Where does the time go?

Yeah, this one is pretty time consuming. I'm not used to projects that take weeks and weeks...but it's probably good for me. I'm 4" into the 3x1 ribbing...which is waaaay more exciting than all that stockinette. You know what that means...only 16" to go!

I modified the sleeves...but didn't bind them off so I'm not committed to the change. Yet. We'll see how it looks on before we make the final decision on that.

I bought some Addi 24" circs for this one (I have 9 sets of 16"s) , and they are sooo wonderful. I'm really enjoying knitting with them, even if it's round after round after round of 3x1 ribbing. How geeky is that??

Team Cable

So um, I'm declaring my intent for the Knitting Olympics. Team Cable it is. I've decided to knit the Cookie Sweater (in Malabrigo worsted) and the Out to Play Coat (in Nashua Creative Focus), both from Miss Bea's Rainy Day. (I showed my mom and of course, she said, "oh, those are easy." Spoken like a true aran knitter, which she is. Fisherman sweaters by the trunkful.)

While I don't think that these are going to be *hard* per se, they will be a challenge, because I hate knitting from charts, and kntting from charts is made even harder when you have two small kids crawling all over you. But I'm up to the challenge.

If I had the money to drop on the yarn, I'd absolutely be knitting Jennifer Appleby's Cable Cascade Pullover from the Fall '05 issue of IK. OMG, I'm in love with this sweater:



Sigh. Exquisite.

FO #68 & #69

Hats for the chemo baby's siblings...wouldn't want to leave them out, now would I? Like I can resist knitting things for little girls??

The light pink one is cashmerino, to match the other, and the earflap hat is Malabrigo worsted (Molly colorway).

FO #67

A set for DotMom's Chemo Kid KAL:



No patterns used, except for the baby gnome! (cute or creepy? you decide!) All knit in the loooovely Cashmerino Aran by Debbie Bliss. Colors 002 and 205. Socks on US4s and hat on US6s. Finished 1/22.

Usually I despise anything that takes longer to seam than it did to knit, but I couldn't resist the gnome, especially given the age of the recipient. ;) Nice little stash buster, there.

4 Things Meme

Mer tagged me with this one...here goes....

4 jobs that you have had in your lifetime
cafeteria line worker (aah, first jobs), gift wrapper, flower delivery person, graphic designer.

4 movies that you could watch over and over
Titanic, Beautiful Girls, So I Married an Axe Murderer, Stop Making Sense

4 places that you have lived
Wheaton, IL, Westmont IL, Waco, TX (for five days! LOL), Warrenville IL

4 TV shows that you love to watch
Lost, 24, Survivor, The Amazing Race

4 places that you have been on vacation
Santa Cruz, New Orleans, Vermont, Denver

4 websites that you visit daily
Two private forums, KH forum, and my Bloglines feeds

4 of your favorite foods
Jambalaya, Chicken Parmigana, Chicken Enchiladas, Pork Pot Stickers

4 places that you would rather be right now
Eating any of those four things, at the movies, at the yarn store with a pile of cash, in Colorado visiting my sister.

4 bloggers who you are tagging
Uh, well, about four people read my knitting blog and one of them tagged me! So if you're reading this (Julie?) consider yourself tagged. ;)

Citius, Altius, Fortius

Fun fun fun! Just signed up for the Knitting Olympics. Leave it to SPM to come up with such a fab idea.

Still deciding what to knit...there are these kickin' lace leaf socks in Socks, Socks, Socks that would make good use of this morning's yarn purchase...but then there's the Cookie Sweater from miss Bea's Rainy Day....decisions, decisions....I just might have to make them both.

Today's LYS trip

I don't know what it is -- there are a few LYSs that I can visit and not buy anything...but a certain one? I always end up walking out with yarn. Today I went in to pick up one tiny thing (a notion) for my SP, and I came out with two balls of this, and narrowly escaped dropping a pile of money on this, which I think I am in love with. The colors are exquisite. Yum. Sigh.

We made our first foray

into handpainting yarn:





"We" is me and my five year old daughter -- her skein is the second one, decidedly more attractive than mine. But she got to start with nice, natural colored yarn, whereas mine was a very dull, earthy, gray-brown to begin with. It's even uglier in person, trust me. But it was soooooo fun...can't wait for my undyed heavenly-soft merino to come from the yarn co-op!

FO #66

Socks -- for my 2yo, on US2 needles, finished 1/15. Couldn't tell you what the yarn is because it was missing the band at my LYS. (I checked the care and needle info on another ball when I bought it, but can't remember the name for the life of me.)

I'm behind

...in posting FOs. I decided to just throw them in one big post, not many details, because if I wait it will never get done. FO #58 was a bonnet that I don't have a finished pic of. That was my last FO of 2005 -- no too shabby! (Of course I gravitate towards small projects, so big whoop.)

Lots and lots of socks, here....but first, fingerless gloves...

FO #59...fingerless gloves in Paton's Classic Merino (very itchy, unfortunately) 1/2/06



FO #60...my first pair of socks using actual fingering weight yarn on US2s 1/5/06



FO #61...lace edged hat in Cashsoft DK 1/6/06



FO #62...hat & socks set in Cashsoft DK 1/7/06



FO #63 & 64...matching earflap hats for the kiddos in 6-ply bulky merino from www.handpaintedyarn.com (omg, it's unbelievably soft and woooonderful to knit with) 1/09/06



FO #65...more Cashsoft socks 1/10/06

SP7

I've moved my questionnaire here because it's so stinkin' long. And who really cares, except my SP? I just heard from her, and she's a first timer like me. (Hi SP!! I'll try to write a little more than the "boring stuff" in the days to come, though I do have a lot of boring stuff to update -- I'm way freaking behind on posting FOs.)

I have to say I'm a wee bit challenged with mine...I've been scouring her blog and I feel sort of like a stalker. But in a good way, I guess...lol.....

Ten things I learned last year.

1. Obviously, I learned to knit. On January 2, 2005, I went to the store for yarn and needles. The rest is history.
2. Videos beat books, hand down.
3. Just because it's not immediately fun, doesn't mean you're not going to love it later. (Even if you really, really hate it in the beginning. Like it makes you want to poke your eyes out. And swear a lot.)
4. There's no substitute for having a community that shares your passion. You can function without one, but having one makes you grow in ways you never imagined.
5. You get what you pay for.
6. Sometimes you get a little more than you pay for.
7. People who knit socks by choice aren't necessarily smoking crack.
8. The frog is not my enemy.
9. Knitters are pretty awesome. Even if most of them do like cats.
10. I can do just about any freakin' thing I set my mind to. Yay me. :)