We had a very nice long weekend away last weekend, but I’m back with a YOP update this week!
Currently on the needles for active knitting projects, I’m working on:
- Copenhagen Cardigan: I’ve got the body finished and sleeve 1 is done. I plan on working on sleeve 2 this week and will see if I can get this close (or pretty close) to finished up by the end of the month. I have buttons ready to go and will work the “afterthought” buttonholes once everything is knit up and I’ve blocked the cardi, I think.
- A pair of plain vanilla self-striping socks using a skein of Austermann Step from very deep stash. My usual 64-stitch count circumference and contrast Fish Lips Kiss heel. I’m working on finishing up the foot of sock 1 but no specific deadline for this one.
- Teacup Shawl. I’m through the main body and have started on the 14 (very long) rows of lace for the bottom border. My plan is to work through those rows and then will work the 6 rows of garter stitch before the bind-off and see how I’m looking for yardage. There aren’t a ton of projects on Ravelry but the ones on there vary widely with yardage usage (anywhere from 400 up to 580 yards without any modifications that I can tell). I’ve got a solid 500 yards so we’ll see where that gets me. If I have enough extra I’ll add in another couple of rows to use up as much of the skeins as I can.
In the world of crochet and hand-spinning, I’m working on:
- My red/pink mini hexagons for a blanket out of sock yarn. I’m using this for #the100dayproject, and keeping up with it (surprising mostly myself). This may turn into a 365-day project since I need about 350 of these little hexagons for the blanket, and that would get me pretty close (minus the half-ones for the edges and the border). I’m still on the fence about how to join these. A crochet as you go technique would be easier, but I’m not sure I would love having a round of some other color between these. I kind of like the 1920s patchwork vibe. I’ve got time to decide on that.
- I’ve finished the first 10 blocks of the Origami Blanket. This is a DK-weight blanket so it’s working up a whole lot faster than tiny minis in sock yarn! I plan to wait to start joining these until I get at least the second row of blocks finished. I’m a little bit concerned I’m going to be short on yardage but I should know by the time I get through the second row if that’s a truth or not.
- Finally, I’m working on bobbin #2 of 4 of my merino singles from PortFiber. I plan to ply the first half of these up once the singles are done. I’m shooting for a 2-ply fingering weight when finished and think I will have enough yardage for a Ranunculus which might look really pretty in these soft spring-y colors.
Finally, still chipping away at my full coverage cross-stitch project, Winter’s Encounter. I have about 550 stitches left to meet my goal of 2K for the month, so will try to get that accomplished between this weekend and next.
Knit One, Spin Too 
That cross stitch is truly amazing! You’re working on a lot right now
Thank you! I really enjoy having a bunch of things on the go 🙂
Your Copenhagen is beautiful. Your red/pink hexagon blanket is going to be beautiful too. Love your cross stitch although it makes me cold just to look at it.
Thank you on all counts! I’m a big cold weather fan – bring it on!
That cardi seems to be almost knitting itself. It hasn’t take that long at all for it to get where it is. The origami blanket……………I am really looking forward to seeing how it looks when put together. The colors are great for it. I am still looking for a full coverage xs that speaks to me. Hopefully I will find one soon. Do you have any suggestions as to where to look? I am hoping to do a smaller one to start before I dive into one the size you do. I have joined the FB group you told me about. SO many gorgeous projects going on there.
My favorite full coverage cross stitch company is Heaven and Earth Designs. They have OODLES of patterns, but my suggestion would be to look for ones marked QS (you can do a search just for that). Those are “quick stitch” projects and they are much smaller. If you don’t find any there, you could also search for SK (which are “storykeep” projects) and are also pretty small. Additionally, you could choose to look for a Mill Hill kit – those are technically full coverage too. Let me know if you need more options.
That’s a big variation on the yarn usage others have used on the shawl, I find that frustrating when you aren’t sure how big you can make it and I don’t have a great track history of guessing right how much I need to cast off. I hope it works out well. The xs is so stunning, it got me wondering if you had owned or ridden horses or the design just appealed to you.
I know I’ve got enough yardage to knit as written. I’ll just weigh my skeins when I get to the last 2 rows so I can figure out if I’ve got enough extra to add in a few more. It’s just garter stitch, so even if I had to rip out a couple of rows because I overestimated, it wouldn’t be a big deal for me.
I started riding when I was a little kid. My grandparents owned horses. As an adult, when we moved out west, we had several – I’ll try to include pics on my next YOP post. This one looks very much like my boy, Bhen. He and I rode long-distance endurance races together all over this area – Colorado, Texas, New Mexico, Idaho, Utah, Arizona. He was an outstanding horse and I miss him every day.
The Copenhagen is almost done! It’s a beauty too. All your projects are really lovely….the sock is gorgeous….love that yarn. I adore your crochet blankets…I’m a sucker for a good blanket. It’s funny because I am making hexies out of material while you’re making them out of yarn. I need to try that next!
Again, I sigh everytime I see your Winter’s Encounter….so beautiful!
Thank you so much! I never thought I’d be a blanket-maker but here we are! 🙂
I still adore those little hexagons. 🙂 And there’s something so satisfying about a simple sock in self-striping yarn!
I’m really feeling the urge to make a bunch of plain socks with pretty yarn right now!
It’s a hard urge to resist! For a while I was all about complicated socks, but right now I also just want to make plain socks that show off the pretty yarn.
This is a lovely list of projects. The cardigan and the shawl are such pretty colors.
Thank you so much!