WIPs & I don't seem to get this yarn diet.....

I really have been knitting, I have just been neglecting my blog. If you know me at all or have read my blog very much you know that I'm not big on WIP pictures. To be honest, I really don't want to see your socks in 20 stages of completion & I figure I'll save you from the boredom of looking at mine. Right now you'll just have to bear with me though, or not see any pictures. I am SUCKING at finishing right now - but I'm on a starting roll. There are so many things that I want to work on that I figured I'd just cast them all on & work on them. How's that for a plan? So in the last week or so I've cast on for 3 projects.

First of all I cast on for this Opal Shawl - I have been wanting to knit this FOREVER - well, honestly about 6 months - but it seems like forever. Alissa had a finished one at a class I was taking & I immediately decided that I MUST have the pattern. Unfortunately the author is deceased & there is copyright issues...blah blah blah...so it wasn't particularly easy to get. They worked it all out & I got my hands on a copy from Yarns & Stitches. I must say - the pattern photo is the most unflattering I've ever seen on any pattern. I would have never purchased it from that picture - but I saw 3 of them in person & they are really really lovely. If that picture is unflattering, well, I have no idea what you call this one. I'm only putting it up here to show you that I have been knitting & the yarn is knitting up so freaking pretty that I can't stand it. Socks That Rock medium weight in January One colorway. I am also having issues with the lace pattern on the bottom - it seriously isn't that hard but I've torn it out 6 times now. Thank goodness for life lines. I think I am to the point that someone else needs to look at it to make sure I'm not insane.


I have been looking at the Flickr group for the Chevron Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I realize that everyone & their sister is knitting this scarf right now & I really really dislike being a sheep & following the crowd. I just couldn't stop looking at the combinations & the beautiful results. In my spare time & before I went to sleep at night I would plot which yarns would look which way. Finally in an act of desperation I convinced Betty to ride with me to the Woolie Ewe to pick out 2 yarns that might work & the only prerequisite was that neither could be pink or even contain pink. This is quite shocking I know, but I was left with a startling revelation when I was packing for New York last year....despite the fact that I have knit countless scarves in all colors of the rainbow, I have 5 pink scarves. Naturally I suppose when it came time to knit something for me I always chose some pink yarn...now I have knit a few other things for myself that aren't pink, but they are few & far between. This will be one of those. We chose two skeins of Cherry Tree Hill - Misty Moor & Life's A Beach. My goodness it's pretty! Usually I love the yarn when I'm picking something out & I'm excited about the project until I get into it, then it bores me senseless & I lose love for it. Not so with this scarf. If you knit with me while I'm knitting on it, I'm going to show it to you & say "Isn't this pretty?" about 14 times so just bear with me. Love for a work in progress - it's a new disease for me....



Then I didn't have any socks on the needles so I cast on for Hedera in this yarn I bought last weekend at the Shabby Sheep. It's Claudia Hand paint sock yarn in the John B colorway. It's a departure from my normal color preferences but I'm trying to broaden my horizons. And it's knitting up so pretty - I'll show you when I'm done - damn those progress pictures!




I also bought this - a new wooden swift! or I should just say "a swift" since I don't have one at all. I have the world's suckiest ball winder but it will do until I decide on a new one. My chair back isn't doing the job & Patrick says I'm bitchy when I force him to be a swift so he won't do it anymore. My options were limited. I found this one at White Rock Weaving for what I considered a great price & I christened it this morning on the sock yarn for Hedera.


As you can see I've reset my yarn diet ticker. I just don't seem to be doing so great laying off the yarn buying. Yesterday I took a toe up sock class by the wonderful Joan Schoeder hosted by Woolie Ewe. I had no intention of buying yarn, but really, how could I resist. They had this Lorna's Laces Flamingo Stripe:




Over the past couple of weeks I also bought the yarn for my Chevron scarf & that sock yarn that I'm using for Hedera. Other than that I'm doing pretty good though. Ok, I've blathered on long enough. Tomorrow is my birthday & I plan to post something fun....stay tuned.