Scattered

I feel like my mind and my knitting are going about 12 different directions, and I haven't actually accomplished anything the last couple weeks. I don't have a whole lot on the needles, but nothing I have is all that near wrap-up except for a dishcloth and I'd kind of like to finish something before I start in on the next thing.

After neglecting it for a while, I'm in the process now of turning the heel on that Jaywalker I started many moons ago. I've also got another sock top I'll probably frog. Its ribbed and I think it may end up being majorly baggy.

I haven't picked up the cabled scarf since I frogged several inches in that car-ride a couple weeks ago, and I have a striped garter stitch alpaca scarf I've started and made good progress on, but it's lightweight yarn on size 4s, so it's not the speediest thing ever despite the garter. Plus a bag and a dishcloth all on the needles.

I'll probably have the Jaywalker, one of the scarves and something to start my next thing with me for the flights this weekend.

As for the next thing, I think will be my first human sized sweater in deep red Cascade 220. I'm going to go with a "wing it" design of my own that is something of a marrying of Samus and Rosebud. I have a summer cardigan that I love that is all lace with a seaparating bar of a different lace that sits about the level of an empire waist. So for this sweater, I'm envisioning a cardigan with a narrow cable strip sitting just below my chest, with the top half of the sweater body built up by picking up stitches along one edge and splitting for front/back similar to how Samus works, then also picking up stitches along the bottom edge and working down to get the length in the body to lessen the chances of getting a sweater that's too short. Sort of half bottom up construction half top down. Also have a matching cable band on the sleeves with the same benefits of both bottom up and top down construction there. I'm also considering belling the sleeves below the cable band. Seems like it just may be clever enough to work and should have minimal seaming. I just have to pick a cable and start playing with it. If I'm feeling really ambitious, maybe I'll try something similar for my mom's doll...

Free Pattern! Carousel Horse Dishcloth

As promised, here's the pattern in time for those end of season fairs and closing out the amusement parks.

Carousel Horse Dishcloth

The rows below are just for the image center. On my sample, I worked a crochet edging in a complimentary varigated after the center portion was done. Another option would be to work a seed stitch or garter stitch border to let the square lay flat. Those can be done by adding rows at the start and end of the pattern and adding a few stitches to both ends of each row.

The dischcloth was done on size 7 needles out of Sugar and Cream kitchen cotton. I could also see this motif worked on the front of a child's sweater or as a square in an afghan. Get creative with it!

*edit: fixed missing stitches in line 5, I'll double check everything tonight again, hopefully this is the only fix.

CO 47
Row 1: Knit across
Row 2: Purl across
Row 3: K12, P3, K11, P2, K13, P3, K3
Row 4: P3, K3, P13, K2, P4, K3, P4, K4, P11
Row 5: K10, P4, K5, P3, K4, P2, K12, P3, K4
Row 6: P5, K2, P12, K2, P4, K3, P6, K3, P5, K2, P3
Row 7: K2, P4, K4, P3, K4, P3, K6, P2, K11, P3, K5
Row 8: P6, K2, P11, K2, P7, K3, P4, K3, P3, K4, P2
Row 9: K2, P4, K3, P2, K4, P4, K7, P2, K10, P3, K6
Row 10: P6, K3, P10, K2, P9, K3, P4, K2, P2, K4, P2
Row 11: K2, P4, K1, P3, K2, P4, K10, P2, K10, P2, K7
Row 12: P7, K3, P9, K2, P11, K4, P2, K8, P1
Row 13: K1, P8, K1, P4, K12, P2, K6, P6, K7
Row 14: P6, K6, P7, K2, P12, K13, P1
Row 15: K1, P5, K1, P8, K11, P2, K7, P7, K5
Row 16: P4, K3, P1, K3, P8, K2, P10, K8, P2, K5, P1
Row 17: K1, P5, K3, P7, K10, P2, K7, P3, K3, P3, K3
Row 18: P3, K3, P2, K5, P6, K2, P9, K8, P3, K5, P1
Row 19: K1, P5, K4, P7, K9, P2, K6, P10, K3
Row 20: P5, K9, P4, K6, P5, K9, P3, K5, P1
Row 21: K1, P5, K2, P22, K3, P8, K6
Row 22: P8, K31, P2, K5, P1
Row 23: K2, P4, K1, P33, K7
Row 24: P7, K33, P1, K4, P2
Row 25: K2, P4, K1, P33, K7
Row 26: P7, K33, P1, K3, P3
Row 27: K3, P37, K7
Row 28: P7, K36, P4
Row 29: K5, P2, K1, P32, K7
Row 30: P7, K31, P9
Row 31: K10, P30, K7
Row 32: P7, K28, P12
Row 33: K14, P5, K2, P19, K7
Row 34: P8, K10, P1, K2, P9, K3, P14
Row 35: K26, P2, K1, P10, K2, P1, K1, P1, K3
Row 36: P2, K2, P1, K1, P2, K10, P1, K2, P26
Row 37: K26, P2, K1, P9, K3, P4, K2
Row 38: P2, K6, P1, K9, P1, K2, P26
Row 39: K26, P2, K1, P15, K3
Row 40: P3, K15, P1, K2, P26
Row 41: K26, P2, K2, P13, K4
Row 42: P4, K13, P2, K2, P26
Row 43: K26, P2, K3, P12, K4
Row 44: P5, K11, P3, K2, P26
Row 45: K26, P2, K4, P11, K4
Row 46: P4, K10, P5, K2, P26
Row 47: K26, P2, K7, P3, K3, P2, K4
Row 48: P4, K1, P14, K2, P26
Row 49: Knit across
Row 50: Purl across
Bind off

*Modification: Thank you for your patience, there was a miscount for the cast on and in row 5 that I've finally found and fixed, Both changes are bolded above. I finally went back and recounted every row, and hopefully there aren't any more errors. I'm new at this stuff, you'd think I'd be able to count with that whole math minor in college thing, but it's definitely a learning experience, right?

Has it really been a week?

It doesn't seem like I've let that much time lapse in posting, but things have gotten crazy, so I guess, I'm due for some randomness...

Stalker

The not so nice thing first. I'm finally able to sleep again at night, but last week my neighbor informed me that "a while back" she'd seen someone pacing and looking in my windows at 11:30 at night. She didn't call the cops, she told him to get out of here or she would, and he ran off. The complex is going to ask the cops to step up secrity, but at this point because she didn't call the cops, there's not much that can be done.

It totally sucks to not feel safe in your own home.

So I got out of town
This last weekend was a blast. I met up with about a dozen friends for the coaster event at Indiana Beach. This event has become one of my must-attend events every summer, and this year's solidified it that much more. We rented a boat and went tubing out on the lake when the park was busy in the afternoon, and ended each night with a campfire and margarittas. Was exactly what I needed to get away for the weekend.

Knitting
Unfortunately, knitting cables in the car just got all screwey, and I ended up frogging everything I knit this weekend on the way home to fix some mis-crossed cables. I'll pick up the scarf again this week, but right now I'm recovering with some more simple, mindless knitting.

Another crazy week this week with work, then next weekend I'm off to Denver, YAY.

More Instant Gratification

Three finished objects in this post, but I really am slowing down on the instant gratification bend. I've got a cabled scarf started now that's distracting me in simple complication from all the instant gratification stuff I could still work on. Not that I won't get sidetracked again, but I'm content with that project for now and have a few larger scale objects waiting in the wings and a few other things waiting to be finished up.

First up, a split rib scarf out of a bulky wool/mohair blend on my size 15's. Not the softest thing ever, but it'll be warm. Was a quick instant gratification knit, and will make a nice Christmas gift, probably for either my dad or my brother.

My mom has been trying forever to get me to make her doll clothes. She collects a zillion of them, and I finally caved. Don't tell her, but it's actually fun designing and making things at that scale. More instant gratification knitting and a great way to use leftover sock yarn and some of that old small-guage estate sale/yard stale stash I still have lying around from my crochet stash. I'm envisioning a little wardrobe chest with little hangers with all sorts of little hand knit outfits hanging up as a gift. So, I had her bring me a doll to basically use as a dressform. Poor DJ is supposed to be a boy doll, but he has the same body mold as the girl dolls she wants clothes for, and the first things I made were a girly sweater and a little sundress. I will make the poor boy a boyish sweater and maybe a little hat and scarf eventually.

I've been scatterebrained on upcoming projects. So much I want to knit, so much I want to finish. I frogged that brown cotton tank I started earlier this summer and there really isn't anything else summer-ish on the needles right now, so I'm looking ahead to all the fun knitting for fall and winter. I've got plans for 3 sweaters, and yarn for several more, plus socks and scarves and hats and dishclothes and baby clothes and doll clothes.

While I've been stash-diving and playing and planning, I've made a bit of a mess... Gromit doesn't seem to mind the yarn intrusion on his sleeping spots, though.

Finished Object: Booga Bag #2

I loved it so much the first time, that I made another. This one in colorway #188. My mom will probably end up getting this one since purple is her color of choice right now. I've got one more colorway of the yarn to play with, so there's probably one more booga bag in the wings.

Dishclothes Galore!

Continuing on the kick of quick knit stuff, I've made a bunch of dishclothes in recent weeks. Most of these will be gifts come Christmas time.

These first two I finished months ago and just never blogged. Just your basic Granny's favorite. The blue one goes in my kitchen, the purple goes in my mom's.

I then made two coordinating sets for my sister-in-law for Christmas. She has an affinity to all things Frog or Pink, so she gets a Frog and a Flower and the coordinating granny's favorites.

And finally, I did one more for me, this one's my own pattern and seemed like a good way to marry some hobbies, I'll have the pattern written up in it's own post separately, but for now, I'll give a photo.

I still have a ton of kitchen cotton and a bunch of ideas for more patterns to use in dishclothes. Plus I joined the Monthly Dishcloth KAL to suppliment me with small quick projects. I can whip out a dishcloth in an evening, so these are fun and quick.

Almost there

I'm almost caught up with all the finished objects, just have another scarf and some dishcloths to photograph and post a little later. And probably by the time those are posted I'll be done with the i-cord for my second Booga Bag and have that ready to post. I also plan to debut a free pattern soon (the things I do to try to drum up a little traffic).

It's been crazy hot here this week, too hot to knit on much of anything even in the AC at home. We've been conserving energy at work (as in the AC and lights are off) and been allowed to wear shorts for most of the week, but it still makes it trying to be at work. Hopefully this cold front that's supposed to roll through tonight will clear up some of this heat and we can get back to working in the light and cool.

I missed the Harlot on Sunday in Ann Arbor. I had wanted to go, but I had too much to do at home and I wasn't up and moving early enough to make it out the door. My parents are visiting this weekend while they're having an open house, so I've been busy cleaning like a crazed person. Running the dishwasher in this heat doesn't make the apartment any cooler or less muggy.

My office decor is going to be featured in a company publication, but I recently moved offices and haven't decorated yet.

And I'm trying to get trips squared away for the rest of the season. I'm headed to Indiana Beach for a weekend in a couple weeks, and Denver over Labor Day. I'd still like to get to Oklahoma this year and I'll probably head to California later in the fall.

I guess that's the randomness of now.