Long Lost Wip

So here she is! An aran sweater I was working on in college...almost 20 years ago. It's so funny that I found this, because I had completely forgotten about it, but have been really recently wanting to make an aran sweater and was starting to look for patterns. I also didn't realize how much I had gotten done on it. It's been so long that I can't remember why I stopped working on it. And sadly, where the last skein of yarn went that I would need to finish it!!! I have this dim thought/memory(?) that maybe, after not having worked on the sweater for a long time, and needing yarn for a project with some kidlets, I just used that. Much lack of foresight, alas.

I originally used Lion Brand Yarn - Debyshire which is a 3ply baby and sport yarn ( I have the label from the partial skein I have remaining). Of course they no longer have that but I emailed to see if they could maybe recommend a good substitute. It may be a longshot, but it's such a beautiful sweater, it's worth a shot. I figure I have enough to finish the front which is good. Then maybe I could find something really close to do the sleeves.

WIPs

Yesterday we headed down to my sister-in law's for a birthday/goodbye get-together for my nephew who is turning 22 and is enlisting in the Army (providing he passes the physical - bad shoulder may keep him out).

I brought along the Noro Kureyon to start my third block for Lizard Ridge. I think I like this color scheme the best so far. All of them have been beautiful. This one, with the purples/blues is really my fave. Took it with me tonight to a meeting and worked in another ridge. The hardest part is counting the short rows and trying to hold up my end of the conversation at the same time. Luckily the short rows are only done on row 4 and 10 of this 12 row pattern. The rest is stockinette.

I was going to post a picture tonight, but it's taking forever for it to upload and my eyes are starting to cross, so...tomorrow.

And, coming soon to a blog near you...this one, in fact...a picture of my oldest living WIP, (re)discovered just two days ago while searching for stuffing for pillows the kids are making. I knew the stuffing was hiding in the trunk in the livingroom upon which the hu-normous (6yo ds's term) tv rests. What I didn't remember was all the other unfinished gems and not-so-gems (no wonder they're unfinished!) that were patiently waiting in there to see the light of day!

Stay tuned...

This is what I bought the size 10 dp needles for. Well, this is the swatch for what I bought the needles for really. My first felted knitting. I got Felted Knits from the library and I'm going to use this beautiful orange merino
from my stash to make a pair of felted mittens for myself.

This swatch is my first time felting knitting and it's the coolest thing. I'm so funny, everytime I spot this swatch laying somewhere, I just have to pick it up, touch it and marvel at it. It started as this loose piece of knitting, and now it's this thick, soft piece of fabric! And I did it myself!

There's a bag in there and some slippers I want to do too. Ah, so many projects, so little time!

This is what a Saturday trip to the LYS produced. Yummies! Two balls of Noro Kureyon , #164 (the green/grey, etc) and #139(pinks/purples/greens, etc) and #10 dp needles.

As you can see I couldn't resist starting a hat with the #164. One time when i stopped in at the store over the holidays, one woman was knitting this hat, andalso had a finished one there with her. I asked about it, and one of the YS folks said it wasn't a printed thing, just something going around by word of mouth, so she wrote it down for me. Oh, my excitement at a new treasure to try!

I'm definitely on a knitting bender right now :). I keep thinking, yeah but will i still be knitting come summer, or will I stop again like last year? Who knows? I'm having fun now!

I'll have to take some more pictures later today to show you what I've got on the sticks right now.

We're going skating today over in Saugerties with our homeschool group. A bit of a trip, but it's worth it to get together with our friends. Our regular meeting place is being renovated right now, in fact since last spring, so we've been planning weekly field trips and get-togethers other places. A couple weeks ago, we went up to Schenectady one day to see the Golden Dragon Acrobats perform. Amazing, amazing, amazing...and breathtaking! Wow! If you ever get a chance to see them, or something like them, definitely go!

Lizard Ridge

So! She said,( as if picking up where she'd left off the conversation, even though it's been a LOOOOng time since I've blogged here).

So...a few knitting resolutions that I made back in November:

1. It's okay to work on several projects at once. I used to think I should stick to one at a time, but then I'd get bored and abandon it after a while. Then the whole guilt thing, you know. This way, I can switch from one to another whenever I want. Also, it doesn't seem like such a long wait to do projects I really want to.

2. I only want to work on things that I really love, things that really give me pleasure to be working on.

3. Buy more yarn, buy (and borrow) more books.


This is my first two blocks of Lizard Ridge, from the Fall '06 issue of knitty (www.knitty.com) . The top one is #165, the bottom is #154. After I took this pic last night, I finished up the #154.

When I started this at Christmastime (Santa left my first ball in my stocking), I figured I'd take my time, just doing a patch every now and then, but I've got the Lizard Ridge bug. I'm already thinking about when I can get my next ball (read "fix"!). I'm hoping to do 24 different squares.