The cure for the January Blahs

Is another trip to Belisle R&R in Wisconsin!

The January retreat has come and gone, and it was just as much fun as November's. I stitched like a little dervish, and managed to 1. Work on everything I took with me, and 2. Actually get some stuff finished, but 3. Ended up with a project I hadn't started with (they talked me into doing a square on Candy's floral afghan)

The Monday after I got home, I was off work for MLK Jr. Day, so I got even more done! (Sort of--I really kinda kicked back, too.)

But this year, I decided to participate in "The List". My clan of stitching buddies always puts a list of project together early in the year, then seals them away until the January Belisle retreat--at which point we open them up and see how we did in comparison to our goals. It's all in good fun, with nothing more than pride on the line, so we'll see how things go. What's my list?

Knitting
Fluffy scarf for Lisa
Devan baby cardigan
Lite Brite Sweater
One pair of socks
Party-Time Apron
Felted Cat Bed
Tank Girl Tank Top
Fluffy Cuff Mittens
Pool Scarf
Baby Blanket for Anna
Tiger Stripe Scarf for Shelly

Stitching
Joe Snow
Sally Snow
Dana and Kris Wedding Hardanger
Floral Afghan Square
Stitcher’s Barbell
Sailor’s Huswif
Piece of Cake
C.A. Wells Bunny pendant
C.A. Wells Needle Cottage
Holiday Fat Cat
Mail Art

The nice thing about lists being due by Feb. 1 is that you can cheat a little and put stuff on them that you finish in January. So, what's changed since we last chatted? Here's the scoop:

Finished:
Fluffy Scarf for Lisa: While in PA, I found some really cool scarf yarn--some short, dense, chenilley stuff, and some wispy eyelash, in black/aqua/gold/copper that made a really cool scarf. And since Lisa had requested some of my handiwork, I was glad to make them into a scarf for her. I delivered it this week--and she's quite pleased. Yay!

Stitcher's Barbell: I've had the actual stitching done on this piece forever--but finally got around to the actual finishing--putting it together and filling it with BBs--on Monday. It's a heavy, glitzy frame weight, which serves as a third hand when you're working on a piece of needlepoint.

(Almost) Finished: Joe and Sally Snow: They're all stitched, and just need to be sewn into standups. Yay!

On the Needles:
Party-Time Apron: No change.

Devan: Second sleeve cast on, starting to work the increases.

Sock: I took it to WI with me, and therefore I worked on it. If by "worked on", you mean "knit about two rounds of ribbing". But I did pick it up and put some stitches on it.

Lite Brite: Started the back--working the waist shaping decreases.

Tiger-Striped Scarf: I donated a hand-knit item to my department's charity silent auction this year--the winner requested a scarf in her son's school colors--Black and Orange. I'm doing a stockinette tube scarf in Cascade 220, with about 3" stripes. It's really cool--and very easy knitting.

Baby Love Baby Blanket: I'm making the Hoover baby blanket from Knitty in red and white stripes for a cool co-worker due in March. Also in Cascade 220. I swatched some double-knitting this weekend to see if I could do it, and damn--that's like magic! It's about 2 rows of garter stitch right now, but it won't be for long.


In the Hoop:
Merry Cox Sailor's Huswif: Finished a queen stitch flower, and added a word to the verse.

Wedding Snowflake Hardanger: Started, and I completed the center motif. The Hardanger is fairly easy, but dude--isolated eyelets in metallic thread are teh suk.

Floral Afghan Square: The last square on Candy's Maureen Appleton Floral Garden Afghan is a basket full of impatiens. I started it in WI, and put in the basket bands--it's in Flower Thread on a 100% wool afghan, so it's nice and snuggly to work on--remind me to finish this before summer, okay?

Obligatory Cultural References:
Reading: Finished Obsession and promptly started another book by the same duo--The Cases That Haunt Us. I like this one a lot better. Douglas can get awfully full of himself, and having more factual subject matter makes things go down more easily. I also inhaled Food Court Druids and Cherohonkees: And Other Creatures Unique to the Republic, a really funny humor book by the same folks who brought you The Hipster Handbook. However, it needed a copy editor in the WORST way. Dude--Food Court Druids play "Magic: The Gathering", not "Magic, the Gatherer". And learn to use a semicolon already. And hire a proofreader, dammit. Um, okay. all done.
Listening to: The 12/31/04 edition of Crap From the Past. All Stevie Wonder, all the time!