Good Yarn Related Week? It feels like it

WIPS
-Soft Stones by Ela Torente
Progress is feels like it's actually being made.  I finished the upper back, did the boatneck and now I'm working my way down the front.

-Cabled Helix Socks by Karen Buhr
The progress I've made is barely worth a mention.  I'm half way through the heel.  Since the last update, I was right before the heel...I will hopefully have more progress to show for this next update, like a completed sock.

-#100DayChallenge
As much as I love the Blankie, I have managed a couple of days without adding anything new...like Friday and Saturday.  I still manage to get some knitting done on other projects.

Almost an FO
-Plain Ol' Strippy Socks 
Eeek!  I had put these socks down months ago because I was struggling with picking up the stitches of the afterthought heels.  Tanya, lovely woman that she is, took my sock home with her and did it for me.  The only thing I have to do now is put in the heel.  I could have technically done this the same day she brought it back for me but somehow I didn't do it.  Next update, it will definitely be an FO.

Why this picture looks like it's a part of a romantic movie with soft focus is beyond me

Coming Back on the Needles
-Quick Silver
This shawl is so addictive and the only reason I put it down is because I wanted to make some progress on my other timed projects, which I have done.  So this week, I going to pick it back up again, especially since I have about another 2 weeks to get it done.

Stash Enhancement
It was mostly a pattern stash enhancement but of course, I do like what I got.
-Celtic Myths by Asita Krebs
A crescent shaped shawl, celtic themed cables with a bit of lace work that is available for free on Ravelry.

-A Little Old Fashioned by Lalie Roque
A Captain America themed circular shawl with a little crocheted edge.  The regular price is $3.50 USD but if you use the coupon code by May 31st 2015, you can get it for free.  (coupon code: language)

On a side note, as soon as I saw the pattern, I had to send a message to my friend JB because I knew she would LOVE it!

-Niamh by Woolly Wormhead
Cabled hat with buttons.  That was enough for me.  I love cables and if you can stylistically place buttons on it as well, I am all for it.  The regular price is £3.50 GBP

Stash Enhancement Amendment
This is kind of a stash enhancement but not quite since I already technically owned the yarn.  I dyed my first skein of  self stripping yarn.  I didn't turn out exactly as I was expecting however I have made adjustments to the colour recipe to fix that problem.

I call it The Evil Queen (or Regina).  It's a 4 stripe, 3 colour pattern.  The only problem as of yet is that it is very hard to see the purple.  I wanted a royal purple and somehow it turned into a navy-ish purple.  The other problem is that it's sandwiched between the blacks making it even more difficult to see...although now that I think about it this gives me 2 different colour way idea still based around The Evil Queen /Regina from Once Upon a Time.

I am anxious to dye another self stripping skein however I have realized I am getting low on acid dyes therefore, I need to learn how to use it more sparingly and to buy some more.  On top of that, I need more white or undyed yarn to continue with my expirimentations.

More than 5 days past since I was supposed to do this

I really can't say anything else other than I just didn't feel like it.  It definitely not that there was no knitting related things going on in the past almost week and a half.  I managed to cast on a shawl, enhanced my stash, participate in a VKN...I'm even currently dyeing yarn. Let's just get going on this.

Casted on
I was finally able to start my Quick Silver shawl and let me say that I love it and I am surprised with how much I have done so quickly. I'm also kinda proud since the blue yarn I used is my first attempt at dyeing with an acid base in my slow cooker.  The changes in the blue go from a dark sapphire colour to a really pale blue that's almost white.  The black yarn is from my shopping trip in my Stash Enhancement.

WIP
Soft Stones Sweater
Not much has been done on the sweater for this week since I have been focusing my attention on the Quick Silver shawl.  I have until the end of June, I think to finish it.  I did finally manage to get around to taking a picture and it definitely looks cool.  See?

#BBSC2015
I'm still making progress on my May socks.  As much as I like the Cabled Helix Socks, I didn't want to do the same design as stated in the pattern for the foot.  I have an idea in my head as to what I want to do and since I have never modified a pattern as much as this, I'm going to have to pull out some graph paper and draw it out...keep in mind I'm still on the halfway through the leg.

#100DayChallenge aka: Sock Blankie
I am not even sure how many I've done since the last update.  I missed Saturday.  Oh well.  I've finally made it to the other side of the blanket.  It's almost even and it makes me so giddy and happy.  I'm working my way back across.  Oh yeah, I also calculated how many squares I'll need for this...1446...yeah, I'm currently about 220.  This is going to take awhile. 

Stash Enhancement
Last week Friday, I met up with an old friend named JB.  We had so much fun.  We went to Lettuce Knit and Romni as well as a restaurant called The Grilled Cheese (absoulutely yum!).  At Lettuce Knit, I discovered many Canadian Indie Dyers and I wanted to leave with just about EVERYTHING!  Suffice it to say, I was reasonably good and left with a skein of Ancient Arts Fibre Crafts 100% BFL Yarn in the colourway Le Chat Noir and a set of fixed circular needles from ChiaoGoo (6US/100cm).  The yarn is so much softer and squishier than I thought it would be.

We then went down to Romni Wool.  Let's just say it was hard to leave with only 1 skein but I did it.  It was Regia World Ball Color Schachenmyer Nomotta (I think).  It's discontinued and I had to guestimate on the name of the colourway since it only had numbers on the ball label.  When I compared it to other skeins I saw on Ravelry, I looked like the colourway Madrid so we'll pretend that's exactly what it is.

JB also brought me a gift of mini-skeins to add to my Sock Blankie.  I haven't used any of them yet but give me time.  I know there's some self-striping yarn that I'm looking forward to using it. 

She even added some stitch markers she had made.  They are such a bright orange it's next to impossible to miss them but somehow I managed to misplace and not find it until the next morning.

Inordinately pleased with myself

I was unable to continue with the Exploration Station shawl because of this stitch.  I brought it up to my friend Tanya last week when I saw her.  She found a tutorial from The Purl Soho entitled Brioche Stitch.  So easy to follow the instructions there.

Next thing to learn: 2-colour brioche and then I'll be ready to take on the Exploration Station again.

Off week?

Quality time with mom
It's sad that my mother is recovering from a broken wrist but I must say that I love getting to spend time with her.  She just can't stay at home though.Twice this week she comes to my room and tells me that we're going out.  Monday we made it to Promenade Mall, close to our old house.  She made sure I came home with 3 dresses, 2 shirts, 3 tank tops and a sweater.  After that, we went out to Swiss Chalet and ate dinner together.  She actually ate something.  Today, she came back to my room and said that we're going out again.  This time we went to Vaughan Mills.  We found 2 dresses that she wanted to get for me.  I wasn't too fond of the price so we decided we'd come back later and hope that they were on clearance or sale.  We went to 2 more stores out of the mall and we each came home with new purses (mine is awesome and green and can fit a knitting bag so I definitely can't complain).  I told her next time we go out we're not allowed to spend any money or else we'll both be broke.

Happening...
I got a tea to go to.  I have never gone for tea.  I don't even really like tea however this is an opportunity to see some of my old co-workers (and maybe they'll have the option of hot chocolate instead).

WIPS
#BBSC2015
I finished my April socks over a week ago and I pulled out my May sock yarn.  I pretty much stared at the yarn up until Tuesday evening, when I finally cast on a pair of socks.  It wasn't the Maeve socks like I planned.

I'm doing the Cabled Helix Socks by Karen Buhr (I had done the test knit for the pattern last year) and the yarn is Groverkill by Indigodragonfly.  I refused to go to bed until I finished the cuff.  I started on the leg this morning and it's coming along well.

Soft Stones Sweater KAL
I casted on the Soft Stones Sweater by Ela Torrente last Thursday night.  It's coming along well but I'm still on the first section.  I had hoped to be further along before this upcoming Friday since I'm supposed to be starting the Quick Silver on Friday.

#100DayChallenge - Sock Yarn Blankie
For the first time since I started this challenge I not only missed one day but I ended up missing 2 in a row.  I came home after my last exam on Friday, talked with my mom while preparing food for church the next day and then promptly went to sleep.  I didn't wake up until the next morning.  On Saturday, I went to church and after we came home, we left again to go and visit a family friend and didn't come back home until almost 1 o'clock in the morning.  Believe me, knitting was the last thing on my mind was adding in a square.

I didn't even attempt to make any extras to make it up.  What's done is done but I got myself back on track and made progress on Sunday.

I do have somewhat of a picture of the current state (before the last added squares).  It's too big for me to take a full picture.  It's almost all 4 squares deep!  I am very proud of the progress that has been made.

I haven't managed to finish anything this week and I've been good and haven't added anything to my stash.  I nearly did though but it turned out I already had the pattern in my library.

Just a little bit of squeeing!

I attended my first VKN (Video Knit Night for the crafting-muggles) though Sarah from The Canadian Knitter's Podcast,  I have been wanting to join since she first started talking about them however with Wednesday night classes, it was a bit difficult.  Luckily tonight after class (which was a final exam), I looked on Ravelry and saw the notice of the VKN.  I clicked the link and got through.  So much fun.

As an added bonus, a question I had got answered.  One of the participants, JB, is the sister of one of my old highschool friends.  He even came on quickly to say hi before quickly departing.

And now that I've done this, I will be looking forward to other VKN

This week of knitting

Meeting other crafty people
I had everything planned for this weekend.  I was going to go to the Toronto Knitter's Frolic.  I have never been before and it sounded so exciting to go to the marketplace.  And then a wrench fell in my plans.  My mother had an unexpected surgery on Thursday and I stayed home with her on Saturday...the only day of the marketplace.  Sad as it is, I'm much more concerned with my mother's health than buying more yarn, especially considering I could go to an LYS in Toronto  at any other time of the year.  So suffice it to say I'm planning to go on an LYS trip in a couple of weeks.  I wish I did have the opportunity to meet more knitters though.

While waiting for my mother to come out of recovery on Thursday, I saw a woman crocheting a hat.  Despite not usually being a person to talk to people that I don't know, as an interested crafter, I started a conversation with her (and it also helped that she didn't like she was crazy or anything and she had a cool name - Hermione - never met anyone in real life with that name).  We sat there discussing crafting and the program she runs at her church to teach all kinds of crafting.  I pulled out my socks and she was fascinated by them since she's never tried to knit socks but she has done booties.  I plan to make my way to one of meetings at her church to see how it is once exams are done.

WIP
Vanilla Latte
The heel has been turned!  I love the FLK heel :)  I just have a good chunk of the foot to do but it seems quite feasable and I hope to be finished by the end of this month.  I am looking forward to wearing these socks!  The first one fits perfectly other than wanting it to be a bit longer on the leg.

Sock Blankie
Progress is being made!  I had to find the instructions on how to do a side triangle but I did it!  I think I only have 2 rows more to even out the top row but I don't know how long that is going to take. The hardest decisions for the blanket is picking out colours that I haven't used close together so to speak...and that sentence does not make sense.  I just need to spread out the colours and types of colours a lot more

Stash Enhancement
Nicole C. Mendez Yarn and a Stitch Marker
I have always wanted a pair of rainbow socks...or at least since I've gotten into the self stripping kick.  Random search on Etsy brought me to Nicole C. Mendez.  She seems to do rainbow yarns on a variety of yarn weights.  And the price is very inexpensive, especially considering the fact that it came from Germany.  On top of the price it arrived in just over a week.

Let's not forget about the stitch marker I got from her as well.  It's called Tree of Life.  Absolutely simple and beautiful, just my style.

Creations by Uli
Ever since I heard Ginny from Penguin Soup talking about her chain mail bracelet and stitch markers, I added Creations by Uli to my Etsy favourites and well as following her on Instagram.  When I saw the set with the Eiffle Tower, I realized this was the time to buy and I was not disappointed when I got it.  I showed them to Hermione and she asked me to order her a set.  I am definitely willing to buy more.

Soft Stones Sweater by Ela Torrente
This is what comes from stalking the "Patterns: Sales & Promo" thread on Ravelry...again. This pattern by Ela Torrente is exactly what I was looking for in a sweater.  It's a boat neck and it's got positive ease.  I can change it a 3/4 sleeve if I want to.  This one had me giddy.  It's on sale for 50% off until April 26th, Rome time...and that time has passed for the sale.

Quick Silver by Melanie Berg
I have been eyeing this pattern for a month or so after seeing on a podcast but I can't remember which one. 

KAL & Plans
#BBSC2015
Haven't selected the yarn yet since I'm not finished the Vanilla Lattes yet.  However, I really want to knit with Must Stash Yarn's Dark Side of the Moon, especially since there's a KAL going on starting on May 1st I think, or it's already started.  No prizes involved which is perfectly fine.  It's just for fun.

Soft Stones Sweater (by Ela Torrente)
First of all, got the pattern for 50% off.  I cannot complain.  It's a boatneck sweater which I wanted to make for a long time.  I think I have the yardage required in stash (or at least I will once I pull the Explorer Station shawl that I am obviously not finishing since I still can't Brioche...but I'm not bitter.  The KAL starts on May 1st and goes until July 1st.

The main colour yarn I've chosen is Wollmeise Twin in the colourway 13 AL.  I'll decided on the other 2 contrast colours later.

Quick Silver (Melanie Berg and Stitch Addiction)
It's all Kate's fault (host of the Stitch Addiction Podcast).  Before I even saw the latest episode, I saw the thread called Shawl KAL.  I went through my list of shawls that I wanted to do and narrowed it down to 4 patterns.  Then while browsing through that list of 4 trying to figure out what to do, I noticed that Melanie Berg, the designer of Quick Silver, is having an Any Shawl KAL, provided it's a Melanie Berg shawl...so why not?  The Stitch Addiction KAL starts May 1st and ends June 30th.  Melanie Berg's KAL starts on May 8th and goes until June 12th.

I don't think I have enough yarn in my stash, or at least I don't have yarn that I'm really inspired to work with in my stash...but I could always attempt to dye a couple of skeins...hmmm....ideas....

To Dye or Not to Dye
It will be called either Regina or The Evil Queen
Obviously procrastination is a big factor for me.  I can plan for ages and months to years later, I still haven't done it.  I have been wanting to do my first skein of a self stripping yarn.  The plan was to buy glass jars and dye it this weekend.  But what had really happened was that I bought 2 deep plastic containers and still didn't dye anything

Nightwing or Robin
I told one of my cousins I call 'kilah that I was going to knit her a pair of socks based on Young Justice.  By the time we finished on the discussion about colour, it as determined she just wanted it centred about Robin/Nightwing from the cartoon.  I'm pretty sure I can get the colours from what I have but since I have not dyed self stripping before (hint hint), I just don't want to mess it up since it's not for myself in the end.

On TV/Netflix this week
A Different World
This show is still pure awesomeness despite the fact it's from like 25 years ago.  I think I'm in season 5.  Dwayne and Whitley are engaged.  Ron and Kim are dancing around each other.  Ron and Freddie had a make out session on live radio without their knowledge.  Col. Taylor is about to become a father again.  Terrence and Lena are hilarious!  I don't know what I'm going to do when I finish watching all the seasons.  I seriously wish that there was a continuation of the show like 25-30 years later.

Arrow/Flash
I just don't know what to say without this becoming spoiler ridden for those who watch the show.  It is just awesome and I am looking forward to the spinoff that is supposed to come with the Atom (love Brandon Routh).  And Black Canary is really starting to come together!  I'm so excited.  There's only one thing that I didn't really like but I'm sure the characters will get through it and head in a better direction.  Maybe in the summer I'll go further into this...when people have had a chance to catch up and this season is over.

Orphan Black
Excuse me as I drool on the floor.  The clones are back!  While I am excited to see the Leda clones are back, I am seriously more interested in the Castor clones.  They seem to be a lot more self aware than their Leda counterparts.  I am still trying to figure out how Tatiana Maslani does it.  She played Sarah, pretending to be Rachel and you could tell that it really wasn't Rachel.  They're played by the exact same person!  Tatiana deserves all the awards for this show.  I could have used some more Felix this episode but I know he'll get more time as the season goes on.  Helena and her dream sequence was so sweet too bad it wasn't really happening although I do want it to happen for her.

All I really want to do is watch Dwayne and Whitley

I came no where close to knitting as much as I wanted to this week.  I guess I had other things on my mind like doing group projects, interview nerves and discovering that Netflix finally has "A Different World" which just absolutely awesome!

WIPS
I thought I would have been able to finish my April socks this week.  That definitely did not happen.  I am only half way through the leg.  There's no point of showing a progress picture of it at all.  I'm still oohing and ahhing over the way the colours are swirling around the socks

My Sock Blankie is the only thing that got constant attention this week.  I added 8 squares throughout the week  I really like some of the square designs I did, especially the stripping ones.  I was kind of bummed that I didn't add a square on Friday.  It was such a long day that I reached home 7p, went to bed about 7:30p and didn't wake up until almost 7a the next day.  I did 2 on Saturday to make it seem a little more balanced to me.

 

Isn't the pink on pink square adorable?

Stash Enhancement

I did not make any new purchases this week (being broke will do that to you).  This is a week of waiting for orders to come to me!  I got my first skein of yarn from Penguin Soup (aka: Ginny).  She's a Canadian Dyer that I discovered while looking for knitting podcasts.  I think Ginny was the inspiration for wanting self-stripping yarn socks.  I had every intention of buying a skein from her from when I first saw the yarn but being unemployed and then having limited employment makes one have to think twice on what money is spent on - darn transportation needs...

When I saw that Ginny was doing a Firefly yarn club called Firefly: The Shiny Club, I felt the need to finally get my toes wet in Penguin Soup yarn.  The first skein arrived on Wednesday and it is gorgeous.  Let me say one thing though, I hate sparkle.  I have always associated it with little girls, girly-girls, drag queens and Michael Jackson.  I do not fit into any of those catagories however I'm pretty certain my little sister is going from a little girl to a girly girl and she ADORES sparkly things.  I had one exception and that is for a diamond.  It's my birthstone and I want the diamond to be as sparkly as it wants to be as long as rest is generally sedate...wow, I kinda went off topic there.  Back to matter at hand...I don't like sparkles.

There is now another exception.  I like sparkles on the skein of Penguin Soup yarn I got this week.  It's no where close to overpowering and it so much nicer quality that a skein of yarn that I had previously purchased and ended up using for socks for my aunt.  She loved it.  I hated kntting with it and the sparkles were coming off on my hands.

This skein of Kaylee inspired sock yarn called "She'll Fool Ya!" is staying mine!