Knitting, Sci-fi and other stuff...

    The fair was a success.  My items did well and Liara got some ribbons as well.  We went to the parade on Tuesday, then down to the grounds once it was over.  We stopped by one local vender to grab some jewelry, grabbed some donuts from the Donut Diner then went to see how we placed.  Liara entered earrings that she hand-made with clay.  They did not place.  She entered a beaded bracelet that got first. She also entered three of her drawings.  A Pegasus, a bunny and a magical worm.  The bunny and the worm received third and the Pegasus received second.   The bunny is my personal favorite of all the drawings she's done.  There is always a really good turn out in the drawing and photography categories, so she was up against some stiff competition.  I'm really happy she received some ribbons. My items are as follows: Rotini Beanie; First Enchantress MKAL; First. Sunburst Potholder; Second.  Cow and Hen Dishcloth set; ...

     Happy New Year!  I've been under the weather, but I'm starting to feel better now.       The yarn I ordered from the Miss Babs sale arrived last Saturday.     Then the yarn I ordered while I was in Syracuse arrived during the week. As well as my swap package from the Hot Beverage swap: I hid all the goodies so my kids couldn't eat everything while I was sick.  My appetite still hasn't returned so everything remains hidden.   I also got some more Malabrigo Mechita in a destash and that arrived as well.  I didn't do any knitting while I was sick but I finally felt good enough to do a little knitting last evening.  I was able to finish my son's socks. He was very excited for them to be done. I wove in the ends but didn't trim them yet. I'd like to give these a quick bath before I call them 100% done.  My son already put the socks in his sock ...

      As the year comes to a close, I've been looking at my queue and starting to plan out a few projects for 2025.  After having to cold sheep for the majority of this past year, I'm going into next year with some guidelines.  When I purchase yarn, I really want to stick to purchasing for specific patterns.  I took advantage of Miss Babs annual gratitude sale and purchased specifically for two patterns.  I also want to continue to knit from stash whenever possible.  I have paired up yarn with patterns for several and they've been moved up in my queue.     I'll have more time, so I plan to participate in several swaps in 2025.  I'll be getting yarn from these so I'm going to try to stick to swaps only for "unplanned" stash acquisition.  I have several carry-over projects I didn't get to this year, which seems to be a theme every year.  So tentatively this is my meager list for 2025: - Butterfly--Papillon  with Urth Ya...

      I wanted to do a quick update about the Fair.  We kept it really low key this year.  I entered 10 items into the fair and we only went one day to just look around.  We refrained from rides and excessive amounts of fair food.  So, onto my entries: I entered: a sewn tote bag, which I think I blogged about a few weeks ago.  It got first place then went on to win Best in Show. Sewn Tote with Best in Show ribbon I also entered the beaded shawl I finished in June, that also won a blue ribbon and went on to receive Best in Show. Beaded Holden mixed among other Best in Show items Six of my other items also won blue ribbons: Liara's socks Mandy Cowl Killer Queen Cowl Clean Windmill Dishcloth set Sacket's Harbor Mittens and Drops of Spring Fingerless Mitts The second place ribbon I received for my Hum Beanie is also in this picture.  Then I received third place for Sunset Hat. The first and second place entries for this class are in this picture ...

      I thought I'd do a quick review of my Year of Projects.  I started participating around week 5 so I'm summing up my year from that point to present.  I have 24 project entries on Ravelry.  (If I do several dishcloths back-to-back, I usually only make one project entry, so there are more than 24 individual finished items.  Direct Link to Goal Post:  YOP first post   I finished: -3 pairs of fingerless mitts -2 pairs of mittens -2 pairs of socks -5 hats -2 cowls -2 baby blankets -16 dishcloths -1 potholder -1 shawl I have one sock that's going to be frogged and half of another dishcloth that's sitting around because I ran out of that colorway of yarn.  I do have a few other WIPs still hanging about from prior to August of last year.  (We're going to keep pretending they don't exist.) I made a simple little picture "movie" of my projects, enjoy: As far as my quickly thrown together list: I completed 3/5 of my projected projects......

     I finished the  Handpaint Highlights Socks I was working on for Liara.  They're for her birthday which is on the 27th. I still want to wash and block them.  I've been looking at different types of heels.  When I do the shortie socks for myself, I may try a short row heel.  I've only ever done heel flaps and gussets, so I want to branch out a little bit.     Today I went through all my Malabrigo yarn and separated it from my normal stash.  It was nice to see it all together in one place.  I even found a whole skein of Rios I forgot I had, so I may have one more whole project to start for Malabrigo March.   The top picture is all my full untouched skeins.  The bottom picture is left overs and wound yarn.  I also cleaned out a few project bags along with needles.  I wound up a few skeins to get them ready for cast on March 1st.  The Silky Merino had gotten all messed up, so it took me an hour o...

     I started a pair of socks for myself.  I'm not good about checking gauge for anything.  So very quickly I realized the sock was looking very small.  I decided to keep going and make them for Liara instead.  I had her try it on after I turned the heel and it fit her perfectly.   I finished the first sock already.  The yarn is ONline Supersocke 100.  (This yarn and several other skeins were given to me by my Aunt Linda a few years before she passed away.)  I'm using a pattern from one of my physical pattern books.  One of my goals last year was to use more of my books.  I started out strong then tapered off through the year.  So I'm renewing that goal for this year.  It's the Handpaint Highlight Socks by Leah Oakley from the One Skein Wonders book.  I'm going to needle up a bit and still make a pair for myself.  I'm going to make them shortie socks though.  I think I'll have enough yarn for...