1.  The last couple of days I've realized that a case of the blahs has had me in its grip for part of April and most of May.  I didn't get a lot done, I was grumpy and grouchy, and it was hard to get started on anything.  My energy level was lower than it's been in years too.  We had very hot weather, which always gives me the blahs; we had cooler than normal weather too.  At any rate, this weekend everything started looking normal and rosy, I had energy to burn, I got things done and I'm happier for it.

2.  My knitting UFOs and other UFFOs have not gotten as badly out of control as I feared - yet!  Now that the blahs are gone, I'm feeling a serious case of startitis coming on.  As was pointed out in KnitTalk, startitis can be defined as Hatikah , which is Hebrew for Hope.  That's how I'm viewing startitis this time around.  I even started and finished the knitting on W from Knitty in May!

3.  I'm an introvert and I need quiet and solitude to recharge my batteries.  I know this, and yet there are times when I want to be social and life gives me chances to do things and be with people and my social batteries get completely drained.  (Interestingly enough, at least to me, the last time I did the Myers-Briggs assessment, my scores had changed a bit.  I'm still INFJ, but my scores in most areas are very close.  Only 2 points separate Extrovert and Introvert, Thinking and Feeling, and Judging and Perceiving.  Sensing and Intuition, however, are very clear and separated by 16 points.)

4.  Joan came over today and we spent some time on the back porch, knitting and chatting.  She checked out the raised beds, and says I need to post photos because they've grown a lot since she last saw them perhaps a month ago.  Noted, and I will do that this week.

5.  Back to UFOs: if you'd asked, I would have said there were at least 40 of them and probably more.  I counted and there are actually fewer than 30!  If I can get really busy this week, I might be able to get 4 or 5 more off the list!  The knitting is done and only finishing remains on them; in fact, Kenobi just needs to have the sleeves set in!  That would be really good!

6.  We've had our first salads from the garden already, and our first zucchini (Roly Poly or Eight Ball variety).  This week I'll need to pick Romano (Italian) beans, and snow peas (again).  Tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers are setting fruit, and the corn is almost 3 feet tall.  I still want to plant pumpkins and gourds, and there's still time for that.  

7.  This crop of lettuce and chard will be finished this week.  I'm going to replant that raised bed with New Zealand spinach, lettuce, carrots, radishes and herbs.  We will need to buy lettuces at the Farmer's Market for a few weeks, but that's OK.

8.  Going through yarn in the attic was a surprise in several ways.  I found yarn that I'd forgotten about (even though it's on my 14 page spreadsheet) and found enough of several yarns to make sweaters that just rose to the top of my list.  In fact, I found enough of 21 different yarns to make 1 sweater (West Side Raglan from Oat Couture) which may make it my next mindless commute and open mic project.  It's the sort of thing I wear for work year round, with slacks or skirts, with or without a jacket.  And it would be a great use for some of the "interesting" yarn I bought with no clear plan in mind.  The pattern is long sleeved, but short sleeves or 3/4 sleeves would be easy to do as well.   And it would certainly showcase the "interesting" yarn.

9.  I also found enough of the specified yarn (!) for several patterns just earmarked.  Based on a couple of blog entries by Bonne Marie Burns of ChicKnits, I revisited several issues of Vogue Knitting, from about 2001 to 2004.  What a treasure trove!  Not only was the Shirley Paden sweater Bonne Marie did on my list (but the turtleneck and pullover aspects had me convinced it would never work), but now I know how to convert it into something I'll actually wear.  There are several other wonderful sweaters in the 2 issues I chose to work with for now, and I'll highlight those in the next few entries.

10.  Notice the wonderful clips holding W together?  They're little hair clips from the Dollar Tree, 24 for a buck (I think that's right, it might be 48).  Whatever!  It's a lot cheaper than the special ones sold in knitting stores and catalogs.  I'm finally learning to embrace my inner thriftyness!  (I'd like to take credit for this, but Ann of SheepShots found and blogged this several months ago.)

Gold Mohair                                                            

Fronts and backs done to armhole start; I want to convert to set-in sleeves.

Serape Sweater

Left half complete, right half just started              

Wonderful Wallaby                                                   

Debbie Bliss pullover    

One sleeve done, 1 half done.  The body will be the easy part.

Angelina    

I love the yarn,  I love the pattern, but it seems like miles of ribbing to knit before  the interesting lace parts!                                                        

There are also 4 sweaters that are in various stages of finishing:

Sensational Shirttail

Pieces all complete and accounted for (since cleaning the closet this week).   Now  to block and assemble, and learn to crochet in order to complete! 

Kenobi

Completely knitted, already blocked, shoulder seams and 1 side seam mattress stitched.  What am I waiting for? 

Cable Eights

This has been completed and blocked for 2 summers now.   See above.  I need to learn to crochet to complete assembly. 

Shapely  T

I'm not happy with the sleeves, but the tank portion is great.  Modify the sleeves and get on with it already! 

Whew!  Documenting this is exhausting!  While I'm thinking of it, this weekend I'm going to add these to my Ravelry WIPs list.  Might as well track them somewhere. 

It's been a good and productive week.  Of course I didn't do everything on my list, and I did do things that weren't on the original list.  I also realized that I need to sssssssllllllllooooooooowwwwwwww ddddddddoooooooowwwwwwwnnnnnnnn.  The world will not come to an end if I write a letter instead of an email or if we sit outside and do nothing except listen to quiet music and crickets until it's too cold and the mosquitos start buzzing around.   More on this as I think it through.

  That's 3 hats and 3 pairs of mittens.  Also in the box will be 2 sweaters: a lovely Ralph  Lauren sweater bought for Mr. Ken and never worn and a lovely sweater I bought on sale, ignoring the fact that I look awful in light blue.  They're wool and I'm sure someone will appreciate them more than we do.

Inspired by Erica and others, I present photos of other knitting, nothing completely ready to wear: 

Multicolore

Kenobi

Cable Eights

Wire and stone or bead bracelets

What do all these things have in common? 

They’re finished, completely knitted, ready to be assembled.  Not yet stick-a-fork-in-it done, because they aren’t yet usable.  Some of it is pretty obvious.

Multicolore needs sewn-in sleeves, sewn side seams, buttons sewn on, and ribbon to cover the steek edges sewn in.  Maybe 4 hours work, although much of it needs to be uninterrupted by cats, as mattress stitch on black isn’t really my friend.

Kenobi needs all its seams sewn and a collar knitted.

Cable Eights has been waiting for 2 years for me to learn single crochet so I can crochet around the pieces as directed before sewing the seams.

I don’t even remember when I finished knitting the wire and stone bracelets – probably 3 or 4 years ago.  They need magnetic clasps, which have been stored with them for as long as the knitting has been done.

There are also assorted scarves and such just need ends woven in and perhaps blocking or steaming.

I’d love to be wearing / using / giving away all these items, and it wouldn’t take that long to get most of them done, complete, finished.  So – a challenge to myself: finish all these items in June.  I have 18 days, evenings really, and the only really difficult task may be learning single crochet.  Do you think I can do it?

The knitting for Kenobi is done, except for the collar which will be done after the shoulders are sewn together.  Here's a photo of the sleeves blocking: 

It's been interesting easing the extra fabric in all but the seed stitch sections to match the measurements.  I'm happy with the pieces, and am waiting for San Francisco summer weather so I can wear it.

Multicolore is stalled.  I've woven in all the ends, attached the fronts to the back and knitted the collar.  Still to be done: sew ribbon over the steek edges, sew on the buttons, sew in the sleeves, and sew the side seams. 

I've also finished the first brown striped sock using a new-to-me sock yarn.  No photos for some reason, perhaps because I am waiting for the second to be done.  That will happen faster if I actually cast it on, right?

I've pulled one UFO out to work on, and have completed the back:

This is the Shapely Tee from White Lies Designs.  I love the yarn, it's great BART knitting, and I'm into the 2nd skein on the front (the back took about 3 skeins).  I knit the sleeves last summer, but don't like the shaping changes I made, so will be redoing at least the tops of the sleeves.

I also started the Entrelac Bag from KnitPicks.  

  The other colors on this page are pretty much correct on my monitor but this is so wrong!  It's actually a very deep teal color, and I'm in love with the color and the yarn.  I've progressed since this photo, and am ready to start the first stripe sequence.

This is the first time I can remember having more than 1 project virtually complete - all the knitting done - at the same time, and making good progress on other projects at the same time.  Whether it's due to my decision to knit from my stash, or something else, it's making me really happy.  Whatever the reason, that's a good thing! 

I have several entries that need photos, and have (temporarily, I hope) misplaced the camera.  Proof of sleeves and other good things to follow. 

It rained while we were running errands Saturday, but mostly stopped when we were done and home.  Sunday was the kind of day we live here for: warmish, clear and beautiful.  Today is nice too, but tomorrow is supposed to be cloudy and cool.  This is February or March weather!

In knitting news, the fronts of Kenobi are finished and blocking.  See?

  As you may be able to tell, this does take agressive blocking due to the difference in gauge over seed stitch and stockinette.  This may make for an even more assymetic sweater than planned, but that should be fine.  I love the i-cord front edges!

I've started both sleeves, after juggling the numbers to make a sleeve that I'll like.  As designed, Kenobi's sleeves are too wide for me; I'd be dragging through my food or whatever.  I edited them to have closer fitting cuffs and a more extreme increase rate so the sleeve cap fits properly.

And for some reason it seems to be time for all the cats to try out the felted cat bed.  That's odd, because we've had it around for over a year, and it's been mostly ignored.  The cat it was made for crossed the rainbow bridge at least 18 months ago, but it's suddenly a hot property.

This is Maynard trying to fit into the cat bed:

And deciding to stretch out a bit more:

  Maynard's a big boy!

He weighs about 15 pounds, and he's not our largest cat.

On a serious note, my thoughts and prayers are with the everyone at Virginia Tech and in the surrounding area, and with the families and friends of those killed or injured today.  I remember how safe I always felt in college, and cannot imagine what it must be like to have that safety shattered.

The very agressively blocked back of Kenobi:

Gauge is measured over the moss stitch (in my case, seed stitch) and the reverse stockinette sections really want to sag.  I love the look so far, and am finishing the armhole shaping for the left front.  It knits up really fast, even in stash yarn.  The yarn is Crystal Palace Carnival, well aged, and it's making me wish I had more than I already do.  Confession time: I've been watching eBay just in case some Carnivale is suddenly listed.

The blocked fronts of the steeked Multicolore:

As soon as these are dry, I'll do the 3 needle bind-off on the shoulders, bind off the back neck stitches (the pattern doesn't, but I like more stability) and fiddle with the neckband until I get something I like.  It's so close now, but not close enough!

I gave myself a French manicure:

Love the look, but don't love the ones I get at a salon.  Those don't last more than a day or so before the chipping starts.  Mine will last close to a week, if past performance is an indicator.  It's a little fiddly, but not impossible at all.

Speaking of Knitting From Stash in 2007, this is the most fun ever for me with knitting.  It's oddly freeing to find a new pattern and know that I probably have yarn in stash with which to knit, and trusting myself and my knitting ability to make changes to the pattern, when necessary, to accomodate stash yarn.

My newest project on the needles is my take on Kenobi, from Knit1.  Not having the right alpaca yarn, nor enough of the alpaca yarn I do have, I was inspired to use a well-aged wool which really showcases (I think) the wide variety of knit and purl patterns used.

The yarn is Crystal Palace Carnival, which I love.  (That's good because I have more of it in other colors, and a Ribbing Is No Yoke sweater already knit of it.)  The color, at least on my monitor, is pretty true - a lovely pastel peach which really makes the patterns visible.  I've modified the length - 14.5 inches before the armhole decreases rather than 19 - because I'm short, because I know what length is most flattering on me, and because I have 10 skeins of yarn - 1110 yards.  I'm just getting ready to start the 3rd on the back, so I think I'm doing fine.  The sleeves will also be several inches shorter.  I've ripped this project once, when I had about 4" knit, because it was going to be too big.  It's been reknit in the 2nd size.

Multicolore has been steeked!  I was convinced by Nancy and others at the Tuesday knitters that I'd never be able to wear Multicolore in this climate as a pullover, so it's becoming a cardigan.  I've started the buttonhole band, but will need to rip and redo the button band, picking up fewer stitches.

This is my first steek, and I'm rather marveling at the fact that it works.

Finally, progress is being made (really) on the Waving Lace socks from Interweave Knits, Spring 2004 issue.  I've been working on them since the issue came out, and have had to rip the 2nd sock at least 3 times.  That pile of yarn is what remains of the last great rip out.  I did manage 4 rows without an error on Sunday, so there's hope!

And I have F'd some O's!

These are some of the fingerless mitts I've made.  The red ones are Brown Sheep Handpaint Originals in New England Fall, with a strand of some fingering-ish weight unidentified stash red wool.  The greenish ones (actually yellow) are a strand of yellow fingering Frog Tree alpaca and a strand of  Horstia Tweed. Both pair (and a couple more pair that I gave away) are from Wendy's free pattern.  The camel-y ones are, of course, a variation of Fetching from Knitty .  I didn't like the length or the way the cute edging curled, so I ripped it out and added ribbing.  The yarn is KnitPicks baby alpaca in Harvest Peach.  What a dream to knit - so soft and lush!  All mitt yarn is from stash, and there's more where these came from!

Just a note about our strange and wonderful weather.  Last week it was warm and beautiful - like Spring. It rained buckets yesterday, today it's cloudy and the wind is blowing!  We have gusts up to 40 mph, and that's always a worry: we have an old and large Eucalypus tree that loves to shed branches when the wind blows.  The last branch it shed was almost 10" in diameter; thank goodness it's at the back of the yard and not close to any houses.