persevering flower

Finished the herringbone cowl!

It was murder on the hands, so luckily I ran out of yarn and it's a bit less wide than it should be.  Ah well.  It's warm and soft and striking, and looks good on me!  Success.

Began hubby's indestructible socks.  Have a toe and a half done (and my, they are slow-going toes...)

Mom's sweater is hardly worked on at all I'm afraid...

...nor did I get to start that shawl, as I got roped into doing a pair of commissioned socks.  And no, I didn't ask nearly enough.  Decided to go with Sunday Swing again, as the pattern is burned in my brain, and moves along very nicely.  Also shows off the yarn well.  I altered it by doing a 1x1 rib for the cuff (better elasticity) and a normal heel (the other heel was tedious to me, and comes out large.)

Unfortunately, I do not have a second needle in this size, so am working on only one sock at a time.  Here is hoping I will persevere and move on that second sock upon completing the first!  I must; there is no option this time (I hate that!)

If that all isn't enough, last night I started toast mitts in some Ella Rae Kamelsoft that has been sitting in my closet since the Bella's Mittens days.  Just for me, and just because.

In non-knitting news, my son gave me this geranium two years ago for mother's day.  The poor thing strained to live outside all summer, and at the end of the season, he was so upset that it was dying, that I brought it in, and sat it in my window.
It's managed to stay barely alive all this time, and then last week, it sprouted flowers!!  We could not even believe it.  They seem to be fading now, but it flowered!  What perseverance.  Hoping to learn from this flower, as we face our family struggles in this hard economic time we're having, as well as in my knitting.

Have a great week all!  And keep on plodding along... :)

happy to report...

I washed the Sunday Swing socks of the previous post, and threw the too big one in the dryer... to huge success! 
They both fit very well now, and although one is lighter than the other, I can report that I have worn them all day, both at home and out and about, and they are most comfortable and warm.  To put it simply,
I am in love with my new socks. 
(This is especially good news for me, as the last socks I finished are nothing to write home about, not even a little.)

In other news, I am swimming along with my cowl (after having to stop last night because the ball of yarn came to an end, and the new ball had yet to be wound.  Yeah, wasn't about to do that at midnight,)
and mom's sweater (to be fair, although I did get past a particularly tricky part in the sweater, the must-pay-attention and incredibly-long parts are up next!) 
Been knitting on the gauge swatch for hubby's socks while out in the yard with the kids, and while I was out today and had to wait, so those will be ready to begin soon enough. 

Enjoyed winding the sock yarn and cowl yarn this morning, using my knees as a swift, and my hands as a ball winder, although my arms still ache a bit from it... those are some big ol' balls of yarn!

WIP Wednesday, and one FO!

Wednesday again, and one project out of the way!  Sunday Swing Socks are complete, but unfortunately, not perfect.  I could rip out the offending sock and re-do, but I'd rather move on.  They are warm and mostly comfortable, so fit the bill well enough for now. 

Problem one:  although the yarn is the same colorway and dyelot as last year's sock, the socks don't match; one is lighter than the other, so that kind of stinks.
Problem two: last year's sock is a bit too loose, and we all know how all set I am with too loose socks.
Moving on...

The Herringbone Cowl is underway, with still about forty rows to go.  Since I can pretty much only manage two rows a night for how hard it is on my hands (especially that second row,) I'm just hoping I'll be done by month's end!

Since the next four projects in my queue are begging to be worked on NOW, and one of them has been there since last summer, I am excitedly starting new stuff today.  Unfortunately all of them are big projects in one way or another.  One of them I don't even have yarn for yet, so in the queue it sits.

The yarn (hubs chose the color, thought it'd look great with jeans) arrived for hubby's socks...

...so those will have to be begun (a wee bit daunting to me as I have never worked socks toe-up before, and so I'm assuming this will not be easy-breezy-fun as socks usually are, and therefore not as excited to start them.)

In the queue since last summer is a sweater for mom, which I've been passing by for other, quicker, easier knits, but the time has come.  I'm a little excited!  The math and footwork is all done for this one.  Washed and re-measured the swatch last night, so I am all set to start Amused for mom, turning it into a cardigan.  Provisional cast-on, crazy collar, and major alterations, here I come!

Lastly, I have rarely succeeded at lace knitting while having small children about before, but... this time will be different I say!  I just can't give up trying; I am much too intrigued by it.  My first attempt was ultimately frogged, my second and third attempts were successful, although smallish, shawls, and my fourth attempt was cut short and rendered a shawl for a doll.  Onward with number five!  This will be the one! Right? Sticking to fingering weight, thinking that will be simpler, and saving all the laceweight yarn in the closet for now.  Anyway, here it is, and here's my yarn I'm thinking for it... I'm not sold on the yarn yet, but it's my favorite of what's in the closet, and I really don't want to have to buy more yarn...

What do you think?  Who's with me?  There's got to be someone else out there with strong urges to start multiple daunting projects at once, right? :)  After all, it's a bright and sunny WIP Wednesday!

WIP Wednesday

Sunday Swing socks still in the works.  I'm on the foot (the 10.5 inch foot......)

And so it begins.  Big Herringbone Cowl KAL.  Behold the mess it currently appears to be:

I was positive the stitches were twisted several times during the first row, and I had checked for that several times before I joined.  Thankfully, I was wrong and they were not twisted - I hate having to start over - who doesn't?
I'm only on the third row.  Have to break to go to my daughter's playdate. (That was fun, let me tell you, when each time I came to the start of the next round, when there's all this fiddly stuff for me to do, she tried getting on my lap and talked incessantly about what dress up clothes she was planning to wear at her friend's house. Sheesh, come back in two stitches, please. :))
So this is how it looks, three rows in:

I think I'm going to like it. :) I will say, though, it is a killer on the hands.  They ache pretty badly, so I'm glad for a break.