This morning I finally had the free time in the right light of day to spread out my crochet squares for an update. I really get enthusiasm for this project in waves. I make a huge pile of squares and then I start to lose steam when I think about weaving in all the ends. So I save the squares, weave in all the ends in a marathon talk with my parents on Skype, and then don't want to look at granny squares again for a while. It's been a while since weaving in all those ends, so I might start another crochet spurt soon. My supplies are showing signs of dwindling so I think this should be the perfect project to finish off that gigantic Palette* sampler that my mom gave me for my birthday ages ago.

In other news, Ms. Marigold is a fast one! I just have to cast off at the bottom edge and then do some finishing touches before it is done! Who knows how long that will take though, now that I am going to be pulling out the crochet bag again. Tomorrow is the first holiday of golden week and then next weekend is a glorious four-day weekend with no plans, woo! I'm looking forward to enjoying the nice spring weather, even if it means stretched out on my couch with all the windows open.

*Wow, it looks like all the harsh brights are on clearance and they are really introducing lots of more muted, wearable colors. This is a great yarn, yay!

Posted by Molly at 10:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Last week, I finally finished the basketweave section of my Hanami. I say finally, but I am in no rush to finish this as it is a goodbye gift for my tea ceremony teacher and now I know that I'll be around for more than another year. But it is a fun knit, and good to knit lace again instead of just zoning out on the stockinette and crochet projects that I had been working on previously.

I really love this sachiko section. The lace pattern is interesting but easy to remember so I really didn't have to do any ripping or stressing about mistakes (if you see any, just don't tell me!). Now I'm on the falling petals sections. It involves a lot more stockinette but the "random" petals are getting more and more frequent so the knitting is getting fun again.

I wish I could balance my projects more evenly, but I always find myself hooked on one thing for a few days and then hooked on something else after that. I want to get back to Ms. Marigold soon so that I can actually wear it before it gets too hot!

Posted by Molly at 10:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I didn't pick it up for a while because I didn't want to be fumbling with fit measurements and counting decreases when I was tired and too busy to get a lot of good knitting time in. But this Friday I sat down with Ms. Marigold to finish up the neckline so that I could enjoy the straight stockinette and catch up with friends at Saturday's local SnB. It sure is quick going now! I can see why most normal knitters finish this project up in no time. It is perfect Ms. Marigold weather here at the moment, and I can't imagine it would be the best for Japanese summer, so I am trying to finish it up as soon as I can! The color is a bit funny in the above photo... I have found that the yarn is tough to photograph well.

I even tried it on because I am determined not to let this be another knitter garment that fits, but is not quite right. So far, so good! I'm about to start some waist increases around the sides and hopefully it will be finished with soon enough for me to move into the next stage of Project Spectrum. This should be the perfect project to breeze through as I catch up on all the past few weeks episodes of Biggest Loser. I am addicted to that show!

Posted by Molly at 03:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Our camping vacation wasn't quite as relaxing as the above photo suggests, but we did a lot of sightseeing and soaking in onsens (Japanese hot springs) and it was overall a good time. I did some sock knitting but after about an inch my mind was spinning just trying to twist all my cables in the right places and my stomach was spinning from knitting on the windy roads, too. But it was a fun trip, even if I do need a week or two to recouperate.

We got home on Sunday night and then on Monday I headed out for a 5 mile run at my local gym (after a day at work AND a traumatic incident at the dentist). I am still patting myself on the back for actually running! I signed up for the Run-a-go-go 100 mile challenge on Ravelry this year, and I wasn't about to miss my mark by just 5 miles. Yesterday's run was hard after the loooong break, but I got the miles in and can say that I did finish my 100 miles before April 1st. I almost can't believe that I ran that far, especially because I only did 25 miles in both January and February. Now I am going to try not to spend the rest of the week zoned out on the couch, but no promises.

Posted by Molly at 04:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I'm moving tomorrow (well, starting tomorrow--it is a three day process) and when it's finished I am going to be driving through the night to go to the Southernmost tip of Kyushu and start a 9-day road trip (we're camping). I am already exhausted and none of this has even started yet. UGH.

I started this sock last week in the hopes of having something simple and fun to work on in the car. But at this rate I will probably just be conked out in the backseat whenever I am not driving. Even with everything else that has been going on, it is nice to get back into the sock knitting again. Thanks for the encouragement, Carole!

Posted by Molly at 03:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)