The Lion and the Lamb

Happy Birthday, Harry

No craft content in this post:

Though she has other things to do than read knitting blogs, a happy birthday to author JK Rowling, and to her creation, Harry Potter! Though it's hard to believe, based on the books and movies, Harry is 24 today. This can be calculated based on Nearly Headless Nick's party in the book (not the movie) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. As of that party, Nick had been dead for 500 years, and the date on his cake was October 31, 1492, making the "current" year 1992. Harry had turned 12 on July 31st that year, making his birthdate July 31, 1980.

In honor of the day, here is a quiz, courtesy of Katy.

I'm a Ravenclaw!

Reported FO sightings

I now have two more FOs to report and one AFO (almost finished object). I finished my Cloverleaf socks for the Six Sox knitalong (just in time) and have posted the picture there. The other I finished was the Shapely tank for its knitalong. I also anticipate finishing the Flickering Flame summer socks early next week. Here are the pix of the finished projects; they are also in the Finished Objects photo album.

I can now start on the Baby Cloverleaves and on the Kersti project. Actually, another small project has rudely cut in line in front of the poor Baby Cloverleaves. A post on the Six Sox KAL led me to instructions on how to make 2 socks at once on 2 circular needles. Since I've been wanting to learn, I printed out the instructions, intending them for later use. Then I decided I wanted to try it, immediately if not sooner, and that the Cloverleaf socks would be a good place to start. So I ran off to the LYS to get a couple of size 1 circulars, only to find they were out of everything below 3. Undaunted, I bought two of those size 3 circulars, and decided to make a pair of socks for my nephew, Robbie's birthday. I already had some Regia yarn in my stash (black with lengths of red, yellow, green and blue to make narrow stripes). Robbie's birthday is in September and the Cloverleaves' intended recipient isn't due until Halloween, so I thought I could sneak his socks in first. But the Cloverleaf socks will, in turn, cut in line in front of the Making Waves socks (the second of the Six Sox). I've decided to make them out of black Jawoll for DBF, and I have to send away for the yarn.

Charlotte is making slow, but sure, progress. I'm now in the fourth color, and, according to Uli's calculations, just over halfway through. I see several other Charlotteers making crochet lace edgings instead of the fringe in the pattern. I'm thinking of doing the same thing, as I'm not fond of fringes (either to make or to have in a finished object).

Well, off to make progress on socks and shawls, and to start Kersti.

Project Queues

I've received my Kersti in the mail. It is color K139, and not as green as I originally thought, but here is a picture. It had enough green to where I didn't fear grass stains taking the picture on the grass, but enough of other colors so it wouldn't blend in:

As others have said, it is soft. Actually, it's a little less velvety than most wool I've used, but not as smooth as silk. It feels to me more like a cotton/silk blend than a wool. I can now hear loud protest from the cotton nay-sayers in Blogland, but I don't mean it as an insult; I actually like the feel of some cotton blends. I'd almost be tempted to make something summery in it. But I must remember it is wool, and I will stick to the gloves and beret. At least it's not a raspberry color, because I am nothing like the girl in the Prince song "Raspberry Beret," and I am not close to anyone who is. :) I may eventually get more Kersti and knit a pullover like I see others doing. Unfortunately, I am not yet done with the Shapely Tank. It is going quickly, but I promised myself I would finish it before I start on Kersti.

I've noticed something funny lately about my "project queue," the way I have lined up my not-yet-started projects. When I set my WIP limit at 5, the projects I hadn't started seemed to file in like at a bank. I would have "next project" which would start after I'd finished any one of my current WIPs. That reminds me of the the single line at the bank, where the whole thing leads to several tellers, and when you reach the head of the line, you just go to the next available teller. Now my project queue more closely resembles supermarket lines, where each checkstand has its own line, and you choose a line and wait for the cashier of that particular line to get to you. My projects now feel like that; I'm thinking in terms of "When I finish X, I'll begin Y," instead of "I'll start this when I've finished one of my current projects."

I think the reason partially has to do with needles; I don't want my five WIPs to all use, for example, size 2 dpns, or size 8 circulars, because I don't want to have to run out and buy more of the same size and type, nor do I want a clutter of duplicate needles when the projects are done. Another reason is that I like to have a mixture of challenging and mindless projects. I take a mindless project or two to work and work on them there, and I work on the more interesting ones at home. When I'm at any kind of crafts-based meeting, I usually like to have something in between, so I can socialize, but still have something in front of me that keeps my interest. If my queue used the "bank method," I may end up bored out of my skull with 5 "work" projects, or frustrated at work because they are all "home" projects.

Here is my current queue:

Kersti is waiting for Shapely Tank

Making Waves Socks are waiting for Flickering Flame Socks

Cloverleaf Baby Socks are waiting for the matching Cloverleaf "Mommy" Socks

Charlotte II is waiting for Charlotte I

Everyday Cardigan does not have a specific project right behind it, but I'm sure it will when I'm closer to finished.

For those of you who also have multiple works in progress, how do you usually decide when to start a new one? Is it the "supermarket" method or the "bank" one. Or do you usually start it right away, no matter how many WIPs you have going?

One project I forgot to mention in my last post is a crochet cat blanket for Critter Knitters. It is single crocheted on the diagonal with Lion Brand Homespun in Mexicana (click the picture for more detail). I can easily see some calico cat sleeping on it, but no matter what animal gets it, I hope (s)he finds it comfortable. Maybe I'll make another in the Sierra color by July 31. I put aside other projects to make this one, because I noticed how closely the end of the Critter Knitters is looming.

Photo Op

I've finally finished the Homespun Sweater Jacket, and it is (as far as I know) on the way to SIL's mother. The other day, my brother dropped by with his family, and I gave the jacket to SIL. I also found a beginner-level pattern for a similar sweater jacket, with the encouraging title "The World's Easiest Cardigan." Both are made with Lion Brand Homespun on the same size needles, neither has buttons, and both have fronts that fold into pockets. The difference in the pockets is that the one I made folds to the side, while the other front folds up. The biggest difference is that the one I made is with seed stitch and the other is with garter, but they produce a similar weight fabric. I offered the pattern to SIL, but she says she still needs to finish the scarves she started. However, if asked to make any more jackets, I will offer the pattern again. Here is the jacket, posing with the World's Most Beautiful Tabby (not that I'm biased or anything).

So now I'm free to work on the Cloverleaf Socks for the Six Sox knitalong, though I must confess, I did overlap the projects a little. I love the feel of Opal Handpainted. At first, I thought the multi-color might be too much for the pattern, but now it's grown on me. I'm glad I didn't frog it. Here is my Cloverleaf progress so far:

I'm also finally making progress on the Everyday Cardigan and Shapely Tank for their respective knitalongs. I'm almost done with the back of the Everyday Cardigan. It's a little thicker than I'd like for San Diego, and I almost wish I'd used larger needles and the worsted weight pattern, even though I'm using Peace Fleece sport weight yarn. But I may be thinking that because it's July, and definitely not cardigan weather.

On the tank, I'm done with the front, and up to the waist on the back. I'm happy with it except that the bottom keeps folding up, but blocking should take care of that. This is the first project I've knit with Lion Brand Microspun (I've only crocheted with it before). It is a little splitty, but I love the way it feels in stockinette stitch! And if I cut off short lengths (about 2-3 inches) and split them, each ply makes a great marker for projects like socks, where plastic store-bought ones can distort the stitch size. Here are pictures of my so-far progress of both Everyday and Shapely.

And now for my favorite project, Charlotte. Here is my progress so far on Charlotte the First. As of this picture I was up to row 74, but I'm now a few rows beyond that. More pix when I've added the next color:

And here are the colors for Charlotte II.

From left to right (and inside to out once they are knit), they are 414 (which is also Color 1 on Charlotte I), 602 (which is slightly more orange than the picture), 118, 124 and 440. I call this colorway "Coral Reef" (with apologies to the guys at Threadbear if they've come up with a colorway by that name, or to anyone else who has used that name).

I've also decided to join the Kersti-along hosted by Annie, Margene and Mary Beth. I've ordered Kersti in a green colorway from Threadbear, along with a patterns for gloves and a beret. Though both patterns are knit, I'm going to knit the gloves and crochet the beret (I'm a poet and don't know it). By the time I receive the pattern and yarn, I hope to have finished the Shapely Tank (thereby keeping to my WIP limit of 5). Besides, I want to finish the tank in the summer, while I can still wear it! :)

Which Peanuts Character are You?

I originally e-mailed this entry in, testing Typepad's moblogging feature. I was going to delete it immediately, but I'll keep it up here in case anyone saw this quiz and hasn't yet had a chance to take it. Happy quizzing!

You are Marcie!

Which Peanuts Character are You?
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