Stormwind Week 9

I'm off in my week count for Stormwind. According to what I've posted this would be week 10, but going by when I did actually start I'm only at week 9. My goal is 2000 stitches a week so I should be at 18000. I'm at 19900ish, so I'm happily ahead of where I intended to be.

Stormwind Map last time:

Stormwind Map now:

Not much to say about Stormwind right now. The second building near the harbor is now coming into being... I don't know what that one is either.

My beloved's Harry Potter scarf is all knitted and the ends are woven in! YAY!

I will finish in July 2016 a present for a November birthday... that I can't actually give until 2017 even though it is still for this year. I have never been so ahead of things.

I need to attach the fringe yet, but I'm extremely motivated to get it done as quickly as possible because I promised myself I wouldn't start a new knitting project until I finished it (the occasional dishcloth or charity/baby blanket doesn't count) and I am dying to get going on my new project.

I learned how to do cables only a year and a half ago or so and ever since I've had my heart set on doing a big cabled project. I had a few patterns all ready to go, but they all went bust when my allergies flared up and tried to kill me and I had to get rid of all of my wool and wool blend yarns. (Beloved's HP scarf is wool, but I've found I can handle some contact with only minor issues when my immune system isn't on the fritz.) I was out hundreds of dollars and I shelved the whole idea because it upset me. Now I'm ready to jump back in and me and my acrylic are going to kick ass and make something beautiful!

My beloved is going to get his own lovely blue Threaded Cable Throw.

Just try and tell me that's not gorgeous.

The pattern calls for dk weight yarn but I have decided to go with a worsted instead. Using the dk it makes up to 47.75 inches wide. That's not quite big enough. I tossed around the idea of doing an extra repeat but decided to change the yarn instead. I have three different possibilities in mind. I've knitted up a swatch of the first but only got the second yarn in the mail last night. I hope to do that swatch tonight and then throw them both in the washer to see how they fare. The third is just a different colorway of the first yarn so it's okay that it hasn't arrived yet.

I have every intention of doing an afghan for myself as well. I've picked a seriously stunning pattern that will be a big test of my abilities (I think... the pattern hasn't actually arrived yet. It's a book, limited release from what I gather and a bit on the pricey side so far as I'm concerned, and I could only find it in Canada.) I think I'm going to work on them concurrently, but I want to stagger the starts quite a bit. I'm undecided on color for mine so that works out nicely enough. I'll post pictures when I've got it all sorted out.

So a Pirate and a Wizard Get in a Fight...

Stormwind Map last time:

Stormwind Map now:

The darker blue-ish parallelogram is a roof. I do not know what building it is meant to represent since it's post-Cata. In my mind it's a boat house since it's right on the harbor. I highly doubt it is, but doubt has not stopped me from pretending things before. Hardly seems to make sense to let it now.

HP scarf before:

HP scarf now:

Scarves love posing on patio swings. Well known fact.

I know it looks like those are holes in the middle bit there but really that's where my joins are. That will disappear once the ends are woven in.

I've also started a dishcloth.

Dishcloth or doll-sized afghan? You decide.

And... Harry lost his wand and had to borrow Obi-Wan's lightsaber. No, I don't know why. But it all makes for a more dynamic progress picture, no?

The pattern is from Bernat Kitchen Kolors Dishcloths booklet. I got it mainly because I wanted the crochet patterns, so of course I started with a knitted one. Of course. :p

In other news, the mockup for Forsaken was added to the HAED site! I was very happy about that. Check it out:

I'm super picky about how faithful the finished product is going to be compared to the original. This is still gorgeous and maybe if I'd never seen the original artwork it wouldn't bother me, but there is just so much black! It's mixed in with the greens and robbing them of vibrancy and the hair is almost entirely and there's so much in the cloak. In addition, I don't care for the way the greens blend off in the background. The lines are too distinct. So I've decided to stop working on it.

This is all the farther I ever got on it:

I had opted not to do the black border (or would have added it at the end) and I had started in the lower left hand corner.

I guess it's not a huge loss. I felt like I was a lot farther along that I was, I guess. But it still sucks. I have learned that I simply cannot buy a chart without there being a mockup. Nope. Not even gonna take the chance.

I haven't decided if I'm going to try to repurpose this fabric or just tuck it away in case I look at it again years down the road and change my mind.

ELO Insists That It Is a Beautiful New Day

I fell way short of making my Stormwind page finish goal. I've spent too much of my spare time hiking and getting sunburned I guess. Kinda cracks me up because last time I was all excited that I had switched up how I'm stitching it and was happy about that and was on a roll and then... now.

Stormwind Map last time:

Stormwind Map now:

Someday I will go back and do those first corner stitches. Today, however, is not that day.

Amazing how different lighting changes colors. The old picture is in direct sunlight. The new one is under florescent lights.

Wanderer's Cove continues to be my work project. I give over most of my lunch hour to it a few days a week and when I carpool and am passenger I stitch during the drive.  It's an hour and ten minutes one way. Granted, car stitching tends to be done much, much slower, but it all adds up.

Wanderer's Cove last time:

Wanderer's Cove now:

I've finally reached a whole percent! 5400 stitches makes it 1.08% complete! :p

Many lovely colors.

Jean has had the Disney project for almost a month and a half now and hasn't put in a single stitch. I'm not begrudging her that; it's her project after all. All the same, I don't think it's realistic to think it will be done in time to finish it for Christmas. That's okay by me. I really want Jean to be able to work on it. I want her to manage to get some time to herself and enjoy doing it. She's just far too busy for that to happen right now. I haven't told her yet but I've come up with a Plan B which is to push that project back for Christmas 2017 and instead whip up some cute (possibly reversible?) bags for this year. I have some Mickey buttons and ribbon and I can get some fabric and do some nice machine embroidered Mickey designs and everything will be perfectly wonderful. Happiness all around.

Obviously, if she is against this plan for whatever reason I'll scrap it. I really think she'll be relieved not to have to worry about it though.

Stormwind Week 7

I seem to have found my groove again with Stormwind. And the time off of work for the holiday meant I was able to make up the lost ground from last time and I'm right on target again. Winning!

Stormwind Map last time:

Stormwind Map now:

I'm currently averaging 300 stitches a day. (Okay, well, 298 according to my excel formula, but close enough.) If I keep that pace up I'll have the first row of pages done just before Christmas.

A Long Week

I quit smoking in this last week.

Quitting smoking is interesting because although you know intellectually that it is a smart and healthy thing to do, your brain is constantly repeating a refrain of, "Why are you hurting me? Why are you hurting me? Why are you hurting me?" You KNOW that you're doing the exact opposite, but your brain is being held hostage by its dependency on nicotine and lying to you. The problem is that it feels like it's telling the truth. And then to make it all worse you're fresh out of dopamine whilst your brain rebuilds pathways and everything seems horrible and you're full-on diving into the pit of despair every second thought. Well, when the cravings hit bad like that I pound the pavement. There's evidence that physical exercise can reduce cravings. I've found that for me it can pretty much eliminate them entirely. Granted, every time I want a cigarette it isn't feasible to go run for an hour, but for now it works. I guess I'm just lucky that cravings don't seem to hit me at work.

I didn't meet my Stormwind goals because of all the biking and walking and running I've been doing. I think it's an okay trade-off though.

Stormwind Map last time:

Stormwind Map now:

Poor Stormwind has developed vertical lines and it doesn't seem to matter how much of a sawtooth edge I leave on the columns. I guess my stitching style on this one makes for too many horizontal floats that make clearer distinctions. I honestly don't think it will be that bad on the finished piece once it is taut (it's really rather exaggerated in the photo because that's where my Q-Snap was), but it's still something I'd rather avoid. To that end, I've been trying to switch up the way I stitch it, but everything I've tried drains all enjoyment out of the process and makes it feel like work. Bleh.

I'll figure it out eventually.

Wanderer's Cove, on the other hand, has been an absolute joy. I've been doing a kind of cross country stitching and parking hybrid. Why I love it for Wanderer's Cove but get lost and make zillions of mistakes when I try that on Stormwind is a mystery. Stitch count maybe? Boo on 2x1 on 20 count? 1x1 28 count or bust?

Wanderer's Cove last time:

Wanderer's Cove now:

I loves it. I do. A lot.