February 2018 WIPs

January was both fast and slow. It's a long month, and yet I sometimes find myself wondering where all that time went. As always, lots happened, and the keeping the to-do list under control is an adventure, to say the least. 

First, here's what I managed to cross off the January list:

• Complete finishing of the BFL spinning project - plied and twist set. I still have a few knitting projects on the go, so the yarn is going into the stash for now. 
• Three skeins of handspun yarn for a fractal program I did for my spinning group. PLUS, one skein was knit into a scarf, and the other was woven into a scarf to show the differences between knitting with the yarn and weaving it, AND a video to try to break down the process. If we're going to be honest, this project took up a huge chunk of my time this month. Really it was four projects (spinning, weaving, knitting, and video), and I only gave myself credit for it as one project. But it was fun!
• I finished reading a stack of Vav magazines lent to me last year by a friend. Just reading the magazine isn't really enough for me, though. I had to take (and type notes). Vav is always inspiring and insightful, but I'm glad to cross it off my mental to-do list.
• Lots of hand-dyed yarn and fiber, including some research/samples on a new set of colorways. My electric skeinwinder hasn't materialized (yet), and that slowed me down, since I didn't want to wind skeins and kept hoping the skeinwinder was around the corner. Lesson learned.
• I cut the rug warp off the loom. It's been on there since July, and it was time to say goodbye. I had hoped to get one or two more things woven on it, but the super low humidity of winter meant the linen warp wanted to do nothing but break, and nothing was going quite right. 
• A program (with a machine knitted sample) for my guild on the history and techniques of machine knitting. 
• I tried a tapestry weaving project, just to scratch the itch. Last summer I bought a small tapestry loom, but never really took to it. Again, I'm not quite getting the hang of it. So, I decided to sign up for a class in April, and will let the tapestry loom await its future until then. 
• A pair of socks. Almost totally undocumented, except for this. 
• A rigid heddle scarf, with some stash yarn and some hand-dyed yarn of my own. (Wasn't originally on the list.)

So, with all that done, here's what's on the list for February:

Knitting

• The stashbuster sweater. I had a big burst of progress, and thought it was all finished, and then it wasn't. I'm taking a trip to Denver by train (!) and plan to work on it then. Fingers crossed that it will be done at the end of February.
• A simple pair of helical stripe socks, to use up some oddball bits of sock yarn. No deadline.
• There's been some progress on the knitting machine front, and I hope to make more. The rest of the parts/accessories for it arrived mid-January, and I have to admit they are still strewn around my basement. It's a lot to take in. Really this is two projects:
  • Set everything up/organize the space.
  • Practice making things on the machine.

Spinning

• My parents gave me a ball of Finnsheep wool for Christmas - a whole pound. I'm currently on the fourth bobbin, and maybe halfway through spinning it. I want to finish this month.
• I've unintentionally been more or less keeping to the #spin15aday challenge, even though I haven't posted about it (at all). Does anyone else get frustrated when they spot an exciting Instagram challenge but they can't find the originator? Then you do find out who it is, and they're lovely, and you feel it's too late to jump on the bandwagon? Anyways, the idea is to spin 15 minutes a day. It's based on an idea of Ghandi's, that if everyone spun yarn for at least 15 minutes a day we'd have world peace. All of this is to say, I'm spinning a bit more than I had been, and assuming that I finish the Finn wool, I'll be spinning something else later in the month.

Weaving

• I'm challenging myself to think about weaving a lot more over the coming month(s). I have a personal challenge to myself to post on Instagram every day, and I've set myself a bunch of prompts, all about weaving. So that's a big item, and will probably spur a handful of other projects.
• With the rug warp off the big loom, I'm looking for something new to put on it. I've decided to give another go to weaving yardage for a shirt or two. This is going to be pretty involved, and I'm hoping to get the loom warped by the end of the month.
  • Wind 1,000 or so warp ends.
  • Dye the warp chain. (I'm leaning towards an ikat effect...)
  • Warp the loom
  • Weave.
• I'm also working on an idea for a ruana on the table loom. I tend to really love plain weave on the table loom, and those projects go quickly, so that should be doable. Again, though, it's three projects:
  • Dye the yarn (colorways are already 90% identified)
  • Warp the loom
  • Weave

Sewing

• I made zero progress on the sewing front in January. All I managed to do was get the log cabin blanket out of its box and marvel at  how close I am to finishing. I do hope to finish it before the weather gets warm so it doesn't languish for a whole 'nother year.

I noticed that the projects I got done in January were mostly for my guild and the blog, and that I didn't do as much on the dyeing front as I would have liked. I'm hoping to course correct for that in February. Luckily, I'm not in charge of putting on any programs this month, so that should help out a bunch, especially since I tend to overprepare!