Stealie

It's exciting being able to write about a finished project from the queue minutes after I posted about the queue. It probably won't get posted till a few hours later. (28 wpm! I need Mavis Beacon in my life.)

Further ado I present Stealie:

I made sure the tag was visible when I took this picture.

The idea

I had a friend ask me at the beginning of summer for a Grateful Dead hat. At the time I was backed up with baby items and had no idea what to do for such a hat; so I didn't really commit to anything. 

After spending 90% of my summer making baby things I decided enough was enough. I'm making grown up things. I tried getting started on other things on the queue but something would come up. I wasn't able to buy the yarn for Mangyle when I intended. And the socks, I had no feet to make them for yet.

Around the time I turned my back on all my friends' offspring, the friend who requested the hat had gotten sick and was starting another round of visiting the hospital and seeing new doctors. Ever since I began talking to him he's had the same problem, but it seemed to have gotten worse the further into summer we got. And the last round of doctor visits only resulted in, "There's nothing physically wrong with you that we can find. Here are some pills for they symptoms." So this hat happened in hopes to brighten things up a little bit. And to keep his head warm.

Chart

The process

I was at a loss what to do with this hat. Google search was employed to help me come up with an idea, and that's when I found the logo.  Only to realize this was the same logo I spotted several times in his room. (I stared at the banner for like fifteen minutes one day trying to figure out what the hell I was looking at.  I'm such an idiot.)

The next day I went out and bought graph paper to make this happen. Chart making couldn't be that hard, right? Wrong. It took me about 2 hours and few pieces of paper to come up with something I could work with. I was ready for bed afterwards, but no, I had to go to Wal-Mart, buy yarn and start that night.

It only took two days to make. And I learned what good yarn bobbins are for. Having to unbraid skeins every five minutes was quite the pain. If you look closely, the blue side of the circle slants a little to the left. I thought it had something to do with me wanting to work over loose yarn. Turns out I had lost 10 stitches between the beginning of the hat and the end of the logo.


The being done with it

I felt better when my roommate's boyfriend assured me the logo was coming along well. Also the progress reports I sent my friend got great reviews. And I also learned a lesson. In all the messages I sent, I referred to the logo as "he/him." Then I was told his name was "Stealie" as in "Steal you face."

Happy crafting!

Project queue

This makes blog attempt number I've lost count.
Maybe I'll keep this up this time.

I certainly have the time to keep up a blog.
On to the post!

Project queue - The beginning

At the beginning of last school year I brainstormed a list of projects I absolutely wanted to get done. In middle school I was constantly told that writing down goals would help you achieve them better, so I thought, "Why not."

I posted the list on Facebook. It didn't really get any feedback. Right around March, I went back to it and checked it out only to find out I had completed pretty much everything on the list (the last one, still a work in progress at the time).

I felt quite accomplished. This was a big step for a non-committed crafter like myself. Sure there were side projects and items were put away for months at a time. But I finished everything I had set out to do three months before I intended to finish them. It was a gold star moment for me.

This year I will make...

I came up with my project queue for this year about a week ago and I've already got one thing crossed off! Here's my queue for 2012-13:

1. Mangyle-An ambitious goal. I've never really dealt with intarsia before. And I still tie knot to join yarn when knitting. I decided that I would have to work up to Mangyle and do practice intarsia swatches to get the hang of it. I've also started exploring the option of translating the pattern to crochet, since I'm more comfortable with it. This will most likely be the last projects I attempt. This is for Alex who graciously agreed to receive an onslaught of hand crafted goods from me until the end of time.
2. Socks- Still debating if I want to knit or crochet these. I even paid for a sock loom. I can't start these until I get a foot measurement. But I feel I'll start on these soon. These are also for Alex; only because the sock yarn I picked up screamed him.
3. Something for my friends Sami and Shelly- I'm not sure what they'll get,  but these two ladies have earned it. Despite them being in different corners of the country, these ladies have always been a phone call away whenever I really needed them. I've got colors and pattern ideas picked out for Shelly. For Sami, I would like to make her something that has a very comforting feel.
4. Runners- I've only made one thing for my sister, so I granted her a space on my queue this year. She too have been a wonderful support resource for me this summer. She requested I make runners for her table and dresser. I'm excited about these because they might give me the chance to break into lace making.
5. Something commissioned. I need to start marketing myself. This is on the list to make sure I do it.
6. Grateful Dead hat- Already completed. I had a friend request it at the beginning of summer. Then  he got sick, so I figured the hat would make him feel a little better while he's visiting doctors. This was my first venture into color work and a great introduction to what I might encounter #1 on the list.

I know I have my work cut out for me, but I think I can get through my list. The original point of the queue was to challenge my inability to finish projects in a timely manner. Now that I've made to that met that challenge, why not challenge myself with new techniques and more open ended project that require a design element from me?

What projects do you hope to get done? Are you wanting to master a new technique, or do you want to finally get around to making something that ties your winning outfit together?

Happy yarning!