Knitting Update

There has been precious little knitting in this blog lately, mainly because I've just not been knitting that much. I got a bad case of "startitis" (starting projects before finishing other things), and then I got uninspired. And I'm totally exhausted by the time I get home and it's hard to do anything that requires a modicum of brain function. I also have had a rash of broken wooden sock needles lately, and I must remedy that.

An assessment of the damage:

1) A child-size sock I knitted for my 5-year old niece, out of fabulous Lorna's Laces sock yarn. I didn't realize the yarn would stripe the way it does, which was a nice surprise. While she loved the colors, it was too small for her, and after trying it on she promptly informed me she wants knee-socks anyway. I need to knit another one and see who else's kid they might fit. Despite their size, the pattern requires a certain amount of attention and so it is not ideal for train knitting.


2) This is a close-up of what is intended to be a blanket for my 5-year old niece for Christmas. She likes to nap on the couch, and has asked me to make her a blanket several times (no matter that I have made her and her siblings umpteen quilts that are currently sitting in the bathroom closet being unused. *sigh*). I am using my favorite yarn, Malabrigo, in the "Brisa" colorway. I had some reservations because it has some gray in it, and I wasn't sure how it would look. I love knitting with this yarn, even though I hear it pills...last year I made S. an afghan out of Malabrigo (different colors - not purple and pink!), and I must remember to ask him how it is holding up. I was knitting this on the train, but it is now reaching the point where it is too big to lug around.


3. Finally, a pair of socks for me! These are made out of unknown hand-dyed yarn I bought at Purl in NYC. The pattern is from "A Fine Fleece", and these are hands-down the hardest things I've ever yet knit. And slooooow...using a cable needle is fiddly and time consuming, and it also requires reading a pattern chart that makes train knitting impossible. I also think I managed to screw up the backside of the sock, which is done in moss stitch, because of the way circular knitting is more of a spiral. Or it could be I just screwed it up. I have a sliiiight concern this might be a bit small for me, but I haven't knit enough yet to be able to try it on. I'm not convinced that this variegated yarn was the best to use to show off the cabling pattern, but I like it too much to rip it out.


So, despite all this, I am seriously thinking about starting another simple pair of socks, just to have some productive train time. I have the yarn, so it's not a question of expense. It's just that I hate the idea of throwing another project into the mix. On top of these, I have a little dress to sew up, one scarf to pull apart because I ran out of the yarn and it wasn't really working well anyway, and another scarf that I started and lost one of the knitting needles. And that's only halfway down through the bag...I don't even want to KNOW what's lurking on the bottom.