Dum te dum te dum . . .

A brief update: I've been knitting away happily, and amazingly have not actually purchased any more yarn since I last updated. No, I don't know how that happened. Some people have drugs. I have yarn. Probably a $25-50/week habit if I have to be honest. And, of course, there's a bag of Blue Sky Alpacas 100% Alpaca in pistachio waiting for me at Needlework Unlimited. They're sooo cute! And sooo soft!

So, what's been going on, crafty-wise? Well, wonder no more!

Finished: Um . . . not so much just yet. Read on.

On the Needles:
Skully: One sleeve! Entirely complete! All ends woven in! Extraneous exclamation points! And I'm going to finish something else before starting sleeve #2. That intarsia completely depleted my patience reserves for a while.

Party-Time Apron: No change.

Colinette Throw: Finished with the third pattern repeat--starting the final repeat. Should finish it up this week, if all goes well.

Devan: Left side is having its shoulders shaped. I'm thinking about working both sleeves at once to prevent mind-bending boredom.

Sock: No change

Rockabilly scarf: Okay, so my old boss (who I am now pleased to count as a friend) has the chance to go meet Brian Setzer this winter. Squeeeeee! She's as pleased as all get-out, as she's an even bigger fan than I am. (Where my fandom = "like him just fine and actively seek out his music" and her fandom = "has arranged family visits to coincide with concerts") Anyway, I decided she needed a funky scarf to wear on this excursion (or just to look really stylin' on the way to California, or whatever), so I picked up some neato Schachenmayr Scaletta yarn (the black one) and am knitting a fun, simple scarf out of it--garter stitch with a row of twisted drop every so often. Though I might unravel it (it's only 4" long or so right now) and follow Wendy's simple scarf pattern instead.

In the Hoop:
Drawn Thread Birth Band sampler: No change, but I want to have it to the framer in time for X-mastide framing.

Merry Cox Sailor's Huswif: No change.

Obligatory Cultural References
Reading: I did set aside Vanity Fair. I rewarded myself--or at least gave myself a break--by reading The Grim Grotto, the 11th Lemony Snicket book. Yeah, I'm thirty. What's your problem?
Listening to: U2.

Progress, I tell you! Progress!

Frequently recurring four-hour car-rides are a lovely thing indeed. Non-knitting details about the weekend's festivities are over in the other place (or will be as soon as I type it), but I must say that I was able to get a good bit of knitting done in the car on the way home from Madison this weekend. I lost the light too quickly on the way to WI, or I'd be unstoppable! Devan is an excellent in-the-car project. Small size, brainless knitting.

I also had the good(?) fortune to go visit Lakeside Fibers while in Madison, which is a lovely store with wonderful light, a nicely broad selection, and a website that looks alarmingly like a Puzzle Pirates shop. I left with some magenta Lamb's Pride worsted for the body of the Lite Brite sweater I have in mind (Kureyon 95 for the sleeves), two skeins of LOUD Kureyon for the bunny and bear in Debbie Bliss's Noro Collection book, and two skeins of Koigu PPPM (a pinkish one and a blueish one) for the cutest little free bootie pattern in the world. I think that's it. I left without doing too much damage. I was a little worried for a while, though.

What have I accomplished since last time, you ask? Why, here's your answer:

Finished: Booga Bag has been felted and assembled (and is super-cute and handy, I might add), and the Flora scarf has had its ends knotted off and secured.

On the Needles:
Skully: I've picked up the first sleeve, knit the plain black 1" section, and have four rows of skully intarsia complete! Yes, it's not much yet, but I have figured out how to work out purl-side intarsia. (Knit-side came to me easily when I was knitting the stripey sleeping caps) So, a few more evenings of work, and I'll have me a sleeve. The main hindrance to progress from here on out will be Rusty. With 16 pounds of cat on your lap, your spare balls of yarn aren't always so easy to find.

Party-Time Apron: No change.

Colinette Throw: No change.

Devan: Right-side complete, left side within an inch of starting the shoulder shaping. The left side just flew along this weekend. Wheee!

Sock: No change.

Okay, so not much news on anything but Skully and Devan, but dude! Such progress!

In the Hoop:
Drawn Thread Birth Band sampler: No change, but I'm ready to tackle it again.

Merry Cox Sailor's Huswif: No change, but a weekend at home should enable me to wrap up what I left unfinished in class, then it's back to eleventy-million Queen stitches.

Obligatory Cultural References
Reading: Still Vanity Fair. I love it. I'm enjoying it thoroughly, but I wonder if I should set it aside for my next Book Club volume.
Listening to: They Might Be Giants

Just a quick update . . .

To renew my commitment to the blog and let you know I'm not dead. Thanks to an impromptu camping trip weekend before last, and a two-day class with Merry Cox this past weekend, I've been a little bit busy.

The new job at work is going well--I think. I'm not as panicky busy as I was in my old job, and I've forgotten the feeling associated with having the time to do things right/well. I need to get reacclimated to sanity, it appears.

Here's the score on my projects. I can't start anything new until one more item makes it into the (Nearly) Finished column. I had a fit of starting, and I feel a little sheepish with so many WIPs.

(Nearly) Finished: Still need to take the Booga Bag to the washer and felt it. I also just bound off the Flora scarf (it wasn't Charm, it was Flora) this evening. Yippee!

On the Needles:
Skully: I've picked up the neck, bound the 2nd shoulder together, and seamed the neck. Ready to pick up the sleeves! In other news, a knot I thought was hopeless and just knit right past appears to be threatening to let go and make me very unhappy. I'll have to figure out how to defeat it. That's my inexperience talking--I now know to cut it out and just weave the damn ends in.

Party-Time Apron: No change.

Colinette Throw: No change, but I'm eager to get back to it. October weather is perfect to knit on it!

Devan: Working the neck and sleeve decreases for the right side--almost to the end of the first piece!

Sock: It's up to an inch of ribbing--I got a lot of knitting on it and Devan done on the drive up to Itasca the other weekend.

In the Hoop:
Drawn Thread Birth Band sampler: No change, but read on . . .

Merry Cox Sailor's Huswif: Took the class this weekend, and had a lovely time. Merry is a really fun teacher, with lots to share and teach. I got the inside pockets completely stitched, and three of them attached to the main piece during class, as well as a good start on finishing the lining of a matching cherrywood box.

Obligatory Cultural References
Reading: Technically, Vanity Fair, though I've been to tired to read of late and have been doing crossword puzzles instead.
Listening to: FNPP volume 7: The Robot Show.