Works in Progress - How many are enough?

This week I have been struggling with how many projects I should have on the go at any one time.  In order to complete my challenge to knit 42 Harrow Fair entries before the next fair, I pretty much have to knit in every spare minute.  That means that I need to knit where ever and when ever possible.  

To knit during webinars, while travelling etc. you have to have a project where you do not need to consult the pattern constantly.  The pattern has to be memorized and have portions that are mindless knitting.

The Vespa sweater quickly reached the point where I had to follow the chart to knit in the scooter.  This is not mindless knitting.  This requires laying out the pattern, using post-it notes to track what row I am on and constantly counting stitches.

Wednesday I had a webinar to watch.  I was faced with an hour of potential knitting time and nothing Harrow Fair related.  Early in the morning I wound this yarn.



And cast on Over & Over Infinity Loop during the webinar.  As there were 168 stitches to cast on using the cable cast on, a very slow cast on for me and I was taking notes from the webinar, the cast on took up the hour.  I did not count the stitches until the session was over.

Thursday morning I took the ferry to Pelee Island for a couple of days.  My husband works on the island and normally he is there the same days I am working in Windsor.  However this week he was there at the end of the week.  I was off Thursday and Friday so I joined him.  I still did not want to knit the scooter on the hour and a half ferry ride.  I suffer motion sickness and there would be too much looking at the pattern for my poor stomach.  The cowl was just the thing.  There are only 2 rows in the pattern and easily memorized.  However, it still requires concentration.

Before I show you progress on the cowl and tell you of my adventures on Pelee Island, let me tell you a story about this yarn.  I told you that my husband is a stash enhancer.  Here he is heading off on the ferry to Sandusky OH.

Look beyond the group in the foreground.  He was ultimately heading to Nova Scotia.  While on Cape Breton, he was having a smoke outside his hotel and another man started up a conversation.  I think it must have been a really strange conversation as the man said he was Anna Maria Tremonti's ex-husband and my husband asked him where he could find a yarn store.  The even stranger part was that the ex gave him directions to here.  The yarn chosen for me is Mineville Wool Project, a lovely 75% wool, 25% sheared angora blend.

Progress to date:

I love going to Pelee.  I had two days to hike, take photos, knit and sleep.  I had the perfect setup for knitting the scooter portion of the sweater.

And this is the view from the wall of windows on the left in the above photo.

Progress:

Just a note on how I place the chart into the garment.  I added a line of thread to mark the bottom of the chart.  Then I added similar markers to mark the edges of the chart.  These are the two pink ones in the photo above.  Then additional random markers to mark the 10 stitch lines in the chart.  That way I don't have to count each and every stitch, just the ones that are to the left or right of the 10 stitch lines in the chart.  It makes placing the motif a lot easier.

By last night, the back is complete.  The sweater pieces still need a bath, blocking and assembly. There is then the collar still to complete.

While on Pelee Island, Reba and I ventured out to Fish Point, the southern most point on the island.  Middle Island is still further south in the Lake and is the southernmost point in Canada.

For the last while, I have been trying to take more interesting pictures of my finished items.  I like to take them out to Pelee Island for a photo shoot.  I discovered that I had not taken photos of a woven scarf so I used the hike to the point as an opportunity for photos.  Here are a sampling.

I also went to Vu-Shorgo because I heard that there were goats.  I like goats, almost as much as I like sheep and alpacas.  At Vu-Shorgo, I hit the jackpot.  This is Mustaque with one of his goats.  Each of the animals has a name and Mustaque told me each one but I could only hold so many in my head at once.

I think the names of the alpaca were Lisa and Elsie

This is a Jacob sheep and her name is is Latte.

There were chickens.  The chickens followed me around the farm like a flock of groupies.  I had trouble getting photos of them as a group as they were right at my feet and rubbing themselves against my ankles.  They were very friendly.

I also enjoyed the activities of the geese.

Ducks too.

You can read more about Vu-Shorgo here or on facebook here.

I purchased a hemp bag and local garlic before I left.

Now that you have been distracted by goats, it is time to come back to how many projects are enough.  I think I am going to say 3.  That way, there is a chance that there will always be a project at a stage where the project can travel with me for those moments were I can pick up the knitting during the day without the need for the pattern.

The third one I have chosen is Bridal Shrug by Iris Schreier.  I have chosen Zambezi, a 70% kid; 30% silk blend by Fleece Artist.  I purchased it last year at the Woodstock Fleece Festival from Grand River Yarns.  I have wound the yarn but not cast on yet.

While the title of the pattern includes "bridal", I just like laciness of the pattern.  No one is planning on getting married.  I think one of my nieces might like it when it is done. No pressure ladies.

162nd Harrow Fair

For some reason I think that September is the start of the new year.  I don't make resolutions in January, I make them in September.  September for me is the start of new beginnings. Here it is September 2015 and I want to start something new.

For me that also means that I want to start a new challenge.  The 161st Harrow Fair has just ended and I looked at all the beautiful exhibits in the needle arts displays.

I was inspired.  There were also quilts but I am a Knitter so no photos of quilts today.  Of course there was way more entries than I have shown in the photos.  I just wanted to give you a taste of the scope of what the Harrow Fair offers for needle crafters.

My challenge:

There are 48 categories for knitting at the 2015 fair.  Some of these are for seniors 65+ years.  I have not got there yet.  Some are for beginners and some are for advanced.  Advanced and beginners does not relate to your skill or how long you have been knitting.  For the beginner categories it means that you can enter until you win in that category, then you become advanced.  At least it used to.  Now I understand that the exhibitor can choose whether he or she thinks of themselves as a beginner or an advanced knitter and enter either but cannot enter both the beginner and the advanced category.  

I am eligible to enter 42 of the 48 categories and my goal for the 2016 fair is to enter all 42 of the knitting categories plus the one or two new categories that are created each year.  I just hope that I don't spend too much effort on a category that disappears next year.

I think this is a crazy amount of knitting to achieve in a year.  I was telling this to one of the Needle Arts Directors how crazy I thought this was until she told me about T who comes every year with suitcases and laundry baskets full of entries.  She enters knitting, crocheting, sewing and maybe even a quilt or two and pretty much enters each and every category for Needle Arts.  T claims that she does not go out much.  I admire T and am envious of the time she can spend expressing her creativity.

I am not yet retired like T so I think 42 entries is a major challenge. Especially since I think the best I have done is maybe 14?  I only managed to put in 13 entries this year.  Mind you, I have probably given away close to 42 items over the past year as Christmas and birthday gifts.  So to any of my family reading this, don't expect the usual socks, hats etc for Christmas or your birthday for the upcoming year.  

The Rules

Harrow Fair

Must be clean, new and smoke-free;

Must be completed since the last fair; and

Must be at the fair by 9:00pm Wednesday August 31, 2016.

My Rules

Must be started since the last fair;

Must be something I can use, or give as a gift.

For the adult items, must fit me or a family member; and

Yarn must come from my stash whenever possible.

I have committed to myself and to you to blog at least once a week to update you on my progress.

For the next year we will discuss the progress of the entries.  Tell stories about the yarn and pattern choices.  There will be photos.  Most of all, I hope there will be lots of laughter but I also expect there will be some tears as well.

I hope you will join me on this crazy train.