Bye-bye, baby

My darling child turned two yesterday. I took the day off work so we could spend the time together. It was terrific. We went to the park. We read. We danced. We hugged. We played. We rejoiced in the present that my aunt brought over from her and my cousin (a kid-size basketball net complete with ball - DD was completely delighted).

And then, after all that wonderfulness, the little munchkin almost blew my sock surprise to DH this morning. :) I was working on the Mountain Laurel Counterpane. She correctly identified the work in progress as a blanket, but then announced confidently, "Iss for Daddy!" Fortunately my husband did not stop to reason out the logic of why she would be convinced I was knitting something for him, and seemed to just take it as a mistake on her part. At least, I hope so. I probably could not have continued the deception if DD had said I was knitting a sock for Daddy (since as far as Daddy knows, I have never knit a sock before in my life), but since she identified it as a blanket I think I'm okay. Stay tuned.

By the way, is it wrong that I'm getting annoyed at my husband for not spending more time in the basement away from me...just so that I can knit on his socks? :)

Striped socks for DH

I did some math. Here's the deal. The sock pattern I want to use for these socks states that the foot of the sock in the man size will be 72 stitches around. At the listed gauge of 28 stitches per 4", this would give me a foot circumference of over ten and a quarter inches. ?!? Damn, but that's a really thick foot! By comparison, the blue socks that I just finished knitting for DH (and which certainly look like they'll fit him) have an eight inch foot circumference. Therefore, I should be trying to get 36 stitches per 4", not 28. So my hope of using 3.25mms has officially been crushed. However, I do have a lot of 2mm DPNs, so I started swatching with those, to see if I could come close to 36sts/4". Good news - I can! The gauge is about 35sts/4". TRIUMPH. I don't have to buy needles before I can knit the socks. And, bonus, I am happy to say that bluFELICIA is right - this is great yarn! It says 100% acrylic on the label, but it kinda feels like it might have some wool content. Very nice feel on the knitted-up fabric. Very nice to knit with. And that's about where the good news ends. Now that I have actually begun the socks, I am experiencing extreme frustration with the pattern. I've tried twice now to start it, and have ripped it back. The instructions are kind of weird, and I'm not sure whether I'm following them wrong, or whether the beginning of the sock really is this tricky. I am giving the pattern one more chance - if I get so frustrated this time that I rip it back again, I'm going with my backup pattern instead. Cross your fingers for me.

Mountain Laurel Counterpane blanket for baby Gelman

I'm casting off on full hexagon #11. The layout is really starting to look genuinely impressive.

Celtic cable sweater for baby MacDonald

Took this out of hiding yesterday and measured the circumference so I could get an idea of what size I'm making this thing to be. :) It's 24-25 inches around at the body, so I figure this is a twelve month size. That means I'll want about eight inches of body from the bottom of the sweater to the beginning of the armscyes. Armed with this information, I can now continue to work the body without fear that I will knit past the point where I'm supposed to start the armscye. If the sweater is lucky, I might even work on it tonight.