Persisting despite it all.

You know how instructions for circular knitting always say "join, making sure to not twist?"

Yeah. I finally managed to get a twist in my knitting, and I've been persisting, regardless of the mistake. I'm knitting a self-fringing scarf, so it will be cut open at the end anyhow, and I figured, oh, what the heck.

It's a lot easier to knit when it's not twisted, but at this point, I'm Committed.

Speaking of which, I just jumped into another project, thanks to the ladies I met today for a KIP in the park. I may have found a group to hang out with. They're knitting mitered squares for a sock yarn blanket, and swapping yarns. Of course, this sounded like a fantastic idea to me because it's really pretty, on tiny needles, and is going to take up an insane amount of time. And we all know how quickly I knit things these days.

While sitting outside, I worked on my Charade sock. Pretty. See?


One slight problem:

It's too big. So, I'm going to have to think about what I want to do to make these work. The patterned section isn't as stretchy as the rest of the foot. Going down a needle size for the foot isn't going to work, because I don't want to compress this yarn any more. I might just use the gauge for the plain section, rip back to the heel, decrease faster for the gusset and knit the rest of the sock plain. Haven't decided yet.

I'm itching to start new things, but I really want to get some of the old projects to go away. I've now completed 12 pattern repeats of the Trellis scarf, out of a total of 23. Which means I'm now feeling motivated to try to knit one repeat a day, which would get me a pretty lace scarf, and a clear needle in 2 weeks. I have a second sock for my husband - finished decreases, so plain knitting to the toe. That's not more than a week of knitting (I dislike the yarn.) My Badia still needs seaming, as does the Cutaway cardigan. Tangled Yoke is still waiting for the arms to be joined to the body, and I only have a yoke to knit. I'm also about 50% and 75% done with 2 other laceweight scarves, because I'm nuts and seem to not knit with anything thicker than fingering weight right now. I'm craving sweaters and a new shawl, and I have an afghan that requires seaming (but we aren't talking about that today.)

I think it might be fall, finally.

Aw shucks.

Thanks, everyone, for your kind words about the hat. Seriously - it's puckered in some places, but it blocked out a lot better than I had hoped. I'm very happy with it, and I'm definitely going to be knitting some more 2 color hats in the future, or I might start knitting mittens. I don't see myself knitting many sweaters this way, although I have a copy of Meg Swansen's Knitting, and there are a few things in there that strike my fancy. No promises in any direction.

Anyhow, one of the things I really like about knitting is how everything gets easier with practice. I picked up my Trellis scarf again, for instance, and discovered how much more relaxing knitting it has become. I dropped a stitch and was able to calmly correct my mistake without having to rip back to the beginning. Yeah, I'm still having to tink back a row every so often, but that's not a big surprise when I'm only half paying attention by trying to talk on the phone and knit, or watch TV, or wrangle a small kid. I think I finished another repeat and a half today, so it's gradually getting a little longer, but nothing dramatic as of yet. For me, this one falls under the category of long-term project.

Zarzuela Knits and Crochets posted regarding Summer of Socks 09, and I think I'm going to play along again this year. I love the idea that the theme is "no stress" this year, which will make it much more fun to play. I'm not in the mood for something really competitive, but I'm happy to see socks no matter what. I'm still plugging away at the 3 or so pair that I acknowlege having started. If I can finish those up by September, I'd be pretty excited. I've also had a couple patterns hit my radar lately - Marilinda has definitely captured my interest, and Charade looks like a great way to use some of my variegated yarn in a wearable sock.

Photos this weekend, if there's anything pretty that catches my eye and more importantly, if I remember to get some duct tape for my camera...

Good.

Friday morning - that's a relief.

Not that much exciting going on here. I've come to the conclusion that being "an adult" means spending an awful lot of time doing laundry. Other chores too, but the laundry just keeps coming around here.

This week was a short one for me. I picked up a cold that's been making the rounds here - the sick- enough-to-feel-totally-lousy-but-not-so-sick-that-it's-easy-to-justify-staying-home variety. I spent about 2 days in bed doing almost nothing, and completely fell behind on chores. Work has been a series of frustrations, days of seeing all my plans going out the window. So I'm glad it's Friday, and there's an end to this week. I'll be back in the lab on Saturday, but only for about half the day, and hopefully it will be quiet and I'll manage to have some time to myself. I may even bring a super-simple sock with me to work on while I read articles and wait during some long incubation steps.



I'm back to knitting the Trellis scarf. I started this one back in 2007, looks like August based on the upload date. I'm almost at this point in the pattern again, so I'm recycling photos. It looks the same. I got a bit farther than this the last time, then managed to drop some critical stitches (in silk) and watched far too much of the scarf unravel. Interestingly, it's a much simpler pattern for me this go around. It's still a bit too complex for working on while watching a movie or a TV show that I'm very engaged in, and I know better than to pick it up too late at night. However, it is satisfying a craving for lace work.

According to Ravelry, I have at least 7 things that I'm currently working on. I think that number is off, but I know I have 3 socks, 1 vest, 2 sweaters, and 2 lace scarves on needles. This is a bit much, so I'm not planning on starting anything new for a while. (HAH!) I say this just as I'm about to get some yarn in, which I don't really need, but really wanted. I'm still feeling a little leery about the sweaters, but at the moment I'm enjoying what I'm working on. That's the important part, right?

Time for work. I've got a shadow today, which means no iPod, and having to work more slowly than usual.