The best of the rest.

January catch up post: final installment.

Here's everything else I've been working on since September. Knitting-wise anyway.

I have completely knit Brainmonster, from Half-Assed Patterns in good old Red Heart Acrylic. (Incidentally, Cyn's blog is probably my favorite blog ever, the perfect blend of sarcastic and knitting.) Unfortunately, The Brainmonster is still missing eyes. In order to finish it, I'll have to brave that bastion of evil corporate America, Wal-mart, for buttons and I just haven't managed to bring myself to do so. The good news is, I still have a soul.


And I finished Caroline, from Berroco. I had completely forgotten that this was finished somewhere in the shuffle. It turned out wonderfully, and I really love it. It’s knit from Berroco zen colors, the colorway is discontinued (So I guess the fact that I can't remember which it is can be considered irrelevant). Ribbon yarn is so interesting, and feels unlike anything else, and this makes a great summer sweater. It also worked really well as an introduction to 'real' cabling. I’m getting better at my finishing techniques, if I do say so myself, and I think this should hold together fairly well. Now if only I could get better at taking attractive pictures of my knitting for public consumption.


I think that’s it for catching up with my current projects. Of course, I could be wrong. Inevitably, I'll find something in the bottom of my knitting bag I had forgotten completely about.

So what am I working on now? Oh, you mean now, now?

Well, my good news is that I have an impending bundle of joy due in June, and we just found out last week that it’s a boy! So now I have baby knitting fever, and Debbie Bliss’s Essential Baby and some Knitpicks Shine Sport in willow came in Tuesday night. In addition, I have ordered the yarn to knit the cargo baby pants from Knitty summer 2005. So, I foresee more startitis in my future… in fact, I knit the gauge swatch for the Debbie Bliss baby vest just last night. Pictures to come, so stay tuned. I promise more frequent posting...


...seriously.

The socks.

Catch up post installment #2:

More objects on (or off) of my needles since September. Somewhere in here, I learned how much I like to have a pair of socks in progress at all times. Of course, that does turn into more than one.

My first attempts at a pair of socks for me.
In a fit of "I want to cast on NOW!"
I decided to use leftovers from the baby blanket. These are made from LionBrand babysoft in Pink Lemonade and Lavender, actually finished the one in August. The other is still in progress. I used the universal toe up sock pattern from Knitty Summer 06.

Since then, I've purchased both real sock yarn and Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch...and I don't know if I'll ever finish these, now that I know the joys of real yarn and sockweight socks. But at the same time, I can't bring myself to take them off the needles and frog them quite yet.

These are the second pair of socks I started, and in this case, I actually finished them!
Occasionally, I do have a FO!!! Openwork Rib socks, also from Sensational Knitted Socks, yarn is mystery yarn inherited from my grandmother. These are my favorite socks ever, so far. (OK they are also my only hand knit socks, so far, but I digress.) The yarn however was so old, that the two skeins didn’t match (despite being the same dye lot) so there is a subtle color change in one sock. I love these anyway.

With such success from Sensational knitted socks, I started the Garter Rib socks from Sensational Knitted Socks, in Austermann Step, for my WH.
Because the yarn is so fine, and his feet are so big…it’s taking a while. But, progress is being made, and I have gotten most of the way down the heel flap of the first sock. They are top down socks, which makes me a little nervous that I am going to run out of yarn before I finish 2. What's the worst that can happen? I might have to buy another ball of the yarn in a different dye lot? I have a pair of socks with a slight color variation in the toe, he can too.

That's all of the socks since September - look for our next and final installment of catch-up, "All the other stuff" coming soon to a blog near you.

Yeah, um, been a while hasn't it?

OK, so I haven't been as good as I thought I would be with this whole blogging thing. I am going to give it another go.

What have I been making with pointy sticks since September? Honestly, not a lot that's gotten finished. I do have a great number of UFOs on the needles, or in various stages of disarray. So, consider this installment 1 of the great January 08 catch-up-post.

That scarf I had planned to give my dad for xmas. No picture, because I am still working on it...and just in case he happens upon this blog…

About two weeks before xmas I decided that it was a great pattern, but that so many color changes (and so many places to makes mistakes) made it evil...I forced it into a time out until I hate it a little less.



So instead…I started the PI shawl from EZ's knitter's almanac. I am making it out of Knitpicks Alpaca Cloud in iris heather. I've never tried lace before; so of course I decided to do the more complex version. I may have to start it over, but so far it's pretty, and I don’t hate it yet.

Coming up next post, adventures in socks. Stay tuned.