It's been four years, and I bought some stuff.

Four years have come and gone since I've written here. I've gotten a new job, a new second job, got married, was 'essential' during a pandemic, and bought a house. One thing has remained the same: I am a terrible cold sheeper.

My next pet project, however, is to use that yarn to make things I'll actually wear. Shawls are fantastic and all, but I'd really like to have some sweaters, t-shirts, and maybe even delve into socks. I find I stick to one or two shawls all winter and the rest are all just folded up in a box. I want to try out the idea of a "me made wardrobe" of sorts. Considering I can't sew and I get hot all the time, this will have to be a whole bunch of short sleeve sweaters.

Recently, I've completed [warning: Ravelry links ahead until I figure out somewhere else to host projects]: 

Sugar Maple out of The Lemonade Shop's Truly Outrageous. I *love* the mini rainbows that pop up in the sea of blue and it fits perfectly! I did a size 38 in size 4 (US) needles. 

Continuing on The Lemonade Shop trend, I also just finished T Shirt Romantique. The yarn for this one is 'ImPEACHment' and I adore this peachy color. It's so bright and happy! This had a provisional cast on, which I don't know if I'd willingly do again. Picking all those stitches up was a chore and I learned I can barely crochet a basic chain. However, I love the final product! I added some ribbing to the bottom to prevent rolling and this also fits very well. Sizing for this is a small with size 6 (US) needles.

It's been a month and I bought some things.

Let me get the worst out of the way. I was a terrible cold sheeper this past month. I signed up for the Madelinetosh 3 month yarn club and got my first package - Euro Sock in the Hydra colorway. This is more than likely going to become Rising Dawn by the wonderful Stephen West. I also acquired some Hedgehog Fibers, which is probably going to become Exploration Station. After completing my Glacier Sweep, I want to knit everything by Stephen West. I guess West Knits are truly the best knits. 

So, Glacier Sweep. I loved it. LOVED IT. Then I hated it, somewhere during the last section. Completing that last section was a chore. But then I got to the bind off and I loved it again! 

The ends weren't woven in here, so be it.

I wound up loving it so much that, as I wrote above, I'm going to eventually do three more West Knits shawls (at least). I'm officially on the Stephen West bandwagon, but sort of hanging off the side of the wagon because I'm not participating in the newest MKAL (Marled Magic).


One of those three is Dotted Rays, which I started with a bunch of hand dyed that I acquired from Yarn & Ewe. This was dyed up by Janine and the second I saw it on her podcast I paused and bought five of them. They're sparkly and so soft. 

It's so tiny!

I also received my Vivid Fiber Arts in Allsorts and it's so pretty! There was a slight mix up with my order which was in no way Amy's fault and she fixed it and got my yarn to me within two days, I think. She's so nice and wonderful. I'm definitely going to be purchasing more of her yarn in the future.

I now need beads to match my Allsorts and it will become Renaissance Fan, hopefully. One of these days I have to write about my experiences with Ren Fan. It's the hardest easiest pattern I've ever experienced. 

And now, my socks. I didn't even post a picture of them completed because I hate them. I did two at a time magic loop socks that I cast on back in.. July? I then switched them over to two 9" circs after watching the Yarn Hoarder because, hey maybe that'll make them more tolerable. I did manage to complete them, but they're HUGE. I somehow ended up with 70 stitches on each sock and I have no idea how that happened but there's no way I'm going back to redo it. I also did the provisional cast on toe and short row toe/heel so there's holes all over these socks. They look terrible. They're gigantic. They fit my boyfriend. They're going to be wear around the house when nobody else is home socks. 

In the time between my last post and now, I went to Universal with the boyfriend, bestie, and his boyfriend. It was an amazing experience to be able to see Diagon Alley in the flesh, although Ollivander's was the biggest let down and I'm glad I got that out of the way first. 

It looks just like the book!!

Of course I bought a wand anyway. And robes. 

Since we were flying down and I hated my socks, I decided to start a new shawl for plane knitting. I started and completed another shawl, Among the Shadows with some Lambstrings yarn in Rosario that I bought last year at the Long Island Fiber & Fleece Festival. This shawl is mainly garter with some purled stripes and some ribbing. I followed the pattern completely and wound up having way too much ribbing, so I ripped back and added 3 more purled striped sections then started the ribbing. And then I didn't have enough yarn to do the bind off so I had to rip back the bind off and the last row. It was a test of patience and took about three days to finally finish it. I'm not going to block it out and I'm going to wear it like a short scarf under my coat for this surprisingly cold March.

I really need a better picture spot.

With all of that completed, I decided to attempt another pair of socks to see if another pattern will make me like them more. With my leftovers from the last socks, I'm attempting Vanilla Reversed. I've only got the toe of one sock done, but there's no holes in them! Yay! Hopefully the heels will also be hole-less and I'll have a go-to sock pattern.

I've also put in a little bit of work on my Fox and the Grapes shawl. I completed two whole rows - but at 900-ish stitches per row I feel like that's a decent amount for the day. 

Lastly, I won a thing!! I watch Knotty Knit Wits and participated in their Ewe Sew an Sew jumbo project bag give away! I don't own any project bags and I never win a thing so this is so exciting! It's probably going to be the home of my Catskill shawl just to free up some yarn space. If you don't watch Michelle and Leslie, you should. I wish I had a knitting friend local to me so we can be like them. They're hilarious and kind and so talented. 

Current works in progress:

• Catskill Mountain Shawl 
• Fox and the Grapes Shawl 
• Ten Stitch Twist
• Vanilla Reversed
• Dotted Rays - Speckled Fade

Finished Objects:

• ABC Baby Blanket  Completed 1/27/17
• Ease Completed 2/2/17
• Glacier Sweep Completed 2/18/17
• Striped Socks Completed 3/6/17
• Among the Shadows Shawl Completed 3/7/17

Acquired:

• MadelineTosh Euro Sock - Hydra (two skeins)
• Hedgehog Fibers - Dragonfly
• Hedgehog Fibers - Monet
• Hedgehog Fibers - Orchid
• Hedgehog Fibers - Shiver
• Hedgehog Fibers - Spell
• Vivid Fiber Arts - Allsorts
• Yarn & Ewe Rock and Roll Sock - Hubba Bubba
• Yarn & Ewe Rock and Roll Sock - Daffodil
• Yarn & Ewe Rock and Roll Sock - Hammer Pants
• Yarn & Ewe Rock and Roll Sock - Misty
• Yarn & Ewe Rock and Roll Sock - Troll Celebration

Cold Sheep, Warm Sheep? The one where Rizza rambles about everything.

I started this blog as a way to keep myself accountable while cold sheeping. I set up rules, which were:

• A vast majority of my stash is used up
• Yet another person I know gets pregnant 
• Vivid Fiber Arts stocks a color I love

So, nobody else is pregnant yet and I have not used up a significant chunk of my stash at all. However, Vivid Fiber Arts stocked a color that I needed. NEEDED. Look at this! I had to. It's perfect. Maybe it will one day become my kryptonite, Renaissance Fan. It will. It has to.

I also had a moment of weakness once I saw that Madeline Tosh has a box subscription, so I signed up for the three month club. I've always wanted to try a yarn box, but I'm internally terrified at the idea of getting mystery yarn. With this club, at least whatever I'm getting is Madeline Tosh (which happens to be my favorite yarn ever). If I like the club, I may eventually branch out into other yarn clubs, but I hate making socks. What else do you make with ONE skein? Maybe I have to find *that* sock pattern that works for me. Decisions...

Speaking of socks, I stopped by Knitty City over the weekend and picked up some 9" circs to try and get my socks done faster. They've been WIPs for months and I never really worked on them. I love the yarn, I love the stripes, but I 'm not feeling the socks themselves. Oh well.

I've recently discovered knitting podcasts on YouTube and I fell down a rabbit hole. Hard. I'm still down there. In zero particular order of the podcasts I've started to watch:

• The Yarn Hoarder - I want to roll around in her stash. It's amazing.
• Jessica Ruth Knits - Tiny house, a farm! I started watching for the knitting goodness and now I find myself waiting for the last few minutes where she talks about her life and tiny house living which is super, super interesting.
• Mean Girls Knit - I feel like we'd be friends in "real" life.

While watching all of these, I've noticed that Stephen West is REALLY popular. So I went to look at his patterns, and I decided on Glacier Sweep for my first West Knit. It looks like a nice intro to Stephen shawl, and I think I have enough Tosh Merino Light in 79th Street Sunset to do it. As of now I'm on the last section and I still have a whole skein left, so I should be okay. This last section is gigantic, though. After the shawl is done, I'll probably hop on the Exploration Station train extremely late.

Since the last time I've posted, I finished my first sweater ever! I knitted up Ease, which was a great pattern. Super easy and it knit up quick. The sleeves seemed baggy, but hopefully that'll work itself out after it's done drying. I actually have no idea how to even block a sweater, so I'm hoping that it comes out okay.

Next on my quest to use up all the stash, I'm knitting up a Ten Stitch Twist blanket to use up my obscene amount of Bernat Blanket that I bought well over a year ago (SEVEN balls! The big ones! What was I thinking?!) The pattern itself is a nice simple knit, great for Netflix binging (let's be real, knitting podcast binging).

So as of now the plan is: finish Glacier Sweep, finish Ten Stitch Twist, work on Fox and the Grapes. Will that happen in that order? Let's attempt it.

Current works in progress:

• Catskill Mountain Shawl 
• Fox and the Grapes Shawl 
• Striped Socks 
• Glacier Sweep
• Ten Stitch Twist

Finished Objects:

• ABC Baby Blanket  Completed 1/27/17
• Ease Completed 2/2/17

Acquired:

Nothing until my packages arrive! Success?



I don't have any pictures this time around, so here's Odin trying to prevent me from going to work:

First FO of 2017

So, first thing's first.  I finished the baby blanket!  This took me a little over a month, which is actually pretty good when it comes to baby blankets (for me, anyway).  By finished, I of course mean I still need to block and weave in the ends.  The pattern was super easy, and, bonus, it's free!  At first, I was turned off because of the charts, but they make a lot of sense in this case.  (I hate charts.  HATE. Charts.)

Look at this work of art!

I used KnitPicks Brava Worsted in Lady Slipper.  The actual color is far more purple than the image above is letting on.  The yarn is 100% premium acrylic 218 yards/100 grams.  Generally I run far, far away from acrylic yarn as all I picture is SuperSaver.  I can feel the scratchiness thinking about it. Brava is super squishy and soft - I was happily surprised.  I would use this again if I had anything that called for a worsted weight yarn that needs to take a beating.

With the baby blanket complete, I can finally work on my schweater again!  This is Ease by Alicia Plummer.  It's a paid pattern ($6.50) and the pattern is simple and easy to follow.  I used size 9s for the body and sleeves and 6s for the body ribbing.  I tried the 10s the pattern calls for, but it was way too large.  Luckily, my darling boyfriend pointed that out, because I like to live on the wild side and not do a gauge swatch.  As of today, I've finished the right sleeve and I'm working on the left sleeve as I write this.  Hopefully, I can update this blog again soon with Ease as a FO.

I'm making Ease out of  KnitPicks Preciosa Tonal Worsted in Panther.  It's a worsted weight 100% merino wool 273 yards/100 grams.  It is so, so soft.  I'm in love with it's softiness.  It's advertised as a tonal but it's sort of a striping yarn between dark gray and black.  This doesn't bother me at all, but there is some color pooling right in the front of the sweater.

Current works in progress:

• Ease 
• Catskill Mountain Shawl 
• Fox and the Grapes Shawl 
• Striped Socks 

Finished Objects:

• ABC Baby Blanket   Completed 1/27/17

Acquired:

Nothing! Success!

New Years Resolution: Cold Sheeping

Cold sheeping, or the act of not buying any new yarn until some arbitrary goal or another is hit, is something that I've tried (and failed at) many times.  This time is different, though - somehow. (It isn't, really, but let's pretend.)

So here I am, fresh into 2017 and refusing to purchase any new yarn until:

• A vast majority of my stash is used up
• Yet another person I know gets pregnant 
• Vivid Fiber Arts stocks a color I love

The problem of my yarn stash is almost like that of a Steam library, always growing no matter how many new projects I started.  However, unlike Steam, yarn takes shelving.  And also boxes, to stop the newly acquired cat from eating said yarn.

Odin, the All Father, Eater of Wool

So, I think the plan will be to update this with works in progress, finished objects, and what items of my stash are all used up as I go along.

Current works in progress:

• ABC Baby Blanket (Hopefully my only baby blanket of the year)
• Ease (My first sweater ever, on hold because baby blanket)
• Catskill Mountain Shawl (This is just going to take forever)
• Fox and the Grapes Shawl (This thing.. just... is going to be so huge)
• Striped Socks (I work on this when I'm out and have nothing else)