Russet Lodge Custom Knits

 Life has been full and busy lately.  I earned a promotion at work but that means I've been absolutely swamped with that stuff.  Life at home has been challenging too, and I've been doing a lot of work on myself.  All that is to say it's been hard to make myself sit down and write with all that going on.  I have done a bit of knitting though, so here's a brief overview. I'm working on the shoulder shaping for the sleeves (which I'm doing two at-a-time) on the Miss BB cardigan, which means I'm closing in on the end!  I'm going to have a lot of that handspun yarn left over when I finish the sweater, so I'll have to decide what to do with that.  Maybe sell it or make it into gifts. I've been working on my blue/gray/white spinning project on the Turkish spindle.  I don't know what that wants to become, but I'm enjoying it. I did decide to go ahead and toss the already spun portion of the red and gray spinning project.  I just wasn't feeli...

Hi! Time for more updates on my art. I've done a bit of spinning on my wheel and practicing my wool combing techniques.  It's slow going but I love it.  I just wasn't in love with the green chain-ply spindle project, so I've tossed what's already spun (maybe an ounce?  maybe less?) and I'll find something else to do with that spindle and that wool. The Quynn hat for my nephew is done! This was quick and easy and it's so cute on him. The Taylor shawl is nearly done.  I'll have left over handspun so I might make some matching mitts. I've worked on the Rye Light socks, I'm about 2/3 done with the first one.  Making socks for big feet takes ages. I dug out the Turkish spindle and distaff with the blue/gray/white wool on it.  I'm amazed at how finely past me spun the first few ounces.  Keeping it at that level is tough. I cast on more socks for me, the Giles Wavy socks .  This is my new desk knitting at work. That's all for now!  Hat picture...

 Goodness, somehow 2.5 months have flown by since I updated this blog.  I've been really busy with work and SCA activities and just kept thinking I'd come back to this when I had more bandwidth.  Oops.  I haven't come very far on my quest to wrap up some WIPs, but here's an update. The Hue Shift Afghan remains in time out.  After looking at the pattern more closely I realized I'd done not one, but two sections backwards.  I should have left the backwards sections intact and ripped out the correct one.  Sigh.  I haven't had the heart to do any more ripping, so it's still marinating and thinking about what it's done. The Lizard Ridge socks are done.  They're shorter than I tend to make socks because I wasn't sure how I'd work calf shaping into the short row pattern. The fit is good and I have lots of yarn left, so I'm planning to make a pair of socks for my daughter with what's left. Picture is below. The Miss BB sweater is going slowly...

 Well, we're into August and I've been hard at work on SCA garb and trying to keep my head above water with life and work.  Here are a few project updates from the last couple of weeks. I have been working on the Hue Shift Afghan again after my ball of yarn arrived to finish off the last square of the third section.  I also started unraveling the incorrect first section, so I'll probably do that one before I start on section four.  This project feels like a black hole right now. I'm on to the second of the Lizard Ridge socks after finishing the afterthought heel on the first.  I'm now almost to the point where I'll put in the contrast yarn for the heel on the second sock.  This pattern goes quickly for some reason.  Those short rows are fun. The New Year's Socks are done!  They still need ends woven in because my knitting tool kit is currently hiding, and it has all my darning needles in it.  It's too hot for socks right now anyway. I've work...

 Well, the summer is flying by.  I haven't had as much time to craft lately.  Real life stuff is getting in the way of my hobbies, but I do have a few progress updates. The Hue Shift Afghan is stalled again.  I started working on that last bit of section three, but ran out of one of the yarn colors with only a square and a half to go.  This necessitated a dig through the project bag where I've been tossing all the ball bands since I started the project lo these many years ago.  There seemed to be two labels for the two different shades of yellow, but I had no idea which one was the darker one I have enough of and which the lighter one I used up.  Looking on the website made it hard to tell which was lighter too, but I think I figured it out, and of course had to buy some clearance sock yarn while I was at it.  Let's not talk about how much is already in my stash. I started the afterthought heel on the Lizard Ridge socks.  I have a high instep...

 Hi all!  I'm having a small amount of panic about the fact that it's the middle of July already.  I have a big SCA event in late August involving making a bunch of new garb, and I haven't gotten nearly enough done on that yet.  But that's for another day and another blog.  Here's my knitting updates for the past two weeks. Work on the Miss BB sweater is going on, slowly but surely.  The sleeves about five inches each on them and I've started the shaping.  So far so good. The Hue Shift afghan has had a minor tragedy.  Here's what I wrote about it on Facebook: "A sad story: many years ago I started knitting myself a rainbow blanket. It is worked in four sections. I made the first section, then took several years off. I made the second section, then the third, and started the fourth. The other day I decided to look at the pattern. I had started making the fourth section backwards. Okay, I'm less than 25% done with that one, I can rip it out. I...

 Well, friends, another two weeks have passed and much more crafting has happened.  Let's see what's been in the works. The Miss BB sweater is going well.  I finished the right front and started the sleeves, which I'm doing two at a time.  This has been a lot of fun.  Such a luxury to use my own handspun.  I think I'm going to make it a rule that when I finish with a handspun project I should knit with it immediately.  The thought of handspun languishing in my stash (and there's quite a bit) is just tragic. The Hue Shift afghan has only gotten a little love, having been displaced by other projects.  I did work on it in the past two weeks though. The Lizard Ridge socks got some work done too.  I'm past the heel marker on the first sock (these will have afterthought heels. The New Year's socks are coming along slowly but surely, the leg of the second sock is almost four inches long. And finally, I started another new/old spinning project (oops)...

Well, it's been two weeks and I have more updates on my knitting resolution, some good, some... questionable as far as my ability to reach my goals.   Miss BB sweater has had a little attention, I'm almost done with the second front, then it'll be just sleeves (hopefully I can do these two at a time) and finishing. Maybe I can get this one done in time for autumn.  Hue shift afghan has gotten a bit of work too. I briefly lost one of the balls of yarn but my daughter found it under the couch. By my math I've finished 81 of the 100 squares, then it'll just need to be sewn up and the edging done.  The Eleanora de Toledo stockings got some air time at the SCA event I attended last weekend. I got the new yarn attached and I think I have about an inch of foot left, then it'll just be making the toes and finishing. Hooray! I got a new flicker brush for my Alpaca spinning project to hopefully make processing easier. And finally, I slipped and started a new pair of...

 Time for some updates on my WIPs!  Here's what's actually been going on since my last entry. Temperance Socks - something went weird with these while I was working on them and I decided I wasn't feeling the combo of yarn/color/pattern, so they've been ripped out and can be crossed off the list. Miss BB sweater - Finished another skein of yarn and a few inches away from finishing the right front.  Then it'll just be sleeves and finishing work. Hue Shift afghan - Did a few more squares of this, it's a delight. New Year's Socks - Turned the heel on the second sock and have about an inch on the leg, so progress is happening. Red and gray on the sheep spindle - I'd loaned the spindle from this project to a friend who was learning and she just returned.  I am tempted to toss the existing yarn from years ago and start over with what's left, but I'll need to reevaluate. I desperately want to be doing more spinning and possibly weaving these days, but I...

One of the New Year's Socks in progress, my office/desk WIP   I've been thinking about coming back to this blog for a long time, and I've decided it's finally time to do so.  Maybe it's because I'm not at all interested in working right now thanks to anxiety, sleep deprivation, allergies, and stress.  I'll try to make this quick. I've set myself a task for 2022 and I want to document it a bit more formally.  After not being able to find a pair of size 6 needles (my most commonly-used size, I have a zillion pairs), I realized I have too many UFOs in my life and I need to finish them, so other than paid commissions, I decided that I will not start any new projects in 2022.  I'm sure I won't stick to that, but the mindset of clearing out my Area 51 (you know, where the UFOs live) is freeing.  I've also given myself permission to frog any projects that are no longer inspiring me, or are the wrong size or somehow otherwise no longer satisfying.  I...