So I’m a day late. I hope it was happy for everyone. This was just something fun for the holiday (that’s not really a holiday).

Pattern: Bordered Heart-shaped Dishcloth

Peaches & Creme yarn in Strawberry Cream.

Tomorrow I leave for Arizona. I am so happy to be getting away from the cold weather (30*F/-1*C).

I add a bar or two of Lullaby Lavender baby soap, which I think smells fantastic, and voila, instant baby gift. I’ve been experimenting with using some organic cottons (Knit Picks, Patons) in addition to my usual stand-by’s (Sugar’n Cream, Peaches & Creme). I think the organic cotton makes a much softer washcloth. So far, the recipients seem pleased, and I like to pretend I’m making a dent in my cotton stash.

The socks are done! Mock Crocs knit with Knit Picks Essential (which I guess is now called Stroll) on Japanese #0′s (2.1mm). They fit perfectly, and I am unreasonably happy to have them finished after all this time.  Now I can concentrate on whatever WIP is next in line. Or I may take a break and work on something fun over the holidays, like a felted hat. Something quick and cheerful for the cold, grey days I know are coming.

Speaking of cheerful, how adorable is this:

This is the ornament I made for my Tuesday night knitting group ornament swap. I think he turned out pretty cute. I may have to make another one for my tree.

Sometimes I feel like I’m not a real knitter (clearly, I’m not a real blogger. Has it really been over a month since I posted anything?). Mostly I feel like this because I’m very, very slow, and easily distracted. It takes me forever to finish anything, and half of what I start ends up being a permanent WIP. These socks (Knit Picks Mock Crocs) have been on the needles for a really embarrassing amount of time. I know people who can finish a pair of socks in a week. I’d be happy if I could get a pair done a month. These have taken over 2 years. This seems to happen a lot with me and socks. I think in my mind I think of them as a quick project, so they’re the first thing I set aside “just for a little while” when a new project comes along. Eventually, “just a little while” turns into, well, a really embarrassing amount of time. I suppose at this point this pair of socks falls more into the WIP-busting category than current-project-finishing, but I am almost done with them. Maybe my next pair will go faster.

I’m back from Rhinebeck, and trying to recover from two days of yarn-partying. I don’t think I can even begin to convey how much fun this year was despite the frigid temperature (and driving home in the snow. In October.) I’ve had a great time the last two years I’ve gone, but going with knitting friends (people who really get it) puts the whole thing over the top. We barely slept, we petted yarn, we ate festival food (fried artichokes, yum), we talked to sheep. No one thought it was a crazy idea to buy sock yarn with cashmere in it. And to actually think about making socks with it.

We went to the Ravelry party:

I picked up Clara Parkes new book (which looks great), and got her to sign my copy of the first one and the new one.

Of course, I shopped a little, too:

As usual, I have projects in mind for most of this, but I’ll still need to search patterns on ravelry for one or two of the skeins. And do the knitting, of course.

I finally finished Clapotis, and love how it turned out. There’s a reason this pattern has been knit a million times: the finished object is fantastic. It has a wonderful drape to it, and works as either a wrap or a scarf. I used Misti Alpaca Pima Silk Handpaint yarn which is unbelievably soft. I know I’m going to end up wearing this a lot.

Next up is going to be Carmelo, the pattern on the cover of Malabrigo Book One. I’m using this lovely shade (Purple Mystery) of Malabrigo:

I even have a couple of cool shawl pins to use with it.  Hopefully this won’t take me too long to finish.

I also started another Chevron Scarf, which I do expect to take me a long time to knit.  It’s on small needles and it’s really long, but I just love how they turn out. I look at all the finished ones on Ravelry, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen an ugly one.

I’m headed to Rhinebeck on Friday. I’ll be going with a group of ladies from the Knitaholics group. This will be my 3rd year at Rhinebeck, but the first time I’ve gone with people who actually knit and spin. I expect to get no sleep and totally blow my budget. The fact that I haven’t knit one thing from the stash I bought last year will absolutely not deter me.

L to R:  Ilene Bag (ravelry link), Basketweave Headband, Texas Longhorn Dishcloth.

Summer’s almost over, and as usual the knitting was light. In my never-ending quest to use up some of my kitchen cotton stash, I branched out a bit from the usual dishcloths (OK, not completely). I loved how the Ilene  Bag turned out. It was very easy to knit, and stretches to hold a ton of stuff. I’ll probably end up knitting more of these. The headband is pretty cute, but since I hardly ever wear headbands (they never stay on) I don’t really know what posessed me to knit it. And the dishcloth I did for Son #2, who started his freshman year at the University of Texas in Austin (oh, so far away). I don’t know what he’ll do with it, but I couldn’t resist. I now have two of my three boys out of the house (Son #1 also left home this summer to move into a house with 5 other kids nearer to the University he attends. No, I haven’t found a URI dishcloth pattern yet). I’m not sure how I feel about an almost-empty nest other than it’s very weird so far.

I also worked on and off on my second Clapotis:

I only have a few more inches to go, so naturally I’ve made a mistake that I’ll now have to fix. This one has taken forever to get through. I guess without any Olympics to watch, I just can’t knit as fast. Thank God football season has started.

Another MA Sheep & Wool Fair has come and gone. I love this fair. It isn’t very large (compared to Rhinebeck, it’s tiny), but it has everything a good sheep and wool fair should have: sheep and llamas and bunnies, sheepdog trials, knitters and spinners and weavers, and plenty of opportunities for stash enhancement. It may not be one of the bigger events, but the vendors who come bring the most amazing fiber, and I always manage to find one or two things I can’t live without.  This year was no exception.  I may have to make a rule that I have to knit everything from this year before I go to next year’s, but I think I’m already too far behind.  I still have yarn from 2 fairs ago. I guess it’s stashbusting time.

This is the Knit-round Scarf from Sally Melville’s Knitting Experience Book 1: The Knit Stitch:

I have had this project on the needles for over 4 years.  I started it while I was living in Japan (and the yarn is a very Noro-esque yarn called Diadomina.  I wish I had bought boatloads more).  I’m not sure why it ended up hibernating so long, it really is an easy knit, and the yarn is wonderful, and I’m very happy with the finished object.  I think the endless rounds just got a little boring there, and it got pushed aside.

I also knit up a Mitered Dishtowel from the 2nd Mason Dixon book, in keeping with my dishcloth addiction:

There are a couple ladies from my LYS who are knitting Clapotis as a KAL.  The idea is we’ll all knit one and then go out to eat croissants somewhere wearing them.  I really enjoyed knitting the first one, so I’ve decided to join them.

I’m also still working on the Jane Thornley Feather-n-Fan wrap, which means I now have a small pile of WIP’s all within easy reach of my corner of the sofa.  Not to mention the days are getting longer, and I have a bunch of DVRed House episodes to watch, so the knitting should be good.  Plus the MA Sheep & Wool Festival  is this weekend, which always improves my knitting energy.

I think I’m coming around though. A new round of Project Spectrum has started, and I always find it inspiring.  I love seeing how other people interpret the themes (and this years incarnation leaves plenty of room for interpretaion), and playing with color. The Flickr group has some great projects up already (and of course there is a ravelry group). I was motivated enough to cast on yesterday for a Jane Thornley wrap. What better way to get the knitting mojo back than pulling a pile of yarn from the stash and casting on for something fun?