One Green Sock

Here is the first finished sock of the pair I am currently knitting. The pattern is Hedera and the yarn is Knit Picks Stroll Tonal (Canopy). Love the pattern, love the yarn and love the green color. That makes for a fun ongoing project.

Nothing Much

I feel like I have nothing much to blog about at the moment. It seems my knitting speed is inversely proportional to the number of WIP (works in progress). And right now, all I can do is regularly cast on new projects while the old ones languish. So, I only have a couple of active WIPs to blog about.
The first one is the adult-sized Sunburst coat I started in March. It hibernated throughout spring, but I have got back to it now and am hoping to finish it soon. I am almost done with the body and will be starting on the sleeves soon, inshaAllah.

However those sleeves been on hold while I cast on for a pair of socks for my husband. The pattern is Orzival socks (a free ravelry download) and the yarn is KP Essential kettle Dyed in timber. I am almost done with the leg of the first sock.

After these, I have a shawl to finish and then a few other projects queued up for July. Let's hope I can keep up.

New WIPs

A bit unusual for me, I am currently working on multiple projects simultaneously. And as a result, going is slow on all of them. So let me show you the WIPs (works in progress). Besides the clapotis, I am knitting another pair of socks. This one is the Monkey in Heirloom Jigsaw. This is my second monkey pair and I find them to be the most comfy pattern of all that I knit so far. I finished the first sock of the current pair yesterday.

The next WIP is a cotton top for my daughter. It is my own design in Rowan Cotton Glace. This has had its share of ripping, then re-knitting and ripping back, as I attempt to improve the design.

The next WIP is another of my designs...I am attempting an adult version of Sunburst Coat. It is still in the early part of the yoke.

Then another WIP, a set of placemats for our new dining table. I am trying to work out a pattern and size to make four placemats out of four balls of Peaches and creme (two yellow and two red).

That concludes the works on my needle but we have one other, bigger work in progress at our house. An entire floor is getting new floors, bathrooms, kitchen etc and almost one and a half months into the job, we are still looking at several more weeks of construction, sigh.

While I Was Away...

I have been away from the blog and the rest of the cyberspace for over a week, the reason being the ongoing plumbing work at our house. It was an affair of leaking pipes/drains and damaged floors. We had to move out as the water supply was cut off during the repairs. The plumber had initially promised an optimistic three day period to get the work done, but eleven days later, it still goes on. Hopefully, it will be finished today, inshaAllah.

When we moved out, I took a load of knitting with me in the hope that I will get a lot of time to knit. Time I did have, but the enjoyment that comes out of knitting in my living room in a familiar and homey environment, was not there. Needless to say, I did not get as far as I had hoped.

The project I am working on is a cardigan/coat for my daughter. It is a top-down, seamless design of my own. I am at the first sleeve right now. The local yarn I am using is not very soft and rather awkward to work with, but it is knitting up better than I expected. I will take better pictures when it is done, but with camera batteries dead, these will have to do for now.

Shawl Update

After working on it almost exclusively for the last week, this is how far along I have come in my Victorian Lace today's three-corner clover pattern shawl. As this shawl is started from the outer edge, the initial rows are very long and take a lot of time. I am already noticing that rows are taking less time now.

However, I think it is time for a break now and I might resume Gail for the next few days.

Cece Update

I've been working on my Cece cardigan for the last few days and I have come to the point (finally!) where I divide for armholes. I decided to make the cardigan a little longer than the pattern calls for and adjusted my increases accordingly. It looks promising :)

Yet Another WIP

I've nothing really interesting to share at this point but I was RAKed the other day and the delicious yarns were too tempting, LOL. So, I have started a summer top for dd. Still at the yoke and worrying if I have enough yarn (one ball of SWTC Bamboo = 250 yards). As I'm trying to work out a design of my own, there has been some ripping involved and the going is slow.

From Rag to ?!?!?

Seeing so many wonderful projects around the web, mostly afgahans, made from yarn scraps/leftover, I started one of my own last year. Initially, I was thinking of making a yo-yo afghan. (Yo-yo's are small round crochet motifs which are later joined together to make different projects) . Later on, I decided on another style. Good thing with this is that I manage to incorporate the yarn ends during crochet.

This is going to be a very long-term project. I don't know if I have stamina for a afghan. As a rough estimate, an afghan would require around 4000 small squares (I'm near 100 right now) so the finished nature of this project is still undetermined.

Starting the New Year

Knitting-wise, I will be marking the start of the new year by casting on for Central Park Hoodie, inshaAllah. I will be joining a CPH KAL starting Jan 1st at ravelry (Sporum Forum). I did a swatch for it today and it turned out ok:

I also plan to continue working on my two older WIPs side-by-side. The sweater for my son is done down to the sleeves. I always intended it to be large. I think it is turning out to be a 6-8 year fit so my son will wear it next winter, inshaAllah.

My last WIP has been ignored lately. These socks are for my husband. After repeated frogging, I finally settled for a simple garter rib pattern. My aim is to finish the pair in January, inshaAllah.

So these are my new year WIPs. Only 15 minutes to New Year Here. Hope everyone has a healthy, happy and peaceful New Year!

At The Yoke

After a brief mittens episode, I resumed work on my tangled yoke cardigan over the Eid holidays (which were good). Now I have finished the second sleeve and joined the sleeves to the body. Now I have to knit a tedious and long 3.25 inches of st st till the cables start but that is ok as I currently have a few family engagements and will not have time for any more complex knitting.

However, I am already thinking ahead to a few more projects. I would like to start a pullover for my son. Also a couple more cardigans in the longer term with a smattering of few small fun projects, inshaAllah. And yes, I still have my husband's socks in progress. Men's socks can be so boring ;(

Tangled Yoke Cardigan Update and More

There seems to be so little knitting time nowadays. However I am making slow progress on my cardigan. I am taking it slow myself and like it this way i.e. without any pressure or deadline. I finished the first sleeve two days ago and am yet to cast on the second one. The color on the balls is uneven and ball change on the body is easily detectable. But I think I will live with it rather than frogging and redoing it, especially as there is no guarantee that the other balls would match better.

Today, I started a bolero for my daughter to wear with her Eid dress (remember the red one...). She will be wearing it on Eid-ul-Azha and then an upcoming wedding, inshaAllah.
I am also slowly working on the socks for my husband. I also plan to start a pair for myself inshaAllah.
In other blogging news, I was tagged by Riohnna and got this:

"Those that receive the Rock Star award stand out. They work hard and you love knowing them. They are unique and one of a kind bloggers!"
Thank you Rihonna, Now I have to list 8 interesting things about myself. Well the most interesting thing I can think of is my knitting WIPs and I have already shared those. I will have to think hard to come up with other stuff :)

More in Progress

I am still working on my mom's sweater and dh's socks but my interest tends to waver after a couple of pattern repeats, that is if I manage to knit so far without being interrupted by a thing or other.

I also tried to crochet a bag/purse, did one side, but now it feels too small. I am giving it rest for the time being, its fate pending for now. Last evening I started my first crochet adult wearable, a cardigan for myself. I am just making up the pattern. The main yarn color is not so attractive but I am liking it so far, firstly because this is my first crochet wearable, and secondly because it works up so fast. I managed this much in one evening:

Of Stress and WIPs

This past week has been quite stressful and I have not had much time to relax and unwind (which for me means taking up my needles or hook!). Things are looking better now, inshaAllah.
I have been slowly making progress on the sweater for my mom. I have knit nine lace pattern repeats so far and it is almost down to the waist.

I had been thinking of making some socks for my husband for some time. The yarn I planned on using is variegated/selfstriping and I could not decide on the right pattern for it. I searched ravelry, cast on a couple of patterns and then frogged them because those did not look right for the yarn. Finally I have decided on a pattern of my own:

I am also warming up to the idea of knitting(or crochet?) a bag, as it has been a while since I made one, lol.

Final Round

This past week has been quite hectic with my son starting new school and an unusual spur of social activity in the family. As a result, I am still wrestling with the lace cardigan. However the good news is that I have started the second sleeve. I was a little nervous about the armhole and sleeve shaping, but I tried on the first sleeve and the fit is good. Also I did the front band and sewed on the buttons, so the second sleeve is the last bit. I have also written the pattern, which I will post with the FO photos in the coming week, inshaAllah.

In the meantime, I could not resist casting on a simple pair os socks for my son, my first toe-up:

Still Wrestling!

Ravelympics ended today with the Olympics, but I have still to finish my WIP Wrestling project. I have only sleeves to knit but the days ahead are qiute busy as my son starts his new school tomorrow, my daughter has her birthday the next day and Ramadan starts in a week's time. However, I do hope to finish it by the start of Ramadan, InshaAllah. My fingers are itching to get started on a pair of socks for my hubby but these should better wait or the cardigan will be further delayed:(

Ravelympics Warm Up

With 3 days to go before the start of Ravelympics, I am starting my training. I had decided to take pat in two events, Baby Dressage and WIP Wrestling. Now I am also part of a team, thanks to my Ravelry friend Shells, who invited me to be part of her Team Sporum.

As for WIP Wrestling, I will try to finish my Lilac lace cardigan.

For baby dressage, I have decided to work on four projects. Three of these are to be for cousins' soon expected son. I have decide to knit Sheep Yoke Cardigan as well as a Jumpsuit and a hat. I have made my things ready for the cardigan. I did a swatch as well. I am aiming for a slightly larger size than the pattern.

I have yet to decide on patterns for jumpsuit and hat.
The fourth project to be (inshallah) is Baby surprise Jacket for my daughter. I did a swatch for that too, however I am a little nervous about this one because the original pattern is for much smaller size. Also I have read mixed reviews about the pattern. Also from what I understand, it's difficult to determine what is going on till the sweate is all done, so there can be no instant frogging back.

None of these on its own, is a big project but it sure will be a challenge to finish then all within 17 days.

On the fitness front, I strained some neck muscle yesterday and also have a bruised right elbow, (such a great athlete that I am, I strained the muscle during sleep and banged my elbow on a metal door, LOL). But hopefully all will be well in a few days, inshallah, in time for the ravelymics. Can't wait!

Endless Night

It's 3:30 am and I am still up. We had a rather distressing power failure at 11.45 pm. It was not part of the six hours daily "load shedding". It has been a very hot and humid week so far and our street's power grid suffered an overload, probably due to too many airconditioners at work. Well it was sooo hot and humid without the AC, though we did have our fan going thanks to our invertor (UPS).(We had the invertor installed at some expense, last month, because of the load shedding).
So with our clothes sticking to our backs, we tried to put our kids to sleep. Our son was very tired and soon fell asleep but dd was very restless. I dozed off a couple of time but she kept waking me up. Finally it became unbearable after one hour and we decided to move downstairs as it is usually a little less hot on the ground floor. So we carried the pillows and kids downstairs and tried to settle down.
But almost immediately, the invertor's battery died down on us and we were left without even a fan. By then, it was already 2:00 am and dd finally fell asleep. We used newspapers to fan the kids. We could hear folks in the neighborhood having similarly tough time. Finally by 2:20 am, ten minutes after my angry call to the complaint centre ( the first three calls were quite civilized), we finally had the power restored.
So it was back upstairs again. After settling down the kids and having the shower, here I am, wide awake. It's nearly four in the morning and it will be time for Fajr (morning) prayer by 4:30 so I will be going to bed in one hour.
I feel so much like having an angry rant about all this and more but a little voice at the back of my head tells me that it might not be wise in today's world, especially since my thoughts are qiute militant at the moment ;)
On a lighter note, I am working alternately on the two cardigans that I mentioned in earlier posts. The first one is for my son. It only has the sleeves remaining to be knit. The second one is the Lilac Lace cardigan for myself. I frogged quite a bit of the back yesterday as I was getting off-guage. It may take a while to post the FOs. Bravo to me for knitting not one but two DK wearables in this heat! My husband has gone as far as to threaten to make all my yarn disappear if I do not cut down on my knitting time.

My current projects

I seem to have started a number of projects simultaneously with still more ideas swimming around in my head. As a result I have no FO but am rather making slow progress on all. So for a change, I will be showing pictures of WIPs.
The first one is the Sockdown:May Mystery sock of the Sock Knitters Anonymous group at ravelry. I just finished the clue#2 on the first sock. There was another color repeat (off-white) but that would make the sock to long at my gauge so I skipped it. Clue #3 comes out on May 15 ( which will actually be May 16 for me because of the time difference). I may start on the second sock in the meantime.

The second project is a handbag which I started in March. It is all done except for the lining and handles. I am thinking of knitting the handles and I am not yet sure how these will turn out.

Then I started on a stole. This is a first for me and I am not sure if I have enough yarn. I may frog it yet.

Besides these, there are a few lingering projects as well like the Brea bag from last year which only needs finishing up. Also I have to proofread the pattern for the toddler pullover that I knitted
in february before I post it on the blog. So you can see, I have busy times ahead.

My new project bag

I sewed myself a bag today. My knitting and crochet WIPs needed it badly. As my little toddler grows, she can reach almost every nook and corner and it is no longer safe, for her as well as my projects to be out in the open. Also these WIPs added to the clutter in our living room and it was difficult to store them away. So inspired by the so called "sock bags" that I have seen and read about around the web, I made myself one. It is large enough for any project that I might be doing at the moment.

The Snowwoman cross-stitch at the front pocket was done by my penpal, Ulla from Sweden. I added some fabric and ribbons and made it into a pocket. The inside has a pocket with snap closure, for the ball of yarn. There are also two long narrow pockets for straight needles, one shorter narrow pocket for DPNs or crochet hook and another wider pocket for other necessary paraphernalia. I am very pleased with the way it has turned out.

Needless to say, it is already occupied and I may just have to make a few more to accomodate my ever-increasing number of projects.

Slow and steady

I will be slowing down (unwillingly) in the knitting and crochet department during the next few months as I have a very busy schedule. That is why I am not taking on any major new project. But as I do not think that I can survive long with absolutely no craft, I will be making steady progress on my WIPs. Currently I am doing a cardigan for dh. It's more than half done.Inshallah I will finish it this season.