Avoiding work is fun!

I'd really rather be at home than at work, surrounded by my knitting instead of boxes of stuff to be put away.

Update: MacZilla's sockies are done.
I started new ones for Miz Izzy (sockotta wool/cotton blend, some strange pink/orange/yellow/purple colorway - straight stockinette... boring but effective), because she was getting jealous and was stealing her brother's socks. I finished the Latvian Lace socks for Mom. She really likes them - I hope she'll get some use out of them when the weather cools off.

So much for the FO's, now for the UFO's.

Icarus is still sitting there. I got a couple rows in, but I just can't sit down and make myself work on it. Maybe when #3 gets here.

The alpaca scarf/stole/thing got frogged last night in a fit of pique. I don't like my addition of the stockinette "sashing" between the lace repeats, and it was making the scarf all wavy, and not in a good way. I'm thinking of repurposing the yarn for a feather and fan cardigan or something for Miz Izzy or #3. I swatched it and the F&F looks really pretty. We'll see.

That's the UFO's, now on to the new stuff (cause I have project ADD/monogamy issues)

I started a cabled sweater from Inspired Cable Knits in a yummy chocolate brown worsted from knitpicks. It's going to be beautiful, if a bit warm.

The above mentioned stripy sockotta sockies for Miz I.

The also above-mentioned alpaca maybe cardigan for Miz I or #3. We'll see if I can figure out how to adjust the lace pattern to accomodate the sleeve increases.

I'm starting my Christmas projects: some Broad Street Mittens (with a twist) for ClayTron, in a really beautiful navy blue fingering weight (thank you KnitPicks). If they go quickly, I may make a pair for my BIL, Robert, who I tried to teach to knit while in Colorado.

I've gotten bitten by the felted/fulled knit bag thing, thank you very much "Wendy Knits".
I'm trying a bag from a pattern I found on Magknits and I impulsively (very impulsively) purchased Nicky Epstein's Knitted Flowers last night for the embellishment on Amazon.
I have this really beautiful sky blue New Zealand wool (enough for a sweater) I bought from Ebay oh, about a year ago. Beautiful online, scratchy as hell in real life. I'm going to try and felt it and see what happens. It's 100% wool, and I'm pretty sure it's not superwash, so we'll see how it goes. So far I have the bottom and about an inch and a half done up the sides... I really should do a swatch and see if it actually felts like I'm hoping it will. I'll probably do that tonight. If the bag works out it's going to SisterSarah after I dip dye it when it's done. I'm thinking brown... to get that vareigated, ombred brown to blue thing. Might be pretty cool. Here's hoping. I went on to knitpicks last night also and bought some black, grey and red for a purse thing for me. I know their stuff will felt, and it's for me, so no real hurry.

dyeing update... and a few other things

Okie dokie, first things first: the kool-aid dyeing thing was more awesome than I can accurately say. I am sad that there is no more blue kool-aid to be purchased anymore (I really want to dye blue yarn, but I don't want to mess with mordants and strange dyes right now). Part of the fun is the surprise you get when the dyeing is done and the skein is hung up to dry. I made my dye of a combination of regular cherry and pink lemonade and it turned out to be this wonderful hot coral color. I dyed the yarn so that it's vareigated. It is now on the needles as a feather and fan sock a la Wendy Knits! It's coming along very well, though it has been derailed by my project A.D.D. My birthday was yesterday and as an early birthday present, I purchased a semi-precious stone whorl drop spindle from Yarn Botanika via ETSY and a crapload of roving and silk hankies from The Yarn Tree to teach myself how to spin. I got through my first 2 ounces of undyed merino and managed a semi-decent bit of singles. I'm afraid to ply it... we're planning trips to Lincoln, NE and Estes Park, CO (both places with decent yarn stores) this month and I want to have someone show me in person how to do this. I have been bitten by the spinning bug and I couldn't wait to have someone show me how to ply the yarn, so I dug into the 2 oz. of the dyed merino that came with my spindle kit and have been spinning on it. I am actually getting a fairly consistent very thin single that should ply up to be laceweight. The roving is dyed this amazing lapis blue with some navy and yellow-green spots in it that are making the coloration of this yarn something to behold. I'm so excited to see how it plies up and swatch something with it.

I have abandoned the candle flame shawl in the alpaca. I'm having a problem with the chart-reading and I frogged the thing and started over with the Branching Out lace pattern (with three chart repeats across so instead of a scarf I should have a fairly nicely sized stole) from Knitty.

I haven't touched the sock for Mom other than to get about 3 repeats on the second sock leg. She loved the one I wrapped up and gave to her on Mother's day and smiled when I said that she'll have the second one in time for her fall Student Teaching. (Who wants to wear wool socks in Nebraska in the middle of craptastically hot summer and humidity anyway?)

I borrowed "Mason-Dixon Knitting" from the library this weekend and I am now experimenting with washcloths. Peaches and Creme yarn is $1.27 per skein here and the projects are knitting up quickly. I don't like the patterns for the ballband washcloth, so I'm taking inspiration from those fine ladies and trying my own patterns. We'll see how they go. They're a nice break from socks and Mac's sweater and the shawl (to which I have to pay attention and therefore can't knit on that in the drive-up line at Wendy's) and in my purse they will reside until everyone in my acquaintance has a washcloth in their linen closets.
Needless to say, I'll have a couple "finish me now" projects to take to Colorado. I'm very much looking forward to an entire week of no work and minimal monster-minding (thanks to the Aunts and Uncles), so I can just put up my feet and knit and fish and shop and weird out my in-laws and RELAX. I soooo deserve this vacation. Yay for MIL to think of this great trip.