Am I blue?

I finally finished the back of my Grace sweater. It's not like it's a difficult knit at all as everything's charted well. But the poor sweater's has been getting low priority since I cast on.


I had also hoped to finish Monkey1's Lindy Hop back as well, but I got sidetracked into trying to re-start her Lorna's Laces Uptown Dublin Bay sock. The first time around I totally screwed up the simple 4 row lace pattern. (Apparently I pay better attention when a pattern is charted up the kazoo.) So what did I do this time? Use measurements that are over 6 months old for her feet. Yup, these are tad too small. I had hope to salvage this thing by finishing them w/Monkey1's old measurements and save the pair for Monkey2, but Monkey1 wants her yarn. So now I need to decide whether to buy more Lorna's Laces Uptown (wonders if any are on sale now) or frog what I have and start over. I feel like such a maroon.

Serendipity

My first Rockin' Sock Club 2008 kit is done!


pattern: Serendipity by Adrienne Fong
yarn: Socks that Rock lightweight Dragon Dance
pattern size: medium
needles: KP dpns 2.50 mm for the cuff & 2.25 for the rest
otherwise, no mods

Fits great and the "ear" problem I had on the first sock doesn't seem quite as obvious on the second sock on my left leg. I will assume it'll wash/block out or will smooth out during wearing.

Love the pattern as does Monkey1 so I'll be doing this pattern again sometime later. (And I'm not saying this 'cause I found out at Stitches that Adrienne & I are practically neighbors! Really, I'm not. It's a great pattern.) At first I thought I'd have to buy another Dragon Dance for her, but she is open to using a different colorway from my stash. That is, if mommy here is willing to part w/any of her STR. Hah.

Back in business

After posting a couple pleas on Ravelry for my Marron Oscuro Malabrigo lace, in the end I found another yarn store online that did have it in stock. For reals. And they were very quick in replying to my e-mail and mailing the skeins out. The skeins are a bit more orange than my original two, but it could've been worse. I saw a worsted weight skein in this colorway somewhere that was practically blush pink.

Because of the color difference, the plan of attack will be to knit hint #5 only with one of new skeins and then finish off hints 6-9 with the second original skein since I got all they way through hints 1-4 with the first skein. Hopefully balancing the colors this way will work.

But before I got those skeins in the mail, I grabbed a skein of Crystal Palace Merino 5 in pink (yes, pink!) from Article Pract for Monkey2's BFF. Unfortunately, the toddler BR hat pattern I chose didn't go quickly enough, so I missed the birthday deadline and BFF has moved on to pre-school. So by default it'll be Monkey2's hat.


Of course, there was no way I was going to leave Article Pract with just one skein of Merino 5. I finally got my hands on the Noro Kureyon sock yarn. And it's no surprise, especially to tapmouse, that the colorway I picked has my favorite Noro cobalt blue. I think I will knit a pair of socks out of this skein, but I am fully prepared to deal with all its quirks detailed in many a review. After all, I managed to survive making a Silk Garden Clapotis as my first big knitting project without giving up on knitting altogether.


I somehow missed this yarn at the Bobbin's Nest booth at Stitches West, but my excuse is that their booth was a little small and it was during the crowded lunch/class break period at the Market. In the end, I got these 2 Hazel Knits colorways simply by checking her online shop. At least this way I got the Chocolatier (left) and Weekend Warrior (right) colorways that I wanted.


And speaking of chocolate, tapmouse & I discovered the yummy tasting Cosmic Chocolate location just a few doors down from Article Pract on our more recent visit. (You gotta see tapmouse's pics!) Between that and Bakesale Betty's fried chicken sandwich, it's going to be really dangerous to the wallet & waistline going there. Oh, but what a confluence of shopping delights!

How could I say no?

Earlier this week while I was re-organizing the stash, Monkey2 saw some blue yarn and asked for a hat for her little "boyfriend," K. She wanted him to have a blue hat just like hers. She was too cute about it, so how could I say refuse? Then again, I might've had a different reaction if they were 13 instead of 3.


Pattern: K&K Cap (chosen for the quickness of the knit & the whole K initial thing)
size: toddler
yarn: Knit Picks Swish Superwash in Dark Navy with some leftover Red Pepper for the stripe
needles: size 7 & 9 dpns
time it took to knit: 2 evenings in between cooking dinner & other chores

modifications:
- I added a red stripe so little K's hat can coordinate with the rest of his Superman-themed wardrobe. He probably wouldn't care, but I know his parents would appreciate it.

- At one of the Purlescence Yarn sit&knit sessions, Nathania's husband, Kevin, had been talking about making the hat more boy/male-ish by replacing the picot edge with a purl turning row. So I followed his lead and put the purl turning row in.

Monkey2 loves the hat. So of course she wants me to make her BFF a hat too 'cause it's her birthday this weekend. In blue. We'll see.


In the meantime, I worked on my Serendipity sock that I started before Stitches West. (I'm waiting for more Malabrigo lace to come in to see if I need to alternate or blend the different skeins into my SotSii stole.) I didn't get much of a chance to knit mine when we took a break at Stitches as I was too busy stuffing my face with food. Yarn shopping & Ravelry passport stamping is hungry work! But I did get to work on it quite a bit while hanging out at Purlescence Yarns Saturdays night soaking in the atmosphere with the Sockateers. (We are so in for a fun time at Sock Camp in April.)

I decided to stick with the pattern's deep short row heel despite my aversion to short row heels in general and knowing Adrienne knit the original version with a heel flap and gusset that she had shown a pic of at Stitches.) Although I appreciate the ease of not having to wrap those short row stitches (shouldn't I have despite the directions otherwise?) and the better fit of the deeper heel, I'm not digging the "ears" I've got on the heel.

But this time I like the fit of the star toe. It's closer fitting and not so poufy. I'm hazarding a guess that the difference in fit between this one and my Salish Sea star toes are the yarn weight (STR lightweight vs mediumweight) and gauge they were knit to.

Next time, another blue hat?

Of course I bought too much

While I was reorganizing my stash over the weekend after Stitches, DH opined that I don't need more yarn. This is coming from a man that owns 2 air compressors and a boatload of tools, most of which he's probably only used once and a bunch supposedly he'll need whenever he (and his carpenter buddy supposedly) ever remodels our kitchen. It's a pity I'm not as good as hiding the yarn stash as I am hiding the makeup stash. But then yarn is still cheaper than my beloved Nars ($75 now for their mini-lip palette - wtf!) and some of my Stila.

But first, my Wollmeise order came in last week. (As if that was going to curtail my SABLE either.) Emil 80/20 Twin,the new 80/20 more like the original Sockenwolle, on the left, Paul 80/20 Wild Thing, dyed for deliberate pooling, on the right, and as usual the sample skein included in every order, this time in Red Hot Chili. With our rainy weather, I didn't even bother trying to figure out the best lighting for the yarn.


So...Stitches. As usual, I bought a lot of Socks that Rock. All in lightweight. Check out the 2 Rare Gems on top. I was beside myself in all the Rare Gems they had at Stitches. I didn't get any medium weight 'cause I was on a mission to find 2 particular colors and they didn't have them. Either that or the Thursday night preview crowd snapped them up. Almost got the Twisted in Mr Green Jeans, but there was only 1 (I think I'd need 2 for the scoop neck variant of the Ribby Pulli), almost got 2 Thraven Twisteds (Clapotis anyone?), and almost got a Thraven in Laci but put them all back with the supposed logic that I would pace myself. Yeah, right. That and I decided I need to finish my SotSii first before buying any more lace yarn ('cept for that elusive 3rd skein of Malabrigo I need. More later.)

Tapmouse and I decided that if we buy any sock yarn that wasn't STR, they would be from indie dyers. So up first, our local indie dyer and knitwear designer, Fiber Fiend. On the right is her Panda sock yarn in Seas, on the left her Soft & Sturdy sock yarn in Amethyst, and under the skeins, 2 of her sock patterns, Velma & Shake Your Fishtail.


I swear I wasn't going to buy any Tess Designer yarn, but Adrienne and tapmouse encouraged me to get a couple. So pretty and blue. Guess who gets something from these?


Having failed to find a skein of Malabrigo lace in Marron Oscuro and any of the booths carrying their line, I went to the Malabrigo booth itself to ask. Lo & behold one of their display skeins was my color. I asked one of the reps how I could get it 'cause none of the Stitches booths had it, he told me "Sorry, I can't help you. You can try online." Apparently I was too subtle in the hinting and should've gone with a more desperate tack. And yeah, I finally did find it online & ordered, but I really wanted to see the skeins in person to compare to what I have and to buy it then and there.
(eta: Got a call from that online store & found out their in-stock quote was oh-so-wrong and they have none at all. Argh!)

In small consolation, I got a sample of Malabrigo lace in a different colorway. And of course, it wasn't in the Marron Oscuro 'cause I would've gone around Stitches trying to buy everyone's little sample skeins to have enough.


But really, I won't complain too much 'cause look what I scored! Their sock yarn. Yum.


But it wasn't all about socks! I swear. After hemming and hawing over Shelridge Farm's pretty Blueberry Jam Cardigan for a year, I was all set in buying the kit when we hit their booth. Then I saw Buffy wearing her Cropped Aran Cardigan in a pretty bright green (their Lemonlime colorway IIRC). In the end, I realized that I have no desire to weave in all the ends on the Blueberry Jam and its boxy silhouette truly wasn't my "style". I bought the Cropped Aran kit in Bottle Green and I'm happier with it.

Justifying going to Stitches West

I am going to Sock Camp in April after all. But since it's a chance to meet up with my fellow knitters, it won't be all about enhancing my stash. (Insert a lot of laughter here.)

At least my SotSii Hint #4 is done. Still on my first skein of my Malabrigo laceweight. Barely. Not enough to get to the halfway point mid-Hint #5, but I'm hoping skein #2 will get me far enough along 'til Malabrigo sends their shipment to Purlescence. Not going to do Hint #5 'til after Stitches anyway. (Pardon the lazy @ss non-dry-blocked shot.)

And DH can finally stop giving me that hang dog expression along with the "abandoning his socks" comments:

pattern starting point - Gentleman's Plain Winter Socks by Nancy Bush
yarn - Dream In Color Smooshy Cocoa Kiss - but at 9 spi (on 2.50 mm dpns no less), I've pretty much taken the "smooshy" out
mods -
cast on 80 sts (see gauge above)
8" rather than 9" leg
omitted the faux seam back stitch
regular slip stitch heel & heel turn instead of the dutch heel (thought it too narrow for DH)


While I should be getting back to my Grace sweater (though I'm to the armhole shaping):


Or to Monkey1's Lindy Hop in Colinette Jitterbug Alizarine(mindless stockinette fit for watching Lost):


Or to my Marilinda sock (which sadly isn't any further than the last time I took a pic), I've decided to wind up my Socks that Rock Dragon Dance and cast on for Adrienne's Serendipity socks. 'Cause we're meeting up with her and plan to work on these socks at Stitches. (Need something to do when I hit my budget early.)


Besides, all my 2007 Rockin' Sock Club socks are done (all knit as written 'cept my Firebirds):


I'm pretty sure I won't knit all my 2008 Rockin' Sock Club kits in this club year since I've got a full load in my queue. But you never know.

See you all at Stitches!

Twist and Sock!

I finally found my last button online! I had to order a few extra to justify the shipping. :p One thing for sure. The next time I look for buttons, I'll won't buy them unless they have the correct number I need.

Deets again:
pattern - Twist by Bonne Marie Burns
size - 38 hooded version
needles - 7 & 8 KP Options
mods -
added an extra inch to both the body and the hood
accidently knit only 2" of the ribbed cuff on the sleeves
kitchenered the hood

Because I added an extra inch to the body, I used the 3 out of 4 rule of thumb for picking up stitches for the button band. I think it worked fine 'cept I am debating if it was a wise decision on my part to purposely bind off tight instead of loose. I was afraid of the buttonband flaring if I knit loosely, but going tight doesn't make for a good look either.

Lessons learned:
All that anecdotal blog/online evidence of the Cashmerino Aran looking worn out after awhile became true for me after I washed the pieces & blocked them. Sure it's so nice & soft to knit with, but I took the calculated risk about the wear when I bought the yarn in the first place. So I'm not about to complain now.

But the pattern in itself was lovely to knit and I would like to do it again in a much hardier yarn. I may however, go up one size as I'm pushing it w/the size I knit. I had 1.5 skeins leftover, so I may or may not have had enough to go up a size with this yarn. Always a risk when using stash yarn bought on sale, in a discontinued color no less.

I also need to make a decision on where exactly I like my sleeves to be on all my sweaters. I knew it would be a little long, but I didn't want to be too short either. I suppose I'll know if I like the sleeve length or not when I wear the cardigan more, but right now in our nice weather I can't tell yet.


Also done today was my second Salish Sea sock. Most of this sock was fun to knit, but the wavy cuff, not so much. I kept thinking that it would be so much faster and less fiddly if I crocheted the wave in.


I think the only part of the socks that did not fit ime deally are the star toes. I love the look when knit up and fun to learn how to do it going toe up, but as far as my feet are concerned, it makes for too round of a section with extra fabric all around.

SotSii hint 3

Only a week late. Only. But at least hint #4 supposedly goes quickly despite that bit of asymmetry beginning partway through. It should be intriguing 'cept I've been watching too much Project Runway and it just reminds me of a certain designer w/his Flock of Seagulls hair. (Yeah, I am so dating myself now. Like, you know. ;) )

And in case you don't like sock club spoilers (specifically the Woolgirl kind), don't scroll any further. Although my sister can tell you that I have no issues being spoiled. (I tend to read the last few pages of whatever book she's reading and it drives her nuts.) Although once in awhile I won't visit online sites about my favorite tv series so I can remain unspoiled. 'Cause sometimes I don't want to know which major character bites it in a season finale. But when it comes to sock clubs, spoil me away!


So just in time for Valentine's Day, the totally awesome Woolgirl February kit! Loads of way too adorable goodies. I love all the attention Jen pays to loading these kits up. What a joyful sock club to be in.

I won!

One of my favorite online yarn shops, One Planet (link on sidebar), had a little contest on Ravelry in January that lots of knitters entered. I totally didn't expect to win anything, but I did! I got to chose a skein from their stock of Fleece Artist Nova, Merino, or Sea Wool. I picked and just received very quickly my skein of Cosmic Dawn in the Merino since I don't have this colorway yet. I love it. And the ladies of One Planet are very nice indeed!

In between my SotSii, DH's second sock, Monkey1's sweater, and hunting down that darn last button (JHB #2193, 3/4" btw), I finally finished my first Salish Sea sock by Cat Bordhi.

What a fun knit! It's actually not that difficult of a toe up pattern w/a reverse heel flap, so the second should go quicker if I make it my focus knit. (I think I learned a lot from knitting my Firestarters, so I didn't need to take a huge leap in logic and faith for this pattern.) At the very least, it'll be done by this upcoming holiday weekend where I get lots of car knitting done while DH drives us up to the Sierras.


Deets so far:
Rockin' Sock Club 2007 Dec kit
Socks that Rock medium weight in Nuxalk/Bella Coola
pattern - Salish Sea
pattern size - medium
needle size - size "1.5" US, 2.50 mm
Mods - none

I think the sock or foot circumference given in the pattern was misleading and should've been elaborated on. Maybe it was for the unstretched sock size? In any case, I went by gauge and stitch count when choosing the medium. The only issue I had was choosing the wrong needle size at first and not getting gauge.

SotSii hint #2

I think I knit hint #2 correctly, if not without a few bits of tinking back here & there. Then again, I have been more conscientious about checking every row now. But I'm still not confident that my larger flower motifs in the center section are correct or not. I hope they are as it's doubly a pain to knit around my marker. I need to switch over to one of my Zero markers ASAP. But at least it's done and I can finally move on to hint #3.


Technically my Twist sweater is also done on the knitting front. (Even the ends are all woven in!) It's just that I'm not done button shopping. My preferred pick is the button style on the left, but the Joann's I went to only had 6. Figures I like that style that is one short. I got the plainer ones on the right as my alternative in case I can't find the other buttons in either the Joann's near work or the one closer to home. I'm dying to call this a FO, but it looks like it won't happen 'til later this week.

I know it's not YPF yet, but I just got my last kit for the 2007/08 Y4S Sock Club. The yarn is Berrytini by Yarntini (congrats on her new baby!) and the pattern is by Michelle To (miknits) IIRC. Despite the fast/early delivery of all my kits and the lovely patterns & yarns, I've decided to limit myself to just the BMFA Rockin' Sock Club (STR) and Woolgirl's. And not just 'cause Lent starts tomorrow - I'm giving up mu buying for that. However, the beauty of the Y4S sock club is that you can buy a month kit here and there when you don't want to commit to the whole year. So I expect to buy a kit when I catch wind of the designer and/or yarn dyer (cough*April*cough*Ann Hanson*cough).


And if blogger doesn't delete or scramble my text again, here are my remaining 4 picks for the "you make my day" award (I'm purposely not mentioning all the big knit bloggers out there 'cause I bet they've gotten this award a lot):

Gilraen - a fellow STR and sock yarn fan in general. Plus, she can actually see Posh yarns in person. Sigh.
Kris Knits - one of the co-adminstrators of the STR club the first year (notice a theme?), but who always have lovely well-fitted sweaters. And a transplanted local girl - who can deny another UH fan in knitting blogland?
And as always, my non-knitting RL buddies, Wei and Home on Derange.

YPF

But first, a big hug to Carrie for giving me one of these earlier this week.


It was so sweet of her! I haven't had much of a chance to really savor this nice award as work has been busy as tapmouse can attest. So the deal on receiving one of these is this: "Give the award to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blogland. Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on. Beware you may get the award several times." So without further ado and in no particular order:

Carrie - right back at ya!
Tapmouse - my knitting buddy - that says it all
Nathania - Co-owner of my favorite lys and beautiful mother of 3 beautiful girls
Elem and Bockstark Knits - both of whom fueled my Wollmeise addiction
ChickenKnits - Carrie tagged her already, but I decided to tag her again since she shares my love for sock clubs, but is much better at joining them than me

I have more, but Blogger is refusing to let me add them in, so I'll stop right here. I did intend to list 10, but Blogger is also scrambling and/or eating my text left and right and it's rather irritating. I'll try to add the remaining 4 in later.

Since I haven't finished my Twist yet (I go button shopping tomorrow and then I have to figure out how I want to space them out) nor finished hint 2 of my SotSii, I'll go with my first Rockin' Sock package for 2008. I got my package last Saturday but haven't gotten around to blogging 'til now. The colorway is Dragon Dance & the pattern is Serendipity by Adrienne Fong, one of my favorite sock designers.


And the obligatory shot of the skein opened up. I got Falkor, the luckdragon from The Neverending Story, on my ballband.


I'm looking forward to getting to this pattern just as soon as I finish at least one of my Salish Sea socks.

Can't believe I finished...

hint #1 of the Secret of the Stole ii (SotSii) that is.

What? Was everyone thinking I finished Twist? Hee, I was sorely tempted to since the Malabrigo laceweight was giving me fits. I was so annoyed/upset at myself last night that I contemplated frogging the whole bugger & bailing on the KAL. Leslie & our blogless knitting buddy will laugh 'cause I was totally whining about this thing today.

I managed to re-do rows 21-29 by tinking back and re-knitting the rows as I didn't do an efficient & effective job of isolating the offending triangle of stitches only (damn these increases!) in order to re-knit them. But at lunch break today, I found I made the same mistake on the other side of pattern. Argh! Luckily, I only had 4 rows to tink back instead of 9 this time.

I am so surprised I actually finished this tonight, so it makes up for my not getting the first 2008 Rockin' Sock Club package yet. I know tapmouse got hers (do NOT click on her link if you don't want to be spoiled!), so I hope I'll get mine tomorrow. Not that I have nothing to do. ;)

I want to finish Monkey1's 2nd Fetching glove, work on my Twist hood section (probably will finish that Sunday) and work on my Bella Coola sock. I figure that I'll get to hint #2 for the SotSii by Monday's lunch knitting session. Hopefully starting it on a Monday instead of a Tuesday will give me less drama. Yeah. Sure.

WIP Wednesday again

Don't you just love craptastic self-timered pinned cardigan shots? Heh, yeah, a photographer I am not. Anyway, after pinning this bugger together and showing tapmouse, the decision was that I guessed correctly on my size and that I could go ahead and seam away.

I finally got motivated to seam the first half at the Twist KAL session at Purlescence Yarn on Saturday (I was the only one Twist-ing away, alas) while Carrie was finishing her gorgeous Clapotis. It's been so long since I seamed a knitted item that I just felt I was going so incredibly slow. I don't mind seaming, but I've done so many socks and top down items that I forgot the tedium of it.

Then on Sunday during both NFL playoff games, I finished seaming the second half and weaved in all the ends. Now I knew that using the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in my stash would necessitate a lot of weaving in ends, but daayyuum. It felt like it took me longer to weave most of the ends as it was to seam the second half. I was so sick of it that I didn't pick up the stitches for the hood 'til the other night.


Instead, I went back to work on DH's sock that had sat for days stuck at the start of the heel. DH has been home for a few days due to a yucky thing w/his leg, so he's been feeling grumpy and actually whined about my abadoning his sock. So I picked up his 80 st sock being knit on size 2.50 mm dpns at 9 spi & 12 rpi and went at it. (His next pair will be on worsted weight, I swear.)

But now that I've finished one of his socks, I could finally start my Secret of the Stole clue #1. I'm trying to take my time on this 'cause I would prefer not to frog this Malabrigo lace at all since it's just as bad as a mohair blend yarn, it's so sticky.

I found this out the fun way when I decided to frog my first swatch done on size 3 needles and spit splice it to the end and knit away 'til Purlescence gets more Malabrigo in. What a PITA it was to frog it for just that little bit. I hope I can keep up with this KAL (heck I don't even have the button on the side bar yet), but I'm not quite as motivated as I am on finishing my Twist & working on my last STR 2007 sock club pair.

Sometimes only a hat (or 2) will do

Not feeling the sock knitting lately and not yet mentally ready to seam all my Twist pieces despite the fact the sleeves should be dry by now. I saw Nathania knitting the red version of her cap pattern at Purlescence during one of the Twist KAL sessions and I really liked it. Besides I figured it was a great way to use up 2 of the single skeins in my stash.


Pattern: K & K Caps
size: both toddler/small (yes, Monkey1's head is on the small side)

Left -
Crystal Palace Merino 5 Solid in Vibrant Blue (same as Monkey2's toddler socks)
under 1 skein (need to weigh how much I have remaining)
size 7 & 9 dpns to get gauge

Right -
Knit Picks Swish in Red Pepper (had bought 2 skeins when I made Monkey1's crocheted Mary Janes but only needed 1)
just under 1 skein (5 g leftover)
size 6 & 8 dpns w/a slightly tighter gauge than pattern so it's a bit too snug for the Monkeys, despite Monkey1's assurances otherwise.

The blue hat stays as Monkey2's, but the red hat is an undesignated gift or charity hat. My stash of ready-made gifts have been depleted, so I need to stock up again.

Not an FO in sight

After my sock-knitting moritorium was lifted, I got a little bit AADD with my knitting, but some of it could be considered swatching. While waiting for the Secret of the Stole ii KAL to start next week, I decided to do a 2nd swatch on size 4 needles. This time my swatch size was 4.5" x 8" (despite not paying attention & binding off a little too tightly) which I think is closer to what I think the lace fabric should be. It's interesting how much lighter this swatch came out too, but I'm sure it'll look different again in the full size.


I'm going with the excuse that I am swatching with my Salish Sea socks. I did start this sock on size 2 (2.75 mm) needles thinking I'd get the pattern gauge of 7.5 spi with them since I got 7 spi on size 2.5 (3.00 mm) needles on my previous STR medium weight socks. However, I didn't meet gauge and had to rip out the toe since I could see the medium size on the slightly bigger gauge would end up a bit too big. I've restarted on size 1.5 (2.50 mm) needles and got gauge.


The other sock I'm "swatching" for is Cookie A's Marilinda socks from Scout's Indie Swag club back in July '07. Since Cookie released the pattern to the public I got the urge to cast on. The yarn is Scout's BFL yarn, colorway Kizkalesi. I don't quite have gauge so I'm fully prepared to frog and re-start this if I have to, especially since I'm still getting used to the BFL yarn. I started on bamboos with the yarn since my metal dpns were too slippery, but I had to switch back since my bamboos are not pointy enough from some of the stitch manipulation I'll need to do. (KP Harmonys are on backorder so I don't know when I'll get them.)


Monkey1 had been bugging me for a pair of gloves, so I started her Fetchings in my leftover KP Merino Style from her Red Riding Hood. Unfortunately, I was too lazy to check the amount leftover when I started, so for now she has 1 lonely Fetching. Instead of frogging it, I'm going to order one more skein and use the leftovers from that skein for a baby hat or booties.


I am still working on my Twist. I finished the first sleeve last weekend and hope to finish the second sleeve this weekend. It would be smarter for me to baste the fronts & back together first to make sure that its not too small though. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed.


I'm a little late on the YPF since tapmouse showed her Yarnissima/Wollmeise loot already, but since I was a good girl and didn't buy anything from either the latest Wollmeise update (though I totally love the Vincent & Paul colorways) or the Woolgirl sale. I surprised even myself on not buying any Wollmeise at all.


I'm still trying to figure out my knitting and non-knitting goals for the year and whether or not I should go on a complete "no buy" (hah!) or figure out how I'm going to "focus" my buying. So we shall see.