Another good weekend

Minnesota Mitts for DH

I don't think I'm quite at the halfway point of mitt #1 yet, but I'm getting close. Lots of good work got done on this over the weekend - not only is the thumb gore complete but I'm even ready to start working on the stitches for the pinky finger. This means that I'm kind of stymied at this point because I am wincing at the very thought of how awkward the two circular needle technique is probably going to be on a tiny little finger. Yeesh. So I need to wait until I have some 5mm DPNs. Unfortunately I was unable to pick a set up this week. It was my plan on Friday (since the weather was incredible, I hear) to spend my lunch hour walking to Lettuce Knit so I could pick up my 5mm DPNs and...uh...maybe look around at some patterns (more on that in a minute). But I was smart (for once), and I phoned ahead. I got Laura, who unfortunately had to break it to me that because 5mm DPNs are so popular, they were out of them at that moment. Waaah.

But they are on order! So hopefully they'll come in this week, and Laura will call me, and I will go get them, and then I can keep working on the mittens.

Christmas gift for MIL

While I was on the phone with Lettuce Knit asking about DPNs, I asked (what the heck) if they had, in-shop, the Garden Shawl pattern I've been mulling over. They sadly didn't...and the next thing I knew, I was asking them to order it for me.

So...I think I'm making this for my MIL's Christmas gift? Still not totally positive, but I am kind of committed now and am also really, really excited about it, so...probably yeah. I think my heart has already decided and my logic centre is just trying to catch up. :)

Lotus Blossom shawl for moi

Yesterday I went to a 'craft day' gathering of women from an online community I participate in. Fantastic afternoon, lots of great projects on the go, great ladies to hang out with, great gossip to catch up on. :) I brought a bunch of projects, but what I ended up getting started on was my Lotus Blossom shawl. I'd brought my swift and ball winder, so I spent most of the afternoon winding up the skein and swatching. There wasn't much time left at the gathering after that, but I did manage to cast on. And since then, this has pretty much been the focus of all my knitting energy.

I LOVE THIS PROJECT. Seriously. I love everything about it. The yarn? I love the colours. I love watching them transition from one to another. I love the way it feels as it runs through my fingers when I'm knitting it. I love watching the variegation build up in the shawl. The pattern? I love how the design looks. I love how clever the pattern is. I love how clear the instructions are. I love how big and helpful the charts are. I love how happy and calm it makes me to knit it. And let's not forget...I love this project because when it's all done, it will be mine, mine, mine.

Ahhhhhhhh.

So anyway, visuals! Earlier in the evening it looked like this:


Please pardon my feet - they are there to sort of pseudo-block the thing out so you can see the pattern coming together. Real blocking will obviously accomplish better results, including the elimination of the wavyness along the bottom edge.

The shawl calculator at this site (see sidebar) tells me that I am 16.5% done (not including the finishing bobbles, unfortunately). For a weekend's work I think this is pretty good. Stay tuned, this is probably going to be my procrastination project when I get tired of other projects.

Self-patterning socks for DH

Sock #1 is complete!



Unfortunately I tried it on and it turns out I made the cast-off too tight. Not so bad that I can't get the sock on easily (as I have done before) but bad enough that it will probably start cutting uncomfortably into my calf after a few minutes, never mind DH's calf (which I'm pretty sure has a bigger circumference than mine). So at some point I shall have to suck it up and re-do the cast off. Bugger.