Mail call!

Got a box from KnitPicks! Got the yarn I need for Gabriel's gift, 2 sets of circulars (2 & 3 in the 32" size, want to see if I can magic loop with them) and 2 more books.

I've been buying too many books lately - when I add things to my Ravelry queue it tells me which books I need for those patterns, and most of those books are ones I wanted to have anyway. But, yeah.

And now I have 3 projects on the needles.

Been spending too much time on Ravelry

My queue at Ravelry is HUGE! I'm not going to knit anything that I don't a) already have the pattern for and b) already have the yarn for unless it's important, like an item for Steph and Pete's new arrival. I had been racking my brain to find the right thing for that miracle baby, and it came to me yesterday when I was browsing patterns.

Of course, I had to order the yarn and #3 needles. I have 2 sets of interchangeables and neither of them go down to a 3. Sheesh!

The pain meds are making concentrating on my knitting really hard right now. Good thing I'm on the 9 inches of mindless knitting on the fuzzy feet. The good thing is since I'm working from home I can knit when things are slow :-)

WANT

WANT TO GO!!!

Yarn and more yarn

I was just up in the spare room, digging though my yarn in search for some decent stuff I've had for awhile that I want to enter into Ravelry.

Wow, I have a lot more yarn than I thought I did. I have a ton of acrylic, bought over several years, most of which is going to Mom for her church group to use. I still need to get that together.

But I found some lovely yarn I had totally forgotten I had, like some Manos del Uruguay in a beautiful purple (of course). I need to get it cataloged and posted to Ravelry.

I've been having a lot of fun up there, browsing patterns and adding them to my queue. I have a lot to get done for Christmas (and, yes, I am going to start that stuff this early).

The Big Gay Blanket

Pictures of Jos and Tom's sprog's afghan, or as she put it, the Big Gay Blanket.

The colors are a little off, even in the sunlight. It's hard to differentiate the blue and purple.

Update on Projects

I've finally finished the afghan I was working on (pictures after the recipient receives it) and have moved on to making Knitty's Fuzzy Feet out of some Cascade 220 in rainier heather I bought at WEBS (yay for sales!)

This will be my first sock-like thing. It also gave me my first opportunity to use my swift and ball winder. I followed some good advice I found on the L&V message boards about not winding directly from the swift, but pulling some yarn off of it and winding it that way - reduces the tension on the yarn as it's winding. That worked really well, and my center-pull balls are working well.

I'm using my Denise interchangables for this, at least to start. I haven't decided how I'm going to handle the parts that call for DPNs - I may either see how long of a loop I can make with my Denises and try Magic Loop, or I may use the two circular method. I have a few more inches of stockinette to do before I have to decide.

This is also my first project in the round (but not in using my circular needles - I've been using them for everything because they're so compact) and I like how it's turning out.

Since I feel like death, however, I'm not sure how much I'll get done today. I'm hoping to have at least the first one completed before I leave for Portland in 2 weeks.

Maryland Sheep and Wool!!

I bought yarn at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival over the weekend. There were lots of pretty things, and I could have bought a lot more. I had been contemplating buying a drop spindle, but decided I needed to work on my knitting more before adding that to the mix.



Gorgeous 55% superwash wool, 30% silk, and 15% viscose from Brooks Farm Yarn. 3 huge hanks, 860 yards each. I'm going to make a sweater for myself from them.




60% superwash wool, 20% silk, and 20% viscose also from Brooks Farm Yarn. Will be used for Christmas presents for my brother's family.




At The Fold's booth, didn't get any Socks That Rock because there was barely any left, but I did pick up some gorgeous Gypsy Girl Creations superwash merino sock yarns in Backdraft and Cattails. Each hank is 200 yards. These will become socks.




Two hanks of superwash 80% wool 20% nylon sock yarn from Ellen's Half Pint Farm. The colorway names aren't on the bands, so I have no clue what they're called. Will also become socks.

I have to finish the baby afghan for Mothra Piggy Booger Ronan. My goal is to have it done before he's a year old!!

Actually, I have decided I'm not allowed to start anything until I get that done. I'm fairly close, at least.