On. Off.

Last week I realized that the end of August was fast approaching so I buckled down and got back to the business of knitting. My Central Park Hoodie had been languishing a bit due to smaller, more portable projects. This weekend I knit up to the hood and am now about half-way through. Go me! Hoods are almost as bad as sleeves for knitting, knitting, knitting and making almost no progress until you've magically knit past the point where X is supposed to happen. Once the hood is all knit up I have one more sleeve, a little bit of seaming, and buttonbands left to go. I'm hoping to have it done before I leave on vacation next week.

One of the small and portable projects is off the needles. The Playful Stripes Cardigan knit up quickly and I'm glad there are larger sizes available in the pattern because I'm pretty sure I'll want to knit another one in a couple of years for my larger size girl. The Little One seems pretty happy in it and has already christened it with apple juice (a special treat for her) since she refused to take it off. It fits great and has a little room to grow so she should be able to wear it through this Fall and Winter. Well, one can hope it'll last that long.

Little Knitting

I've been feeling a bit, um, underwhelmed by a couple of the projects I've got on the needles. They're not bad projects and I know that I'll finish them eventually but they didn't exactly inspire me to knit. What I have been wanting to knit are baby and toddler clothes. My stash has been a nice source of creativity since the big re-organization so I dug in and found some baby cashmerino I bought to knit the Little One a cardigan so I cast on and am loving it. It's the Playful Stripes Cardigan by Alana Dakos of Never Not Knitting (she also has a podcast) and it's the perfect blend of simple and fun. The baby cashmerino is incredibly soft and springy and I'm progressing quickly enough that my interest isn't lost.

Special thanks to Rose who gifted me the pattern; it's exactly what I need to get inspired again!

Aphrodite (Shawl #7)

Last weekend I finished up my Aphrodite shawl. This thing was totally time consuming and I knew that if I didn't focus and finish then it would be a long-hibernating WIP. I'm totally pleased with the result. My yarn was definitely on the cobweb side which was a bit of a pain but the blend was wonderful and the final result is quite pretty.

Pattern: Aphrodite by Sivia Harding
Yarn: Colorful Yarns Heavenly Lace in Turquoise
Needle: US #3 Addi Lace & size 12 crochet hook
Beads: size 8/0 silver lined transparent dark aquamarine, approx. 13 grams
Mods: My yarn was tiny enough that I followed the instructions for the large size and got a medium-ish size shawl with about 540 yards (the skein I bought was 600 yards).

It Continues....

Startitis continues to plague me despite the great stash reorganization. Sunday night I came home, dug out my bag of Malabrigo Twist, and cast on for the Central Park Hoodie. The CPH is 3600+ strong on Ravelry and I'm eager to add mine to the number. I've told myself the real reason for starting this is that everything else I've got on the needles is sock weight yarn but really it was just a whim; a sudden, undeniable urge to knit with one of the softest and squishiest yarns I've ever encountered. I've already got one sleeve done and it is a thing of squooshy yarn beauty. At least the yarn was easy to find after that organizing stint of last week.

Stash Attack

This week I decided to reorganize my stash. I pulled it out. All of it. Every little bag and box and bin got emptied out on my living room floor and with the "help" of the Little One it got sorted and restashed. Little One helped by climbing into an empty bin and reading her books for a while. I, on the other hand, spent a great deal of time figuring out what was actually in Ravelry and trying to catalog what wasn't in Ravelry. Tiring. Miracle of miracles the stash still fits in it's designated space(s) which consists of a cedar chest and a space bag under my bed. The picture is the sock yarn portion of my stash which is also the bulk of my stash. Whoever said that sock yarn doesn't count was lying because it takes up the same dang space as other yarn. My strategy for reorganizing is this: gather it all together, dump it all out, sort by size, detangle, destash, restash. Granted, my stash is smallish for a 5-year knitter and yarn shop pusher but I like it at about this size. Next up on the agenda is the Great Needle Inventory. Eek.

Fall Twist Collective

The Fall Twist Collective is so freaking amazing! It made my heart skip a beat and then pound away like I'd run a seven-minute mile. Amazing! I've been starting things like crazy in order to stave off a fear of losing my knitting mojo and seeing this issue really inspired me to a) finish the things on my needles so I can b) start something(s) new from this issue. But what? What would you cast on first?