Yet another hat

I finished another baby hat yesterday, mere hours before the baby shower:



Emli Bonnet in STR Nodding Violet. I started it on February 11, but a crisis struck: I did something to my arms and shoulders shoveling, and I could barely move them for two days. On Saturday morning I woke up with movement in my arms, so I immediately started knitting. I didn't have a chance to block it, but I think it looks okay anyway.

I'm still plugging away at DP's orange socks...10 stitches per inch is slow going for me.

Biscotti, three ways

Today I just finished spinning and plying the third installment of fiber from Susan's Spinning Bunny. I bought three types of fiber in the same colorway, Anshan's Biscotti, to see what they look like spun up.

The first is merino/tencel, the second is merino/silk/angora, and the third is targhee:



The merino/tencel blend is noticeably shinier, and it has a silky hand. The angora blend is duller and redder, for some reason, along with being a bit fuzzier. The targhee is dull (or matte, if I don't want to hurt its feelings) and very springy. This isn't surprising...I think targhee is a down sheep, and the suffolk I've spun feels similar.

My plan is to make socks out of the tencel blend, fingerless mitts out of the angora and something out of the targhee. Exciting!

DP's new socks are coming along nicely:



This pic was taken yesterday, and I've put another 2 inches on these guys. They're very lightweight, so I think they'll be good spring/summer socks for my easily overheated DH.

Life is unfair

Today it's a snow day! I decided not to go into work, since no one else was coming in. Unfortunately, we went for a walk in the blizzard and had to help someone push their car out of the snow. I hurt my shoulder and left arm, and I haven't been able to knit all day. Argh.

Right now I'd like to working on the CoH shawl v.3 and DP's orange socks...but instead I'm just drinking tea and reading the Unfinished Tales.

Moving right along

I finished another pair of socks this weekend! They're for me (for once) :)



Reduced Monkeys
Started January 29, finished February 2
Yarn: Bellamoden Watership Down (sport weight)
Needles: US3

Knitting socks on big needles is a strange feeling...I'm glad they went so fast, but I'm going to go back to regular sock yarn and needles.

I also finished my mom's socklets:



Cast on 1-18, finished 1-27.
Yarn: Posh Laura, Applause
Needles: US2

The yarn-over short row heel still left me with holes…Misocrafty’s short row method is the only one that gives me a hole-less heel. I substituted a 7 point star toe for the short row toe in the pattern.

The yarn was tightly spun, and I only snagged it a few times. There was a fair bit of veggie matter in it though, and more came out when I washed them. I handwashed the socks in warm water and had a touch of bleeding; my guess is that in cold water they wouldn’t bleed at all.

Now I'm back to working on my shawl and some bright orange socks for DP!

Is everyone insane?!

I came into work this morning, and my cleaning person told me to go into one of the classrooms. The desks--plastic--looked like they had been sanded down. We figured that no one could possibly have done that, and I went to email the sub that was in for the ed director.

It turns out that the teachers (grown women in their 40s) had tried to used nail polish remover to get some stickers off the desks. That, of course, melted the tops off the desks. So, to make it better, they called someone up, and had them come in and sand the melted tops off.

Lovely.

Finished!

My aunt's socks are done!



Started: January 11, finished January 19
Needles: US1
Modifications: done toe up, magic loop

These were so fun to knit, I might have to make a pair for myself. However, I first must finish my mother's socks :) I'm making her the citrine socklets from the IK holiday issue out of some Posh merino/cashmere. I have to say that I'm not at all impressed with the yarn, but maybe it will bloom a bit.

My best friend's baby is doing fine--breathing without a ventilator, eating--not just having an IV--but she's so small. Becky told me that her feet are only an inch long. She just swims in the baby booties I made for her.

My sister is doing great, though, so I'm very thankful for that.

Back to my socklets...

Finally

I finally got my order from Blue Moon--I was afraid they had lost it! Once skein of Laci in Corvid and one skein of lightweight in Valkyrie. Now, until I finish some of the projects on my needles (or in my brain) I will not be buying any more yarn. The yarn budget is going into the house down payment kitty :)

In other insane news, my best friend had her baby today--at 27 weeks gestation. I'm praying and thinking positive thoughts for her. This is so not good.

Ravelry is a huge time sink, which is one of the reasons I'm not blogging. I really need to get back on the wagon.