Yesterday was a busy day around here and I did not get a chance to blog my WIPs for the week. Better late than never!
Lux Top Spinning
I finished spinning this a couple weeks ago. This week I started plying it. I’m about 1/3 of the way through the plying, and expect to finish it up this coming weekend.
Slytherin Houndstooth Scarf
This is the first scarf I’m weaving for the Weavers Guild sale next December. I finished tying on the warp, wove the header, wove the first inch of the scarf, and hemstitched the edge. I’m ready to do the weaving proper, and expect to finish this by next week.
Wearing of the Green(e) Socks
I’ve knit a stripe and a half on these socks this week. I have another 4 stripes to knit before I bind off the leg. This is going a little slowly as the small needles seem to hurt my hands if I do it for too long, but I’m making progress as I can. I expect to finish these by the end of the month, but you’ll probably see them in next week’s WIP post.
Organization
This week, I updated both my fiber and yarn stashes in Ravelry. I downloaded my yarn stash to a spreadsheet, determined how much yarn I have, and set goals for stash reduction. I’m going to write a separate post on stash in the next couple of days, and will go into more detail in that post. After updating my fiber stash, I found a source for several breed specific fibers that I did not already have, and I ordered them. I believe they will arrive today. After I receive them and add them to Ravelry, Stacy and I will determine our methodology for the breed specific spinning and the first couple of fibers we plan to spin.
This week, I also started on organizing the crochet project. The first step was to figure out which of the granny squares are in each category of difficulty. To do this, I looked at each pattern and made an appropriate number of dots next to the index entry for that pattern, like so:
I now need to use the index to type up my own list, organized by star rating. Then I will go through the list of one star squares and organize them into the order in which I plan to crochet them. These tasks should be accomplished this week.
My Office
I got a new computer last week, but haven’t set it up yet. The problem is that setting up the computer means rearranging my entire office. I have to make space on my desk, which means some things have to move off the desk. I need to move a table to be next to my desk, which means emptying out two file cabinets. This will be my major project starting Friday and going into the weekend. This will cut into my crafting and blogging time!
Me
Last August, I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I’ve elected to try to control it with diet and exercise first, and since I was relatively low on the chart (my A1c was 7.5; a value between 5.5 and 6.4 is pre-diabetic and 6.5 or over is diabetic). I did a good job for the first three months, by making small dietary changes and lifting weights with a personal trainer. At my first follow-up visit, my A1c was down to 6.6. My diet wasn’t great over the holidays, and I have not been consistent with aerobic exercise. Now I’m getting back on track. This week, I went to my first yoga class and I also managed two long rides on my bicycle: 11.86 miles on Monday and 15.25 miles yesterday!
January Goals
One of the reasons I post about WIPs is to help keep me on track with my goals. I figured that I would start a new thing of including an updated goal list in each WIP. This forces me to look at the list each week, and I hope that will help keep me on track. It also allows you to see exactly how I’m doing without flipping back to my monthly goal post. On the list below, I’ve italicized anything discussed in the post above and run a line through anything that is finished. Some things (especially under stash down) are both italicized and crossed through because they fit both categories.
Knitting
- Knit one hat / mitten /
scarfset for charity - Knit one monster for charity
- Knit the blanket for the layette
Finish the Tribble Scrubbies- Sew the lining into my Quinn Bag
- Sew in the ends on MAPLE LEAF the Eighth and block it
- Finish MAPLE LEAF the Ninth
- Finish Wearing of the Green Socks
Crocheting
- Determine an order for crocheting the one star patterns in The Big Book of Granny Squares: 365 Crochet Motifs
- Crochet 10 granny squares from the book
Spinning
Finish spinning the NGY Lux Top that is currently on my wheel. Ply and set it.Enter fiber stash into Ravelry- Determine order for breed specific spinning project
- Send Stacy a portion of any fibers I have that she does not
- Spin at least an ounce of two different fibers.
- Spin at least four ounces of a fiber that is not part of the breed specific spinning project
Weaving
Finish the Ravenclaw Houndstooth Scarf that is currently on my loom.Try out the floor loom the Weavers Guild is bringing to Distaff Day- Weave at least two scarves to save for the Guild sale in December
Weave a plaid scarf for my sister(this is not yet completed, but my sister wants to pick out a tartan for this so I can’t work on it until she does so)
Dyeing
- Dye all the MAPLE LEAF shawls
Stashdown 2015
Enter the yarn I’ve bought in the last couple months into RavelryDownload my Rav stash into a spreadsheet to determine how much I haveDetermine how much yarn I have in specific weightsSet goals for reducing certain parts of the stash (by weight or fiber type maybe?)Set plans for increasing stash of weaving yarns
Tell your sister that the Barclay tartan is an excellent choice. It’s quite lovely.