A whole lotta knittin' going on

I can't believe I've gone three weeks without posting about my knitting. I'm also a little surprised at how much I've accomplished these past few weeks. I honestly didn't think I was getting very much done.

I finished the Yoga Monkeys that I had been working on. This is the pair that my friend ended up buying from me. I really like the way they turned out. So much so, that I even considered taking up yoga just so that I'd have an excuse to keep them for myself.

Once the commissioned yoga socks were finished, I was able to knit the chemo caps for Knit Love Into It. I can't remember if I mentioned this before, and I'm too tired/lazy to go back and check my previous posts. I had met Carmen in Orlando back in October. Carmen is actually from the Ft Lauderdale area; it just happened that we were both vacationing in Orlando and I was able to help her out with a "knitting emergency. " Fast forward a little bit, and Carmen's daughter asked me if my knitting group would be able to help with a service project she was doing for school. Jennifer had committed to donating 100 hand-knit (or crocheted) hats to Miami's cancer center. Naturally my friends and I agreed to help. The Wednesday Night Fiberistas ended up making a total of 15 chemo caps for Jennifer's project.



My first contribution was the Braid-Edged Cap (pattern by Judy Gibson) out of Lion Brand Homespun. This pattern is knit flat, with short rows. Very fun to make. Although the Homespun made it a very warm cap, more suited for northerners.


My second hat was the Pi Topper Chemo Cap (by Corey Laflamme). I thought this was a really cute hat, otherwise I wouldn't have chosen the pattern. But it looks even better actually on. Well, on me. In most of the pictures, the pat is pulled way down as a cap. But I tried it on and wore the band up a little higher on my forehead, which let the cap slouch just a little in the back. Very, very cute. I will definitely knit another one of these, but to keep for myself.

I had used yarn that Jennifer gave me for the project: some Knitpicks Crayon, which is a cotton boucle. This yarn may become one of my favorite yarns. It's so much softer than I expect a cotton to be. I think it would make a wonderful baby sweater.

The next project that had to be knit was a pair of baby socks. One of the girls my daughter works with just had a baby, so this was a little something that Becka could give her co-worker.

Once the deadline knitting was finished, I finally had a chance to start on my EZ challenge. I did Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Jacket using Knitpicks Cotlin in midnight blue and linen. I've actually finished all the knitting on this (I just haven't taken a new picture), and all that's left is the shoulder seams and buttons. I think the striping turned out amazing.

My current project is another Elizabeth Zimmerman pattern. I had started a February Lady Sweater back in 2008, and it's been sitting in my WIPs drawer all this time. I can't remember why I had gotten distracted and put this aside, or why I haven't pulled it out to finish it before now. The yoke and most of the body are already done. I decided to do the sleeves before finishing the body, just to make sure that I had enough yarn. (Once the sleeves are the right length, I'll knit the body until the yarn runs out since I like my sweaters long.) The yoke was knit from one of my first handspun yarns, and the lace portions are Malabrigo. I truly can't imagine why I would ever willingly put this project down.

I also have a pair of socks going, just as a carry-in-my-purse knitting. I'm using the left-over yarn from the Yoga Monkeys and knitting my favorite toe-up sock. I figure I'll just knit until the yarn runs out. Hopefully mom likes this yarn, since it's her turn for socks. If not, I'll keep them. (Wouldn't that be horrible, to have to keep another pair for myself?)

By the way, do you see the sock on the left? I started that sock in the waiting room at the doctor's yesterday, and then worked on it at the pharmacy while waiting for the prescription that they couldn't fill (thanks to the insurance plan). Most people would be complaining about waiting around three hours; as a knitter, I can describe it as having spent half a foot waiting. Plus I got to have an interesting conversation with a girl who came up to me and announced: "I used to do that when I was in prison." (Fiberistas, that's probably the first time I did not invite someone to come out to our knitting night.)

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Blanket Update:
85 squares in 88 days
(Status: I was keeping up
until the Malabrigo lured me away.)