My 2016 Yearly Recap

Another year has passed and I'm still knitting strong! :)  Based on the number of blogs I've posted this year, it's been a new record for me.  Here's what I've been up to:
What I've made:

1. A few pairs of socks for Hubby:
• Sock 1
• Sock 2
2. Finished a Kurisumasu no Boshi (Christmas hat) for Hubby.
3. A pair of socks for myself! :)
4. A few thank you gifts for my Mom's friends.
5. A pair of fingerless mitts for my Mom.
6. Finished a pair of hat kits I bought from Canada.
7. A cool cowl and fingerless mitt set for my friend, A.
8. A ski set (hat, scarf and fingerless mitts) for my co-worker, Fran.
9. A (hopefully) warm (nicer) hat for my Giri no Chi Chi (father-in-law).
10. A pair of fingerless mitts for my friend, D.
11. A hat and pair of fingerless mitts set for Hubby.
12. A hat and pair of fingerless mitts set for my Yarn Buddy.
13. Made a pair of fingerless mitts for myself.
14. (Finally) Finished my Akachan no Mofu (赤ちゃん の 毛布 - Baby Blanket) project (ok  well, it'll be finished before the end of the calendar year at the very least! :P).

Other things that also "happened":

1. Went on another yarn crawl in Japan for more stash and some cool accessories (I think this might be a yearly thing if I'm lucky! ;)).
2. Bought more stash, (sweater) stash, more toys, (and) toys, (and) toys, (and) toys, an awesome interchangeable sock needle set, and two (2) travel friendly needle sets.
3. Found some great books (from Savers & at my local library's annual book sale) as well as picked up a pair of the best stitchionaries (so far!)
4. Received an awesome knitting bag from my friend, Y.
5. Discovered some cool how-tos as well as found an easier way to "remember" how to care for one's yarn.
6. Learned that I did have a limit on simply "obtaining" accessories.
7. Finally broke a needle (and here, I thought that would never happen to me! ;'()
8. Went on a great yarn crawl with my fam in Seattle (and of course bought stash and then some! :P).
9. Started to crochet (again).
10. Found a Yarn Buddy (and got an amazing stash from him!)! :D
11. Started blogging about Hubby's foray into crocheting. *yay*
12. Got a-Head! ;D
13. (Tried to) Prime my Yarn Buddy on the intracacies of yarn on I Love Yarn Day-ish.
14. Reviewed my handiwork on all of my tabis to see how I can improve.
15. Tell the people I love (and who've humored me on my knitting adventures) how Thankful I am for them. :) ♡

I'm very impressed with myself this year.  I've accomplished more than I ever thought I would and I hope many of my recipients really enjoy their goodies.   Although I think my goal of shrinking my stash is still a work in progress (especially when I'm being gifted stash! :P).  And while I did accomplish not increasing my sweater stash (sort of), I think next year will definitely be the year of "me" in which my goal will actually be working on all my sweater projects.  I wonder how that will go along ... after all, how many sweaters can one make in a whole year??  We'll see now, won't we? ;)  At the very least, all I can hope for is not to find/create more sweater stash or stash in general! :P

Wish me luck! :)

Giving Thanks

This seems to have been an exceptional year for me and I would like to give Thanks to:
1. My wonderful Aunty and Uncle who are always so thoughtful and very loving.  I really do have the best Aunty and Uncle in the whole wide world. :)  And to show you how lucky I am, they got me this for my b-day this year:

I L-O-V-E stitch markers and now I have L-O-T-S of coiless stitch markers now in an amazing array of colors!! 

2. My brother, Mom and Hubby who always support me in my knitting adventures (including pretending to appreciate my knitted goods (bro), taking me to the yarn shop (bro and Hubby), letting me pick up "accessory" bags "for my purse" (when he really knows they're really more knitting project bags for my purse) (Hubby) and helping with making bags and other sewing related items to hold my projects in (Mom)). :)

3. My Yarn Buddy, B & Yarn Fairy, D! :)  Without my Yarn Buddy and Yarn Fairy, my stash would remain stagnant! ;)

4. My father-in-law and buddies: A, D, B, Fran & I-san (basically, everyone whom I have been able to make something for so far) who let me use them as (live) models to test out various patterns, let me test (& stretch!) my knitting skills, and most importantly use my knitted goods. :)  I hope they are/have enjoyed their hand-knitted goods.  I have already heard from some of them about how glad they were to be able to use the item I made for them (as it kept them warm when they needed it) and that they've gotten compliments about their hand-knitted goods (*wow*!). ♡♡♡

There are so many other things and people that I'm also very thankful for but the above four (4) groups of people are ones that I really wanted to highlight this year because I just wanted to let them know how much I really do love and appreciate them (and I feel that I don't get a chance to say it (enough) to them). ♡♡♡♡♡

Love y'all! ♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

Up-date: Tabi No Monogatari and Its Wearability

I thought I'd give y'all an up-date on actually how my tabis actually are wearing. :P

The ones I made for my Hubby (the original Tabi no Monogatari, v2, v5, v6, & v8) are wearing well and (generally) fit well on him.  The yarns used haven't felted and for the most part, they don't sag at all (v5 sags a little - that's what happens when I cheated for the ankle portion. :(  And, v5's top is a little too tight since I had a brain fart and didn't bind off properly. :(  Lesson learned; I did it "correctly" (again) on v6 and that doesn't sag nor is the top too tight. :)).  As for v8, I dunno what happened ... I somehow made the foot portion a bit longer than normal so, it doesn't quite fit as well.  I think I just wasn't paying attention - another lesson learn there as well. :(  He's worn most of them quite a few times and in short, he loves them (and is excited to replace his store bought pairs with my handmade ones - eventually). :)

See, they still look like my original finished product. :)

Upon trying to fix the tight top portion of v5, I found that while it doesn't look like it felted, it did a little bit (just not enough to tell if you're not looking too closely).  I (apparently) did a very good job binding off since I had a very difficult time finding my end and trying to rip it back to redo my bind off. 8S

The ones I made for myself (Tabi no Monogatari v3, v4 & v7) for the most part fit really well.  v3 & v7 really fit well and for a pair of knee highs, it stays up! :)  It also seemed to have washed well and not felted.  

Unfortunately, v4, stays up - for the first 5 minutes or so then s-l-o-w-l-y start sagging down until they're like a pair of 80s socks with all the scrunch. :(  I think the difference between my two (2) pairs is the yarn used; on version 3, it was a wool/polyester mix and on version 4, it was a cotton, bamboo, silk, polyester mix so, I'm thinking that while I had put in enough negative ease for my socks, it just wasn't enough to keep them up.  But, I've finally washed them and they really seemed to have shrunk!

I tried it on again and it does hold up for a little while but once, it "warms" up, the sagging begins - again. :(  

So, off I went to Yarn Story where Kim broke the news to me: I could try adding elastic to it but, there'd be no guarantee that the elastic would work to actually keep to up simply because of the yarn type I had use.  Had I decided to make a pair of short ankle socks, this yarn would have been fine; but, since I made such a long sock, the cotton/bamboo just isn't going to stay up. :(  Ever so hopeful that I could make my Whoville tabis work out, I picked up some elastic to see if I could make it work.

Here's what I did:
I never did get around to figuring out how to work the elastic into my sock. :P (Other projects and priorities "got in the way". :P)  Instead, I tried it out with a pair of skinny jeans and found that these work perfectly with these jeans. :P  So, as long as I wear it with something slimming/tighter around my calf, I won't need to "fix" it. 

And, look at what Hubby found for me:

Yup, these are clear boots (out for the winter here)!  He said that it'd be perfect to show of my handmade socks! :P lol :)  (And, no, I did not buy these shoes!  Seriously, guys?!  My footwear of choice (Birkenstocks are AWESOME!!!) gives me plenty of sock showing opportunities! ;P)

Pastelly Goodness From My Yarn Buddy

My Yarn Buddy recently took a road trip around Oregon and brought home a H-U-G-E load of pastelly goodness:
This is called Jellybean! I'm going to so love my Spring sweater!! ♡♡

This is Color 119 and I'm thinking to would work well with my Jellybean! ;) 

This sock yarn is called: Oregon Coast Sunset.  Ooohhhh ... I can't wait to see how it comes out!♡♡

This sock yarn is called: Pixie Dust.  How cute is that?! ☆☆☆☆☆ (I can totally see how people get sucked into buying a colorway ...c'mon ... who's gonna resist Pixie Dust?!)

Then, my Yarn Buddy knew I wanted to try a wool wash called Soak and he found me this: Yuzu Soak!! **squeal** ♡♡♡

I can't wait to see what this smells like! :D

Then ... he found this and thought it was hilarious:

It IS pretty funny (and really right up my alley)! :P

Then, he thought that maybe I would want more PC ones so he found these:

Isn't he so sweet?! ♡♡♡

I can't wait to dive into my stash!  Thank goodness that I've already planned out 2017 (which will be my year of sweaters) as I can't wait to try this stash out! ♡♡♡

Thank you, B!!!  You really are the bestest Yarn Buddy!! ♡♡♡♡♡♡