The finish line approacheth

Larry's Cabled Cashmere Pullover for DH

Either Friday or Saturday night, I had a sewing and ends-weaving-in marathon and finished the damn thing. PHEW. That was a whole lotta ends, and it sucked hard. But I ploughed through it, and the only thing remaining to do before I consider this officially 'done' is to block it. Ordinarily, I wouldn't bother, because it looks pretty good now. However, a fair bit of the front and sleeves were made using yarn that had been previously used for the smaller size that I started with, so it was all kinky. And unfortunately, it knitted up kinkily (is that even a word?), so it needs a good soak to relax. I'll give you pictures when I've done that and it's looking right.

Trouble is, I have no idea where or when I'm going to block this damn thing. I was thinking of bringing it over to my mom's when I drop my older daughter over at her place on Tuesday (they're getting together to make a gingerbread house, very exciting stuff) and blocking it there, but my mom said today that she's planning to pick DD1 up...so I don't know. I think I might call my mom back when DH isn't around and rearrange that plan.

Herdis for niece

Finally finished up the sewing and ends-weaving on Tuesday. I think it came out great:


front


back


button detail


gusset detail

I like it. Wednesday morning I sent it out to my niece, along with her Christmas presents, and it should be there early this week. DONE!

Pixie Outfit for DD1's doll

Last night I sewed on the buttons, so this is complete!

Lacy Ribs Scarf

After finishing off three projects, I found myself kind of at loose ends for something to do. I do have one more Christmas project to finish, but I'm procrastinating because I am SO tired of finishing, and that's what's left to do on the last Christmas project. I want to KNIT, dammit. So I turned back to this project. As planned, I ripped out everything I'd done and re-did it with one fewer pattern repeat width-wise. I kept going, and once again used up the whole ball. It looks good, is about as long as I'd expect half a scarf to be, and now all I need is to back to the yarn shop and get the second ball I need to finish the thing. Alas, it is incredibly snowy here, and although I succumbed to lunacy and actually went out to the shop in this weather, I discovered that the owner was far more wise about the elements than I, and had stayed home and left the shop closed up. So I'll have to wait until later this week to get ball #2.

A Very Harlot Poncho for moi

Once I could go no further on the scarf project, I went hunting through my knitting project baskets and dredged this up. Then it occurred to me that I might enjoy it a little better if I wasn't knitting it on a circular needle with horrible joins. So I switched to my Denise Interchangeables, and oh...the difference was like night and day. The stitches slide across the joins like budda. So I'm moving along on it really quickly now.

Something for Raymond

This past week, one of my best friends called up with the staggeringly joyous news that they have a little boy in their home now that they are fostering-to-adopt. I am delighted for her and her family. Naturally, I must knit the child something as a welcome gift, but it has to be perfect. I suppose I could whip up some lovely sweaters, or something, but I thought a cosy blanket would be much more personal. Blankets also have more potential to be cherished objects that make children feel safe, which I figured would be very important for this little tyke. Plus, I really want to knit my mitred corners blanket pattern again to work out the kinks in the instructions, because I think I'm going to submit it to Knitty. (I know that they don't ordinarily bother publishing blanket patterns, but this one has a very nifty and unique construction, which might be enough of a 'hook' to motivate Amy to publish it. We shall see.)

So! I shall be doing my mitred blanket pattern for this little boy. I want to use the 10 balls of royal purple Patons Astra that I picked up from the LYS at their sale this summer. Unfortunately, I've calculated the yardage I would need, and the 10 balls will not be enough. So I have to see if the LYS has two more balls in the same dyelot. Please cross your fingers for me.

Crazy

What does an intelligent, forward-thinking knitter, with seven urgent projects on the go and less than a month and a half to go before Christmas, do? Why, cast on two new pairs of socks that have nothing to do with holiday giving, of course...

Self-patterning socks #3 for moi

I couldn't resist starting to work with some of the sock yarn I treated myself to on my birthday, just to see how it would stripe. Well, this is how it stripes:



I'm not as crazy about it as the striping I had imagined in my head, based on what the yarn looked like in the ball, but I'm still going to enjoy the socks.

Self-patterning socks #whatever for DH

And after casting on the first ball of new sock yarn, well, the cat was already among the pixies, so what the hey, I cast on with the second ball, too. Work stalled, though. This is not, unfortunately, because I have the willpower and sense of responsibility that would enable me to resist a non-deadline project. It is simply because I couldn't find the fourth needle. I think I did spot it, however, this morning while taking knitting pictures.

Dumbass. Why do I do this to myself? Why?

But wait...it gets even better.

Ragna for brother

Knitters Attic is moving to a new location, and they had a pre-opening sale in the new spot this past weekend. I bought 10 balls each of Magic Garden Allsorts in a bright, strong blue, and Patons Canadiana in navy. The Allsorts doesn't really have a purpose yet, although I have generalized thoughts of making something really comfy and cosy for DD2.

The Canadiana, however, has a definite purpose. I bought it to make Ragna for my brother. I would have preferred to make it out of something more natural, but I had been forewarned (and strenuously so) by my mom that my brother's laundering skills are extremely limited. Apparently, he just dumps stuff in the machine without checking the care instructions. Anything requiring handwashing or, heaven forbid, blocking, was going to be ruined in very short order. So, acrylic it had to be. And at $2 per 100g ball for the Canadiana, I had my clear winner.

So yes, you guessed it, I couldn't resist and cast on for the sweater.

The pathetic thing is that this is going to be a gift for next Christmas. For heaven's sake, I have knitting time crunch for Christmas 2007 going on and I cast on for something planned for Christmas 2008? I suck.

The sweater, on the other hand, is looking pretty good. I'm working on the flappy bits right now to start:



I'm not enjoying the knitting as much as I could because the yarn is pretty squeaky. But the finished fabric feels good.

Fortunately, I'm not a complete moron. I do have excellent panic knitting progress to report as well.

(Oh, and Brigitte? This is all further proof that you should never feel bad about your WIP table. :)

Fair isle tank top

All sizes have been knitted! (Carrie K, there were five.) All measurements have been taken! All photographs have been snapped! This has enabled me to release the needles I was using back into the projects from which they were stolen. All that's left is to take the all notes I jotted down as I went, and incorporate them back into the pattern instructions; package all the graphics and photographs together; plug the pattern into Knitty's submission template; write up a submission email; take a deep, fortifying breath; and hit 'send'.

Elizabethan Jacket

A few more ends have been sewn in. What I'm really procrastinating about is taking out the ironing board and iron, wetting a towel, and pressing the pleats down on the darts. It will be a dull and awkward task and I'm not looking forward to it. However, it must be done, and then I can sew in the sleeves. Maybe I'll kill two birds with one stone and hem up my new kitchen curtains at the same time.

And thanks very much, everyone, for your comments and compliments on the project.

Larry's Cabled Cashmere Pullover for DH

Well, The J and Carrie K both like the striping on the sleeves exactly the way it is, so now that I've freed up the Denise cable for the project, I've forged ahead. We have sleeve progress:

Herdis for niece

This project is another winner of having finished all the sizes for the fair isle tank top - I was able to put the 4mm points back on the cable that was holding the left front of Herdis, and finish it. Actually...more than finish it, to be brutally honest - I went eight rows too far. It's supposed to be the same length as the back, and I miscounted how many rows I finished on the back, so... Well. It won't be that hard to rip back.

Pixie Outfit

This is doll clothes item number 2 of 3 (no, they are not Borg) which will be gifted to my elder daughter for Christmas. I originally started the project using some emerald green yarn from the stash. I thought I had enough, but as I ran out before even finishing the first leg, I was grievously mistaken. So I switched to some royal blue instead.



Want a close-up of those buttons? I made 'em myself out of polymer clay some years ago:



Just gotta sew them on and figure out buttonholes (the pattern tells you to crochet them on, but I don't think that will make the button bands match up very well), and then I'll be done!

Inside-out comfort socks

I ripped back what I'd originally done on the leg, and the heel, and then ripped back the foot to the correct starting point for the heel. I then did the heel a second time, and re-started the leg. I'm now working on the top ribbing.

Snuggly romper for DD2

And finally, we have a project that was finished long ago, but which only recently became the right size for its intended recipient.



I can't stand how adorable she is in this thing. It's pure cuddle inspiration. Okay, I can't resist. One more shot: