Almost a Mizzle!

The current shawl in the bag (well, one of several going, but this is the one I can currently find) is Patricia Clift Martin's "Mizzle" [Rav link]. I have a couple of balls of the fingering-weight Freia, as I love the it's-just-one-long-color-run of it. This particular pattern seemed to be a good fit for it (yay, Ravelry search for "shawls+I only have x yards of yarn to play with"!).


I've made it past the last eyelet ridge, and am on row 10 of an alleged 28 for the edging. I may or may not have quite enough yarn for all 28 rows, but stopping a few rows short will still give me a lovely shawl. And I should have a photo of it done and blocking before *too* long!

FiberFest!

Saturday, I got to go to the Uniquites Fiber Festival. Got there early, peered in the doors a lot while waiting for the opening bell...


... then headed directly to the Wild Hare Fiber Studio area, where I scored a total win: GALAXY! The WHFS Galaxy is both sparkly and springy, and it's my hands-down favorite yarn in the world. I *did* leave some for other people, because that's only fair, but I was only able to get one wee skein last year, so I went a bit nuts this time around.


Once I got home, I started to wind it up. And since I had the ball winder up, and was on kind of a winding jag, I hunted down all the other unwound skeins in the house...


... I'm about halfway done with it all. Then: THE KNITTING!

Okay... the last post was for DADA. THIS is Muggle Studies.

And for the eighth and final class this month, I did Muggle Studies.
I chose - Option: Explain what the promise is, how you've broken it, and what action you are taking now.
I decided to finish a shawl I'd started with some amazing yarn I'd picked up at the TKGA convention this summer.

Yards - Was knit, Pre-Frog: 219 yds (1.8 oz)
Yards - Newly Knit: 207 (12 yards left exactly)
Yards - Total: 438 yds (3.6 oz), - 12... 426 total yards used.

The promise: Make a pretty shawl for my Mom for her birthday.
How it was broken: Mom's birthday was, um, earlier. Before this shawl was completed.


Screenshot of Original Project Page for Proof of Not-Finished-ness
How I'm fixing it:
The shawl stalled horribly when there was some sort of counting error happened in the last bump. And it was bad enough that I couldn't figure out how to fix it.

So I frogged it.

And now I'm reknitting it back, and will give it to Mom. It's just a little late!


drapes beautifully over shoulders


almost a five-foot wingspan!


pretty shadows
I have to thank the Hogwarts professors for the idea of this class. Without it, this shawl might never have happened, and I just *love* the way it turned out!

Really, I *am* knitting!

I am knitting something - have been for most of the month. It's a Blossoms from the Brook shawl, free from Knitty.com. It's bottom-up construction - I got it because I was hoping, like StellaLuna, it would go from the cast-on edge of many-many stitches to one at the end, but no, not quite. But it *is* worked edge in - just differently.



The yarn is some lovely stuff, Tucker Woods Farm Handpainted Sock Yarn - Bailey's Twinkle Toes (which means it's got gold metallic spun in with the wool) - Loden (a pretty green handpainted colorway). It is soft, springy, and the closest thing I've found to my all-time favorite yarn (Wild Hare Galaxy). I give it an A+!!

I've just gotten onto Chart 2 of the design... oh, and did you notice the lovely green Signature needles? Yep, I finally own a pair of Signatures! (Size 6 40" circs, if you're curious.)

More on Friday....

Radiance Shawl: Done!

So, as of Friday, slogging on Order Mission. It's due this coming Saturday, and since (as of Friday) I only had five rows and a cast off left, that shouldn't have been a problem, right? WRONG. that's 15% of the shawl, believe it or not! It's garter stitch, so it goes quickly - for 750+ stitch rows. The yarn/pattern really hangs on itself well because the yarn is so springy - so I've decided NOT to block it. When the cast is off and the ends are wove, that will be it.

But here it is Friday:


I'm not certain I have enough yarn left in this ball, but I bought three because it was going to be close; I figure the row before cast-off is where I'll need to joint the whole new ball. (The leftovers of that ball will be a second Ashton Shawlette, I think.)

I was really REALLY hoping to finish this this past weekend..... AND I DID!!!!


I did, in fact, run out of yarn on the second-to-last row, so I spliced in the new ball and did an EXTRA row, just so there would be two rows between the splice and the cast-off. I ended up doing a crocheted picot border (crochet co 2 st, ch5, crochet co 5st, repeat to end, end with 2 co), and it worked great, and with a bit of poking each loop with a large knitting needle, even *that* didn't need blocking. Seriously. Ready-to-wear shawl! (Also, I love the Wild Hare Galaxy yarn I used to make it. I'll be doing another Dee O'Keefe pattern out of the leftover 480 yards, and hoping to find more Wild Hare Galaxy in the future!).

(Also, I'm making another one of these eventually.)

12 in 12

So, according to Ravelry (which doesn't count cross stitch, quilting, canvas or hardanger, so no, I didn't get The List down super-far, don't worry), I have twelve WIPs. WIPs are things that I actually intend to finish at some point, as opposed to UFOs, which I have finally realized means I will NOT finish them. (The List has both right now; it will be pruned of UFOs for the new year.) Anyway, here are my Ravelry WIPs:


They're presented in order of "happiness" - which should probably also be updated, since by "happiness", my Evenstar should be dead last. (I am loathing knit-on beaded edging and only keeping going because the yarn is soooo fluffy and the beads are soooo pretty and I WANT THAT SHAWL.)

As pictured left to right, top to botttom, the items are as follows:

1. The 2011 Advent Calendar Scarf, Part 1. I started this on December 1 this year, so it hasn't been a WIP for long. Since I'm doing it with MadTosh Merino Light, 91 stitches and 12 days of pattern will actually get me a shawl. This is probably the closest item to being finished. It will be saved for the OWL frenzy that is March.
2. Slytherin Crest Bag. The knitting is done, the blocking is done. I have the hardware, the straps, and the canvas for the lining. I have zippers and more canvas for pockets. I just have to actually (*shudder*) SEW the thing together. February is a short month with a long weekend - I think I'll save this for then.
3. Ancient Runes OWL: Pretty as a Peacock Shawl. I actually have to frog back through the first set of peacock feathers, which is what killed this shawl getting finished in the first place. And (oh, joy!) I don't think there's a lifeline anywhere in the thing. (I have learned better since!) Whereabouts currently unknown; I'll keep this for August, in-between terms, since it's silk and not *super* warm.
4. Swiss Cheese Scarf. A pleasant little mindless something to carry around with everything else. Also to be saved for an end of term - preferably one where I'm traveling - like July.
5. Astronomy OWL: Evenstar Shawl. It's JUST the edging left. The beaded edging. Still, I think I've got a shot at finishing it in a week or two of knitting. Since it's very warm, it needs a winter midterm - either April this year, or hold until December.
6. Pullover WITH FLAMES. About half the flames are done. I just need to rework the neck (I hate the way it looks now) and worry about the sleeves. Except for the WITH FLAMES areas, it's simple stockinette, so it goes fast when I'm actually knitting.
7. The 2010 Advent Calendar Scarf. Whereabouts currently unknown, and I think I only have about seven days done. This one should be a midterm project, too... and I think I just ran out of midterms.
8. EZ 100th Anniversary Pi Hearts Shawl. This is a big shawl; I think I just kicked up to the 560-stitch rows. It's working well, though, and the Neighborhood Fiber Company silk is a pleasure. It's a pretty simple pattern, despite the size of what's left; I think I can do this during regular term.
9. Yarn on Thursdays: Stitch Edition Blanket. I'm going through (or was going through, I enrolled in the HPKCHC) the entire Knitting on the Net Stitch Directory. I got through 19 weeks of my project in 2010/2011, and 67 stitches on the list. For sanity, I think I'll call "finished" for the blanket at stitch 77, which should be two more panels on the blanket, which should make it queen-sized/futon sized. The rest of the stitches will be handled as sampler pillows for the colorwork/mosaic stuff and the rest in a nice little lap-sized throw. But finished for this is the last ten stitches in part II of the list. Should be able to knock this out during term.
10. Dragon Illusion Blanket. OY. I started this a long, long time ago, before I really had a grasp on what either "287 st/row" or "every row in illusion knitting is actually four rows" meant. I'm almost to the halfway point; I'm thinking if I can get five (really 20) rows a month, I might have it done by the end of the year sometime. And 20 rows of this thing is about all I can manage before it gets exiled again.
11. Peacock Feather Beaded Scarf. This isn't just "whereabouts unknown"; it's so small - just a tiny ball of merino and some beads - that I think it may actually have been accidentally thrown out. If I haven't found it by December 2012, it'll officially come off The List and my Rav page as "forever frogged".
12. History of Magic OWL: Peacock Fillet Crochet Tablecloth. I want this thing done. IT FREAKING TAKES FOREVER. It's a tiny hook. It's tiny thread. BUT IT IS SO PRETTY! I think this will be another "work about ten rows, put it down for a month" projects.

So, according to the above, I want to finish the twelve items in the following order, more or less. Any of the larger items (tablecloth, illusion blanket) will get worked on well before the month they're due - heck, all of them might be - so this is just a "hey, if I haven't started finishing this yet, I really should" list :

January - Pullover WITH FLAMES February - Slytherin Crest Bag March - 2011 Advent Calendar Scarf, Part 1 April - Evenstar Shawl (OWL) May - Yarn on Thursdays: Stitch Edition Blanket June - 2010 Advent Calendar Scarf July - Swiss Cheese Scarf August - Pretty as a Peacock Shawl (OWL) September - EZ 100th Anniversary Pi Hearts Shawl October - Peacock Fillet Crochet Tablecloth (OWL) November - Dragon Illusion Blanket December - Peacock Feather Beaded Scarf

Yeah, that should keep me busy this year. Not even counting the upcoming 54 classes, three BROOMs, three OWLs, Quidditch, Challenges, and other events!!

New Term Starts Today! WOOHOO!!

Okay, classes are starting today, and just assume I'm putting my O.W.L. proposal in the INSTANT the thread is opened. Since all that is going on, here's the shots for my final STUFFF tile, turned in Tuesday (thus making me eligible for lovely Golden Tiles of Completness). Here's the before, which you've seen previously. You can see that the Pile of Stuff is spilling onto the Greek Key design in the center of the floor - and afterwards, the center of the floor design is down in the corner - look how far all the things are from it!!


Here is the after. There is, at the back, from the bottom up:

1. Bin of Spinny stuff and spindles.
2. Bin of Cotton yarn.
3. Bin of Acrylic Yarn.
4. Cross stitch stuff, in bags.

Then, in front, is the bin of Wool Yarn, a bag of wool for my "A New Angle" (from Wooly Thoughts) and another bag of cross stitch/sewing stuff. The blue bag on the floor is a bag full of project bags; the brown paper bag on the silver cases contains everything for my proposed Astronomy OWL.

I can find EVERYTHING!!


And this gets me my "T-is-for-Tidy" Tile. Woohooo!! That's the whole set!!


It's pretty cool to actually know WHERE THE YARN IS. I mean, if I'm looking for wool, it's in the wool bin. If I'm looking for puffystuff and a spindle, it's in that bin, and so forth. And I found a set of Glow-in-the-Dark knitting needles... I vaguely remember getting them, I think... Anyway. No, this isn't *any* of the yarn from the craft room, nor the storage unit. This is all the stuff that wasn't in either of those places, and needed to be straightened out. And it's organized, which is putting me ahead of the game by quite a bit!!

Anyway, ON TO HOGWARTS!!!!

Quidditch Tie and Yarn Cakes

Now, you might think that yesterday's Owls Sweater was all the fun with yarn I could have in a week - but you'd.. be wrong. Over the course of a few days, I managed to use a suitcase handle and luggage rack to hold my ball winder and swift, and got a whole lot of little yarn cakes made up. Everything is ready for me to start knitting my Herbology O.W.L (no, I still haven't started), my Serpentine Valentine Socks (was supposed to start LAST Monday, and didn't), and because it was there, the rest of my Miss Babs stash.


...all the pretties...my preciousssesss....



I also finished knitting my Quidditch Tie. Since I went for the first/second year version, I had two ends to weave in for every stripe. That's a LOT of ends to weave in, but I did it, and la, the tie is done. (And look at the lovely Gryffindor bedspread I have as a photo backgound. I mentioned it was a really, really nice B&B, yes?)


I worked more on my Tilting Tardis Shrug as well. I got the body finished, and seamed the sleeves. (By the end of the second sleeve, I'd even figured out how to do it invisibly. No, I'm not going back to "fix" the first sleeve; it's barely visible as it is, that seam!) I'm at the "figure out if I want a neck-band on it" point; we'll see.


And there was even more than that... as you'll see tomorow.

Lorna's Laces Worsted: More Yarn Than You Think

Okay, last post until after the Inauguration (posting + dial-up = no fun), and not much to report.

One, the Sisterhood is starting a S&B on the last Saturday of each month, beginning in February. Yay! I've figured out how to take Saturday busses to get out there, if need be, or I can mooch a ride and send the spouse to Game Parlor. Yay!

Two, I'm trying to be good, food-wise. I've almost successfully eliminated fast food (I'm hoping Qdoba doesn't count, but I think it does.)... and then our Vending Guy puts these in the machine Tuesday:


I mean, what the heck??? Tasty Burger King Onion Ring-like Objects right where I can get to them at any time?? Grrrr. Not fair. ... On the other hand, I resisted until Thursday, and spent the rest of the day feeling nauseated, so the temptation is removed.

Three, two skeins of Lorna's Laces worsted? Makes a heck of a lot more than a little neckwarmer. I used exactly two skeins of Noro for my neckwarmer... for this now-it's-a-scarf, though, I think I've used at least half the yarn at this point. Here it is on Monday:


It's about a third again as long now, and there's STILL YARN LEFT. On the other hand, I'm going to have a lovely warm scarf that goes with my winter jacket.

Four, I finally got around to the cartooning thing. Knitting related, posted over here. The other goal is to have at least one cartoon a week in 2009.

Everyone have a good long weekend (if the Inauguration affects you), and stay warm!

My favorite knitting photo so far...

In between the frantic Rabbit Knitting and the attempt to actually finish Hint #8 of Secret of the Stole II, the Noro Mobius Scarf jumped (completely unassisted, I swear!) onto my pretty new needles. Since I'm a loose knitter I knit loosely, I cast on 51 stitches, and that'll give me a nice width for a headscarf-ish thing. K1,p1,k1,p1.... and so on. This constitutes "almost mindless knitting" - truly mindless knitting being either the purl rows of SotS-II (I purl faster than I knit) or the stockinette Rabbit Squares. I actually kinda had to pay attention at first, but after a few stripes, I was just flying along. I hope to have the whole thing knitted up in time to wear it before the second snow. (Since the first snow is supposedly going to fall today, I'm not going to make THAT deadline!)

This is also going to be the Waiting Project. Did I mention I'm now categorizing my projects? There's the Transit Project, which is Secret of the Stole II, seen here at the end of its third ball of yarn:


There's the Couch Project, which is the 30 Rabbits in 30 Days, the deal being knit only rabbits on the couch until and unless I am at least two rabbit-days ahead. (I'm presently, as of this morning, done with 16 rabbits, so there's more rabbit knitting in my immediate couch-future.) Then there's the Waiting Project, the Noro Mobius Scarf. This is for doing while waiting for the bus, waiting for my ride, waiting for the train - times where picking up the other portable project (SotS-II) just won't work well. As of this morning, I was able to take what is possibly my favorite picture of my knitting ever:


See? The blue of the sky, the green of the grass, the orange of the leaves on the tree, plus the strong "stripes" of the shadows on the bridge... I mean, the setting just screamed out to have this scarf-scrap held up before it whilst it was recorded for posterity. I am all a-squeal about this photo, and I'm just wishing I had my *real* camera (and the yellow filter) to get a publishable image, with the real vibrancy of the colors that were there. But this will do, and I still love it!

I have yarn. And no cats.

My friend T was giving away a *bunch* of cross-stitch stuff sometime... summer maybe?... and included in it was a cute little cross-stitch minikit of a sheep that's supposed to say "Ewe's not fat, Ewe's fluffy!" - which, being on the fluffy side myself, I didn't find all that amusing. So, I stitched it up Monday night, with a change in the words:


Sunday evening, I organized my out-of-the-stash-room stash. I found all the stray yarn, and bagged it as either "nice acrylic" or "nice wool-type yarn". I bagged balls that belonged together, kept the patterns with the yarn, and otherwise made things a bit easier for myself in the long run. Plus, we now have a clear path between the sofa, the kitchen, and the bathrooms. The evidence:


Did I mention these were the super-large 20+ gallon ziploc bags? That's not tiny skeins of sock yarn in there, that's big ol' skeins of stuff. Lots and lots of yarn. In CLEAR bags, so I can find it this time!!!

And even though I want cats (I'm allergic), I realize that this is what would happen if I had them:


moar kittehs!

Finished Objects - and another "medal"!!

Okay, very quick update. I did, in fact, finish my A Pair of Hearts Socks this afternoon! Thanks for all the encouragement, everyone! Here they are:

Ooooo, pretty!

Can you see the hearts up the side better here?
They're harder to photograph than I thought they would be.
The hearts really stand out in "real life"!!
And here's proof that I finished two of them:

So, I finished the last thing I expected to finish for the Ravelympics; I finished one entire pair of socks for Summer of Socks (yep, same socks, double duty!), and the UFO count is now 59!! I'm under 60 again! Woooooohoooooo!

Sock Frenzy - Noon Update

Have completed heel flap and turned heel. Only 3 pattern repeats + toe to finish. Must "wing it" on how I did toe, as cannot find original notes re: same. I think it was "6 rows normal with every other row decrease, then decreases every row until 16st left". That's what I'll be doing, anyway.

Hoping at least one more lawyer goes home soon. Partner that knits understands, and will let under-desk knitting occur in between necessary typing.

Last Day = Sock Frenzy!

Well, I may actually save up to get one of these: Limited Edition Yarn Mugs from Jennie the Potter. With orange yarn, of course. Definitely on my list.Oh, and a wee bit of bookkeeping. I had to post from home last night, and most of my templates are at work, so I forgot/couldn't post the following:


Stoplight Sweater, Take III
knitting, was 60% done

With three projects, and only one day, left for Ravelympics, I decided the Sock Put was my best bet at getting a third medal during the 2008 Ravelympics, so the remaining sock is going with me EVERYwhere, and I've taken to trying to knit stealthily under my desk at work (when I'm there; today was chock-full of doctor's appointments for the final release on my shoulder, so lots of extra knitting time!). (Knitting at my desk doesn't go well. One of my bosses knits, and can tell what I'm doing just by my body posture. On the upside, she gives me about five minutes after she notices before she calls me on it. And it's not really that she minds; it's just she'd kinda like to send stuff out to the clients today, so I sorta need to type it. That, plus she's still a bit miffed about the $160 of cashmere that followed her home last week after I told her about the amazing sale at Stitch DC.) So, here's a shot of my (hopefully winning) entry after Thursday night and Friday morning were spent knitting a whole bunch:


I know, it's a bit of a sock. But there's hope it will be a bit MORE of a sock, and soon - LIKE NOW.

Ravelympics. We're in the home stretch. I am SO freakin' burned out from knitting right now - it's only the hope that I will get to start my lovely blaze-orange-with-flame-beads SotS-III at the end that is keeping me going! I can just tell that I'm going to be able to cut down some of the numbers of quilting and cross-stitch UFOs from my list, because I'm just plain going to need a knitting break. Seriously, it's been sleep (a bit), work (if I must), eat (when I remember) and KNIT for the past twelve days.

Because I'm a good little bunny, and because the reward of blaze-orange laceweight yarn is looming in the near future, here's my last official Ravelympics report:

1. A Pair of Hearts Socks. Will. Be. Done. Today.
2. Titania. If I can just get to the cream sections on the front, this will FLY. Not fast enough, I fear, but stockinette is *waaaaay* faster than the lovely (but challenging) trellis lace. To put it in perspective, I expect this to be a truly lovely Easter sweater (which means I should really have it done by Saturday, April 11, 2009).
3. Forget-Me-Not Shawl. Okay, I thought worsted-weight shawls (I've done two) took a while. I thought DK shawls took a while (SotS-1 and SotS-2 are done in DK weight). Laceweight... laceweight will be the end of me. I keep knitting and knitting and knitting, and I'm thrilled to get to the end of a row. Let alone two or three. Without having to frog (which, by the way, sucks to do with merino). Without dropping stitches, or a stitch marker. I will finish, though, because I want it done! Off the list! And I now have no fear about making a lace merino sweater, so I *will* be starting Serrano one of these years. Just not for a few months after I've finished my Forget-Me-Not!

I am really hoping I knit super-fast at lunch, and finish my sock. Wish me luck!!

One sleeve...

Well, I at least got one Ravelympics medal! Yaaaay!!

The Cat Sweater

I am a Ravthlete!

I also, while rifling my bookshelves looking for small change (don't ask), found the pieces of what will someday be a quilted Christmas chesboard (all reds, greens and golds). It's all hand-cut and hand-pieced (so far). It's 64 blocks, naturally, and I've almost finished putting all of them into sets of four blocks. Those will then be (carefully) sewn into sixteen-block board quarters, and then the whole thing goes together. Because it's small (chessboard sized, go figure), I can do fun motif quilting, rather like I did in the half of the Shoo-Fly Patriotic Quiltlet that I've finished quilting. Hand-piecing tiny blocks = ultimate portable. The entire project fits in the outer pocket of my Ravelry bag!

There is some progress, though, on the Stoplight Sweater:

See? There's one sleeve there. And, on the right, you can see the trailing yarn for sleeve #2, which will hopefully be done by the time I get home tonight so I can put in the zipper and be done with it. (Adding a hood is tempting, but will have to be done after-the-fact of the actual sweater being finished, due to Time Constraints.)

Also got the ribbing and one pattern repeat done on the second A Pair of Hearts sock, show here with George:

I think those will officially be "it" for the Ravelympics. Titania and the Forget-me-Not shawl just aren't going to medal this time around.

Friday...

Friday, August 15, 2008. You know what that means: Secret of the Stole III has started!! Woohoooo!! Registration is now closed to join the Knit-a-Long, but once it's over, you'll be able to buy the pattern from DK. I'm sure this one will be as beautiful as the last two!
Now, I've decided not to cast on just yet, but I'm TOTALLY going to once Ravelympics is over! I should have enough projects done that I can start SotS-iii and still be under 60 UFOs!! My stuff is all ready to go, though, as soon as I'm "cleared" for knitting:


On the Ravelympics front, since I'm talking about finishing things, I've been "competing" for a week now. Here's how it's going:

1. The Cat Sweater. Oh my freakin' gosh, the end is actually in sight. I may actually have photos of me wearing a finished The Cat Sweater on Monday, assuming I can figure out where I hid my Kitty Buttons! Keep your fingers crossed, both on the knitting and the finding-the-buttons front!
2. The Stoplight Sweater. Um. You'd think this would be going much faster given the large needles and super bulky yarn. I think I'm hitting sweater burnout.
3. Titania. Here's a photo, just so you know I'm not imagining this third sweater:
4. A Pair of Hearts Socks. Managed my First Heel Flap without much incident. Hopeful that I'll actually finish this project during the Games.
   Scary heel flap... gusset happening!
5. Forget-Me-Not Shawl I'm knitting, but it's not growing. Can anyone see a difference at this point in lace? I mean, I'm clearly past my lifeline by a bit, but shouldn't it be growing faster?

In a related note, and also found more lovely HOT PINK laceweight merino at Stitch DC - Georgetown on Wednesday. Well, actually, I found it Tuesday... I just didn't have the cash to *buy* it until Wednesday! And it matches the stuff I already had (not quite enough of) for Forget-Me-Not, so I can make the whole shawl full-sized now (yikes!). Soooooo pretty! And, for no apparent reason, all the Katia Mississippi 3 was on sale 60% off. Now, I love this yarn - it's a pleasure to work with, and makes comfy socks. For $40, I was able to get enough to make a cute sweater AND a cute shrug! I think the new GREEN yarn will be turning into Laura Chau's Serrano (from Knitty's Fall 2006 issue), and the shrug will probably be something from Lace Style, from the yellow yarn. Figuring gauge and size, I knew I'd want to get 2400m or so (that's giving extra, don't worry!). It's sooooooo soft, and sooooo pretty! I know, I know, I'm supposed to be on a yarn diet, but it was on sale and it was pretty!

hot pink

cool green and yellow

As we head into the weekend (in which, sadly, I'll be expected to do a whole bunch of things that *aren't* knitting), the prospect is good that I'll have a finishing announcement on Monday. Keep those fingers crossed for me!

Ravelympics, starting Day 4

First, look what showed up in the mail! Yaaaay!
I also got the "daily dose of fiber" magnets, which are stuck to our closet door. (For no reason I can think of, all the interior doors in our house are metal. All the exterior doors, however, are wood, and most are split/cracked/decaying from age and need replacement. I don't understand, but it gives me a lot of place to stick magnets.

Did I mention that last Friday morning, pre-work, was a flurry of unwanted activity at my house? I was going to tuck my laceweight merino and size 3 needles into my Ravelry tote just in case I got bored with my sock during the day - and I couldn't find it! I was certain both it and The Cat Sweater were right in my wheeled bins-o-stash, but they weren't! I had the Stoplight Sweater (couch), Titania (wheeled bins) and Pair of Hearts socks (Ravelry Bag), but no Cat Sweater or Forget-me-Not yarn. Naturally, I had to toss the craft room when I got home, which isn't easy, due to the fact that IT'S FULL. Completely. No room to walk, almost.

Many hours (and much lost knitting time) later, I had managed to rescue The Cat Sweater. Then I sat down to the Opening Ceremonies...

... and was so enthralled I didn't knit a STITCH. Oh well!

On to Saturday morning. Here I am at approximately 6:45 a.m., ready to go. The socks are in my Ravelry bag; the giant orange knitting tote contains The Cat Sweater.


Progress on the Five Ravelympics Projects for the first weekend of the Games:

1. Titania. Located. Must re-print pattern. No actual knitting.
2. The Stoplight Sweater. Located. Bought thread for seaming before steeking. Found 29" bright-red zipper, located yarn. Can't find size 15 circular needles for sleeve knitting, but they've got to be around somewhere. No actual knitting.
3. A Pair of Hearts Socks. Almost done with one ankle to the heel flap. Nervous: never done an actual "heel flap" or "gussets" before. (This is my Practice Heel Flap, since I'll need to be able to do one for Installment #2 of the Fairy Tale Sock Club.) Anyway:
   
4. Forget Me Not Shawl. Found the *ball band* for the yarn, but not the yarn or its associated needles. My house ate my yarn. If I haven't found it by next weekend, will have to scratch this event.
5. The Cat Sweater. Found, and first sleeve completed, yay!!
   
   I look scary here. No idea why.
   Also, seamed, cut, and sewed back front steek.
   
   It's fun telling my mom about steeking. She freaks out just thinking about it, but since my attitude is "well, I can sew well enough by hand that the yarn isn't coming apart nohow, so, no worries even if I screw up," I don't have a problem. Once again proving I'm a process, not a product, knitter.

So, how are all y'all doing?