What a Life!

Last week I finished binding off this shawl. It is the first lace (other than socks) that I have ever knit. The yarn is Knit Picks Gloss Lace Aegean which I knit held doubled. I also added some extra repeats to the body to make it a bit bigger. It’s ready to be blocked, but that will involve the use of blocking wires, which, of course, I have never used. Don’t worry – I’ll take pictures.

Last week I also finished the ribbing for my Cabled Cardigan. At a mere 6 sts per inch, this project is quite an undertaking.

I am totally in love with the yarn – Knit Picks Telemark Mineral Heather. It is soft and just plain gorgeous. The ribbing is about 5 1/2″ inches long. Ahead of me lies about eight inches of plain stockinette. This project has become a full-blown slog-a-long. But the cables around the shoulders will be fun to knit, so I keep pressing on.

These are the swatches for the boys sweaters I am making this fall. I have this thing where I knit them coordinating sweaters each year and then take their picture in them for our Christmas card. Last year I didn’t get the picture part done because I finished them too late to take pictures outside without them freezing to death. Our first hard freeze is typically around October 15, so this year my plan was to have them ready for pictures by the first of October. As cool as our weather was this week, though, that may be too late. I am pressing on anyway.

This is how far I have gotten with Ben’s sweater, a few rows shy of being finished with the back. I always do Ben’s first since it is bigger. I figure, by the time I get to Joey’s, I’ll be tired of the stitch pattern, but at least it will go faster since it is smaller.

Between the two sweaters, I have fourteen balls of yarn to knit. If I am to finish them in September, I need to knit one ball every two days. I am working on my third ball now, so I’m a little behind. I may have to resort to monogamous knitting in order to get them done. Next year, I will start working on them in July.