Progress abounds

Knitfitt's nonmitts are officially finished, blocked, and tucked away in a package along with some other goodies. I missed the Post Office today, but they will be in the mail and on their way come Monday.



I did have a full ball of yarn left over from these, so I returned it and picked up 2 balls in a lovely purple color this week. I'll cast on for a pair for myself in a couple of weeks.

Only 2 more projects to finish up before I'm allowed to cast on the Mary Tudor cardigan. I received notification today that the yarn has been shipped. Good thing both of the projects I need to finish are fairly quick knits. I expect the yarn to arrive probably Wednesday, and I don't know if I can restrain myself once it gets here.

I mentioned in a post earlier in the week that I had frogged the Lake Park gloves due to the yarn not behaving with the pattern. The other night I dug around in the stash and found something I thought would work better. It's a fairly lightweight sock yarn from Laughing Rat Studios that Laughing Rat custom dyed for me. Since the pattern calls for a DK weight yarn, I am knitting with 2 strands. I love the result so far, and the pattern shows up beautifully in these colors. What you see here is only one evening's knitting. I'm pretty sure I can have these finished up Monday night watching the football game.



Finally pulled out the Rowan Margaret's Silken Slippers to work on again. Here is the state of them last night when I put them away for the evening. I finished up the first this afternoon and will take photos once the veil is finished blocking. These went really quick once I put my mind to knitting them. I might be able to have the second one completed tomorrow.



I couldn't help starting another project! I found the most adorable pattern for a crocheted turtle and just had to make one for Paul. Right now it doesn't look like much, but give him a few days. This might be completed before the Mary Tudor yarn arrives.

Long overdue update

Well, I didn't finish Mermaid in time to give it to Mom when I had dinner with her Saturday, but finished she is. I'm hoping to get it to her this weekend, but that will all depend on when Paul gets back in town. The second car isn't running so well, and I don't trust it to go anywhere except work and back home right now.

I'll make sure to get some photos of Mom wearing her to post later.



I'm making good progress on the nonmitts now that I don't have Mermaid to keep me otherwise occupied. Almost positive these will be done tomorrow night! I've purchased a few goodies to add to the package when it gets sent. Now all I can hope for is some cold weather so my pal can enjoy these.



This weekend I did a few repeats on the Lake Park gloves I had started, but the pattern just didn't look right with the yarn I was using, so off to the frog pond they went. I've decided to try again with other yarn since I like the pattern so much. Hope to cast those on this week.

The chant is working!

Maybe I should try this chanting thing more often. That might solve the WIP issue once and for all.

Monday night, Mermaid looked like this.



... and tonight, she looks like this. I think I'll have the second sleeve gusset done before quitting for the night. At this rate, I just might have the jacket finished in time to give it to Mom this weekend when I give Ron his OSU socks.



That will leave more time next week to work on Knitfitt's nonmitts. Monday night the first one looked like this.



... and tonight, it looks like this.



Once Mermaid is done, I think I can have these finished up in just a couple of days. Which is a good thing, since I went ahead and ordered the yarn for the Mary Tudor cardigan. I just hope that I've made significant progress on the silk booties and Lake Park Gloves before the order arrives so I don't have to torture myself with new yarn that I'm not allowed to knit with yet.

Ugggg I'm not sure what the heck I did to my camera settings, but aren't those photos from tonight just awful?? Guess I must have hit something in the menu without realizing it.

must.knit.faster

Carol commented a couple days ago that she liked the picot hem on the gloves I'm knitting, and asked if I'd teach it to her and some friends. That sounds like a great reason to have a Football Sunday Knit Party if I've ever heard one. My livingroom will hold 5 or 6 guests, so I am decreeing October 21 to be Football Sunday Knit Party at Delana's house day. The first 6 people who RSVP to delanaknits(at)gmail(dot)com will have a reserved spot. We can do the picot hem and the toe up sock cast ons you all were interested in!

Mermaid continues to fly off the needles. I am currently almost 4 days ahead of the schedule I set for myself in order to have this finished in time for Mom's birthday. After today's email discussion with a blog friend and a Ravelry invitation, I wish I was more like 14 days ahead of schedule.



Knitfitt's nonmitts are making good progress too. The ease with which these are working up, as well as how very much I am loving the pattern, has convinced me that I do indeed need a pair of these for myself. I purchased 3 balls of the Cashsoft, but I think I'm only going to need 2. Once done with this pair, I will exchange the leftover ball for another color. There was some lovely purple when I was at the LYS that I might just decide on.



I will not break my self imposed WIP rules. I will not break my self imposed WIP rules. Maybe if I chant this enough, I won't run out and buy yarn and cast on for my next major project. I will finish the Mermaid jacket and Knitfitt's nonmitts before buying yarn. I will finish the Lake Park Gloves and silk booties before casting on. Wish me luck!!

I was originally thinking about making Katherine of Aragon as my first "Tudor Roses" sweater. This morning as I drank my coffee, I was leaning more towards Elizabeth of York. Then I got a comment on my blog from Marina. She is getting ready to cast on Mary Tudor and suggested we knit it together. Next thing I know, she's invited me to the Tudor Roses Knitalong group in Ravelry. Buying lots of lovely jumper weight wool and casting on is all I've been able to think about ever since.

I will not break my self imposed WIP rules. I will not break my self imposed WIP rules.

Must.Knit.Faster
Must.Knit.Faster

Score!

I received a purchase I made on Ebay yesterday. I paid quite a bit for it, but it was money well spent in my book. I got a copy of Alice Starmore's "Tudor Roses", and love every single sweater in it! The only problem I'm going to have is deciding which to cast on first. I'm thinking Katherine of Aragon right now, but that could change next time I flip through the book LOL.

I'm making good progress on the Mermaid jacket. Got through the 3rd hem gusset last night and spent the better part of my knitting time today working on it. I'm pretty sure I'll get through the center back gusset and possibly the 4th hem gusset tomorrow.



Making good progress on Knitfitt's nonmitts too. The photo shows my progress through last night, and I did work a bit on them today too. Only a couple more repeats til I finish the thumb gore.

I love progress

I almost feel like this Mermaid jacket is knitting itself. It's amazing how fast the knitting of the body is going compared to the sleeves. I guess I'm just not a big fan of miles of solid color garter stitch! At the rate this is going, I might be done with the project in 2 weeks.



Managed to get a few more rounds done on Knitfitt's nonmitts last night too. Still won't photographs of the pattern side, but I got a pretty good shot of the ribbing tonight. Instead of using my normal background (aka the comforter), I grabbed some white paper hoping to capture the true blue of the yarn.

I love the result. And isn't that flair that the picot hem is giving them nice? Now I really want to get some of my WIPs done so I can cast on a pair of these for myself!

Mermaids and Mittens

Actually got a couple of non-washed out photos of the Mermaid in progress today.

Both sleeves are complete, including the seaming.



And, I'm making fairly good progress on the body. The second gusset was completed after taking this photo, and tomorrow night I should be able to get through the first sleeve gusset. Not bad for only a couple week's worth of knitting. I'm not stressing over getting this done in time now.



What I'm stressing about instead, is the number of WIP's I currently have. I finally got all of them loaded into Ravelry, and boy was that a wake up call! I'm back to my old tricks. I currently have 15 projects on the needles, and I admit freely that I am itching to cast on a few more. I'm a bit ashamed of myself, so a change is in order. Until I get this WIP problem resolved, I am only allowing myself to actively work on 2 projects at a time. Of course, right now the first priority is completing the Mermaid jacket. The second project I have chosen to work on is knitfitt's nonmitts.

Knitfitt is my Ravelry Mitten Exchange pal, and since I want her to see (sorta) what she'll be getting, I'll be blogging about my progress. I'm only showing the "palm" side of them though, so she'll still be surprised when she gets her package. I am so in love with this pattern, and even more so with the yarn. I chose RYC Cashsoft since it contains cashmere. Knitfitt mentioned that she liked cashmere as a joke, but I do aim to please :o)

I do believe that I will make myself a pair of these in the same yarn this year.

I've altered the pattern just a smidge. I didn't like the way the pattern instructed knitting only a hem for the back of the hand side, and chose to do a picot hem instead. I think this will be just the right touch to go with the pattern stitch.



I wonder how long it will take me to whittle down that WIP list so I can cast on something new?