I am a genius.

Not.

Ages and ages ago (by which I mean July, or perhaps August) I started on a pair of purple and green stripey mitts (yes, like blue and white ones) for a friend of mine who adores purple and lime green. I got the first one finished, all except the thumb, and about half of the second one, before children's theater and other madness intervened.

So then a couple of days ago I found the bag they were in, and was all, oh hey, I should finish these! And I was very careful to look at the thumb gusset and do them both the same, and to count how many rows I had above the thumb before the colorwork motif happened.

You see where this is going, right?

One of these things is not like the other . . .



Clever me, putting the wrist motif at the top there on the first one, and not bothering to check for the second.

Now, if I were making these for myself, I'd probably just leave it, because I'm not so much with the caring that things match, but I don't know how my friend feels about it. And anyway, I do like the 'wrist' motif a lot better. And I only have to pull out a few rows, and I knit 2-color stuff pretty fast, so it should take me all of 20 minutes to fix it.

I'm still pretty annoyed with myself.

a photographed item!

A hat! A Star Crossed Slouchy Beret, to be precise. I've wanted to make one of these forever, and lo, I needed to make a thank-you hat for a friend, so she's getting one.



I haven't blocked it out to slouchiness: I think it looks super cute the way it is, and I also think this sort of shape is more what's in this year. I admit to loving it so much that I might have to make one for myself, which would be ok since my friend and I do not live in the same state. :)

I hope she likes it as much as I do!

(Oh, and the knitting is finished on the Equinox shawl. Now I'm slogging my way through the crochet bind-off. Good God, it's taking forever. And the next chunk of Battlestar Galactica is not yet ready at the library! Aiee!)

almost there . . .

Battlestar Galactica has really helped with the grey shawl. I am now on the very last clue! Only six or so rows to go!

I am a little bit peeved that I got almost the whole way to the end before seriously screwing up--and since I wasn't about to rip out four rows of 300+ stitches, one of the motifs is not quite like the others anymore. This makes me cranky. No, what makes me cranky is that I couldn't figure out how to fix it. (The mess-up was of the dropped-stitch-in-a-decrease-section variety.) Usually I can fix anything, and this has made me cranky about my knitting skills.

Oh well. The shawl still looks pretty good, and I'm mostly enjoying Battlestar Galactica, though I could really do without all the prophecy crap. Particularly because when they mention the Arrow of Apollo and the Tomb of Athena, all I can think about is the flagon with the dragon and the brew that is true, and then I start wondering when Danny Kaye will show up and if he will be a Cylon, and that's a little bit awkward.

Anyway! I am looking forward to seeing how big the shawl will actually be--looks like not very, that's what I get for using 'laceweight'--and am also knitting a hat as a thank-you for a friend. It's fun! I haven't knit with big needles for a while. It goes so quickly!

updates . . .

1. Have not knit on my purple glove in well over a week. This is not a good sign. It needs fingers! And a mate!

2. Have taken apart a bright pink sweater that I don't wear anymore. Am trying to decide if I want to re-knit it into something similar that fits better, or to do something with stripes of bright green and black.

3. The Vernal Equinox Shawl is still in a big tangle of mess. I just have one more repeat to go on Clue #4, which is pleasant. I am very tired of Clue #4. I think it's going to be a great-looking shawl when finished, though. If I ever finish. Those rows are getting long! On the other hand, I've got season 1 of Battlestar Galactica waiting for me at the library, so perhaps I will get into it enough to sit around knitting a lot.

4. What I really need to be doing right now is not puttering about on the internet, but finishing my brother's Commemorative Romeo And Juliet Potholder. He's in his Very First Play Ever this weekend, AND he just bought a new house, so I'm combining housewares and a quote from his play. I'm also trying to felt it, which is why I really need to finish it so it has half a chance at drying overnight. And hopefully it will shrink down to a decent size in the washer. Otherwise I'll be making some sort of other Commemorative Potholder on the four-hour trip to his place. Oy.

grey tangle of mess

It's my Vernal Equinox Shawl! Check it out:



It may look like a big ol' scribble now, but all the finished ones I've seen pictures of are gorgeous. I do kind of wish that I had prettier yarn to make it out of (this is just an old unraveled grey sweater) but I'm sure it'll be nice just the same. And grey goes with most things, so I'll probably wear it a lot. If it ever gets finished. Let me tell you, Clue #4 is taking forever, mostly because I don't have any real lace needles. Stubby tips + double decreases = pain in the rear.

As for my glove, it has most of one finger finished! It's going to be quite nice. But, ha, looking at the pattern on Ravelry I discovered that there's actually an error in the chart (I admit I thought it was a little weird when I started, but I was like, oh well, whatever) but when I look at the glove, I like how it looks and there's really no problem. To my eyeballs, anyway.

(I'm also dithering over whether I want to make my mom a lace wrap or a sweater for Christmas. I need to decide soon, because whichever it is, there will be a lot of knitting involved.)

glove!

I have decided to go with 'glove' instead of 'sock.'



This picture is a couple of days old--I'm just about done with the thumb gusset, and then on to the hand and the fingers. I hope twisted rib fingers look ok, because I can't see suddenly getting all stockinette on things.

I guess I'll just have to find myself a three-quarter sleeve coat or jacket, now won't I?

sock or glove?

So I'm knitting away at yet another sock--amazing how unemployment catches you up on the ol' knitting--and I'm wondering if it should really be an elbow-length glove. WTF? What do I need an elbow-length glove for? I do not have a 3/4 sleeve coat or jacket with which to show them off. But they're very pretty, and it might be sad to just have them go on feet.

Naturally I have not taken a picture of the awesome, mostly since my computer has been on the blink, and corrupted files in iPhoto have been the problem, and even though it's supposedly all fixed, I don't even want to open that application right now. So I will just tell you that the yarn is Malabrigo sock in some kind of excellent purple-ness (I bought it last year, wound it into a ball, and promptly lost the tag, so yeah, beats me) and the pattern is Ripple Weave Socks, by Charlene Schurch.

If I didn't loathe doing this kind of stitch pattern so much (if I mess up, I can never tell how to put it right!) I would totally make myself a whole sweater in it, because I love love love the way it looks. Maybe someday if I hit the lottery and can afford a whole sweater's worth of some sort of purple Malabrigo sock, I will force myself to do that sweater. Because it would be sweet.

Um, so, do we think I should make gloves or socks? Socks would be easier, because I have a pattern (and there's an eye of partridge heel on the horizon!) but gloves might be super-awesome. And I don't think I own a decent pair of full-fingered gloves right now. Hmmm . . . but there's just something so satisfying about knitting a sock. I don't know what to do!