What a Life!

Today we shall talk about knitting. I have three knitting bags so usually I have – that’s right – three knitting projects on the needles. But first, we shall discuss my recent FOs (Finished Objects).

These two articles were actually finished last Friday when I spent the day knitting. Finished these two objects cleared the slate for three new projects.

I finished knitting a pair of Fetching for myself. See?

I still haven’t figured out why fingerless gloves are so popular. When my hands get cold, my fingers are the coldest part of my hand…so of what use would be something that covered everything but your fingers? But last September when my mom had a milestone birthday, I wanted to knit her something special. So I knit her a pair of fingerless gloves just like the ones above.

You see, the used to make them is Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran. Merino is very soft wool. Cashmere is very, very soft wool (and very expensive). Let’s just say that one ball of yarn of this stuff costs twice as much for one ball and has half as much yarn in each ball as what I normally buy. Yes, do the math – it costs four times as much as I usually spend on yarn.

I would love to knit myself a sweater out of this yarn, but it is so not in the budget. But I can afford to make a pair of Fetching with one ball, and so I did. A pair for my mom for her birthday. A pair for my sister for Christmas. And finally, a pair for me.

The next FO (that’s right, two in one day) was a simple dishcloth for myself. Peaches and Cream yarn. I knit dishcloths exactly like this for my mother-in-law and sister-in-law (aka Steve’s family) for Christmas. See?

Very practical. The right colors for Game Day. Go Huskers!

Now, for new WIPs (Works in Progress):

I re-started the hat that I frogged. See?

It looks much better with a couple extra rows of ribbing around the brim. And my improved way of doing entrelac is much easier and looks much nicer, in my humble opinion. I am writing the pattern for this as I knit it so more on those details when I finish it.

Right now, however, it’s a UFO (Un-Finished Object…a term typically used by knitters to refer to items that have been started but set aside before they were finished). The thing is, I was knitting this when we all got sick. And knitting it reminds me of getting sick. I think I need a bit more time to heal from the trauma of being sick before I go any futher on that hat. I could really have used it this week, though. We had highs in the single digits. I just stayed inside instead…for about five days.

Another WIP: socks.

I’ve decided that I’m going to knit one sock per month this year. That would give me six pairs of socks by the end of the year. I don’t really need anymore socks. But I have the yarn…knitting socks is fun…and I like setting goals that I can achieve.

Finally, the glorious stripey sweater that I am making for my friend’s daughter.
You can see it as it currently looks here:

And you can see how I am cleverly making the stripes line up on the sleeve here:

Yes, those sleeves are set-in sleeves that are not knit separately and then seamed into the garment, and yes, they are knit in the round, and yes, I am writing the pattern for this as I go…so more on those details for my fellow knitters when this project is finished.

And for those of you who don’t really care about my knitting but have read this far anyway…here’s a picture for you:

To my knowledge, there is nothing unsafe about reading books, but I guess it doesn’t hurt to wear your helmet just in case…