UFO August Drawing Winner

Hey Everybody -- Sorry about the late post on the drawing! This weekend turned out to be much busier than I expected it to be. BUT. We DO have a winner for the UFO drawing!!! Our winner is The Purloined Letter! Congratulations!!! Please email me with your mailing address and I'll get a copy of Ashley Paiges Sexy Little Knits out to you right away!

Thanks again to everybody who participated in UFO August and don't forget about Two Steps Forward, One Step Back for those who want to keep churning out the FO's!

Also, be looking for another UFO August next summer!

Edited to Add: Hannah was kind enough to remind me that I needed to draw a second name out of the "hat" for a skein of Hill Country Sweet Feet Sock yarn -- I completely forgot about the other prize! So sorry!!! Anyway, the winner of Sweet Feet Sock Yarn goes to Robin! Yeaeaea!!!! Congrats to both of you!

WOW and THANKS!

Well, I must say that UFO August was a HUGE success!!! Just LOOK at how many UFO's were converted to FO's! Me, well I ran into technical difficulties (that's my story and I'm sticking to it!) and only finished one UFO but did work on the others without casting on for anything new until the VERY end when I (sort of had to) cast on for a sock to take with me to a convention. Any way you look at it, as long as we made some progress on some of those pesky UFO's, we're all winners.

Speaking of winners, I need for all who particpated to leave me a comment under THIS post letting me know the totals of how many UFO's you completed during UFO August. I know that many of you already posted this in the blog as a separate post, but if you could re-post it as a comment under this post, it will be much easier for me to get everybody's names entered into the drawing. We'll give everybody a week to post their numbers and then draw two names to give away two prizes. The first prize will be a skein of Sweet Feet sock yarn donated by Hill Country Yarns and the second prize will be Ashley Paige's book, Sexy Little Knits.

We will definitely have another UFO August next year and maybe even try a UFO March so that we can finish up our winter UFO's before plunging into our spring knitting. For now, be sure to check out Manda's Start It Up September for those who are about to cast on for new projects (um, that would be me!). Leave her a comment letting her know you'd like to participate and she'll get you hooked up.

Once again, thank you to all who played along with UFO August and remember, if we worked on any UFO's we're all winners!

Welcome!

Welcome to the UFO August site, a site dedicated to those who are interested in converting those pesky UFO's into FO's before they start on their fall projects.

Here's how to play:

• Request an invitation to join the UFO August site by emailing me.
• Take stock of your current UFO's and make a list.
• Prioritize your list, placing the most important UFO's at the top of your list.
• Post your list here.
• Start working on your top UFO.
• Post progress pics here for inspiration and support.
• Post completed FO pics here as well.
• Bask in the after-glow of each completed UFO (aaaahhhh).
• For each UFO that you complete during the month of August, your name will be entered into a drawing for a (yet undetermined) prize.
  

Easy enough??? I thought so!

Feel free to use this button to post on your site and to spread the word about UFO August. The more participants we have, the more inspired we'll be to finish those UFO's!

Finished the blanket

I finished the blanket last week, sorry I forgot to post earlier. But you know how life can get in the way some times. So I was only a few days past the end of August. I used TLC Cotton Plus in Mint, Kiwi, Yellow and White, on size 9 needles. The boarder is crocheted using the white. I really enjoyed doing this blanket.

Bring on the Christmas Knitting!

UFO August was a success for me - all but one project got off the needles one way or another. :-)

6 FOs: Stashbusting Log Cabin Lapghan, Absorba, the Great Bathmat, Twisted Socks (see photo), Patons Voodoo Legwarmers, Irish Hiking Wristwarmers, Panta

I feel I must confess than the wristwarmers only needed a little bit of seaming and Panta only lacked having the two yarn ends weaved in. I'd even worn Panta in public before with the ends hanging! I have a really bad habit of avoiding doing the finishing touches, something this KAL has helped me to recognize and, hopefully, make some improvement on in the future.

3 Projects Frogged: Turtleneck Shrug, Wool-Ease Legwarmers, Simply Soft Quick Shrug
1 WIP Remaining: Neapolitan socks

These socks were sacrificed so that the Twisted Socks could be finished in time. I hope to have them done next week.

Now that the slate is (nearly) clear, I can start the Christmas knitting with a clear conscious. I can't order the Esprit yarn I need for gift socks until Labor Day (end of Summer of Stash), so I'm spending the holiday weekend knitting up small stashbusting items such as Christmas ornaments.

-Manda

Final tally - not impressive, but it satisfies me!

1. Print O'The Wave Shawl from Eunny, in Kidsilk Haze, mossy green. The center is finished and the edge has grown about 1/3 around. It will be a Christmas present for my mother. No progress.

2. A Cardigan for my stepfather for Christmas, Filati Magazine Special Men, Model number 35, the Material is Lana Grossa Pulcino (discontinued) in chocolate brown. The pieces are finished, I just have to block them, sew it together and then attach all the facings. No progress.

3. A sweater for my brother for Christmas, Filati Magazine Special Men, Model number 12/2. The original yarn called for is Lana Grossa Numero Uno Tweed. I have changed it to Cool Wool Big (100% Merino), since I made him a sweater in the Tweed a couple of years ago. I'm halfway up the front. No progress.

4. A sweater for the love of my life, after Interweave The Ultimate Gift. I chose Yorkshire Tweed 4ply from Rowan in a lovely dark red instead of the cashmere. Front, back and one sleeve are done, the second sleeve is half finished. All knitted up, seamed and the collar is on the needles - another hour or so and it is finished.

5. Sunrise Circle Jacket in Alpaca Sport, 100% Alpaca. The color is a dark aubergine. This one is for me. The back and the left front/sleeve are done. All pieces finished. Needs blocking, sewing together.

6. Ruffles Scarf (Amanda Blair Brown) out of Scarf Style, in Lana Grossa Cool Wool 2000 print, color 725. This one is for Cathy for Christmas. So far, about 16" are knit. 42" now.

7. Berlin Bag (original design from me). 100% Wool from Dyed in the Wool in England, in cream and tan, aran weight. This one is for me. I just need to finish the handles and then felt it and insert the lining. Oh... and publish the pattern for sale! No progress.

8. Shedir (Knitty.com Breastcancer awareness special edition) out of Lana Grossa Numero Uno Tweed, left over from the sweater I made for my brother two years ago. (Stashbusting!) Half done.

9. Marshall baby sweater (Rowan Babies, Kim Hargreaves) in Rowan Wool Cotton in Rose, for Sophia for her Birthday. Front and back are finished. Finished!



10. I have also started and finished another pair of socks for the Mystery Sock KAL.

And started a pair of Pomatomus socks as well as another pair of Beaudelaire Socks. Still loving the socks.

Also new on the needles is theFaroese Shawl from A Gathering of Lace in 100% Lambswool on 3mm neeldes.

While I did not get to finish as much as I wanted (new job and all) I did make progress on a few items, finished one, started and finished another and naturally, could not help myself casting on for another couple of new ones.

So, now on to the two steps forward, one step back knitalong, for more progress in the way of FO´s from today onwards!!

UFOs - 6, WIPS - 1, Me - 0

Instead of UFO August, it was more of a Cast-On August. I finished five projects (except for the blocking!). I also started all five this month, instead of working on things I was supposed to work on. I got involved in too many a-longs and swaps.

Final list:

1. Mohair Sweater -Technically done, but I need to frog and re-do some of it. Has not yet happened.

2. "It's a Secret #2" - Needs the missing yarn to be complete. Yarn is still missing.

3. "It's a Secret #3" - Done, except for about 15 minutes of seaming and embellishing. Oh well.

4. Mug Rug/Trivet - I actually made a Mug Rug and a Trivet from my handspun. There was more than I thought. No blocking happened this month, so these are not technically done, as they are not yet blocked. The Mug Rug really doesn't need to be blocked, but the Trivet (I guess that's what it technically is) definitely does!

5. Autumn Gloves - Not yet frogged, but I do believe that they will be Knucks. Can't be 100% sure what they're going to be until they're done!

6. Autumn Scarf - Still not touched, as the gloves need to be finished first. Oh well!

Right now, I want to finish my Hederas, which were supposed to be done last night. As it was my last night in my current locale before I head off to college again, I did not get any knitting time in. Congrats to all who have actually made some progress in their UFOs!

FO!

Hey all!

Let me tell you all how fantastic it was to see many finished projects on this blog. Congratulations to everyone!

I personally had two UFOs to finish in August, but I only finished one. I'm very happy about it though. It's the Mariah cardigan from Knitty. I have a bad pic of it (without the zipper) on my blog. It now has a zipper but I won't have my camera for another week so I can't post a better pic right now.

As for my future projects, I have many. The one I'm most eager to start is a very simple cardigan from the Fall 2004 issue of Family Circle Easy Knitting. I'm hoping my order from Knitpicks will get here today.

Hmm ok, you won't believe this, but as I was typing that last sentence, the postman rang. I got my package! :) I'll be casting on for this new project today!

One more completion

I managed to get two of my three top UFO's finished in August. These were the Pi shawl, and a pair of socks in a yummy handpainted yarn. Kepler is close to completion, but not quite there. Starting back to Grad school this week threw a wrench in that one. Oh, I did rip out a horribly ugly abomination that started out as a shawl if that counts. Sometimes having the wisdom to know when its not working is as important as plugging along to the end. I hope everyone else enjoyed this as much as I have.

Just In Time

My Jaywalkers are done. This makes a total of 6 UFO's that I've completed in August. Thanks to the organizers. This has been a really productive KAL! Thanks.

More details on my blog.

The total was six...oops I mean seven

The deadline oriented person I am I knew I would wait until today to sew the button in the Cousin It bag.
I've been home sick all day so I then proceeded to finish my third ballband warshrag.
This one is to be sent to my swap pal. Looks like I will beat that deadline. I know I got more done than I would have this month. I did take on some last minute projects which prevented me from finishing the Ballet Camisole. That KAL ends September 30th I think so I plan to be done by then.
Jeremy

The results are in

Finished:

*Garter-Stitch Blanket
*Picovoli
*Wristlet for swap

Almost finished:
*Fetching #2
(I would have finished this, but I ran out of yarn and the order hasn't arrived yet!)

Cast-on:
*French Market Bag

Just In Under The Wire

I just made it but I was able to finish one of my five UFOs. I made this headband for my One Skein Secret Pal using bamboo. I think I'll extend UFO August into September. It was fun!

My WIM's

Want to know why I started UFO August? Because there are SO many wonderful fall projects that I'm dying to make... and yet... I want to make them with somewhat of a clear conscience. What wonderful projects am I dying to make, you ask??? Here are just a few, in no particular order:

Cabled Hoodie -- Patons Street Smart

Must Have Cardigan -- Patons Street Smart

Cabled Pullover with Hood - Patons Chunky Knits

Forecast -- Knitty.com

Wanderlust Hoodie -- Interweave Knits Fall 2006

Coral Crossing -- Interweave Knits Fall 2006

Weekend Pullover -- Interweave Knits Fall 2006

Pullover -- Vogue Knitting

Martina -- Adrienne Vittadini Fall 2004 Book

Are we seeing a trend here? Cables? Yes! Hoodies? Yes! Cardigans? Yes! I know it's a long list (actually there are some more that I haven't gotten around to listing yet) and surely I'll have to choose my favorites, but THIS is why I simply could NOT allow myself to start casting on without finishing some of my current (and archived) projects.

Not pictured but still in mind are a pair or two of flap top mittens for football season (in school colors of course) and a really cute sweater with just a little intarsia in one of my magazines that I can't think of right now....

Wrap-up

Thanks to the support and encouragement of the KAL members, this month I finished 6 of the projects I had in my baskets.

1. Icarus
See finished shawl

2. Linen Feather and Fan Stole
Finished

3. Irish Hiking Scarf
Finished

4. Must Have Cardigan
Finished

5. Blue Socks
Finished



6. Laura Ingalls shawl
Finished

A present for a young friend, here modelled by Snow White's evil witch bearing a tomato a poisioned apple and by a friendly pirate.




7. Pi Shawl
While this is not an FO, it has turned from UFO to active WIP. All that is left is about 80% of the edging. It requires a great deal of attention compared to what I have these days, so it is slow going. But it IS going now!



8. Birthday Bunnies in Ballarina Suits
No progress

9. Birthday Fairytale Mice
No progress


Unfortunately, I also seem to have acquired a couple of new unfinished projects:

1. A sock, always a good project to have on the needles:



2. And a knit-in-the-car seed stitch soy silk shawl:



But hey, they don't have to be finished until NEXT August, right?

Boo End of August! Yay FOs!

I feel like I can't express enough how great this KAL has been for me. I've been inspired by seeing what you all have finished, and I'm pleased with what I managed to get done. Most of my FOs needed minimal work, but I focussed and did that work and now they're off my UFO list. This may be repetitive, but here's what I finished:
1. KSKS kit
2. Twitterpated for One Skein exchange
3. Baby Bib o' Love
4. Baby Kimono
5. Cascade Fixation socks

I frogged my original Think Pink scarf, but have cast on and nearly finished a new one. In fact, I'm determined to finish it before midnight today. I've also decided to frog the sweater and use the yarn for something else. So my remaining UFOs should be:

1. Clapotis
2. Shadow Shawl
3. Jaywalker #2

And, here's the list I'm most excited to make. My What's Next list:
1. Neal's Christmas 2005 socks
2. MB's Christmas 2005 socks
3. Cozy
4. Mrs. Beeton
5. Stitch Diva Simple Knitted Bodice
6. Loop d Loop Capelet
7. Loop d Loop Paisley Bag
8. One Skein Wonder

I'm not sure if I'm going to knit any Christmas gifts this year, but if so, they'll have to join the queue.

Thanks, everyone, for making this such a productive month!

New Project Wish/To-Do List

Here's what I'm itching to cast on:

For Me:
1. Knitted Bodice - KAL starts tomorrow: making with Brooks Farm Harmony - this one I'm going to cast on without any further finished projects as I figure I earned this one from the nine I did this month!

2. Aelf from Rowan 40 - bought purplish-black Kid Classic to make

3. Hexagon Coat from Knitting Nature- need to decide on wool to use - Lite-Lopi or something else?

I'm only going to start the first one tomorrow. The others will wait until I'm done with that one.

Christmas Knitting
1. Fair Isle reindeer cardigan from Rowan Babies for McKenna (have yarn and buttons)

2. Debbie Bliss Soho purse for Christmas gift - have yarn

3. Jim's Harley sweater - have Burly Spun in black with orange for the accents

4. Peg's garter stitch vest from Classic Knitted Vests book- Karabella Aurora black/white Melange (webcast knitting)

I'm going to start #4 right away as I have to have something to knit for webcasts and I have no other mindless knitting right now. I will finish two more projects before I cast on for #1, but I have to get that one going as I haven't done fair isle before except in class and I may need time to get it done before Christmas.

New Technique Knitting

1. intarsia felting project from interweave knits

Probably won't start this one until some time in the future.

What I Knit during August

I've haven't posted at all since my very first post, because it's been such a busy month. But things went pretty well, even so. I finished my pink lace scarf for the Think Pink Challenge, as well as two cotton facecloths for one of my sisters (sorry, no photos of those--I gave them to her as soon as they were done).

I also made this adorable Teddy Bear Sweater as part of my Fearless Finishing class, which met for four Saturdays at WEBS. Great class--I highly recommend it, especially the teacher, Dori Betjeman. She was wonderful!

And I've made good progress but haven't finished Mon Petit Chou. Here she is, with the front and back of the hipster almost ready to be joined.

Another UFO--the Seraphim Shawl--is about halfway done. It got put on the back burner while I worked on these projects, plus (I know, I should't have) started the Union Square Shawl/Poncho from Weekend Knitting.

This has been a very motivating KAL. I'm sorry I didn't post much, but I enjoyed reading everyone's posts and seeing all your beautiful work.

UFO August Summary and Final List

Summary: 9 finished objects, including the Margery sweater that I frogged. I am very happy with my accomplishments this month and am very glad I participated in UFO August. Thank you Jeanie for the wonderful idea and for letting me participate. I had a great time, believe it or not, and actually learned that I don't hate picking up stitches and seaming as much as I thought I did. I also learned that the best time to do this work is right after finishing the knitting, so this stuff doesn't pile up. It is time consuming, although not really hard. Another thing I want to do is knit more things in the round and/or one piece to avoid this entirely and save time.

Here's my detailed list. Per Jeanie's suggestion, I am going to post my cast on wish list separately and have joined her Two Steps Forward, One Back blog to try to avoid some of this backlog in the future!


1. Finish side seams on Linen Print raglan pullover

2. Fetching fingerless gloves - pick up thumbs off waste yarn and finish

3. Pick up around armholes & sew Louisa Harding tank

4. CeCe in Calmer (coral shade) - last sleeve and back: almost done with sleeve, still need to do back: did find a perfect button at Stitches Midwest for this though

5. Plymouth Napa ballet pullover from Interweave Knits back issue - finish sleeves: still working on this, but I don't really think I like this yarn as it has a funny acrylic-y smell- it will probably visit the frog pond and not return. The yarn was only $20 on Ebay so not a huge loss. Teva Durham messed up with this yarn selection (it's one of her patterns) but I do like the design - kind of like her ballet T except with sleeves.

6. Noah's v-neck Yarn Girls "Mikey Liked It" pullover - finish sleeves and sew

7. Frank's Rowan Plaid vest - pick up neck and do shoulder and side seams

8. Vicki's Jaeger Natural Fleece vest from JB38- pick up neck and do shoulder seams

9. Mia's Yarn Girls Victoria dress - do edging and sew together

10. sew fuschia Cork baby sweater: I thought I had done all five pieces of this cardigan, but it turns out I didn't do the back before; so I did do this on Tuesday night of this week, but have not sewn it

11. sew strap onto Malabrigo felted purse

12. yellow/orange cork garter ridge sweater from Rowan Cork Collection – reknit back neck, seam: I'm still not happy with the way the shoulders fit together on this after multiple reknittings of the front and back - the garter ridge pattern doesn't line up the way it should and I probably should check for pattern errata as I've tried every which way to get this to work. Another candidate for the frog pond.

13. Greek Pullover from Interweave Knits – seam: no progress

14. Noro V-neck – finish last sleeve and seam together

15. Jaeger Natural Fleece V-neck with "fur" trimmed sleeves from JB 38 – pick up neck, seam: no progress

16. Green Gable in Brown Sheep Lilac Haze - almost at just past armholes (top down): however, this yarn split/twisted in one spot, so I laddered down first one stitch (still didn't fix it) then another and finally two more, but it seems this yarn is difficult to fix with the crochet hook method. Bringing it in to my LYS to get ideas - if no hope, I can either rip it back to the bad stitches or frog it entirely. I like working with Brown Sheep cotton fleece, but the splitting is really annoying (and I used addi turbos!)

17. "seashell" Rowan Plaid cabled scarf

18. Bob's Big Wool basketweave cardigan from Men in Knits - almost done with back armholes, need to do started left front; need to do right front, sleeves

19. Debbie Bliss lace/bobble jacket - finish back: no progress, have to rip back a few rows to get the pattern consistent across the back

20. Silky Wool Margery sweater (working on back) Frogged - didn't like this yarn in reverse stockinette stitch in a light color.

My Final FO

Anastasia Socks.

These were originally supposed to be Rapid River Socks, but the yarn just wasn't working with the pattern. Then I tried a sock pattern of my own design, but that wasn't working for me either. I finally made this pattern and through no fault of the pattern design the result is: meh. Full details here.

Final Count

1. Evil FROGGED Details on Blog tomorrow
2. Interweave Knits Eyelet Chemise DONE
3. Mon Petit Chou DONE
4. River Rapid Socks NOW Anastasia Socks DONE
5. The Spirit of the Southwest Shawl DONE
6. My Knock-off Karabella Sweater (haven't blogged this yet) DONE
7. Lucky Clover Lace Wrap FROGGED Details on Blog tomorrow
8. Somewhat Cowl FROGGED Details on Blog tomorrow

So out of eight projects I finished Five and frogged Three. And I am now clear to start new projects with wild abandon.

Thanks for a great August UFO. We should definately do this again next year!