Tuesdays are for...

well, first they are for these socks:
New working socks in Debbie Blissh Merino DK. They are beautiful, brown fall socks, rather heavy socks, knit with my favorite cable down the sides. I expect to add calf shaping, which I do not do ordinarily, so let's see how that goes.

I finished the herringbone cardi, it's blocking, but my camera is doing some funny things with its ability to autofocus, so there are no good pictures of it. We'll try again when it's dry, and I can give you some action shots.

But you know what I do have a picture of? This thing I did last night:

I spun! I spun yarn from roving for the very first time on this drop spindle:


This drop spindle I bought this weekend and used to make my own yarn. I'm pretty excited. Anyway I'm going back to the spindle because Tuesdays are for spinning.

Together Again

All the major pieces of the cardi are finished. Here it is seen in repose after I got home from work this afternoon:
This evening I finished the sewing up, and I'm working on the button bands right now. I've never done a button band, so I'm flying a little blind. Anyone with good tips should speak up now, while I'm still in the early stages. I really don't think that anyone here wants to deal with me 47 button-band-frogging incidents into this project. I'm liable to get this far and throw the whole thing in the street for the cars to run over it, then come back inside and delete all posts that suggests I even thought of designing my own cardigan. Which means, if you read this, it hasn't gotten that bad yet.

To further my tenuous grasp on knitting-related sanity (I make no claims on any other kind of sanity) I have taken this as my patron skein:

Yep. That's STR in Mystic Kelp, courtesy of the sister.

I have to confess, it's my first from Blue Moon Fiber Arts. Certainly not the last. I'm thinking of ordering some more next week. Or tomorrow. Maybe right now. Uh oh.

Outside the squishy softness of the yarn, the beautiful, beautiful hand-dyed colors, Socks that Rock like to pose for photo shoots even more than my regular stash.

Seen here in repose in the bushes outside my house.


And here, getting ready to tend the garden. Yes, I believe this is the beginning of something beautiful.

I was going to...

I was going to finish the final sleeve of the herringbone cardigan.

I was going to take pictures of that.

I was going to figure out the button bands, and pick up stitches for the same.

Then I left my knitting in the drawer where I put it at work when a customer comes in.

But, hey, socks!


I'll do a better post tomorrow when I have the requisite knitting at my disposal.

Happy....

birthday to me. Yesterday.
I got treats. I got cards (thanks Court!), I got phone calls and messages. And carrot cake. It was a delicious birthday.

I'm still working on the herringbone cardi. As of now progress stands thusly:

Two fronts, one back, 2/3 of sleeve number one. I'm hoping to have sleeve 1 finished by Friday.

Also, my sister has promised to buy me yarn as a birthday present. Clearly Blue Moon Fiber Arts will serve me well here, but what colorway? They're like kids. How could I choose just one?

A little update

My little sidebar of guilt motivation has worked. The Kashmir Surprise has made a good amount of progress. It's my own pattern though, and as with the herringbone cardi there is much consternation as I stare at my little pencil drawings and math problems.

The knitting is not happening as quickly or easily as I want it to, but still I knit on.


But only today. Tomorrow it's back to the herringbone cardi--I am onto the first sleeve and despite the oppressive heat I really want the cardigan to be finished so I can put it on in my air conditioned house. Where I will wear it for five minutes before I begin sweating profusely.

Temptation

I want to, but am not knitting:

EZ's baby suprise jacket

Cookie A's Monkey

Something beautiful made from my hand-dyed green/teal laceweight (1600 yards)

A green-and-blue striped sweater/shell thing

Nora Gaughan's Bonsai Tunic

Mrs. Darcy

New illusion scarf and matching photographer gloves and hat(my current set isn't holding up well.) maybe in Gryffindor colors.

About half of the projects from Interweave Knits Fall issue.

Hansigurumi's Octopus

Socks of every kind.

Felted slippers

All this is really in the way of saying that it could be much worse than it is. Right now I'm sticking to the herringbone cardi and the kashmir suprise (with a little of the baltic sock thrown in, just as a KIP project.)

This means one thing to knitters

and an entirely different thing to everyone else.

Also, in an effort to get my WIP under control (and to fight off a bout of startitis that I might have caught from ravelry) I've installed a progress counter. I've listed (almost) all of my UFOs (For the muggles: that's unfinished objects) to guilt motivate myself into finishing them. They are listed in the order in which I am likely to be found working on them.

Here's hoping.

Lies, Damn Lies and WIP

The herringbone cardi has made negative progress after a good back frogging. This was due to user error. I should take this opportunity to point out that one of the drawbacks of designing a project yourself is that you have absolutely no one to blame. When a piece of your project is shaped in a way no sweater ought to be shaped you can't pore over the directions and say, "Well, I was following them right! Look how this idiot wrote this out! Who expects me to be able to follow instructions like these?"
No. That's a lie. I did say that. Except, I was reading my own handwriting, thus the wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth was, in the end, all for naught. Crap.

Anyway, progress continues afresh, I am now at row 42 of the pattern. Let's see if I can do a better job on instructions.


Oh hey, did you forget about MS3? No? Well...um. I kind of did.
No. That's also a lie (I guess I'm kind of a liar today. Excuse me, I feel bad. [Nah, I don't...Damn! There goes again.]) I didn't forget. I just, you know, stuck it in the stash basket next to the armchair and did other things for a while. The herringbone cardigan has a tight grip on me. I can do little until I can wrest the idea of it from my mind and put it down in good, solid wool. Also, I don't have a printer at my house, and I haven't printed out the next clue yet. I'm a little behind. I'll catch up.

(That's not a lie. It's not lying if you're telling it to yourself, too.)