Necromancy At Its Finest

I'm not going to try to appease anyone with excuses, reasons, or whatnot to explain my absence.

It's been almost five freaking years!  What happened?

I've been slowly getting my life back on track - I didn't realize until recently how much of me I'd lost after having a kid.  I've started picking up knitting again, joined a local concert band, lost a bunch of weight, got back into playing Guild Wars 2, and I'm finally starting to feel like my own person.

This is still a knitting blog.  I've been back on Ravelry pretty consistently (y'know, for a lurker) and I've been finishing up old projects and updating the stash.

So!  Here's where we're at:

WIPs

Mittens with Picot Edging (started 2023)

Ten Stitch Blanket (started 2019)

Sockhead Slouch Hat (started 2019)

Vanilla Socks (started 2018)

Hibernating

Eden Scarf Design 9 (started 2021)

Dancing Bees (started 2015 - oops)

Stripes and Diamonds Scarf (started 2021, I think)

Daughter of Thrain (started 2017)

Oranje (started 2017)

With those on the needles, I've also got 60 different yarns stashed at varying amounts, half of which were encouraged by my son (he loves to shop for yarn for me to make him stuff with).

Okay, so what's the plan?  I'm going to try what I was doing before (like, back in 2016 before, not like 2019 when I went AWOL).  I've got a main goal to achieve this year (well, next year I guess, because this year's pretty much over).  My main goal for 2024 is to finish two of the hibernating projects and three of the current WIPs.

January 2024 mini-achieve goals:

1.  Finish mittens by January 7, 2024 (should be totally do-able, as they're almost done already).

2.  Work another two inches on the socks by January 31 (currently at 10 inches).

3.  Figure out what row I'm on for Dancing Bees (it's the oldest project, and I feel like it'll fly once I get started again), also by January 31.

4.  Don't buy yarn.  Should be easy, eh?

I did frog a couple of projects from previous years, like the grey sweater, and I did finally finish (last month!) the shawl I needed to block five years ago.  I will be updating monthly to start, and I'm determined to keep this going now.

New Year Update

Current WIPs (new ones are bolded):

Sweaters/Cardigans:

Rosemary Cardigan, Cascade 220 Heather
Oranje, Estelle Yarns Andean Heathers

Shawls/Scarves:

Dancing Bees MKAL, Debbie Bliss Rialto Lace
Mini Mania Scarf, all my leftover sock yarns
Daughter of Thrain MKAL, Crystal Palace Yarn Lace
Endometriosis Shawl, madelinetosh Tosh Merino - Technically finished, need to block
Organized Chaos, Patons Merino Wool
Winter Raven Walks MKAL, JaggerSpun Zephyr Wool-Silk

Hands and Feet:

Generic Cuff Down Sock, Red Heart
Vanilla Toe-up Sock w/ Fish Lips Kiss Heel, Mirasol Yarn Hachito
Stockinette Hand Warmers, Sugar Bush Itty Bitty

Hats:

1898 Hat, Andre's Alpacas Sock (held quadruple) - hibernating

Ahem.  Um, whoops.  So, it's September (not even the beginning anymore!) and I've been neglecting this blog for a few months.  Sorry!

I started a few projects, including another lace-weight MKAL (I swear I'm going to finish all of them ... one day), and I've finished absolutely nothing.  It's been hot.  Too hot to comfortably knit.  But now it's cooling off a bit and I'm out of excuses.

September Goals:  Finish something.

I get distracted easily.  I started several 1898 hats in November and December and finished (or frogged, in one case) all of them.  I did manage to finish the hand warmers though!

January Goals:  Block the Endometriosis shawl and start actively working on Oranje for this winter's CYW.

Picture Post

Update For The Last Few Months

Current WIPs (new ones are bolded):

Sweaters/Cardigans:

Rosemary Cardigan, Cascade 220 Heather
Oranje, Estelle Yarns Andean Heathers

Shawls/Scarves:

Dancing Bees MKAL, Debbie Bliss Rialto Lace
Mini Mania Scarf, all my leftover sock yarns
Daughter of Thrain MKAL, Crystal Palace Yarn Lace
Endometriosis Shawl, madelinetosh Tosh Merino
Organized Chaos, Patons Merino Wool
Winter Raven Walks MKAL, JaggerSpun Zephyr Wool-Silk

Hands and Feet:

Generic Cuff Down Sock, Red Heart
Vanilla Toe-up Sock w/ Fish Lips Kiss Heel, Mirasol Yarn Hachito
Stockinette Hand Warmers, Sugar Bush Itty Bitty

Hats:

1898 Hat, Andre's Alpacas Sock (held quadruple) - hibernating

Mittens are finished.  Work is great, and my son loves daycare.

April Goals:  Make another hair tie (stashbusting and growing out my hair).  Finish the worsted weight shawl.  Work on the socks.  Buy no yarn.  Try (ha!) to not start another project (except for the hair tie).

Ahem.  Um, whoops.  So, it's September (not even the beginning anymore!) and I've been neglecting this blog for a few months.  Sorry!

I started a few projects, including another lace-weight MKAL (I swear I'm going to finish all of them ... one day), and I've finished absolutely nothing.  It's been hot.  Too hot to comfortably knit.  But now it's cooling off a bit and I'm out of excuses.

September Goals:  Finish something.

March Update

Current WIPs (new ones are bolded):

Sweaters/Cardigans:

Rosemary Cardigan, Cascade 220 Heather
Oranje, Estelle Yarns Andean Heathers

Shawls/Scarves:

Dancing Bees MKAL, Debbie Bliss Rialto Lace
Mini Mania Scarf, all my leftover sock yarns
Daughter of Thrain MKAL, Crystal Palace Yarn Lace
Endometriosis Shawl, madelinetosh Tosh Merino

Hands and Feet:

Mitten (my own design), Patons Classic Wool
Generic Cuff Down Sock, Red Heart
Vanilla Toe-up Sock w/ Fish Lips Kiss Heel, Mirasol Yarn Hachito

Hats:

1898 Hat, Andre's Alpacas Sock (held quadruple) - hibernating
Tie-D Hair, Patons Classic Wool

Blankets:

Star Blanket, Caron Cakes

Still trying not to freak out about Monday (going back to work).  Finished the hat, started and finished three more projects (two were for a birthday present), and worked a bit on the cardigan.

March Goals:  Finish those mittens!

Mittens are finished.  Work is great, and my son loves daycare.

April Goals:  Make another hair tie (stashbusting and growing out my hair).  Finish the worsted weight shawl.  Work on the socks.  Buy no yarn.  Try (ha!) to not start another project (except for the hair tie).

February Update

Current WIPs (new ones are bolded):

Sweaters/Cardigans:

Rosemary Cardigan, Cascade 220 Heather
Oranje, Estelle Yarns Andean Heathers

Shawls/Scarves:

Dancing Bees MKAL, Debbie Bliss Rialto Lace
Mini Mania Scarf, all my leftover sock yarns
Daughter of Thrain MKAL, Crystal Palace Yarn Lace
Mini Mania Scarf, Bernat Pop!
Dudester Scarf, Mary Maxim Aran Irish Tweed
Dudester Scarf, Sirdar Snuggly

Hands and Feet:

Mitten (my own design), Patons Classic Wool
Generic Cuff Down Sock, Red Heart
Vanilla Toe-up Sock w/ Fish Lips Kiss Heel, Mirasol Yarn Hachito


Hats:

1898 Hat, Andre's Alpacas Sock (held quadruple) - hibernating
1898 Hat, Sirdar Snuggly
1898 Hat, Mary Maxim Aran Irish Tweed

The first mitt isn't fully done, as I still need to do the embroidery part.  But the charts are complete and the written pattern is almost done.

I finished the hat, made another for my husband, and then started another for my son.  I might have had that one done for January, too, but we all came down with something.

I kinda cheated on the last goal and made the prototype mitt my CYW project.

February Goals:  Try not to freak out too much at the thought of going back to work and putting my son in daycare.  Finish that hat (it's almost done).  Work on the Rosemary cardigan, even though I'm pretty sure I'll run out of yarn first.

Still trying not to freak out about Monday (going back to work).  Finished the hat, started and finished three more projects (two were for a birthday present), and worked a bit on the cardigan.

March Goals:  Finish those mittens!

January Update

Current WIPs (new ones are bolded):

Sweaters/Cardigans:

Rosemary Cardigan, Cascade 220 Heather

Oranje, Estelle Yarns Andean Heathers

Shawls/Scarves:

Dancing Bees MKAL, Debbie Bliss Rialto Lace
Mini Mania Scarf, all my leftover sock yarns
Daughter of Thrain MKAL, Crystal Palace Yarn Lace
Mini Mania Scarf, Bernat Pop!

Hands and Feet:

Mitten (my own design), Patons Classic Wool
Generic Cuff Down Sock, Red Heart
Baby Mitten, leftover sock yarn

Hats:

1898 Hat, Andre's Alpacas Sock (held quadruple) - hibernating
1898 Hat, Patons Classic Wool
1898 Hat, Patons Classic Wool
1898 Hat, Sirdar Snuggly 

Two out of three ain't bad, but I didn't work on the prototype mitt at all.  I finished three projects, though!  The ponchetta is a birthday gift and took less than a week to knit.

January Goals:  Finish first prototype mitt and work on the charts.  Finish hat for Dad.  Maybe cast on a Colour Your Winter project.

The first mitt isn't fully done, as I still need to do the embroidery part.  But the charts are complete and the written pattern is almost done.

I finished the hat, made another for my husband, and then started another for my son.  I might have had that one done for January, too, but we all came down with something.

I kinda cheated on the last goal and made the prototype mitt my CYW project.

February Goals:  Try not to freak out too much at the thought of going back to work and putting my son in daycare.  Finish that hat (it's almost done).  Work on the Rosemary cardigan, even though I'm pretty sure I'll run out of yarn first.