Spring is Coming!!!!

Hey Everyone!

I finished the pair of socks I had been working on in my previous post.

I had used Stroll Tweed in Marine Heather from KnitPicks for this particular pair of socks.

I came to the conclusion I have more than enough KnitPicks yarn for socks and shawls, and I really need to knit up what I already have. I really want to see my stash of sock yarn and shawl yarn decrease and my finished personal projects increase.

With that being said I did pick up some yarn yesterday at My local Joann fabric and craft superstore, for a project I am going to be working on once I get the projects I have in the works complete.

I am also wanting to get back to working on projects for babies and children in need. I have taken more than a year off already to work on personal projects, that I want to finish up using the yarn I have out that I purchased for personal projects and get back to making things for little ones who need warm clothes. It may be a bit before I start another sweater, but it is definitely still a project that is near and dear to my heart.

I started another pair of socks this morning, I am using one of the pink Stroll yarns I had ordered during the month of February beings that it was on sale.

Beings that Spring is right around the corner, we are starting to get the periodic nice day, which I am looking forward to. I have a couple pairs of socks that I would like to get washed and hang out on the line to dry.

Finished #70th Sweater

Hey Everyone!

Today I finally finished the sweater I started last year. 

I finished this size 8 sweater in which I used a Caron one pound skein of yarn in deep violet as well as some sunflower of the same brand. 

 

This sweater is special I many ways, it is the 70th sweater that I have completed. It also is the last sweater I needed to get 14 sweaters of each of the 5 sizes. I am excited that I now have even numbers of each size, and can start knitting up sets of sweaters.  

First Fall Sweater

Hey Evetyone!

I finally got the size 8 sweater that I had been working on here lately finished up. I completed it here this past Monday. I meant to blog about it yesterday, but here I am, getting to it on Wednesday night. Better late than never right?

  For this sweater I used all red heart super saver yarn. The brown is called Coffee, the Orange is Carrot, the Green is Tea Leaf and the yellow is Gold. I pretty well used up the coffee, though I have plenty of the other three colors left that I will be using in another sweater. 
Getting knitting projects is more difficult beings that I am working. This year I will be doing good to get 6 or 7 sweaters done. There was one year when I didn’t have a full time job that I had completed like 17 sweaters. The way I see it is that even 6 or 7 sweaters means that 6 or 7 kids will be kept warm. 

Finishing projects!

Hey Everyone!

A couple days ago i cast off my second sweater of the year. I made a size 6 sweater using red heart super tweed yarn in Pinkberry. 

For this sweater I used a braided cable design for the front. I like to use knit patterns when I use a solid or single variegated yarn to differentiate the front from the back. 

I have only completed two sweaters this year due to having other projects and working full time, I do what I can while I have the time to do so. 

This year I also got my excel spreadsheet set up so that it is ready to go through the year 2020, so it will be one less thing for me to have to do annually. I also keep a hard copy of my list of sweaters with the year they were knit, the size and colors used. In my spread sheet I have a tab for sizes by year, and a page of colors used by size, as well as a page that I have set up that I input the number of each size knit by year and it calculates feet, yards, Miles, ounces, and pounds used. It is really interesting to see the numbers broken out for how much each sweater uses. While I am not much of a math person, but when it comes to knitting that becomes irrelevant and with tools such as a calculator and using, in my case, an open office spreadsheet (which is similar to Microsoft Excel) helps me stay organized and keep track of what I have done.   

First sweater of the year completed!

Hey Everyone!

2015 has been a busy year so far for me with all the personal project I have been working on as well as the baby blankets for my cousin’s baby that is due in June (which is right around the corner). I finally got my first knit for kids sweater of the year completed.

I made a size 10 using Red Heart yarn in Light Sage, Buff and a cranberry colored yarn that I am pretty sure is a red heart year, or something similar. 

I don’t really know how long it took me to knit this one up, I want to say it took me a couple of months at least.   

Goals for the rest of 2015

Hey Everyone!

Now that I have gifts taken care of, I figure that it is time to really figure out what I want to get done in the way of charity knitting for this year.

This year I will complete five sweaters, including the one I am currently working on. I will also use up the balls of yarn I have sitting on my floor, as well as what is left over from the sweaters I knit this year, for hats for children in India.

I am currently working on a size ten sweater. I am working to cumulatively have the same number of each size sweater made. I will need to make one more size 6 sweater, two size 8 sweaters and one more size 10 sweater (in addition to the one I am currently working on) to have fourteen of each size of sweater. From there I want to go to making sets (a sweater of each size), and keep my sweater totals the same across the board.

I have several good size balls of yarn sitting around that are really too small for sweaters, but work great for making hats, which is what I plan to use them for. I am wanting to get them used up and made into something that will be sent to children living in poverty.

Last Sweater for the Year

Hey Everyone!

Yesterday I finished sewing up a size 6 sweater that I have been working on for the past month or so. For this sweater I used a Caron One Pound Skein of yarn in Jonquil. Weird name for a color, I know, but that’s what it is called.

I wanted something easy to work on as well as a more complicated project I have going. Beings that it was the project I could just pick up and work on, I worked on it more, thus completing it, while the more complicated lace project just sits. That I have to change as I need to get it done before Christmas. It is hard at the same time now that I am working full time and all I want to do when I get home is watch some vlogs and catch up on shows on Hulu and veg out.

It was nice to be productive while being busy and not as inclined as I have been at times to throw myself full force into knitting. This year has been a year where I have taken time to take care of my own needs, and I have still knit. I have just taken the time to explore other interests shoe also had 2 different jobs at different points in the year.

Getting as much done as I can

Hey Everyone!

For the last few days, I have been trying to get as much done as I can before I begin my new job. I still have most of a skein of the fishermen’s wool that I am letting sit for a bit, so I can focus on getting my mom’s Christmas gift before Christmas. I also have a knit for kids sweater in progress, so that I can have 7 sweaters done this year, bringing my cumulative sweater count to 65.

While my new job has nothing to do with knitting, or what I went to college for, I am excited for it. It is a step in the right direction, for gaining much needed paid work experience, resume building, getting my college loans paid off, and for the potential for other doors to be opened down the road.

I am glad that I got my friend’s Christmas gift completed here a month or two ago. It is one less thing for me to try to get done before Christmas with going to work as well.

Charity Knitting Monday Is Back!

Hey Everyone! 

I am excited to be bringing back Charity Project Monday, and Personal Project Tuesday posts. August was a busy month for me, and I needed the break from regular blogs to focus on a couple last minute baby gifts for a friend, as well as Vacation Bible School and Jury Duty. Now that those are done, and Summer is officially over in terms of the activities beings that it is labor day weekend and where I am school starts for the kids this week, summer vacation is over. That means I am back to looking for a job, and back to knitting regularly and blogging about it. 

This week for Charity Project Monday, I wanted to let you know that I completed the size 10 sweater that i have been working on for close to two months. That is the longest a sweater has taken me in the past few years. For this sweater I used Lion Brand Pound of Love yarn in Pastel Green. I used a ribbed pattern up the front to tell it apart from the back. 

Now that I have this sweater done, I am switching gears to use up the baby yarn i have sitting next to me for some charity projects. I am going to be making infant hats, that I plan to send to a reputable cause here within the U.S. for Infants born into poverty here within my own country. I love helping kids around the world, the children here in my own country who live in areas where extreme poverty is prevalent breaks my heart. These infants did not ask to be born into the conditions they were born into, and they are helpless, and that breaks my heart. While a hat at the very beginning may be a little thing, it could mean the difference between them making it. 

Fall is Coming!

Hey Everyone! 

I know it has been a couple of weeks since my last post, I have been busy. The week right after my last post I was crew leader for Vacation Bible School at church, and this past week I had jury duty for 3 days. 

Now that I have had a few days back into the swing of knitting, and back to my normal life, I have really noticed that Fall is definitely in the air. I started smelling it in the air a couple of weeks ago. Where I live, the transition from summer into fall often starts with a few of the leaves starting to turn colors a little bit, followed by a change in the way the air smells. It is hard to describe unless you have experienced it yourself. Early fall has its own unique smell. 

Since Thursday I have been spending a lot of time working on the size 10 sweater that I have had in the works for a bit. I am working on the back sleeves, and it is nearing completion, which I am excited about. 

After I am done with my sweater, I want to get the poncho I am working on done, and get it linked, washed and dried. I am excited for the prospect of having it done in time for when the weather actually gets cooler so I can actually wear it. I am also planning on spending some time working on infant hats, since I have a lot of three ply baby yarn sitting around. While I don’t know for sure where I will be sending the infant hats, I have an idea of where I would like to send them to be put to use. 

Beings that the weather is starting to cool off, I am so ready to dive into more (and larger) knitting projects.