2016 in Review

This year, when I set up my Ravelry project pages, I tagged things with "2016" as well as my usual tags.  That way, I can enter "2016" into the search on my project index and it will pull up everything with that tag (in other words, everything I've done this year).  So, do you want to know what I did?

Here it is:

• 8 pairs of socks
• 6 woven scarves
• 5 shawls
• 4 cowls
• 3 pullovers
• 3 cardigans
• 2 pairs of footie socks
• 1 set of crocheted flower coasters
• 1 pair of gloves
• 1 hat
• 1 blanket
• 1 crocheted heart (that was supposed to be a coaster, but it was too small)
• 1 mermaid
• 1 seahorse
• 1 table runner
• 1 pincushion
• 3 pairs of pajama pants (but only one pair is in Ravelry)

If I'm counting correctly, that's 43 projects for the year.  The only sewing projects in Ravelry are the ones for Loopy Academy, but I remember making two additional pairs of pajama pants (and I've been sleeping in them).  I didn't do a lot of sewing last year, so this is probably a pretty accurate count.

Ooops!  Wait - I also made the little Christmas owl mug rugs, so that's 44 projects for the year.

Also, I'm still working on finishing the Easy Folded Poncho.  I WILL be binding off today so that will be project number 45.  I don't know if it will be ready to blog tomorrow because it will need a blocking before it gets photos and it might not be dry.  It's the only thing I've been working on because I didn't want to start anything else new this year.  I do still have the Meditative Blanket to work on once the poncho is blocking.  Finishing that blanket is one of my goals for next year!

I hope you all have a wonderful and safe New Year's and I'll see you next week!

Sepp is Finished!

 

I finished my Sepp!  Unfortunately, I just about ran out of yarn which means no baby.  Maybe my Sepp is still looking for the right lady seahorse?  By just about running out of yarn though, I know I've used the required yardage.  This is my last project for Loopy Academy this semester; now I just have to get everything turned in for credit!

I used Malabrigo Arroyo in Lotus for the body and hood and I used Rosy Green Wool Cheeky Merino Joy in Edelweiss Undyed for the face and arms.  The Loopy Ewe had no fingering weight cream yarns when Loopy Academy started (I'm guessing the store was still picked over after camp), so I used sport weight yarns.  Using a heavier weight yarn meant less yardage per skein and it also meant I needed to use a bigger hook, hence the almost running out of yarn.  The eyes are from 6060 eyes.

This was a fun project but it wasn't an easy critter to make.  There were some new crochet techniques I had to learn and lots of little finishing details to add at the end.  I might make him a baby at some point in the future because the baby is super cute, but for now I'm calling him done!

Sock it to Me!

 

I finished my Scatterby Socks over the weekend!  This was the first time I've knit this pattern, but definitely not the last.  It was a fun to knit, easy stitch pattern.  I knit them in The Lemonade Shop's Simple Sock in Willow and I knit them top down, rather than toe up as the pattern is written.  The stitch pattern is simple enough, I don't feel like I lost anything by switching direction.

This leaves me with Sepp and my Easy Folded Poncho left to finish by the end of the year.  I've got just over half the month left.  Can I do it?

We'll see!

More Seahorse-y by the Day!

 

Sepp now has a finished head and I've made his hood.  The next step is to sew his hood to his head and then I will start adding fins and flippers!  Sepp is my last project for this semester's Loopy Academy, and I really want to get him finished.

(That's your warning that it might be all Sepp all the time around here, except tomorrow - I have some finished socks to show you!)

This Seahorse Really Knows How to Get A-Head in Life!

 

I've gotten quite a lot done on Sepp's head - he even has eyes now!  I don't have any stuffing in his head yet, that's why it doesn't quite look right.  Next time I sit down to work on him, I'll be adding stuffing first.  I don't have too much more crochet to do to finish his head and then there's his hood, his arms, a pouch for his baby, fins, and all the finishing details.  Then I'll have to make his baby.

Sepp is clearly the most involved project I'm working on right now but I still think I can get him finished before the year is out.  He's technically the only project that has a deadline so I'd better get him finished before the year is out!  I hope to get some work done on him over the weekend.

Fun random fact that has nothing to do with this blog?  If you start doing puns around Caleb, he groans and leaves the room (or if I'm in his room causing trouble, he tells me to leave the room).  Teenagers are fun!

A Sewing Project

 

I made some mug rugs!  Just in case you aren't familiar with what a mug rug is, it's a placemat for your mug (of tea, hot cocoa, or even coffee if you're into that sort of thing) with room for a little snack (cookie or muffin sized).  They're bigger than a coaster but smaller than a standard placemat.  You can find tutorials all over the Internets for mug rugs, but I used this one for a simple, hexagon shaped one.  They worked up really quickly and I think they turned out cute!  This pattern could probably also be used for hot pads, but you'd want to use heat resistant batting; I just used plain cotton batting for these.

Nothing like a quick sewing project for instant gratification!

Sock

 

I've made it to the toe decreases on my first Scatterby sock.  I just got started on the toe at bedtime last night, but I hope to get this sock finished and the second one started very soon.  I only have these socks, Sepp the Seahorse, and my Easy Folded Poncho on the needles right now that have been started in 2016.  (My Meditative Blanket was started in 2015 and it's just an ongoing project.)  I'd like to get all three of them finished by the end of the year.  I have to get Sepp finished in order to pass this semester of Loopy Academy, but I'd like to get the other two projects finished as well.

I've started thinking about goals for next year and tying up loose ends from this year.  Amazingly, I've been thinking about these things while completely denying that Christmas is just 19 days away.  I should probably start thinking about Christmas too.

Little Things

I took the little crochet motifs I showed you Friday and now they are finished.  What did I do?  I'll show you.

I wove in the ends of the yarn and blocked them flat.  (Apparently I decided my leg would make a great background for blog photos.  I'm questioning that decision this morning, but it's too late to worry about it.)  Then I spent about 30 minutes looking around my house for something round that was just slightly larger than my little stars/flowers.  When I finally found it, I used it to cut out felt circles - white felt for the red ones and black felt for the blue multi ones.  Then I tacked down the crochet motifs on the felt.  The carefully blocked out points melted into the felt and gave the shapes more of a flower look.  Oh well.

I added buttons in the center.  I found some sparkly snowflake buttons for the red ones.  Then it was time to glue!  First I picked out my giant paper clips (I found these colored ones at Kroger, of all places), then I put some glue where the clip would go and dotted it around the back of one circle.  I put another circle down on the glue and used my Clover Wonder clips to everything together and keep the paper clip in place while the glue dried.  I used the same fabric glue I used to glue rhinestones and shells all over my mermaid costume from a couple of years ago - Gem Tac maybe?  Anyway, once it was dry I just stitched around the circles as neatly as I could and...

...TA DA!!!  Book marks!

I'm really happy with how these came out, but if I ever do them again, I might try to make them a little smaller.  They are very lightweight so I think they'll work just fine anyway.

What Are These?

 

Well they're actually the first three rounds of Shape #49 from this book.  What are they going to be?  You'll just have to wait and see on Monday!

Have a great weekend (if you can take the suspense)!

Sock

 

I've made it past the heel turn on my Scatterby Socks!  Isn't it amazing how many other projects I can work on when I'm not slogging my way in circles around a giant blanket?  (To be fair, the circles that slogged were only the later circles at the very end.  The early and middle rounds went pretty quickly.)

There was a question about this pattern last time I blogged it.  I mentioned that the pattern was written toe up, but I'm knitting it top down.  The question was about reversing the stitch pattern.  In a stitch pattern like this one, I didn't worry about it being reversed because it's essentially the same whether you knit it top down or toe up.  If it was a more complex stitch pattern it would be a different situation.  When you're looking at reversing the direction of the knitting, the easiest way to see what the stitch pattern will look like upside down is just to flip your iPad upside down.  If you don't like what it looks like upside down, you can either choose a different stitch pattern or knit in the direction the pattern is written.  Some stitch patterns can be "reversed" but it's not always as simple as it sounds and you'll need to double check with a swatch.  I'm usually too lazy to bother switching things on more complex stitch patterns so I'd just knit toe up.