The dreaded nupps. Can I just say that I am terrible at nupps? Because I am. :/

One shoulder seam, and the zipper, and I’m done! Sadly, that shoulder seam has languished in that state for about two weeks now.

However, in my defense, I present this.

The Sipalu bag that I started in January is off the needles. Now it, too, can languish in Finishing Purgatory until I get around to it.

I can’t be too hard on myself, though, because check out how awesome it is.

Anyways, I did in fact cast on the Annis shawl. Lace, especially long skinny lace like this, looks boring on the needles:

I have to set all of this aside for now, though, and do some major seaming work on SECRET PROJECT. It is at least easy, if not terribly interesting.

SECRET PROJECT #1 is done and just needs photos and wrapping paper.
SECRET PROJECT #2 is in the same state.
SECRET PROJECT #3, which is huge and has been spotted in the wild at knit night, just needs to be washed and blocked.
SECRET PROJECT #4 needs washing, blocking, and seaming.

This is the problem with gift knitting – I can’t write WIP reports! But boy, will I have some things to show off soon.

In the meantime, I am also finishing the Sipalu bag – it just needs two more rows of colorwork and a top welt. Then I need to figure out how I’m going to do the strap and closure, because I don’t like the originals. HMM.

After that, a certain Meg has convinced me to knitalong an Annis shawlette. Can I get it done before vacation? LET’S FIND OUT!

I realized then that when I’d ripped the sleeve out, I put it right back on the needles – the needles that were a size smaller than the body, because I was already on the ribbing for the cuff.

So yeah, I ripped the sleeve out. Again. I may have even thrown it on the floor with an angry noise.

I may start the sleeve AGAIN tomorrow, but if I do, I’m starting on the other sleeve hole. This one is TOTALLY JINXED.

ANYWAYS. Sipalu. This bag has some seriously weird construction going on. First, it has you knit the 240-stitch side band flat. Fair Isle, flat? AW HELL NAW. I took that bad boy and knit it in the round, then tried out the crochet steek I saw one miss Sugar Sticks do.

I made my steek-safe area a little too wide, though; I may go back and chop some more off. Crochet steeking is so much easier than a sewn steek that I don’t dread that idea!

One other nice thing: I find I like colorwork much better when it’s a little, repeating pattern (like the side of the Sipalu bag) than when it’s a bigger panel (like the front). If I can just sit back and knit, rather than have my nose in the chart, it goes so much faster!

First up, that mansweater.

Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Bulky in Oregano. Pattern: Top Down Raglan Sweater Generator.

Here it is, in all its sleeveless glory. I did knit an entire sleeve, only to discover that the pattern’s math and Real Life did not exactly mesh. The sleeve was way too wide. My only choice was to swallow my pride, weep bitter tears, and rip that sucker out. Sigh.  The Sleeveless Wonder has been sitting in the time-out corner for a week, waiting for me to recover enough to not hate it.

Next up: Fancy-pants lace!

Yarn: Briar Rose Fibers Angel Face. Pattern: Lilac Leaf Shawl.

After finishing so much Christmas knitting, I wanted to do something just for me and super fancy-pants. I already had the yarn, and I had the book of patterns, and here’s what’s coming out. I have had a few setbacks on this, but nothing huge. This is my first major lace project, so it’s a learning process. I am really, really glad that the lace pattern is only knit on the RS, because then at least I have a row knit straight across to rip back to.

Speaking of ridiculously complex patterns that I’ve been eyeing for months on end, I finally gave in and purchased the yarn for the SIPALU BAG.

Oh Sipalu. I’ve eyed you with equal parts fright, amazement, and skepticism. Colorwork is not my strong suit, but it’s just so pretty!

That is a lot of yarn for one project…

And now, just because all these projects just aren’t enough, here’s one more!

Yarn: Premier Yarns Serenity sportweight. Pattern: Sweetheart Cardigan.

I was having one of those days where every project was just sort of stalled out and I really wanted to cast on something new. Thus, a little bitty cardigan. I am super glad to be done with the bodice, though, because the project backfired and got all boring on me for a while.

So that’s what my easily distracted self has on the needles. And, if that wasn’t enough, there’s some more yarn coming in the mail. I don’t know what I’m gonna do with myself.

So here’s a quick update: I made two sweaters. They were awesome. You will probably never see them. I know, life is terribly hard.

I also made the Klein Bottle hat and it was an utter failure. It might maybe fit my two-year-old, but it certainly doesn’t fit my brother. I still need to redo it.

Finally, here’s something I do have a picture for: the Chunky Braided Scarf. I used Wool-Ease  Thick & Quick. It made my brother-in-law quite happy. Me, I like the faux fringe created with ribbing.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a proper Christmas without a present that didn’t get made. Yes, I am still working on a sweater for my husband!  I presented him with some lovely options, but since men are boring, he chose the plain vanilla raglan sweater. Oh, the miles and miles of stockinette I have knit!  I actually finished the body and one sleeve, but the sleeve turned out comically large. Now I am trying to figure out the best way to decrease out all the bulk. I have a sinking feeling this will involve Math. Math and I are not the greatest of pals. It’s not that Math is a bad guy; it’s just that I have trouble understanding him sometimes. Really, even basic Math escapes me on a depressingly often basis.

On the plus side, I did finish something lovely! And I took a picture to show off the effects of my new sock blockers:

How awesome is that? It helps that I got a Rowenta commercial steamer after Christmas, with the help of a massive sale and a gift card. That’s right, it’s so great that even the words sparkle. Every time I use it, I swear hearts and flowers are surrounding us.

*cough* Right, knitting. These are Mini Mochi EYE socks, from Crystal Palace. I majorly messed up the lacework, but honestly? Nobody’s gonna notice. I just see lovely stripes and feel how darn SOFT these socks are.

What’s next in the pipe for me? Two (!) child cardigans for my duckling, two (!!) colorwork projects, some weaving (did I mention I got a loom, too?), and that darn mansweater. All in the next post!

No, you may not start a shawl. You have two sweaters on the needles right now (remember that other one? Hmm?), and the laptop bag, and if you cast on another giant project you will go cukoobananas. Put that laceweight down right now, missy.

You may, however, cast on a new pair of socks if you want. I am not entirely cruel, and that yarn you got for that sekrit project is not going to work for said project but would make a lovely pair of socks.

Oh, and remember: you have 14 swatches to knit for TKGA! Yeah, you were hoping I wouldn’t say anything, weren’t you?

Love,

The sane part of your brain.

In other news, I made Monkey socks! They are, well, Monkey-like. But they fit! Huzzah!

I got a lot of work done on my Two-At-A-Time, Toe-Up, Magic Loop socks. That’s too hard to say, so I call ‘em the stripey socks. I have no picture, so just imagine some turquoise, stripey, stockinette socks. Knitting on the plane was an interesting experience… My balls of yarn kept wandering off, tangling, and generally being pains. I have a feeling that if I wasn’t dealing with two tiny, slippery balls of sock-weight yarn, it wouldn’t have been a problem.

Here are some things I do have pictures of!

ITEM THE FIRST: Aguona! The laptop bag is toddling along slowly, but surely. The yarn has been irritating my hands lately so I haven’t put a lot into it. Still, I’m almost through the orange stripe and moving back into red territory. This is me performing the dance of joy.

See that spot on the left of the second picture? The one that’s missing the top row of white dots? Yeah, they’re in there, but they’re totally buried. Oops. I’m going to need to duplicate-stitch over those.

Speaking of oops, I made a big one on my new project. Our knitting circle is doing a February Lady knit-a-long, and I’m going at it with gusto. Unfortunately, at one point some stitches fell off the needles, along  with the stitch markers at the increase point. I put them back on in what I thought was the right order, but alas! This was not the case. And me being a super-duper-genius, I didn’t notice for oh, six or ten rows. That’s something like 1800 stitches I need to rip out. ARGH. Check out my amazing photo illustration at the left to see the oops.

Fortunately, I’ve been able to console myself with ten delicious balls of Rowan Felted Tweed. I’m gonna make my husband a sweater as a reward for putting up with me.

OM NOM NOM

I am making a shrug! I based it off the Everybody’s Doing It pattern. I used garter stitch instead of seed stitch, though, and made as many border rows as I damn well pleased. As a person with extra-wide arms, wider bands tend to look more proportionate on me. Also, the yarn is so very, very soft.

I also picked up a hank of Noro’s Daria Multi in order to make some cute I-cord bracelets. Noro and I have such a love-hate relationship. This time around, I love the yarn but I hate how it absolutely refuses to become a ball. Honestly, I should go to JoAnn and ask for an empty trim spool – the sort with two posts – as I bet it would be the only thing that could properly tame this yarn. It’s more cord then yarn, anyways.

The other thing I’m working on is the TKGA Masters Program, Level I. I have heard tell that it can turn a normal knitter into a neurotic wreck, and it is SO TRUE. It’s for good reason, though; I’m learning how to really watch my tension and quality. The picture above is my billionth attempt at 2×2 ribbing. I am supremely unsatisfied with my ribbing skills. I am trying to tame the gutters that form in the second knit stitch, and so far I have not had much luck. Trust me, it looks worse in person. *sob*

In order to prevent myself from feeling completely inadequate, I knit Swatch 10, which deals with yarnovers. I discovered I also hate my yarnovers. Did you know that it’s possible to do them wrong? I mean, aside from wrapping the wrong way. I mean, mine were all sloppy. This did not help my feelings of inadequacy.

Finally, I turned to something I really can do: Swatch 4, bar increases. Bar increases! Easy peasy! I’ve done tons of those! In fact, it only took me about eight tries to get a decent swatch.  I actually have to finish the top of that swatch, so there is no picture yet.

Yeah, I’m taking this program pretty seriously. How seriously? I knit a gauge swatch, which I then washed and blocked before I measured it. Doing things properly and by-the-book from the get-go? That’s serious business right there.