I was talking with a friend a week or two ago, and she mentioned how she wasn’t going to take any more classes or start any new projects until she finished some of the quilt tops she had already started. I knew the sentiment but didn’t really think anything of it. Somewhere in the dark and cobwebby section of my brain, an idea started to percolate.

How many projects, both knitting and sewing and otherwise, do I have in different baskets, bags, and drawers that I started but never finished?

I spent one afternoon pulling out all those projects.  The grand total came to 34 projects.  Some were started a week ago, some were started four years ago.  Some need only an hour to be finished, some probably three weeks.  I can’t say why some of these projects were set aside.  Perhaps my adult onset ADHD, maybe boredom, most likely something shiny (or more interesting) caught my eye.

How many of these projects could be completed if I spent a month focusing on finishing these projects?

I’m going to try and find out.  I’m calling this September my Focus on Finishing.  I’m really excited about getting some of these projects completed.  It’s an opportunity to clean up my craft room, get some stuff done, and clear the decks before Christmas crafting starts.  I’m not going to put any of these projects away until they are either done or the month is over.  If I’m lucky, one of these projects might end up being a Christmas gift.

Bill asked me this morning if I had a plan of attack.  There’s definitely some low hanging fruit that I’m going to start with to build up some momentum.  And I already know that there’s at least one project I am not going to work on, an afghan I’m knitting that’s only about 20% complete.  It’s more of a November - December thing anyway, when it’s cooler outside and you want something warm on your lap.  There’s a couple of larger projects that I’m going to try and work on every week so that I make progress, but still leave time for other things.  My goal is to try and finish at least 25 projects.

Here’s a list of all the projects (from left to right):

1. halloween knee socks     (Row 1)
2. whippoorwill shawl
3. craft room curtains
4. baby booties
5. cabled capelet
6. my design tote bag     (Row 2)
7. satin lingerie set
8. cotton skirt
9. bill’s pj bottoms #1
10. green chevron love mittens
11. nappy (gym) bag     (Row 3)
12. amy’s quilt
13. lizard ridge afghan
14. feather & fan scarf
15. cotton voile top
16. blue basketweave cotton top     (Row 4)
17. elephant pin cushions
18. fuschia satin top
19. gathered scarf
20. coasters     (Row 5)
21. bill’s pj bottoms #2
22. bb chevron love mittens
23. fabric boxes
24. happy forest sagano shawl
25. basketweave afghan     (Row 6)
26. christmas pjs
27. dog bed
28. black and white tunic
29. concetta cardi
30. green table     (Row 7)
31. jersey knit top
32. tawashi
33. green and white cotton top
34. sweetheart cuff down socks

I’ll keep you updated on my progress and if you’re interested, feel free to join me this month as I Focus on Finishing.

Mosaic created using fd’s Flickr Toys.

There’s nothing like an impending houseguest to force you to get your shit together.  My brother-in-law was arriving for a visit last Sunday so I finally got off my butt and got the house picked up and cleaned.  Bill helped of course, but I had made headway before he got home.  The finishing touch was flowers from the farmers market.  I love fresh flowers in the house.

We had a nice visit with Steve.  It was a short trip, but nice to catch up.  We chatted and ate and watched a movie.  Steve slept. I think he got some good rest while he was here.  He brought his iPad with so I got to play.  It’s beautiful and shiny and fun, and I want one, but I’m not sure how I would use it.  I keep telling Bill that if we had one, I would figure out uses for it, but he’s not really going for it.  It’s on the heavier side so I can’t see holding it for long periods for reading or game playing.  A stand is a must.

Unfortunately for Steve, we had a heat wave.  95 plus degrees for three days.  It really zaps your energy.  That might account for all the sleeping Steve did.  The house stayed relatively cool except for one day.  I turned the air on, but it was too hot for it to really make a difference.  Bad hostess.  Steve was a good sport though and didn’t complain.

Now things are relatively back to normal at Casa Napier.  The housekeeper has been found, the laundress is laundering.  The grocery shopper needs to shop, but I’m making the grocery list.

In the midst of all of this, I started a new project with some fabulous yarn!  It was shipped from A Good Yarn in Sarasota, FL.  It’s a colorway unique to the store.  You can read about it here.  Anyway, I am knitting it up into a Whippoorwill shawl (rav link) and I think it’s lovely.

And the strange thing is, she doesn’t have any demands that need to be met before she agrees to return to work.  She just would rather play with soft, luscious yarn instead of dirty, smelly clothes.

She would rather work on an alpaca scarf (rav link) that she doesn’t need in mid-August.

Or she would rather work on a little pixie hat (rav link) for a friend who’s expecting a little girl next month.

Or she’d rather work on a new comfy cardi (rav link) for those cool California evenings.

She could “demand” more yarn, but the husband of the house would quickly agree and then our laundress would have to return to the stinky clothes.  There is lots of yarn to request.  Like some Sweet Georgia merino/silk dk, or some Classic Elite Ariosa for another yummy scarf (rav link).  Not that she’s been looking because just last month she said, “no more yarn!”  What to do, what to do…

I have a feeling that our laundress will return to work in the near future.  Like when she realizes she has no clean workout clothes for tomorrow.

The daughter of a college friend loves Shrek.  She’s five and while her parents are slightly perplexed about it, she just really loves Shrek.  I searched on ravelry and found a pattern for an ogre hat (rav link).  It was easy and cute, and I was able to modify it for a five year old.  I added an i-cord tie to the back in case the hat was too big.  I have no idea how large (or small) the head of a five year old would be, and my friend said her daughter’s head was on the larger size.  If the tie isn’t needed, it is easily pulled out.

Then the question was whether or not to knit a hat for her brother. On the one hand, I believe that kids should get used to the fact that it’s okay for one sibling to get a gift when the other one doesn’t.  But on the other hand, it’s not like this is a birthday gift and he’s a cute kid too.  I didn’t want to knit another Shrek hat, so I decided to try my hand at a donkey hat.  There weren’t any patterns on ravelry for donkey hats.

The hat itself was easy enough.  It was the ears that were a super big challenge.  The first set I knit looked like bunny ears.  I cut them off and tried again, making them wider (I think they are 11 stitches across) and less pointy at the top.  I knit the front and the back and then stitched them closed.  There’s a little bit of stuffing in them so they aren’t so floppy.  Then I used some black yarn to make the little tuft of hair between donkey’s ears.  And I also did a tie in the back because the head of a two year old is just as perplexing to me as the head of a five year old.

All in all, I’m pretty happy with the result of the donkey hat.  I’m not sure you would look at it and automatically say, that’s a donkey hat, but hopefully it will be amusing enough to the kids.  It was a fun, and surprisingly challenging, project.

This is pretty much how we’ve been spending time lately.  Bill was home sick last Friday and slept almost all day.  On Thursday night, he thought he would be able to help me with a paint project I had on the to-do list for Friday.  I managed to do it by myself while he napped (for four hours).  The project was not exciting and easy enough.  I was repainting some trim on the patio.  It’s the set up and the taping that takes time but does make things easier.  The project was completed and I managed to do it without spilling that much paint this time.

The rest of the weekend was spent laying around and relaxing.  I finished reading The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo which I enjoyed.  We also watched lots of baseball and bike racing.  I would have finished knitting my Sagano Shawl (rav link) except that I ran out of yarn on my bind off row.  I am about 6 yards short.  I’m contacting people on ravelry to see if anyone has scraps they would be willing to part with.  This running out of yarn thing is getting quite frustrating.  It’s the second time it has happened in the last two months.  I’m weighing my yarn compulsively, reading other people’s experiences on ravelry.  By all accounts, I really should have had enough yarn for the shawl.   Yarn issues notwithstanding, it was a very pleasant knit and I enjoyed the daisy stitch.

On Sunday night, I started to feel under the weather.  I really thought I was in the clear as far as Bill’s cold was concerned, but yesterday and today I have been feeling quite crapsy.  Bill is doing better so hopefully I will be on the upswing tomorrow.  I did feel well enough to make some more zucchini bread.  Our zucchini plant is doing pretty well.  This is our third batch of bread, and we’ve used other zucchini in pasta, and we probably have enough left for a fourth batch of bread.  I have made some healthy substitutions in the recipe, using applesauce for half the oil and egg beaters for half the eggs, and 1 cup of whole wheat flour for regular flour.  Those are changes that, to me, don’t change the flavor or texture of the bread.  I tried to cut some of the sugar, but that was noticeable and not so good.  I am thinking of substituting some honey for some of the sugar, but that will require some experimentation and I wasn’t quite up to it on Sunday.

I hope that you enjoyed your weekend, and that you aren’t dealing with a cold.  It’s not fun.

Oy! I see the writing and it says No More Yarn! I don’t know what compelled me to start updating my yarn stash on my ravelry page, but that’s what I spent my morning doing. I felt like I was pulling yarn out of everywhere! And the yarn in the photo isn’t all the yarn I put into my stash. I only pulled out one skein of each yarn. It’s actually quite scary. But also fun to see the beautiful yarn I have and think about what it will be knit up into. That line of thinking prompted me to update my rav queue. There’s a lot of things I want to make. And sadly, it doesn’t use up that much of my stash.

Anyhoo, I MUST go on a yarn diet for the rest of the year. And probably next year and the year after. But realistically, let me start with the rest of this year.

I wonder how much of this yarn I can knit up between now and the end of the year? Any guesses?

I’m sure you’re wondering what’s going on in the Casa Napier these days.  Well, it’s a little of this and a little of that.

I’m making progress on my twin size quilt.  I need a name for it, other than twin size quilt.  I’m sure something will come to me.  I finished cutting all my white squares and have made a very good dent on the patterned squares.  I took this picture Thursday afternoon and I think I’ve doubled the number of cut squares since then.  I don’t really have a plan for this quilt, other than I will alternate white squares and patterned squares.  I’m just cutting a ton of squares and hoping that they will somehow all come together.  My focus is on yellow and white, with bits of other colors thrown in.  Doesn’t look like there’s much yellow in that pile, but that has changed.

I started a new knitting project, the meandering vines shawl (rav link here).  I’m knitting it in Sweet Georgia Cashsilk Lace which is Divine.    Yes, with a capital D!  I love how it feels moving through my fingers.  It is 45% cashmere and 55% silk.  Soooo soft.  The color is a beautiful, vivid  aquamarine, with bits of green throughout.  I’m also enjoying the pattern, thanks in large part to my stitch markers.  The pattern is easy to memorize and ends up looking a lot more complicated than it is.

And of course, there’s been time to relax outside.

I’m super good at starting projects.  Lately, my desire / momentum / ability to finish projects has been in question.  I’ve slowly finished some projects that have been languishing.  Last week, I finished knitting my lacy baktus shawl.  But it took me another week to weave in the ends, wash and block it.  Lacy Baktus:  truly finished yesterday!

I started a sweater in January and knit about 80% of it in two weeks.  The sleeves were giving me trouble, I went to London, lost all will to work on projects in February and most of March, and then finally picked it up at the beginning of April.  I was able to get a sleeve done to my satisfaction.  (The problem was the pattern didn’t call for any decreasing so the part around my forearm was huge.)  I ripped out the first sleeve and redid it to match the other sleeve and wove in the ends, sewed on the buttons and then realized I was short two buttons!  It didn’t stop me from washing and blocking although I’m having trouble tracking down the last two buttons.  As I’m typing this my husband has walked in and handed me two buttons from the Joann near his office!!  Valentine Sweater:  to be finished tonight once I sew in those last buttons!

I started some pajama bottoms in November and just finished them last night.  One pair is flannel.  Not sure how helpful those will be in April, but oh well.    I do my pj bottoms with french seams which look great, but are a pain.  They essentially take twice as long to sew and the ironing is not so fun, but once they are done they look great!  3 Pairs PJ bottoms:  done last night!

I cleaned out my knitting basket on Tuesday and finished a couple of baby hats I started in November of 2007 when a friend was pregnant.  I finished the hats for her twins but had the idea to make a couple for my etsy store.  It only took 30 months, but they are done.  Not listed in the store, but done.  2 Baby Hats:  done Tuesday night!

I’ve also started a few more projects.  On Tuesday night I casted on a new top down sweater to be knit in cotton.  I’ve cut fabric to make Bill two pairs of cotton PJ bottoms.  The ones he has are all flannel.  I cut fabric for two tops, one of which I’m going to start in tonight’s sewing class.   My zig zag quilt which I started about a week and a half ago is coming along nicely.

Anyhoo, tonight is my sewing class.  I’m an experienced sewist, but am mostly self taught.  I’ve watched my mom and read lots of stuff on the internets, but I’ve never had any real training.  I decided to take a class to unlearn my bad habits and get tips, hints, tricks, etc.  Last week was the first class and it was fun!  We started with the basics and once our fabric was cut, the instructor let me go at my own pace since I have sewn before.  I was able to ask questions as I went along and I learned a few things.  It was also nice to be out with other women and makes me realize I do need to get out of the house more.  This week starts a three session class and because I got so much done on my first project last week, I was told I could bring in a new project.  This class is set up as a sort of independent study where you can work on your own but you have a resource available for questions.  I think this is perfect for me.  So tonight I am bringing a tunic style top that has darts.  I’ve never sewn darts and now I can get some help.

Between finishing projects, updating things on ravelry, starting new projects, I’m feeling quite energized!  Now if only I could get my craft room under control, life would be near perfect!

Last week I went to London with Bill. He was going for work and I went for pleasure!! It’s the first time I’ve been able to tag along on a work trip and I was super excited about it! Of course the first research I did on London related to yarn and fabric.

I had a couple of splurges. The first being at Liberty of London. Their cotton fabric is beautiful and I was surprised to see they had silk too. I bought a meter of silk to make myself a scarf. Then I bought some cotton for myself and for my mom. The fabric was pricey thanks to the crappy exchange rate, but I was told that if I wanted to buy a dress of their fabric, it would cost me more than 500 GBP which is WAY more than I spent. Interestingly enough, I did see a blouse made of the fabric of the red rose fabric, and it cost 95 GBP, again, much more than I spent for 3 meters. That made me feel better about my splurge.

My second purchase was at the Swarovski Crystallized store where they sold…yes, Swarovski crystal beads. They also had necklaces and bracelets that you could buy (for $$$). I fell in love with two pieces (this necklace and this bracelet) and bought some of the components to make the jewelry myself. It won’t be exact, but close enough. This did lead to buyer’s remorse but I felt better when I got home and found that I could not get the components in the US, even on the internet.

My third purchase was at iKnit. Cute store with great yarn. A lot of it available in the US, but I was able to find some great organic wool from Cornwall. It’s from Blacker Designs and not widely carried in the US. My goal for my yarn purchase was to get something I couldn’t find at home and I’m very happy with the Blacker Designs yarn. It’s a DK weight which I think is more practical for me living in Northern California. I also fell in love with some Hand Maiden Fine Yarn (dyed in Canada). But the color reminded me of London with the blues and greys, and I don’t have anything like it.

That was the bulk of my shopping. Bill bought me a silk scarf as a Valentine’s Day gift. (Actually, he told me he would get me one as a gift but I picked it out and bought it while he was at work.) I was enthralled with all the British women and their scarves. Silk scarves, pashminas, winter scarves… they wore them all so stylishly. I bought my scarf at Liberty of London, and they showed me how to wear it and I love it.

Let me tell you a little about Liberty of London. It’s a high end department store in this distinctive building in a big shopping district. They sell all brands of clothing, including pieces made from their fabric, and they sell their fabric as well as yarn and other haberdashery. I love that some of the department stores have haberdashery departments. I also went into John Lewis, another department store, and they had decorator weight fabrics available! They also had every type of Rowan Yarn in every color, as well as a few other brands. I showed amazing self restraint and didn’t buy any yarn, but I did buy some fabric for bedroom curtains. They had beautiful fabrics. I’ve been looking for bedroom curtains but I have a very specific color scheme in mind and I was very excited to find the perfect material. It’s decorator weight but it’s machine washable which is hard to find.

While I did spend a bit of money, I also did quite a bit of window shopping. New spring clothing was out and I really enjoyed looking at the styles and construction. It gave me some ideas.

So that’s my London trip for the crafty perspective. I did a ton of sight-seeing, but that will be a second post.

One pair down, 11 more to go. They’ve actually been done for over two weeks, I just couldn’t get around to blogging about it. They are simple picot edged top down socks. The yarn is from my Sundara subscription. When I first started these, I wasn’t sure about the yarn. It was ok, but was seeming a little yellow. Now that I’ve finished, I really like the yarn. And the socks. The first half of the first sock took me over 6 months. The rest of that pair and the second sock took me about five days.

Bill picked out my February pair which I haven’t started yet. Instead, I started a pair of socks with some Vesper Yarn in the sweetheart colorway. They are perfect for February. I wonder if I can get two pairs of socks knit this month…