Fey Friday

1. Only because at the end of the day my brain is not functioning well. It's particularly more difficult at the beginning of the month because work's more intense.

2. I want to knit another sweater.

3. The Kauni sweater still languishes in my UFO pile. I'm working on the body and it's a hell of a lot of work. After a session on that sweater my hands are falling asleep because of the amount of tension I need to put on the yarns to do the color work. I know I should relax but the yarn is fingering weight and my continental knitting gauge has fewer stitches per inch than my English knitting gauge which would throw off the math.

6. I'm a big woman. The Kauni has lots of stitches. Throwing off the math is not an option.

7. I could be working on the Kauni but I have a craft fair in two weeks and more washcloths to crochet. My weekend will be devoted to crocheting and laundry.

8. It's supposed to rain this weekend. That's perfect weather for crafting. The radio will be on, I'll be crocheting away on washcloths. Or sewing up cat toys.

9. At least I won't be tempted to work on the Haruni shawl because it's done. It's beautiful, knit in StitchJones' Titanium Sock. I don't have other projects to lure me away from the washcloths. Maybe. I do have some fiber for making batts for Cindy's shop. Maybe when my hands need a break from the crocheting all the cotton.

Gray days filled with color

There's something about finishing up a huge project that makes one sink back in one's chair and let out a sigh of relief. I did that at the office and came out with tired limbs and a kinked back from all the computer work. I'm looking forward to doing ordinary things which allows for a variety of movement and work methods. In the meantime I'm giving myself a fair bit of tender loving care this weekend. As part of that therapy, this entry will be mostly pictures.

I finished the commission. Now to remove the white souvenirs my cats left.

Sammy decided Maisie needed a bath. It was on the inaccessable part of the nape of the neck, so it worked out very well.

"Do you mind? We're having a PRIVATE moment here."

A very productive weekend

There is something so satisfying in completing more than one project. This weekend was the one I had available to complete projects for this week and prepare for Christmas. It's Secret Santa week so I had to fetch gifts for my recipient. Of course she'll have handmade gifts as well.

Some beaded wristwarmers.

And beaded earrings.

One of my knitsibs has been recently diagnosed with a rare type of cancer. Instead of a blanket from those of us in the group, she's asked for hats to wear while she's going through treatment. She lives in Minnesota so a warm hat was definitely in order. I found some Cascade 128 in my stash and whipped this up today.

Last year I volunteered to do a test knit for one of my friends. The pattern called for Handmaiden Camelspin, which is a sport weight yarn of camel and silk. It has beautful drape but no bounce so it's not very forgiving to knit up. I didn't finish the test knit because I fought the yarn. I tried another pattern with this yarn and was fighting it there as well. This time around, though, I was successful in producing a nice little neckscarf.

The Winter Olympics are next February and the talk on Ravelry is about teams and preparing projects for the two plus weeks of crafting time. The new line up my cable company has for my package includes Universal Sports which has been showing some of the World Cup competitions of various winter sports. I've always enjoyed watching the Winter Olympics even though the US has not been a strong contender in many of the events. My loyalties will be leaning toward Canada's team in those events where the US isn't a contender for medals. In the meantime, I'm trying to decide what I will do for those weeks. One possibility is another Dale sweater, this time in black and white with red trim. I have some patterns from previous Olympic games that I can consider.

In the meantime, I have one UFO I should return to, namely the sweater I started last year out of Kauni yarn. I'm on the body with the second sleeve left to go so any progress I make on it will be good. If I complete it by the end of January I will be very pleased.