Too Sick To Knit

I've been sick all week with the coughing crud and most of the time I haven't even been able to knit. That's adding insult to injury as far as I'm concerned. All this "down time" and all I can muster is a lie down on the couch, most of the time vying for precious real estate with the dog. I did get some knitting done before I started feeling really awful but I don't think there's enough progress with anything to post an up-to-date picture. Other things I have missed this week: dinner and a concert with my best buddy; girls night out with a group of friends; yoga; and three days of work - though the jury is out as to how much I really missed that - ;-)

The Turning of The Heel and Random Thoughts

Progress folks. My goal yesterday was to get the heel turned. Tada! I've been working on the gusset today, almost done with the decreases.

I am sick. Started with a sore throat yesterday and now it's moved south and it hurts to cough. So much fun. I can't complain though, this is my first bout of germs this winter (hope it's the last). I'd say it's a good day to knit. But, I'm really bummed because I'm supposed to go to the Chris Tomlin concert tonight and I don't think I'm up to it at all. Just the thought of getting presentable to go out has me stymied.

I taught two high school guys to knit this past week - it was ever so much fun, and they were good students. They "crashed" our knitting ministry meeting, coming with the daughter of one of our members. It was a fun evening. Who woulda thought.

Since my brain does not appear to be working in a cohesive manner right now (maybe I shouldn't be knitting a gusset)...this post is coming out as random thoughts. Or maybe it's just that I'm thinking in a logical manner, just not on one subject for very long. Has anyone seen my attention span?

I've added more to the sidebar - figured I needed to keep track of all my UFO's - if it's staring at me from the sidebar perhaps I'll pick it up more than once every two months (could I possibly be talking about my Aran sweater?)

And here is progress on the baby cardigan. The front sections and the back are on waste yarn and I'm working the sleeves even. I'm not sure you can tell what's what in this picture, but my hand is on the left arm (gosh isn't that where everybody's left hand is supposed to be?) Kind of like looking at an ultrasound - "that's the foot??? I just don't see it!"

Carry on....I need a lie down and a knit.

I Think I'm Having Twins!!!

I decided to see if I could figure out the right starting place in the dye sequence for sock #2 to match #1 stripe-wise. Voila! I'm ever so proud of myself. Now if I just keep to the same tension as sock #1 they should be twins...maybe not identical...let's call them fraternal (just like me...:-)
I have managed little knitting time this week because of deadlines at work, but I'm still making progress.

I think Tatty wants to learn how to knit...she's always sitting half on top of me (it seems) while I'm knitting on the couch, ever so interested in what I'm doing....

Happy Feet

I received my swap socks in the mail yesterday - thank you Sue!! She packed them in a clever little quilted pouch. Here are my feet modeling them - love the colors (I am a green girl). Wore them all over the house last night. I've never felt Austermann Step - very yummy on the feet for sure! So thank you thank you again! I promise to have "my end of the bargain" done soon.

In Praise of KnitPicks

Tada! One swap sock finished. I'm hoping to have sock number two done in the next two weeks. This probably seems like a long time to some, but there is the (more than 40 hr) job, the house, teenagers, critters, and they all seem to want a part of me. So a sock in two weeks is good! I'm very happy knitting these socks - it's a fun pattern, and the yarn is great - nice and soft and it doesn't split (hate that).

Those in the "know", know that I am a die-hard fan of Addi Turbo circular needles. They are a dream to knit with but not cheap. KnitPicks recently came out with their own line of circulars, and I took the plunge and tried them (after listening to much word of mouth). Well. Nice pointy tips, smooth joins, supple cables. And half-to-one-third the price of Addi's. Oh boy. The ones I ordered arrived this week so I switched mid-sock. Okay I still love Addi's, but it's nice to know that if I find I don't have a particular size needle for something (is that possible?), that I can buy them without breaking the bank.

Here's another UFO. It's going to be a baby blanket someday, maybe in about 13 more squares. Don't have a clue how it's going to be seamed together, but one thing at a time. Each square has a heart on it - clicking on the picture might give you a better look. I can't get back to working on this, though, until I make Nathan's gloves. Especially since it's 28 degrees these days.... He's decided that he wants some teal mixed in with the gray since he's a big Sharks fan. So I had the pleasure of shopping for some teal-ish yarn online tonight (this is allowed on my "knit from my stash" restriction because it's for an existing project). I ended up getting KnitPicks Gloss. I don't need that much of it, so I plan to get another pair of socks out of it too. Oh yeah, and while I was there I figured I may as well order some more of those needles.....;-)

Swap Sock Progress

It was a real luxury to knit for an extended period of time today. I know there was plenty of work to do around the house - let's face it - there always is and always will be - BUT today I was determined to make sock progress, especially since I know that Sue has finished my socks - aackkk! And here is said progress :-) I tried a new heel flap with a garter stitch edge, which creates a super easy edge from which to pick up gusset stitches. I like the look of it too, I think. I will try to get a good close up picture to post tomorrow. It's been a while since I knit something other than a "vanilla" sock so this has been lots of fun.

UFO Update

Well I got rid of one UFO, but not by finishing it. It really is okay to stop making something that is just....not.....working. Life is too short to knit something that makes you grumble. It could be the yarn, it could be the pattern, it could be the needles, who knows? Doesn't matter. Rip it out! So bye-bye Magic Loop Socks, I hardly knew ye..... In this case I think it's a combination of yarn and needles. KnitPicks Dancing needs to be knit at a denser gauge than I was using. This yarn has now been sent back to the stash farm, where it will no doubt have fun visiting old friends and meeting all the rookies in the bin. And one day it will pipe up and say "this is what I want to be." Why are you shaking your head - of course yarn talks to you! You can't hear that?

In it's place is something I started a few days ago and I'm totally loving it. A new thing for me - top down raglan baby cardigan. At one of our social knitting events (which we've made a regular thing now at my friend Nancy's house) Dee (Nancy's MIL) was knitting a really cute baby sweater and I had to have the pattern of course. Turns out it's a pattern she's been using since the 50's, something she typed up back in the day and has been churning out sweaters ever since. At our next meeting (last Friday) she had the complete sweater (wish I had taken a picture!) and I had pattern in hand. After a few questions for clarificiation and with the FO as a visual aid I was ready to go. It really is quite simple. Here's my progress:

I also need to report that I've decided to totally re-do Nathan's fingergless gloves. The second glove was coming out decidedly smaller than the first, and while I could attribute some of it to the first being stretched a bit from being tried on, it was really bugging me. Especially since I know the first is a bit tight on him (no matter how much he says "they're perfect"). So I will go up a needles size on both cuff and body. I may need to buy another ball of yarn but that is not against the "Knit From My Stash in 2007" rules. Whew.

Happy New Year everyone - I'm going to go knit!!

Sock Swap

Today I cast on the socks I'm making for Sue, my sock swap partner. She is almost done with mine so I must catch up!! This picture doesn't show the colors well - this will make some really fun striped socks. It's OnLine Supersocke 100 and the color is Summer. I thought it would be fun for Sue to have Summer on her feet during the cold Winter...:-) Hope she likes it!

And here it is, in a gauge swatch - I was planning to do the swatch through one complete set of color changes but there are ALOT! And I'd really just like to start the socks! Click on the picture to get a better view of the colors.