I think I have a problem

I've been playing on Ravelry all week. And doing so has shown me something about my knitting character that I've obviously been in denial about:


And I'm not just a Fetching girl. I saw the Little Gems Mitts pattern this morning and already ordered some yarn to make a pair. The sad thing is, it's not even cold where I live! I think I have a problem...I like fingerless mitts too much!

(Image: Interweave Knits)

'So close, I can nearly taste it'

It's rainy, gross, flooding, and tornadoey in Nola today. And Ravelry is teasing me with this little piece of information:

182 people are ahead of you in line.

So close! But still so far away...tomorrow, I can feel it. But it was not a completely disappointing day. My friend Richele let me play on her Ravelry and I came home to a pleasant (and slightly rained on) surprise—a package of beautiful fabric treats from Purl. Now I can make some beautiful things out of Amy Karol's book, including but not limited to the clutch on the cover and the lap quilt.




And now that I'm essentially done with a big work project that has been eating all my free time for the past month or so, I have time to knit again. So far, I've made one sock, one Fetching fingerless glove, and part of Bryant's Slipover vest. I'm using the recommended Garnstudio Drops Alpaca yarn for the vest, and I love it so far. I'm using a heather green (#7815) and tan (#302), and they're blending really well. I'm quite pleased.

'I'm on top of the world, the coolest kid in the neighborhood'

I am pretty amazing if I may say so myself. Despite the fact that the vast majority of all non-day-job-working and non-sleeping hours last week were spent slaving over a big freelance project with a rapidly approaching deadline, I still managed to find time over the weekend to crank out the super secret gift I alluded to last post. I can't show the whole finished project yet as the super secret occasion has not yet arrived—and I wouldn't want the super secret recipient to catch digital wind of the surprise—but here's a little taste to tide you over. The finished object is literally a starry-eyed surprise!

'Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time; plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines'

Many apologies for the time lapse between posts. It has been a whirlwind three weeks of frantically seaming the lacy dress, entertaining travelers to this Subtropical ‘Paradise’ I call home, traveling to exotic temperate climes (right), and celebrating my golden birthday! The lacy dress is still not finished. It’s about halfway seamed, and the rest is held together by safety pins. But my visiting friend saw it and loved it. She saw it without the seams attached and liked it better sleeveless than with the pattern’s bell sleeves. I’m not sure what I’ll end up doing, but I have decided to put this project on hold for now. There’s no chance I’ll wear it before next May, and I have dozens of cooler-weather projects I’m itching to start.

First up is a super secret gift project that can’t be discussed on here for fear that the recipient will catch wind. But also on the books is the Tilted Duster from the Fall 2007 Interweave Knits. I ordered my Berocco Peruvia in Tabaco (brown), and it arrived last week. I can’t wait to start! And I’m also planning to make a few more of Cheryl Niamath’s Fetching fingerless gloves. (Aside: this was the first pattern I tackled after knitting many long rectangles, which I taught myself to do while living in A Very Cold Place back in 2004. I took a break from knitting while I went to grad school in the Cusp of Subtropical Paradise and picked it back up about this time last year when I lived in Glorious Seasonal Bliss. The pattern makes for great public transportation knitting, so I made four pair last fall. The pair I kept for myself are beginning to look a little ratty, thus the need for some new ones. Not that I’ll really need them here in ‘Paradise’—maybe my office will get cold or something.) But really, the renewed Fetching interest is due to my discovery of a SubPar LYS that sells Debbie Bliss!

So that is what’s on slate for the next month or so. In other exciting knitting news, I met the Yarn Harlot a couple weeks ago! She was amazing—just as funny and entertaining in real life as in her blog and books. Check out her post on New Orleans. She gets it.

And let's not forget my glorious knitting-filled birthday. OK, I didn't actually have any time on my birthday to knit, but I got lots of knitting-related presents, including Vogue Knitting, Maryjane's Stitching Room, and some great DVDs for watching while knitting: Planet Earth and Breakfast at Tiffany's!