Scarf is done (or, progress on the Christmas Knitting!)

So, the Entrelac Scarf for my Father is finally done.

Yeay! 

It's nice to have something off the needles, since several more things will be going on the needles in the next little while.

There's another KAL here on Ravelry that's all about Christmas knitting, so I'm going to enter that with my remaining Christmas Gifts.

Also, that KAL challenges you to make one thing for yourself, as well, so I'm going to make these (non ravelry link here), using Briggs and Little I got early in 2013.  The DROPS patterns are actually really nice patterns, even if sometimes the instructions are a touch vague (but that's probably just due to the translations, I suspect.)

Project Update -- September 27th, 2013

No pictures (it's dark now, so pictures don't turn out as well), but some news.

1)  I've determined that yes, I -will- need more yarn to finish my Mariah Cabled Cardigan. It's been an interesting adventure, knitting this, because I started when I knew a lot less then I know now.

So, I've put 1 more skein of the Dream In Colour Smooshy with Cashmere on my wishlist at EatSleepKnit.  (It's not in stock there right now).    Where I originally got the yarn, back in 2012, is no longer carrying Dream in Colour yarns, in fact, I haven't found a local place that carries the Smooshy with Cashmere.  Knit-O-Matic could order a bag of the Smooshy with Cashmere, I've been told, but I don't need a bag, just one more skein.  And though yes, I could use the other skeins in luxurious socks, I don't like the cashmere content in socks, because I want my socks to be machine washable.

However, this means that my new skein, like most hand-dyed yarns, won't be an exact match.  So, my plan is to finish up the sleeve with the skein I have now, then alternate the new skein with the ends from my various old skeins, and hope that hides the worst of the dye lot variation.

2) My Cowl KAL is progressing. . . slowly.  I just sat down with Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (can I say that I love the original series far more then the JJ Abrams reboot?)  and knit through that, which got me to the second pattern repeat (the pattern repeats 6 times).   When I'm done here, I'm going to stick on the Star Trek original series episode "Space Seed" and see if I can't get more knitting done tonight before my roommate gets home from work.

3) My Christmas Entrelac Scarf is getting closer to completion.  It's become my take-along brainless knitting for the moment, because it really is.  Entrelac looks complicated, but so long as you don't knit too many stitches in a section, you're fine.  I'm going to use three balls of the Liberty Wool Light, and then I'll see how much longer I think it needs to be.  I'm also going to add some fringe to it -- I think it would look better.

So How Fast can I knit. . .?

Ok. 

So I've gotten work done on a bunch of projects. I got past the thumb on the Birthday Gloves (no new picture there yet, sorry!), and I got 6 more squares done on Christmas Scarf. . . .

The Birthday Socks that I now have 10 days to finish?

No,  I haven't worked on them at all over this marathon until today, and the only reason I worked on them today was because I was out and about, and my work meeting takes place about two blocks from The Purple Purl.  So, I went in and just sat and knit (and chattered to the owners) and got a few inches into the foot.  But I still have another whole sock to do. 

This is going to be interesting. . .   can I knit fast enough to finish these socks in ten days?

Deadling Knitting and Progress!

So many things to knit, so many deadlines!

First, I promised you an update on the Birthday Socks.
 

I'm almost done the heel flap.  I find I'm actually pretty productive at a Knit Night.  That's part of why I go.


Next up is my Test-Knit. These have a July 31 deadline, so they're rather looming over me right now.

 

 But, there's not a lot more to do with them.  I've only got 10 more rows of the chart, and then the toe decreases.  Since I'm stuck at home today waiting for a repairman to show up (and discovered that due to an emergency call somewhere else, they're not coming today. . . urgh!) I might as well make good use of my time.

And finally, a new project to this blog, my Christmas Scarf.

It took a few tries to get a photo of this that was remotely ok.  And yes, I've started Christmas knitting in July (actually I started this in April!).  :D  I don't want to be knitting on Christmas Day, like I was last year.


/I made my father fingerless gloves last year for Christmas (this was before I was on Ravelry, so the project isn't there), and I was weaving in ends while in the car to his place on Christmas morning.

He just laughed about it, and didn't really mind./


So yeah.  Lots of deadline knitting over the next few weeks.  The ability to play video games and knit is really helping me get through all of it. I'm currently re-playing Mass Effect 1 but I've bumped the difficulty to Hardcore.  It's not easy.  I get lots of knitting done while waiting for the Mako's* shields or Shepard's health to regenerate. . . 

In addition to this stuff, there's other things on my needles too, as you probably well know if you've read some of my other posts. This includes the Birthday Gloves, which I haven't really touched since last update.  There are also more Christmas/Birthday gifts in planning -- you can see them on my Ravelry Queue here, if you're curious.

And yes, some of those are Christmas/Birthday 2014 plans.  Those are things where I've already teased out subtle hints about design and colour from the recipient so that I know they'll like it, and I'm not really worried about those at all beyond having things written down.

It's going to be busy. 


*the Mako is a drivable tank that you can take to various planets in-game. It has shields, but they take a while to recharge after getting shot.