Fiberuary 22-28

22:  Different ballpark, same Sidewinder Hat.

23:  Knitting on the trip home.  Checking size of hat against the length of my book, because the instructions said the hat should be about 8" long before the top decreases and my book is about that size.

24:  Home!  But not quite, stayed at my mother's due to the late hour our flight arrived home.  Busy with helping her unpack, sort mail, and of course work was heavy.  So not too much more knitting.

25:  The Sidewinder Hat is at the point of decreasing.  But it's late so I will do that tomorrow.

26:  All day conference, took a shawl I began out of a skein of handdyed yarn purchased at last year's Carolina Fiber Fest.  It's the Tiny Kerchief pattern but continuing until I run out of yarn.  I didn't have the pattern in the bag (ooops!) so had to hunt as I wasn't sure I remembered it correctly.  Luckily I finally found it, and it's free, so now downloaded to my phone.  A couple people asked what I was doing, and one said it was a "baller move" to bring it - I pointed out it's just a fidget item that helps me focus.  After I returned home I finished the Sidewinder Hat, adding a fluffy pompon purchased at Michaels.  I debated white or black, hope I chose correctly.

27:  I took a garter stitch scarf to a concert at the community center tonight, and got a bit done.  The yarn has long passages of spotted, then a bit of solid, so it feels as if you're not making progress then it goes very quickly.

28:  I worked on the scarf a bit at a community brunch (helps to prevent unnecessary nibbling), then remembered I need to finish a friend's embroidery - begun by her husband, and my friend doesn't stitch.  I did a bit but realized one colour is missing, so I'll have to pick up another skein if possible.

Ending the month by working on the UFO Blanket.  And I finished the February puzzle:

   

Baseball Knitting.

As one does:

Started at Sloan Park - we saw two Cubs games, they lost both.

White Sox winning at Camelback Ranch

The group is scheduled for Cubs games on Friday and Saturday.  Opening Day game is against the White Sox; two years ago the Cubs won, this year the White Sox won.  On Saturday the Cubs lost again.  Sunday the group doesn't have a plan, so people can golf, go to the spa, lie around the pool, or pick up another game.  My tradition is to go to the White Sox home park, which is older and smaller and a very different experience.

I continued working on the Sidewinder Beanie on the way home, measuring progress against the book I am reading, which I'd started on the previous trip two years ago and somehow never finished:

I started the knitting craft-along for this year's Carolina Fiber Fest on the trip out, and made no other progress, so I'll have to work on it in the next week:

A couple non-knitting photos from the parks:

Fiberuary 15-21

15:  I had insomnia so finished the replacement hat and decided to give it to the person who'd flown in for the memorial, and who had commented about it several times over lunch.  Then in the bustle of everything, I forgot.

Second MTI hat, with two braids for Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
Replacement hat on the right, Chemknits Creations alpaca yarn.

16:  Busy day at work, despite being a holiday.  I want to start something new but am focusing on finishing items first.  I need to figure out what to take on this week's trip, and I saw that a pattern I've been thinking about is on holiday sale, so I bought it.  I've nearly finished Row 30 on the UFO blanket.

17:  A little more done on the UFO Blanket, but work has been busy, and Mom and I decided to vote before going out of town, so that took up a bit of time.  I had a BOGO at Paris Baguette so we stopped on the way home and the counter clerk apologized that they only had savory items left since it was end of day.  Perfect for supper!

18:  I finally wound yarn for the Carolina Fiber Fest knitting Craft-Along, and packed it along with two other projects.  Because I'll be gone for five days, with three baseball games and two long plane flights.  I'd debated whether to use fingering yarn doubled for the pattern, but in the end selected a thin worsted weight that I think will work up as the DK the pattern requires.  I didn't want to knit the fingering weight alternative!  The yarn is pale, which should show the cabling and other pattern stitches better than a multi that the designer used.

19:  I took the CFF knit CAL pattern and yarn on the plane, and have done most of the starting border.  I need to count the number of repeats but haven't had time - I also had to work on the flight.

20:  Baseball begins!  I knit the border of the Sidewinder Hat, but didn't pull out the pattern to start the sides/top because it was too close to end of game.

21:  I continued knitting on the Sidewinder Hat, having shifted to the body pattern before we left for today's game.

Fiberuary 8-14

8:  I worked on the replacement hat a bit, and finished adding straps and buttons to the sleep sack I bought at The Scrap Exchange.  The straps are long pieces of double crochet with a border of single crochet; the spaces between stitches make a nice snug buttonhole and it can be anywhere on the strip to adjust for the baby growing.  I forgot to take a photo before delivering it.

Then during the Big Football Final (plus a bit of the Winter Olympics) I worked on a baby blanket UFO I'd found whilst looking for the sweater.  I had marked the copy of pattern so knew where I was, and made a slight adjustment to the additional rows on top and bottom to elongate the rectangle a bit.

9:  Back to work!  Very busy day, I did get a bit more done on the ribbing of the replacement hat.  I decided to do a deep ribbing that I can turn up for extra thickness over the ears when wanted.

10:  More work, more ribbing.  I am figuring out yarns for another sweater for me - which pile, which pattern?  Leaning towards the Elizabeth Zimmerman Tomten in some heavy handspun and yarns of similar weight, or thinner handspun held together.  I replied to a question about the Triangle Fiber Guild's participation in the Carolina Fiber Fest; we've been asked to run a community contribution event.  Originally they wanted a relay race but I pointed out that we don't have time (one month) to publicize it properly, so they agreed to a gaming-style event.  Now I have to locate my dice, which are scattered.

11:  Switched to the plain part of the replacement hat just in time to go to the dentist for my annual cleaning and to have a tooth checked.  It will have to be removed.  I've decided the replacement hat is not "me" and will give it away or sell it or donate it once done.  I decided to pull out the UFO baby blanket and get back to it.

12:  Worked on the blanket after my final mini-MBA class.  During class I knit on the current charity scarf, of Lion Brand Fair Isle.  I like the yarn.  Blanket is at a point where I need to keep count so I am adding a safety pin to mark the larger loops on the border, to be sure I can find them.  Then I start working the next row, and the instructions are confusing and the counting isn't quite right, so I'm fudging.

13:  More progress on the blanket.  Now on Row 30 of 35.

14:  Worked on the charity scarf during Torah Study, and the replacement hat (for which I may have found a new owner, if I get it finished by tomorrow) while out on errands and an unexpected lunch date.  I checked out three stores in a chain that was advertising items that people think are from Joann's end of bankruptcy sale, and found some crafts items in two, no fabric, and a little bit of yarn in one.

Fiberuary 1-7

In the past, some people have celebrated February as "Fibruary", with adventures in all things having to do with the world of fiber: dyeing, spinning, knitting, crocheting, weaving, and so on.  Or, posting about things you're doing with no specific requirements of a craft.  I haven't seen any prompts or challenges for this year, so am making my own record of fiber-related activity.

1:  Finished the scarf for Carolina Fiber Fest's Crochet Craft-Along.  Many, many ends being woven in require bright light because the colours are Red Heart Super Saver in "Turqua" (turquoise) and Big Twist Value in black, my only yarn purchase in January.  Started a Melt-the-Ice hat for bestie in Patons Classic Wool in "Bright Red".  Online meeting of KnitTalk people.

2:  Continued work on bestie's hat.  LOTS of 1x1 ribbing, and it's a work day, plus the first day of a mini-MBA program.  Not much time for knitting, but I managed to get the ribbing to 5".

3:  Ribbing on red hat to 6.5" and two inches of the top part done.

Finished hat.  I used twisted ribbing instead of plain
so it twists a little.  Hat was photographed unblocked.

4:  Red hat for bestie finished, and mailed.  Started a second hat, about 1.25" done during SciFi book club.  I am using a different pattern for this one, but flipping it because I didn't want to do something fiddly during book club.  By bedtime I'd finished 2" of ribbing and started on the plain part.

5:  Second red hat is past the 6" of body and I did the second round of decreases (every fourth row) before bedtime.  I also found a skein of handdyed yarn to wind and knit at the Twisted Threads Guild meeting on Saturday, since I feel awkward working on acrylic items there.

6:  Second red hat done but I'll have to get a photo after it's out of the wash.  I keep faffing about deciding on a yarn to use for the Carolina Fiber Fest knit Craft-Along pattern.  I thought I had a good yarn, a tonal instead of the multi used for the model, but it's rather dark and then I decided it coordinates well with a DK sock set from M1 Yarns so........

7:  I located the UFO sweater!  And wound an extra hank of yarn so I could start alternating.  At the fiber group meeting, I realized I'd fastened (with a safety pin) the end of yarn on the body, so I could work the sleeves then use the remaining yarn for the body.  I started and about ten rounds in I realized the colour was spiraling on the sleeve, so I decided to alternate the two balls and see how it goes.  Less obvious.  So I will continue, and maybe make bracelet-length sleeves.  I also realized that while the sweater fits nicely across the back, there is a gap at the front, so if I want it to close I'll have to add bands to each front,  I'll see how much yarn I have after making the sleeves.

Of course, while looking for the sweater I kept finding other yarn possibilities, and want to start other things, but other than the replacement hat I'll try to keep focused on the sweater for a bit.