As we say goodbye to March .....

Time for a couple of updates, since March is all but gone.

First up is progress on Mermaid. Although I did not complete her in March as I had hoped, I am still doing pretty good in the Sweater a Month Knitalong. Mermaid is, afterall, technically my May sweater, so not completing her until April will still have me a bit ahead of the game. I am currently at the halfway point on the last gusset of the body. I plan to work almost exclusively on this project today and will hopefully be able to cast on the first sleeve this weekend. Sadly, as warm as it's been getting here lately, I doubt I will get to wear her until Fall.



I haven't posted much about the Chevron Stripes Hand Towel, but here is a photo of its completion to date. I would like to have this done by next week so I can concentrate more on the 52 Pair Plunge projects.



April's goals look a bit daunting, but I refuse to think they are unreachable. I plan to finish the Chevron Stripes Hand Towel and Mermaid, complete a cotton tank with a knit bodice and crochet lace bottom, crochet a nifty felted needle/hook holder for my craft room, start 5 pair of the 52 Pair Plunge socks and complete 4 of them (2 of which will be for anyairman.com).

Yikes! It made me tired just typing all those projects! Time to get knitting :o)

Finally!!!

Yay!! I am finally done with the Sanquhar gloves. Nevermind that the temperature here this week has been pushing 80!! I am immensely pleased, even if they do look a bit wonky right now. I am not going to block them. The fingers will even themselves out when Paul wears them lol.


Pattern: My own based on photos I'd seen
Yarn: Knit Picks Gloss
Started: Octoberish 2006
Finished: 3/26/2007

I saw a great post on the 52 Pair Plunge blog today about what to do with 52 pair of socks if you are lucky enough to be able to meet the challenge. I am now motivated beyond all belief to make this work. Someone sent a suggestion to use Any Soldier. I loved the idea and checked out the site immediately. Of course, since Paul and my dad were both in the Air Force I clicked on anyairman.com to find a suitable unit to donate to. I found a unit of 10 males and 4 females who want black and brown boot socks. Woohoo!! Now I can't wait to cast on!

They're Coming To Take Me Away Hee Hee ....

What do you do when your sock yarn stash is getting out of hand, and your knitting book library is overflowing with sock pattern books?

Why, you join the 52 Pair Plunge Knitalong, that's what!

I may have bit off more than I can chew (uh knit) this time lol. I certainly see a fair amount of knitalong crossover here. I wonder if I can convince the other 52 Pair Knitalongers that a sweater sleeve is a sock .... or maybe convince the Sweater a Month Knitalongers that a sock is the beginnings of a sleeve? My plan of attack is to start a pair of socks each Sunday and knit til my lil fingers can't take it any more. I sure hope I don't run out of dpns!!

Finished a bit too soon to count for the 52 Pair Plunge is the Inside Out socks. They sure do look a bit different on the feet don't they? Sorry for the not so good quality of the photos. I didn't think it would be so darn difficult to get a good photo of a sock, but I guess I rely on Paul for all my modeling shots.

A bit hard to tell in this side by side photo, but I am wearing one inside out and one rightside out. I like the looks of both.



A bit closer and you can see the difference in the cabling. This was my first foray into reversible cables. I'm going to have to find more of these.

Inside Out:



Rightside Out:



Pattern: Inside Out, Rockin Sock Club 2007
Yarn: Socks That Rock, Monsoon
Started: 3/11/2007
Finished: 3/24/2007

Whole Lotta Knittin Goin On

I tried ..... really I did. But, there's just no getting away from the .... ahem .... adult look of these socks when they aren't on your feet. I finished with the first sock with the exception of weaving in the ends, and should finish the second tonight or early tomorrow. They fit like a dream, and I love the cables on the leg. I'll be sure to get a good closeup of them when they are both done ...... on my feet lol.



The second Sanquhar glove is coming along nicely now too. I plan to spend quite a bit of time with it this weekend and hope to have it completed by Monday evening. I guess casting on Paul's next project was just the ticket I needed to motivate me to finish these.



The Mermaid jacket hasn't suffered for all the other projects on my needles either. This photo is a bit dark so it's hard to tell, but I am past the center back and coming perilously close to the second armhole decreases. I don't hold any illusions that she will be finished in March, but the body of the jacket should be. Hopefully I don't lose interest while knitting the sleeves. I've been swatching stash yarn for the Pullover Flair sweater from IK Spring 06 as my next sweater for the Sweater A Month Knitalong, and hope it knits quickly enough to have it done in April.





I did do a few more rounds on Paul's Retro Rib socks. I couldn't help myself. The yarn is just so yummy all I want to do is pet it. I'm really liking the way the colors are pooling in a spiral fashion up the sock. I hope the second does this too.









I mentioned that I had bought some more of the Cider Moon Haiku to make frivolous socks for myself. Since I was so close to finishing the Inside Out socks, I decided to cast on last night and try out the pattern I had picked. This is the very beginning of the Hidden Passion socks from Favorite Socks. Can't quite see yet, but there will be x's and o's in illusion knitting on the top of the foot, and again on the leg of these. Their construction is different from any other sock I have knit before so this will be a fun project.

Warning! Adult Content Ahead .....

Let's ease into this adult content thing k?

Last week was another of those weeks from hell on the job front so not so much blogging. Things should be settling down now though so hopefully I can update more often. I even missed sending my update for the Sweater a Month Knitalong dangit. I'll have to make sure to do that this week since I've made quite a bit of progress on Mermaid. Photos of her later this week.

I spent a good portion of Saturday working on the 2nd Sanquhar glove. Just about done with the thumb gusset. I hope to have these done this weekend. Whew! I feel like I've been knitting on these things forever.



Next up on the needles for Paul are some Retro Rib socks from "Favorite Socks". I finally wound up that Cider Moon Haiku I bought last fall and cast them on to give me incentive to finish those dratted gloves. Can you fall in love with a yarn? If so, I am completely head over heels for this Haiku stuff. So much so that I bought some to make myself a pair of impossibly frivolous socks. You know you're hopelessly addicted when you don't bat an eyelash at spending almost $90 to make yourself some socks! Paul saw the beginning of the socks before going on his 2 week business trip and he really likes the colors. I decided to do these toe up instead of cuff down as the pattern is written so I can make sure to use as much of the yarn as possible.



Friday night brought the finishing of Jen's Scarf. I've converted her! Now she wants me to knit her the Leg Cozies from "Lace Style".





Pattern: Lace Trimmed Scarf, Vogue Knitting Scarves Two on the go!
Yarn: Misti Alpaca
Started: 2/2/2007
Finished: 3/16/2007

And now to that Adult Content. If you are under the age of 18, please close your browser lol.

I mentioned in my last post about March goals that I wanted to knit that Lacy Thong from the Staff Projects of the Spring 07 IK. Only took a couple of American Idol episodes to finish and it will look quite nice with the frilly nightie finished in February.


Pattern: Lacy Thong, Interweave Knits Web Pattern
Yarn: Schachenmayr Catania
Started: 2/27/2007
Finished: 3/17/2007

Earlier this week, Yarn Harlot had the (nope I'm not going to type it, you fill in the blank yourself) to post what I now believe every Rockin' Sock Club member has been thinking. Paul and I had snorted, guffawed, and made tons of bad jokes about the looks of the first sock off the foot. He keeps saying that his new "willy warmer" looks like it will be quite snug LOL.

I kept knitting along, thinking that surely once I got to the heel and started up the leg that this little lookalike thing would fade away .......

Uh ........



...not only did it not fade away, I think it got worse!!

A Hole In The Head?

So, what is it that I need like I need a hole in the head?

Why yes, you're right. Another project on the needles!!

I liked the Moss Grid Hand Towel (Mason Dixon Knitting) so much, I decided to make the Chevron Stripes Hand Towel. Not much by way of progress yet, but I only worked on it for a short time this past weekend. I see this as my possible "knitting while playing a computer game with Paul" project. When I got the linen for this towel, I picked up some matching super soft cotton to make washcloths with. My powder rooms will be prissed up for sure!



I received my first Rockin' Sock Club shipment last week. Love love love everything in it! Lots of hoopla going on over at the Club blog regarding the pattern though. Those like me (the freakishly skinny footed ones) are all aflutter about this pattern only being for medium to large circumfrence feet ...... and those with the medium to large circumfrence feet all aflutter over the cable pattern on the leg being too tight for them. After a false start, then some math and deductive reasoning, I have managed to re-engineer the foot of this sock pattern to fit my skinny feet and still keep the integrity of the ribbing/cabling pattern so the sock is still reversible. How cool is that? Reversible socks!!



Sanquhar glove #1 is finished! Big sigh of relief ..... but of course there is #2 to get done. I didn't manage to get through the ribbing like I had hoped this past weekend, but I am almost half done with it now.



Mermaid is not coming along quite as fast as I had hoped. For the most part it is mindless garter stitch, but there is just enough shaping etc in the pattern to keep me from knitting on it while talking to Paul. Never fails. We start gabbing and I lose track of where I am and spend twice as much time figuring it out as I do knitting. Some major progress will be made next week and the week after however, as Paul is going out of town on business.

Bout time I posted an update

I know, I know, I promised an update much earlier this week, but this has been one heck of a week. First the batteries died in the camera. I forgot to charge them while nursing Paul, who had some oral surgery done. Then, I've been putting in quite a bit of overtime at work trying to help on a team with an impossible deadline. Something had to give, and since I wasn't about to abandon my knitting for a whole week, the blog was chosen.

Natalie, over at Keeping Me In Stitches, posted today that I crank out the knits faster than anyone else in the world, and that my blog might make some cry. Isn't that about the sweetest? Check out her blog. There's a nifty link in today's post to turn your blog into a book. I've bookmarked the site for consideration later this year. Quite frankly though, I'm almost afraid of what the cost will be. I can be a bit rambly if you know what I mean.

I've mentioned the scarf I'm making for my daughter, but I think this is the first progress photo I've posted. The teen who "doesn't like knitted stuff" is in love with this scarf. And who wouldn't be? It's a pretty lace pattern worked up in Misti Alpaca Worsted, so it's about the softest thing you've ever laid your hands on. This should be finished up just in time for Spring, when she won't have need of it. That'll teach her to say such blasphemous things as "I don't like knitted stuff". Ha!



Peace Brotha!!

That's what goes through my mind every time I see the state of Paul's glove *snicker*. I was hoping to have this one done and the second worked through the ribbing this weekend, but we'll have to see. It's looking like I might have to work both Saturday and Sunday to help meet the aforementioned impossible deadline.



What can I say about Mermaid? I love this pattern! I'm planning on buying a couple more of the kits later this year. One for my mother for her birthday, and the bright red/pink/orange one for myself.

Can't wait for warm weather!

I can't wait for the weather to get warm enough to wear my latest FO! I really like the way it turned out. I may add a crochet border to the edges on the neckline to give it a bit of stability, but other than that I think this top is the perfect thing to dress up a casual tank dress this Spring.




Pattern: Cropped Lace Top, Vogue Knitting Holiday 2006
Yarn: Elann Super Kydd
Started: 2/10/2007
Finished: 2/28/2007

For those keeping count along with me, this marks the completion of my 4th sweater for the Sweater A Month Knitalong. It may seem like I'm way ahead of schedule, but the milestones of that schedule will catch up to me during the knitting of my next couple of sweaters. I'm going to need the extra time to complete Mermaid, Ping Pong, and the Dale sweaters I have planned to knit this year.

I've done some work on the Sanquhar mittens and on my daughter's scarf also. I plan to take photos and post on those projects tomorrow :o)