summer knitting update

Goal: finish 6 in-progress knits before school starts

Here's what I found in my project bags:

folded sweater top
Looks like I started the sleeves, but didn't get very far. After the sleeves are knit, they are joined with the body (this is a bottom-up project).

bonney top
I think I just need to bind off and seam shoulders.

entangled vines cardigan
This one is washed and blocked, just needs buttons.

twigs & willows cardigan
I decided that I need to restart sleeves with correct measurements. I'm worried that they are going to be too tight, as is. It's kind of hard to tell, since they will be seamed. But my gut says to reassess, so I'm going to reassess. I would hate to finish this and not be able to wear it.

rosencrantz
This was a quick knit. I have the front & back complete, just need to seam it, and do a little neck and sleeve edging.

force awakens hat 

I got stuck when I needed to transfer from circulars to double-points, since I didn't have the correct size on hand. I've since purchased the correct needles. And now it's summer, so this has been on the back burner. I'd love to finish in time for fall gifting (this is going to my dear cousin Valerie who lives overseas now).

color affection shawl
This one is off the needles but needs to be blocked.

cypress top - frogged

I gave up. I know this is a gorgeous knit, as I've seen a sample, but I just don't have the patience. I'll find something else to do with the pretty yarn.

Some socks that are almost finished:

Yep, these are my very first socks. This is why I now knit two-at-a-time!

L-to-R: So Long 2016, Monuments & Blossoms, Dark Side stripes

Still in the queue:

• baable hat
• wethersfield cardigan 
• lambing mitts 
• very close talking hat
• and many more from the Spring 2017 Puget Sound LYS Tour!

Knit Goals for 2017

I'm going to take my friend Laura's advice about knitting, which is: knit whatever I want during the school year (includes starting as many projects as I'd like) and use the summer to focus on finishing knits. I think it's great advice, so that's what I'm going to do. I have enough sock yarn stashed that I can attempt to knit a pair each month. I've been thinking of alternating my variegated with solid yarn, so that I can do a simple vanilla pair one month, and a pattern the next. But I'm not going to hold myself to that. If I want to knit vanilla socks for the rest of this school year, that's fine too.

These are the knits that are either currently on the needles, or close to starting soon:

• folded sweater top
• bonney top (need to bind off and seam shoulders)
• color affection shawl
• cypress top
• entangled vines cardigan (washed and blocked - needs buttons)
• twigs & willows cardigan (need to restart sleeves with correct measurements)
• lambing mitts - have yarn, not started
• very close talking hat - ordered yarn, not started
• force awakens hat - have yarn, not started
• baable hat - have yarn, not started

By the end of the summer break, I hope to have at least 6 of those knits finished.

So, to sum up, my goals are:

1. knit 12 pairs of socks in 2017
2. finish at least 6 in-progress knits during the summer break

Book Goals for 2017

In the spirit of this post, I'd like to be more thoughtful as I plan my reading year. Here's what I have so far:

January (a book about immigration)

• In The Country We Love: My Family Divided by Diane Guerrero

February (a book about Jewish people)

• The Two Family House: A Novel by Lynda Cohen Loigman

March (speculative fiction by a writer of color)

• 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

April (a book by a trans author)

• A Queer and Pleasant Danger by Kate Bornstein

May (a book translated to English)

• Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

June (a feminist book by a woman of color)

• Headscarves and Hymens: Why the Middle East Needs a Sexual Revolution by Mona Eltahawy

July (a narrative around #BlackLivesMatter by a black author)

• They Can't Kill Us All: Ferguson, Baltimore, and a New Era in America's Racial Justice Movement by Wesley Lowery

August (a book about Islam)

• Does My Head Look Big In This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah

September (a book about Latinx people)

• Oye What I'm Gonna Tell You by Cecilia Rodríguez Milanés

October (American history from the perspective of a marginalized group)

• Homegoing: A Novel by Yaa Gyasi

November (policing and incarceration)

• Incarceration Nations: A Journey to Justice in Prisons Around the World by Baz Dreisinger

December (a book set in the Middle East)

• Alif the Unseen by G Willow Wilson

I'm also planning on finishing as many of my school's "Bulldogs Read" books as I can. I read two over winter break, bringing my total to nine so far this school year. I love being able to talk to kids about books, and since many kids at my school read at least one Bulldogs Read book, it opens up conversations.