavily disappointed that I couldn't get everything done I had set out to do- but I do feel the urgency to declare these two blankets finished- so hopefully will get them out of the way prior to the long weekend.

On the upside it appears that I have fixed the blog again- the poll was sized to large- throwing all my sidebar stuff to the bottom of the page. A little google search later and I was able to figure out what to do.

For those of you who have been asking- the blankets completed so far are not for my impending little one. Neither is baby dots... it's the wrong colors.... (there's a not so subtle hint for you on the sex of Jr.). I know at least 4 people having babies in and around the arrival of my own and I've told myself I can knit for all of them, including mine. This is probably exceptionally delusional of me- but we'll blame it on pregnancy hormones! (Whoo boy those have kicked in this week. Look out EVERYONE! I will either yell or cry at you- please ignore me.)

Setting Goals

Right. An update is owed.

I'd love to post an update on the states of "Moving Mountains" and "Welsh Blanket" but they would look pretty much the exact same from what they looked like last blog post. So, in the interest of time, just go to my last blog post here and refresh yourself with the state of things. (Progress is occurring, but nothing that would look different from last time.)

I did, however, cast on something new, to make up for the absence on my couch of the last "un-portable" blanket. (Welsh) I started a new "un-portable" blanket! Meet Baby Dots and OH is this one pretty!

SO pretty! But also? SO not able to travel. Check out this delightful yarn ball shmozzle of potential "yarn knot disaster".

I'm staring down a weekend where I'm hoping relaxation is the primary goal and I get to sneak in a whole bunch of knitting progress. Since setting a weekend goal was fairly successful last time when I did it, I give you my weekend goals for this weekend.

1. Block the Welsh Blanket (Ends are woven in, I just need to take the final step to "glamour photo" this project for the blog. I can just imagine this blanket saying "I'm ready for my Close up Mr. DeMille".)


2. Finish Moving Mountains and weave in all ends (I'm on ball 7/10 now)


3. Knit a baby hat for August


4. Swatch and cast on for next "portable blanket" project

If, and when, I accomplish these things I will allow myself to work on Baby Dots- which I am SO enamored with right now, I would knit it and only it. But, I can only work on this project if the list gets completed first. (That's knitting tough love right there.)

So- whaddya think? Think I can accomplish these goals? Place your votes below (poll closes on Sunday at midnight) and I'll try and update you as to where I got after the weekend!

Can't Talk... Must Keep Knitting

As predicted, August is shaping up to be a month for finished things to show you. I have been a machine (yeah mojo return!)- trying my best to whip through and bust down as much stash as I can. Why? I have four other friends other than myself expecting babies this fall and early winter and I have it in my head that I can get blankets done for everyone. (Ambitious much?) But as this blog title suggest... less blather, more knitting.

This weekend I got the Welsh Blanket off the needles. I really wanted to be sure that I knit the right number of rows on the ends so that the border looked cohesive the whole way around. That's why I provisionally cast on, I wanted to be save the borders until the end. On Saturday morning I got the main section of the pattern done.

By Sunday, I cast off the project in a satisfying swoop. Yes... there is still work to be done on this.

The next few morning while I "patiently" wait for my husband I will forgo the dishcloth knitting and instead will be weaving in ends on this blanket. I decided to reward myself with the actual "being done with it" part and set it aside for the rest of the weekend. End weaving needs to happen and a good hard blocking process needs to occur.

Finishing that blanket also means that I could work more on "Moving Mountains" which is also creeping up to the finish line. Here it is at about 6 out of 10 balls in.

This thing knits FAST and I'm hoping to "crush it" when I visit my grandmother this next weekend.

But since Mountains is so portable, I decided that it was okay to go ahead and bust some stash and begin another project- the Baby Dots Blanket, which is going to be a whole let less portable.

Here's the initial swatching stage completed. Don't get attached to these colors, this is just some Bernat Softee I had lying around in order to perserve the white stash I do have. I won't give away what I'm doing until there's a good picture to show you but I think this one is going to be quite smashing.

So yes- quite the busy place around here knitting wise. Hopefully the knitting time keeps falling into my lap and I can keep up with my goal of having some finished stuff to show you this August.