1 + 1 = 2

See? It is possible (for me) to finish a pair of socks! I think I matched them rather well, too. Now I have the bamboo sock to finish and I won't have to do any more for a while. I'm a sweater-kind-of-girl. The socks I enjoy knitting are Baba's Bed Socks because I can finish one sock in about four hours. Ben, Jim, Debby, and Mom C. just love them, too.

Finishing UFOs

Once I got past the band heel (I had to wrap my brain around the instructions again), my SECOND sock is going well. Sock monkey and HD are helping by modeling them. The Kaffe Fasset yarn has lovely transitioning color bands. The yarn I really want to use is the NORO sock yarn (I will not start any more socks for a while!). It's not particularly soft, but the colors are absolutely gorgeous. They would be great socks to wear with hiking boots. It will be nice to finish these and then the bamboo socks. They are great take-along projects. I have to focus when I'm working on the Lopi cardigan. Working the motif into the increases of the sleeve is putzy, and I'm picky about how it looks. Now that swimming's over I can reclaim the house and begin to purge more stuff from the house for the troop yard sale and Goodwill. I'm also going through craft supplies and getting some together for Sharefest projects at church.
As long as I'm talking about color...here's the yarn I spun at the retreat. Joanne gave the roving to me when I visited her last year. To spin the roving, I used Louie (my Louet S10). The only reason I have the drop spindle there is because I showed someone how to use it. It's nice, soft, lofty wool. Don't know what it'll be, yet--need to know the yardage first!

Let's take a SIP (sleeve in progress)

I think I finally have the sleeve going well...I took a few dips in the frog pond over the past couple of days. Transitioning the Fair Isle motif into the sleeve increases is challenging for my picky knitting nature. Anyway, I think it's going well.
We had a full house last night. It was the Sections Spaghetti Dinner for the varsity swimmers. It was fun and they surely ate a lot! We had lots of parent help, too.
Also, a disaster was averted last night--Jim leaned against the hutch and we heard a crash, but I heard that Mr. Morris caught the large platter and only one small plate had a little chip. Whew! That was close. I'm just thankful that it didn't come down on anyone's head!!

A sleeve

Finally, I'm knitting one of the sleeves for the Lopi cardigan!
I had so much fun on the retreat over the weekend. I spun most of the Crayola roving Joanne gave to me last year. Everyone LOVED it. We ate and ate and laughed and laughed some more. It was great to get away.

I love my circles and bobbles sweater! It's comfy, colorful (for my version of a black sweater), and I'm actually happy with the finished project.

Happy Valentine's Day

Here's the latest photo of the almost FO! It took me a while to choose an outline color for the circles. Anything would have looked good, but the red worked because I don't feel the need to change it, and now I don't mind the bright pink so much. The funny thing about this is the fact that I LOVE color and this sweater is sedate compared to the original design. I needed a black sweater and just couldn't go all the way with a solid black.
On the sweater is my Valentine's gift from my Valentine--Jim. The three sapphires are green! Ooooo...love it, and him! I made heart-shaped sugar-free Jell-o Jigglers for Ben. He's on taper until the end of the season. Bummer.
We have a fresh coat of snow today, so the cruddy stuff is covered and it looks pretty again.

Well, the sweater dried quickly, so I tried it on--LOVE IT! My idea for the ties isn't worked out, so I found some glass beads. I took the photo when I was wearing the sweater!

I see the light!

Finally! My knitting demons are at bay! I actually like this sweater. I was trying it on as work progressed and wasn't loving what I saw. I thought, "Greaaat, another stinker," but with the sleeves attached and the neckline done (4" was too tall for me--I frogged back 1/2") I rather liked the style. It needs to be blocked, which I might steam block the color work so I can embellish the circles, and then I'll do a full block (ants in my pants, can't wait). I'm not into pompoms, so I just had a brilliant idea to try something different. If it works you'll see it, if not, you won't see it.

I still feel a bit crappy, but this shall pass. It gives me an excuse to stay home for a change! Yesterday I had a class, took Mom to get fitted for her new hearing aids (grrr...long story...grrr), and got home in time for help night at the shop. It was a relief to get home and vegetate.
Ooo-ooo! I just thought what to name this sweater--Galaxy. In this photo the tweed looks like space with billions and billions of stars. The circles represent planets or galaxies billions of light years away. (COSMOS is on tonight.) Humpf...that reads as though my brain's transmitters aren't firing correctly doesn't it?

I hab a teddible code!

(Sniff) Went to Wisconsin over the weekend. (Sniff) The CB sweater is now put together and needs to be blocked and embellished. (Ah-CHOO!) Nose is red, lips are chapped, can't breathe, going to bed now. Feel teddible--look teddible. Teddible code! (Cough)

One sleeve is good, two is better

It seems silly to show a photo of the sweater, as the left sleeve looks the same as the right sleeve. I'm glad I knitted the small, but I might have added a little length to the body. It's not cropped to the waist, just needs blocking, I suppose. This weekend would be a nice time to wear it. We'll see.
My haircut got canceled this morning--bummer. She'll call me and hopefully I can get it done tomorrow. I REALLY need a change of some kind! Something to lift my spirits (or some spirits to lift me--that sounds better). Now that I have a little time, I can revisit the Lopi cardigan. Shhh...not too loud...I don't want it to get overly excited, yet.
Today I have laryngitis--it's a good excuse to keep one's mouth shut, isn't it? I suppose it's better to have a frog in my throat than anywhere near my knitting!
There, I mirrored the picture so you can see the other sleeve.

Back on Track

Things seem darkest before dawn--it's true. The sleeve is back on track, Mom's doing okay temporarily without her hearing aids (she wanted new ones anyway), we have a date for the banquet, I had fun with Kathy on Thursday, AND I finished a sleeve and shoulder seam.
I think it's going to be a nice sweater. I've enjoyed knitting it--especially since the Fair Isle kept me interested and the solid color instead of the stripes made for NBK (no brain knitting). The chain stitching around the circles will be a nice touch. I'm contemplating that now. I could add another color and that wouldn't be a bad thing.