Needlework Tuesday - Too many projects - On Wednesday

Needlework Tuesday is an occasional post detailing my needlework and/or crafting projects.

Last week, I wrote about working on 3 projects and starting a 4th. Well, I think I've now spread myself to thin because while I worked on all of the projects this week, I don't have much to show for it. I do have a few things to write about...

First up, the Hidden Gusset fingerless mitts. I have one almost complete. Just need to do the thumb. I'm not totally happy with it, though. It's not quite as snug as I'd like it, especially at the top around the fingers. I guess it'll be good if I'm working on something and need good dexterity. Since I've already started this one twice, I'm probably going to make the other one. Maybe they will grow on me. I'll post a photo once the thumb is done.

Last week, I mentioned a project that was in the planning stages. Well, I started it. I'm using the Sand Layers pattern, but I've renamed it "Sky Layers" because I'm using leftovers from my sky scarf. Since the pattern only uses two colours and I wanted to use 5, I sat down and planned it out. At least, I thought I did. Once I started knitting, though, I realized that my planning wasn't all that thorough. I've already made some changes on the fly and I still refining the colour changes. I hope to get it more ironed out before I continue. I really don't want to be ripping out another project. Here's what I have so far:

The colour is off in the photo.  It starts off with light grey then goes to charcoal and finally light blue.
The latest project from the Mary Maxim's Knit Club of the Month showed up in the mail yesterday. It's a leg warmer/mitten set. My first thought was "Leg warmers? I haven't worn a pair since the late 70s." My second thought was "Sure. Why not? I sort of like the yarn." My third thought "Hmmm...Am I really going to wear these? Mary Maxim sent me a project last year for boot cuffs, which are like short leg warmers. I made one. Didn't like the way it fit. Didn't make the other." I'm still having thoughts and am not sure what I'm going to do with this yet. Here it is:

Two things about the photo struck me as odd.

1. It's winter and she's not wearing socks. My feet are never cold in winter and I walk around barefoot in the house all of the time, but I'd never put on boots without socks. 
2. Why go through all of that work to hide the leg warmers under the boots? Is that the way they are supposed to be worn? Back in the 70s, I wore them instead of tall boots. That is, with runners to keep my legs warm or with short boots. Either way, it showed them off. 

Was that the style back then or was that just me?  Has that changed? Anyone know?

Lastly, Kate over at Art and Socks asked me to friend her on ravelry. Well, I was a little embarrassed that I'd been using ravelry for patterns, but hadn't actually put any of my projects on there. That has been remedied. In fact, I had a lot of fun going back over some old projects and putting them up on the website. I didn't realize how easy it was. I still have a bunch of previously finished projects that I'll be adding as time goes by. Going forward, I hope to do add the project as soon as I start it. So, if you are reading this and are also on ravelry, feel free to friend me. I'm ILoveSpring. LazyDaisy was already taken. I still have to figure out how to put a ravelry button on my blog.

That's it for this week. I'm going to continue working on my WIPs.

Needlework Tuesday is hosted by Heather over at Books and Quilts.    If you'd done any crafting this week that you'd like to share with others, please head over to Heather's blog and use the Mr. Linky to link up your post, so others can enjoy your creations.  

Needlework Tuesday - Project updates

Needlework Tuesday is an occasional post detailing my needlework and/or crafting projects.

Happy Groundhog Day!! Here in southern Manitoba it's a bright sunny day. So, it looks like we will have six more weeks of winter. We didn't see our resident groundhog (the one who lives in our neighbourhood forest); I'm sure he's sound asleep in his den. I know I would be if I had six more weeks to snooze. Oh well. Six weeks would take us to mid-March, which is usually when we see warmer weather anyway.

This week I worked on a number of projects. My Shibui scarf called Multigrain is going rather well and I'm pleased with it. I'm currently on the second section. For this scarf, you knit with two yarns held together as one using seed stitch throughout. There are three yarns: A, B,C. You change one yarn out for another at the end of each section, like this: A+A, A+B, B+B, B+C, C+C, C+A, A+A. That's it. I'm knitting it from right to left because I mistakenly didn't get all of my B yarn wound. Not that anyone would know. Last week I mentioned that the scarf was supposed to be all one colour, but because I couldn't find all of the yarns in one colour on sale, I opted for two different colours. So far, I'm liking the effect. Here's what the first two sections looks like:

The other summer scarf is also going well. The pattern is Tier from Shibui Yarns. However, I can't decide how long to make it. The pattern offers two lengths and I originally thought I'd make the longer one and purchased the yarn accordingly. However, now I'm not sure. I'm just over halfway through the second of three balls and it already looks long enough.  Well, that is once I do the other end of dropped stitches. If I do go for the shorter length, I'm stuck with the dilemma of what to do with the remaining ball of yarn. It's small (50g, 174yds), so it's not enough to make anything and its fibre content of linen, silk, and wool, makes it a little more limiting. It's also quite expensive, so I don't want to use it up any old way.  I think I've just talked myself into making the longer one. ;) Here's it is:

It's stocking stitch so it's knitting up quite quickly. Please tell me that blocking will take out some of the edge rolling.

I did start one more project, Hidden Gusset fingerless mitts. Actually, it's a restart. The first time I attempt this one was a few weeks ago I ended up with some wonky stitch counts. This time, I'm counting stitches every time there's an increase...something I should have done the first time. I'm almost back to where I was before I ripped it out and so far, so good. I like the yarn, but still not loving it for this project. I already have a stripy pair of fingerless mitts and was hoping to knit a solid colour pair. However, I needed to pick yarn from my stash after spending way too much at the yarn sale in January. Here's what this reknit looks like:

The last thing I worked on is still in the planning stages. I have a lot of yarn leftover from Sky Scarf I did a few years ago.  If you look closely, you'll see some dust.

I knew I was going to make a shawl, but I wasn't sure which one. Now that I've thought about it, I'm pretty sure I'm going to go ahead with Sand Layers ( my version). I've already made one like this, but the designer created a new edging and since I adore this pattern, I thought I'd make another one. It should look a bit different if I use all five colours.

This coming week, I hope to continue work on the scarves and fingerless mitts.  I'm anxious to start the new shawl, so I'll probably do that as well.

Needlework Tuesday is hosted by Heather over at Books and Quilts.    If you'd done any crafting this week that you'd like to share with others, please head over to Heather's blog and use the Mr. Linky to link up your post, so others can enjoy your creations.