As Promised

Baby cardigan:

The only thing that irks me is that the hood was seamed up before I knew how to seam well. It does not irk me enough to redo it though. :)

Shalimar socks:

These I love. That is all.

Cassidy's sweater:

So far, so good. There is ribbing at the waist and mid arm, which creates the slight illusion of shaping, but easier. I'm considering edging the neck with single crochet for stability, but won't be sure until it's all knit up. Just one arm left! Yay!

The Suckage. I Has It.

So yeah. I suck at blogging lately... my sincere apologies for the lack of updates. Work has been kicking my ass, in combination with carpooling with Scott. That means I leave a little before 6 am and don't get home until 6 or 6:30 pm, leaving little time for anything else. In fact, I am at work right now (off the clock) waiting for Scott to come get me! But I thought I'd sneak in a brief update sans photos, and I promise this weekend I will post pictures.

First of all, the baby cardigan was finished less than 24 hours after that last post. The public humiliation of my failings was too much to bear, and I finally got it right. Both sleeves match each other, and it's washed and everything. It does still need a final pug-hair check, and perhaps a tumble in the drier to fluff up the cotton (it was dried flat, because I fear premature pilling), but it looks pretty good and it felt awesome to finally finish that sucker.

My lovely new socks from the Shalimar Yarn are also finished, and I lurve them. The yarn was awesome to knit with, and I'm really excited to try the other weights (once some of the stash is gone, of course). I think I'd really like to try a sweater with another stonewash colorway.

Cassidy's sweater (the light blue Classic Cotton raglan) is going surprisingly well. I'm completely winging the whole thing, and it's really quite amazing that I haven't had to rip it out even once. I'm nearly done with the first sleeve, and I'm not quite sure how long to make them, but I'm not too worried. I have lots of experience ripping out sleeves. :)

Okay I guess that's it. Now where is Scott? I need to get to knit night!

I Wish We Still Had a Fireplace

You've probably heard of the infamous Sweater Curse. Well what I have is a cursed sweater. Seriously. It's a little mint green baby sweater, and I swear it is destroying my soul. It started back during mid-2007, when my husband's coworker was going to have his second baby. I had just finished knitting the Knitting Pure and Simple Baby Cardigan, and thought it was easy enough to do once more. It went well until I took a little break with one sleeve yet to go. When I went back to do it, I used a different size needle, and somehow didn't notice until it was finished. The ends were woven in and everything, but one sleeve was pretty obviously much more tightly knit. Rather than frog the thing, I just knit a hat and booties for the recipient and moved on with life.

Fast forward to a couple weeks ago. Two of Scott's friends are having babies this year, and I instantly thought of the sweater. It only needs one sleeve done, so it should be simple, right? Wrong. I looked at the pattern, forgetting the needle size problem and saw that the sweater had been knit on #7 needles. Size 7 needles in hand, I get started. A couple inches into it, the discrepancy becomes clear. At this point I chastize myself for not being very observant, and for having a really crappy memory, and for not making notes about this sort of thing. The sleeve gets ripped, and I figure I must have accidentally used #6 needles. Again, I knit the sleeve. This time, I knit nearly to the end before I see that the sleeve STILL does not match the other, smaller, sleeve. Now I hate myself and the sweater. This stupid sleeve has been knit three times and I wish it would die in a fire.

Unfortunately, there is just something in my brain that won't let me destroy the thing no matter how mad I am at it. It's too close to being finished, and the idea of being defeated by a baby cardigan really sticks in my craw. So, it is back in the bag (with a note to use #5 needles next time), and I have until June to let the hate subside and finish it.

On a happier note, Scott's scarf is done:

And I've got the cuffs of both Shalimar socks done:
I've made lists of all my projects and goals, and so far so good. Maybe I'll make it to Sheep & Wool after all!

Resolutions. Maybe.

The socks were finished before the end of the year, as was Scott's hat:

They look good and fit, and Scott likes them. Win! Scott's scarf has been started, and is now about two feet long. Here is a picture of my Robosapien helping out about 18 inches ago:

I wish I could teach him to knit, that would rock.

The scarf has been put aside for a few days (until I forget how sucky it can be to knit six feet of the same. thing. over. and. over.) and right now I'm working on a pair of socks with Shalimar Zoe. They're just plain vanilla socks for myself. Pictures coming later, when they look more like socks.

I've been thinking a lot about making some sort of knitting resolution. My calculations tell me I have over 18 miles of yarn, not including yarn for projects already cast on. That's a lot of yarn. Especially considering I just got rid of a garbage bag full of extra/leftover skeins, remnants, and acrylic I probably wouldn't have used. It's possible that perhaps I should use some of it. Also, perhaps I should also finish some of the unfinished projects I have laying around.

So here's my plan: I am going to buy yarn for one more project (two friends are having kids, I only have yarn for one baby project). After that, no more yarn until I work through 5 miles of yarn. That's 8800 yards, and like I said- it doesn't include WIPs. Which brings me to the second part of my resolution...

I am going to finish the following WIPs this year: the baby sweater missing one sleeve, Cass's top, Scott's scarf, the Shalimar Zoe socks, the Clapotis, and my Boyfriend Sweater. I think that's reasonable, and will make a lot of room in my yarn cabinet.

The only part the sucks is that if I don't polish off five miles by May, I don't get to go to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. For now, I'm considering that to be a motivator, and maybe if I work through at least half, I'll let myself go and get just a small amount (but way less than the 4400 yards I have to get through).

I'm off to get started- and I won't hold it against you if you fell off your chair laughing at the idea of me not buying yarn for at least 5 months.