I went back into December (and Jan 1st-ish) and added the photos, so if you want to see some FO/WIP pics, feel free to check the December archives.

after a bit of procrastinating, I finally started my “Thing” (aka the sweater sampler from J. Fee’s book). After digging thru the box o’ misc. yarn received from ebay, I decided to use a bright pink yarn (it feels like acrylic) as my main yarn, with a light brown yarn (that is also unidentified at this point). It’s a very ebay project - the needles I’m using (Boye 16″ Size 8) were also won off ebay. The book (2nd ed. spiral bound), alas, was not won on ebay, but bought from overstock.com.

Like many others, I was unable to make the ends meet, and cast on 80 sts. I’m not a big fan of purling (I still haven’t sorted out my tension issues - maybe by the end of this…), so the garter beginning annoyed me a bit but actually looks ok. Stockinette was a breeze. I’m a few rows into the 1×1 ribbing section, and I have a few wonky stitches from not paying attention to my tension, so some of the knits are kind of loose. Hopefully that’ll get sorted by the end. I’d blame it on tinking (I accidently knit 2 in a row somewhere on the 2nd half), but it’s in the beginning of the round as well…

Day 1 Progress pic:

well, I finished Nakiska the other day, only to find out it’s too small for me, and my bind off edge is way too tight. so I’ve been un-binding it slowly, and then I’ll finish it and send it off to my sister - maybe it’ll fit one of my nieces! at which point I’ll measure it and add a few repeats in an attempt to get it to fit my head. (yes, I’ve learned I should swatch, but really, at that size, it’d probably take me just as long to make a swatch as it would to make the darn thing. for larger projects, I will definitley be swatching)

last night, on a bit of an impulse, I decided to detour a bit on my way home from dance class and stop in at the Three Kittens - luckily they were still open for about an hour. my gawd, the store is huge - I think I got lost a couple of times! well maybe it seems huge, I dunno. the yarn shelving is placed at various angles, etc, so there’s a few spots that dead-end. it just seems huge! and I found another sparkly mohair yarn that I’m contemplating. I think it’s called Paris something-or-other. and they had a sample sweater knitted up that felt really nice - if I read the tag right it was made with Gedifra? I may have to pursue that a bit and see if it’ll work for Mariah.

after procrastinating and missing out on the Knittyboard Secret Pals, I decided today to join SP4

got back today from the whirlwind visit to my parents for new year’s. (got back just in time too… while in Northern WI, about an hour or so from home, we started hitting snow/sleet/freezing rain stuff. after we got home, it hit pretty hard - looks nice and slippery outside).

the highlights:
* I knit almost continuously (there were food/photo/bingo breaks, but otherwise more or less non-stop) from about 2pm til just after midnight. I made 2 washcloths in the luvly red/white/green cotton I got a couple weeks ago as last minute gifts to accompany the soaps. (washcloth #1 was finished a while back and was in the pastel cotton yarn that Amelia’s scarf was made from). so yeah, 10 hours of knitting does not make for happy finger joints.
* I learned that my aunt used to knit (until the yarn or something irritated her hands too much). apparently, my grandmother also used to knit - my aunt remembers getting lots of cabled sweaters when she was younger. apparently my grandmother loved knitting cables. I don’t recall her knitting, so don’t know if she still works on it or not.
* my sister and her kids luved their scarves. I don’t think my sister’s came off after she got it. and everyone else complimented them as well. and my mom, aunt and gramma all loved their soaps and washcloths. and dad was quite pleased with his choc. chip cookies and non-pareils candies. and I’ve decided to knit him a hat or scarf for his upcoming birthday. now, to learn intarsia. =)

on the way home, I worked on Nakiska a bit more. I’m thru the 2nd repeat and have the half-repeat and finishing rows to go.

in other news, I joined the HP knitters ring today.