Spring fever

This has been a hectic week, so I got less knitting done than I'd like.  When Justin had a schedule change requiring dinner at 7:30 and Kerry invited herself over for dinner, I had to cancel hosting a few knitting friends at 7 that evening (it was wonderful that Barbara volunteered to take over -- thanks Barbara!).  Our remodeling project has picked up the pace with the sunny weather which meant that most of my daytime hours got sucked up.  As long as the rain doesn't arrive on the wrong days, we should be able to use our cabana and re-landscaped pool area by early summer (Memorial Day?).

I am about at the halfway point in my Rainbow Lasagne Noodle scarf.  I plan to wetblock to soften up the yarn a bit and lengthen it some (the ruffles will be a bit less pronounced as a result.  This is my current public knitting project and it attracts LOTS of comments.

Zelda reared her head on Thursday.  She decided it was time to knit with some shiny novelty yarn she had noticed as I was doing my annual spring stash organization a few weeks back.  I relented and knit a simple cowl from two balls of GGH Coco.  I didn't really want to do a garter edge/stockinette body cowl, especially since most of the surface interest shows up on the purl side, so I decided on welts instead.  The pattern is on my Ravelry project page.

Wendy Johnson has just published a new shawlette pattern called Sheldon and Leonard.  It is very tempting, but I am determined to finish her Double Fun Scarf (my Rainbow Lasagne Noodle) first so that Zelda doesn't make me start yet another project before at least one gets finished.

My Inner Zelda

Today the Yarn Harlot posted about her Inner Knitter and how she is a teenage girl (manageable when she is pouting in her room, impossible to ignore when she demands your attention).  Mine is more like Zelda Fitzgerald (can you tell that we recently watched Midnight in Paris?).  Mine is brilliant at times, but often fickle and scatter-brained.  She also disappears late on New Year's Eve and doesn't reappear until well into January, giving me plenty of time to polish off some WIPs hanging around the house.  I figure she must have one heck of a hangover.  This year I managed to finish six WIPs started in 2011 plus five more new projects by February 1 while she slept.

I haven't been nearly as productive lately (completed only six projects in the following two months), and now Zelda has infected me with startitis.  Just look at what I have on my needles, all started in 2012:

Rainbow Lasagne Noodle Scarf

Shadow Rib Socks in Opal Graffiti

Daybreak Shawl in Cascade Heritage and Taiyo Sock

Spectra Shawl in KnitPicks Chroma and Stroll

Flip Top Mittens (kit from White Shores)

Central Park Hoodie in Classic Elite Waterlily

Now I did finish a few projects since my last posting (see below), but this is getting a bit out of hand.  I'm getting close to the point of needing to finish a project before casting on another (close, but not quite there, since I'm far more interested in progressing on the Rainbow scarf than finishing the socks).

Such is the life of a knitter...

Ladder Lace Scarf in Mission Falls Cotton

Knitting Pure and Simple t-shirt in Filatura Tempo

Sharks Mitts

Finally a few FO's

Since startitis set in around mid-February, I have very few FO's to show for myself (not surprising).  Strangely, this did not keep me from some serious shopping at Stitches West.

 First the FO's: a beanie in San Jose Sharks colors, a scarf in San Francisco 49ers colors  (sense a theme here?), and as of this morning, a Clockwork Shawlette.  The first two were knit from Lorna's Laces Worsted in special Bay Area Pro Team colorways (they also have the Golden State Warriors, the SF Giants, Oakland A's, and Oakland Raiders) and were just a fun break from more serious knitting.

Zino, Silk Garden Sock

 The Clockwork was knit from Plymouth Zino in browns and Noro Silk Garden (dominant colors were fuschia, violet, and mustard).  This came out more rustic looking than I anticipated, but it was a pleasant surprise.  The fit is great, by the way.










As for shopping, I managed to buy fewer sweaters-to-be than last year (2 fewer) and half as many accesssories-to-be.

My guard must have been down due to feeling smug because I have since bought 2 more sweaters-to-be.

Finally lost out to startitis

Amigurami Donut

Striped Beanie in Vintage

Since January 22nd, I have finished a few things.  There was a silly donut to go with the cupcake I made Kerry for her stocking.  I also finished the Phinney sweater (see 1/22 post for a yoke close-up) and a matching beanie from the leftovers.  Despite my fear of running out of yarn, I still have not knit a single stitch from the extra ball of teal I bought last fall when I was in panic mode.

By February 1st, I had completed 10 knitted and 1 crocheted project in 2012.  Six of those were started in 2011, so my WIP pile was whittled down a bit.  For a moment, I was feeling smug.

The WIP pile has since grown, and I am still a bit fidgety.  I have four new projects on the needles:  a Baby Wrap sweater (design by Churchmouse) in Koigu, a Spectra scarf (design by Stephen West) in Knit Picks Chroma and Stroll, a Mistake Stitch Rib scarf in Lorna's Laces Worsted (Miner -- think SF 49ers -- colorway), and a Central Park Hoodie in Classic Elite Waterlily.  The baby sweater is about 25% complete, the scarves are about 1/6 done, and the hoodie has been swatched and the ribbing is barely started.

Spectra Scarf

Central Park Hoodie in progress

Close up of Baby Wrap Sweater

49er Faithful Scarf

I have also found myself with more yarn than I started the year with (how did that happen?) and have been lusting over designs in new magazines, not to mention Ravelry postings.

Maybe I just need to cast on one more project to calm myself down...

Sometimes it's hard to focus on knitting

Last night our family dog passed away.  We were lucky that the entire family was able to gather on short notice to say good-bye, even though I doubt Rocky really knew what was happening.  We were also lucky that his system failure occurred so quickly that he didn't have a long painful end.

My husband and I went out to dinner on March 1, 1995 and came home with Rocky (totally shocked the babysitter).  An animal rescue group happened to be in a storefront near the restaurant, and a worker there convinced us to "just try taking him for a little walk on this leash".  We were instantly smitten with this little (~15 lb.) guy of indeterminate age and parentage and brought him home to be "Alex's dog".

We found out from the vet that he was at least one year old and was most likely a Sheltie/Jack Russell mix.  His fur and coloring were more Sheltie-like and his personality was pure Jack Russell.

Owning Rocky was like having a bright, inquisitive, mischievous, non-verbal three year old in the house for most of the 17 years we had him.  He was playful, affectionate, and everyone who knew him very well fell in love with him (including our vet and the staff at the kennel he went to when we were on vacation).  He slowed down quite a bit in his last year (and started to develop bald spots), but still enjoyed children and food.

This picture was taken less than a year ago, I think.  Pretty good looking for an old guy, wouldn't you say?

Rocky 1994(?)-2012

Something Old, Something New

Today I am wearing my brand-new, just-finished-last-night, Ribby Pink socks and a sweater I knit 16 years ago.  The second sock was finished in one day (no second sock syndrome), and I am happy with the result.

Ribby Pinky Socks

I knit a lot (65-75 finished projects in a typical year), so it is unusual when I can remember many details of a particular project from the distant past.  This one was special, though.  I was less than a month from Justin's due date, sick of being pregnant, and had already knit him a mound of clothing.  I decided to knit something to wear after he was born.  Since he was due in February, I decided on a Valentines theme and knit a pink sweater with hearts all over it.  The pattern is called Pansy, and it comes from an Annabel Fox magazine called Summertime (published in 1995).  The pattern called for Rowan Cotton Chenille, but I used a Cascade 220-like yarn (no longer have the labels) that I bought from the sale bin on one of my pilgrimages to Straw Into Gold.  Looking at the sweater today, I think the design has aged pretty well.

Pansy Sweater

Pansy Sweater

Detail of Heart

Now I am back to working on the sleeves for Phinney.  At this rate (hope I don't jinx it), I may finish 10 items this month and half or more will be 2011 WIPs.

Phinney's Yoke

Sleeves in Progress

Just in time to start attacking the projects that I ordered online this week...

Now what...

I have finished sock number one from this week's start.  The design is from The Little Box of Socks and is called Shadow Rib.  The yarn is some well-aged Regia Color 4-ply in a mix of pinks and reds with a bit of gray, orange and brown thrown in.  I have used this pattern successfully in the past, and this first sock fits well and will look even better after blocking (some of the rib wales are a bit wonky).

Ribby Pinky Sock

My big question for this afternoon is should I knit sock number two or finish the Phinney sweater first.

The other knitting option, of course, is to start yet another project.  After all, I just found out that my pregnant friend has scheduled her C-section for next Wednesday (the baby was due about Valentines, but may pop out before Wednesday from the way she looks), and I haven't yet cast on my gift.

Better stop blogging for now...