Progress On My Year Of Projects.

Well after the chaos that is the last few weeks of summer term I am finally finding time for a WIP post which I am combining with a Year Of Projects Post too. If you want to see more work in progress then go visit Tami's Blog and, if you are on Rav, you can find more Year of Projects posts in the Come Blog Along group.

All the projects I am sharing today are part of my Year of Projects list.

First up is some secret knitting.  I have already changed the pattern from the one on my original list to Rachel's Cabled Hot Water Bottle Cover.  I have knit one of these before and I prefer the sewn up bottom to the flap on the other pattern I considered.  Given that I can only work on this when the boys are in bed it's going well.  Forgive the picture I took it quickly this morning and the colour is really bad.  In real life it's a much darker green.  The yarn is Babylonglegs Radiance and I'm loving the way it is knitting up.

 Next up is my vanilla socks which bring another pattern change.  I have two 50g balls of this Regia so I decided I wanted to make it go as far as possible which of course means toe up socks.  These are now Widdershins rather than my normal cuff down pattern.  Now I'm past the hedgehog needle start I'm enjoying them.  The plain socks make good TV knitting.  Hopefully they'll get a fair bit of attention now the holidays are underway.

Lastly is the ultimate in TV knitting.  I like to have a dishcloth on the needles for any car trips where I need to navigate for Mr Miffy.  My dishcloths are almost always plain garter stitch affairs with me relying on the colours of the yarn to make them fun rather than a more complex pattern.

And So We Begin

When I first decided to join in the the Year Of Projects, back in May, July seem along way off still but here we are already and it's time to officially get started.  I must confess here that in a moment of being "TV knitting" free earlier this week I cast on the first project and got a couple of inches done but hey, I was too excited to wait. ;)  Plus I didn't have anything else that I could work on and watch TV at the same time.

So here is my list:

1) Vest top - I have some lovely bargain priced pale blue bamboo that I have been intending to turn into a vest top for a while now.  I've done some swatching and need to measure again and sort out a final pattern.  I've Blogged about this top project before here.

2) Jaywalkers - I've got some black and purple yarn that I got at Woolfest a few years ago that should stripe really well.

3) Widdershins - I've knit these before and thought they would make a good TV knitting project if I do the stocking stitch version, once I'm past the cast on this is.  I've got two 50g skeins of yarn so I figured I could get some nice long winter socks if I did them toe up and just carried on till the end of each ball.

4) Hot Water Bottle Cozy - This will be a Yule present for Middle who has been asking for a hot water bottle for a while now.

5) Hot Water Bottle Cozy - What Middle gets Bean wants and giving them a hot water bottle each will stop arguments and as I'm using stash for both will make good value Yule presents.

6) Centrique - I've been hankering after knitting this for a while now and a few weeks ago I tracked down and treated myself to some Babylonglegs Semi-Precious yarn which is just perfect for this project.

7) Hitchhiker - I've just finished one of these for myself and really enjoyed knitting it.  I'm thinking it's shape will be great for my Sis so this will be her Yule present.  My Sis buys herself a funky hat to wear each winter and so I'm just waiting for my Mum to find out this years colours so I can buy yarn to match.

8) Infinity Bag - Again this is a project I've done before and enjoyed.  If I can get it to a reasonable size with the yarn I have stashed it will make a great "box" for my Mum and Dad's Yule gifts and will be something that my Mum will use too.

9) Sock for my Mum - She has asked me to knit her a pair for Christmas and has said that she will buy herself some yarn when she is at a particular horse show later this year.

10) Doublish - This will be my Niece's Yule present.  I've already got the perfect yarn for this one.

11) Bakersfield (probably) - When I got the yarn for the Centrique I somehow ended up with two skeins, as you do.  This is my current choice for the second skein though I may change my mind between now and casting on.

12) Evangeline - I almost always need to wear a hat in order to stop my sinuses giving me trouble so I'm always on the look out for pattern I like.

13) Mr Tom's Beanie - I'm a big WoollyWormHead fan so this is the first of a few of her designs.

14) Doodie - which I'll need to convert to an adult size though I shouldn't this I'll have any trouble doing it.

15) Woolly Wormhead Mystery Hat - Each year Woolly does a mystery hat releasing a clue every few days so assuming that she does one this year I'll be joining in again.

16) Dishcloth - I'm only doing plain garter stitch cloths as they are quick and easy TV and driving knitting.

17) Dishcloth - Number two

18) - Dishcloth - Number three.  I could use one or two for me at home and the other one will go in my Mum's Yule gift bag.

And there you have it.  18 projects for the year although I'm not promising to stick absolutely to the list some may be dropped and others added depending on what pattern's and yarn I discover and what I am asked to do over the next year.

Out of the 18 I already have the yarn for 15 and my Mum is buying the yarn for her socks so at the moment I only have two skeins to buy.  One for my Sister's scarf and one for the Woolly Wormhead Mystery Hat.

Seven On Sunday On Monday

Well I ran out of day and energy yesterday so my Seven On Sunday didn't happen instead her are my Seven On Sunday On Monday.

My goodness it's June already, I can't believe we are nearly half-way through the year.  Seven good things in my life for this week are

1) Half term and all of us together for lots of family time.

2) Half term meaning that Mr Miffy did the vacuuming for me.  You cannot believe just how much I hate vacuuming so having Mr Miffy do it is a real treat.  To be fair he does more than his share in the holidays and in term time he works so many hours that's it's simply not on to expect him to do housework when I am not going out to work at all.

3) Coffee out with a very good friend. And lunch too!  Our regular Knit and Knatter home is closed at the moment so there's been no evening meetings and as Mr Miffy was home to have the kids I took the opportunity to meet a friend for lunch, coffee and knitting.  A very relaxing and peaceful afternoon was had.  Roll on the summer holidays so we can do it again.

4) Going to the park with the kids, their friends and my friend.  My friend and I try to get together at half terms and holidays so the kids can spend some time with each other.  L and I manage coffee on a fairly regular basis but as the kids go to different schools they don't get to see each other as often as they'd like.  We had a lovely morning with the kids playing in the park and L and I sitting chatting.

5) Fun with Lego.  This amazing tower was started by the kids whilst I was out for my afternoon knitting and very soon Mr Miffy was helping out.  When I got home it was taller than Middle and the builders had quit for the day.  The next day Middle, Mr Miffy and I went back to work hunting down suitable pieces and putting the final part of the tower on top which was pretty tricky itself.  Still we were all very impressed with our tower and ourselves.  It was a very wobbly creation but despite this it stayed upright for the afternoon and overnight before Mr Miffy knocked it down.

6) Sitting in the garden with friends.  Some friends had a bit of a get together this week which involved letting the kids run wild in a huge garden while we drank tea and ate cake whilst occasionally intervening to maintain some vague kind of order.  The boys and I had a lovely afternoon and I even caught the sun a little :)  Then last night we were invited out to other friends for a BBQ which again involved food and sitting in the garden.  Very relaxing indeed.

7)Yarn shopping.  Well what can I say, you can't beat a bit of yarn shopping and I've been after some of this yarn for a good while now so while I had some spare pennies I thought I would treat myself.  I've got a couple of ideas as to what it will turn into.  Definitely something for me possibly a Centrique.  I think whatever it becomes it will be knit as part of my Year of Projects so watch this space.  I'll show you pics and let you know what it is when it arrives.

Year of Projects Plans

There is a group on Ravelry who have begun a Blogging project called "A Year Of Projects".  It's kind of a spin off from the Blog Hub group and now of course has it's own Rav Group - Come Blog-a-long go have a look see.

I really liked the idea of having some more structure to my knitting plans and this project is the perfect way to acheive that and to be able to have lots of fun in the process.

We officially start linked regular blogging on the 1st July so I really need to have sorted my list before then.  The idea is to challenge ourselves on a personal level, some people are working through a book of patterns, other through their Rav queue (mine is too scary to do that) and other are just creating a list of patterns.

I've been mulling over some ideas and have decided that I really need to get some of these ideas written down before they are squashed out of my overcrowded brain by all the other stuff I need to remember to do.  Some of my knitting is going to be for me but some will be presents for folk for birthdays and Yule etc.

There will of course need to be socks.  There can never be enough socks.  Bean needs a bedtime pair so I think I'll put them down.  I don't really need new socks but then again you can never really have enough so I think a plain pair and a patterned pair for me will be good.

I'm going to hold off on my vest top and put that on the list.  Good motivation to get it sorted I hope.

Middle looks at my hotwater bottle with undisguised longing and I've found him cuddling it (cold) on a few occasions when he's kipped in my bed so I think I may get him one for Christmas and knit it a cover.  And of course whatever Middle has Bean wants so that will necessitate my knitting one for him.  I'm hoping (I haven't looked yet) to be able to find a pattern that requires fairly chunky yarn so these can be quite quick knits.

I'm planning another Hitchhiker scarf which will be for my sister for Christmas.  Again this is a nice simple pattern so good for knitting groups.

And I think a more detailed (read "lace") scarf for me is in the offing.

I got some pure wool a while back which will be fab for felting so I may make another Infinity Bag with that which I will probably give to my Mum as part of her Christmas Box.

I want a fair bit of what I knit to be from stash as I could do with working through some of what I already have but there is a years knitting here to go at so I think some new yarn may find it's way into the house somehow.