I finished this several days ago (last Friday) and I forgot to update…

Super cute, eh?  The Wonderful Wallaby is my new addiction, bumping the EZ Baby Surprise Jacket to the side (for now).

So, what’s on my needles?  Another Wallaby Sweater (in pink!), a pair of 2-at-a-time socks, and a pair of fair isle mittens (no picture yet).  Plus some Christmas gifts.  There just aren’t enough hours in the day!

Where is this year going!?  It somehow seems apropos that I’m finishing up my Charlie Brown sweater during the month of October, because the first thing I think of when I think of the Peanuts is: “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!”

I’m pretty proud of this particular project, because it marks my first real sweater I’ve ever knit (even if it is only 6-year-old size).  I’ve completed a couple Baby Surprise Jackets, but I don’t consider those to be “real” sweaters because they’re a flat piece of knitting with clever increases and decreases that just so happens to fold-up into a sweater.

This… is a REAL sweater.  And It’s almost done!

I can’t claim credit for the idea of this sweater, however.  My friend Pam asked me one day about figuring out how to make a Charlie Brown sweater as a gift.  I’m by no means a designer, but I thought it couldn’t really be that difficult to take a basic plain sweater pattern and add a fair isle zig-zag wrapping around the body.

And sure enough, it wasn’t!  The sweater is knitted in the round, bottom-up.  I’ve finished the entire body of the sweater and now I’m working on the first sleeve.  Once the sleeves are done, the last step will be to pick up around the neckline and knit a ribbed edge.

And, as a little teaser, here’s the next bit I’m working on…

An entrelac scarf!

I’m basing it on this pattern, though I have some modifications in mind.  The yarn is Knit One, Crochet Too Paint Box in the Caribbean colorway.

This is really, really fun to knit.  I’d attempted entrelac once in the past by casting on the Garterlac Dish Cloth, and I just wound up frustrated and confused.  It’s no reflection on the pattern of course.  I think I just wasn’t ready to attempt something like entrelac at that time.  Now it has finally “clicked” and I’m enjoying the heck out of it.  I believe we’ll be doing this as a class at the knit shop, so hopefully others will have as much fun with it as I am.

More Baby Surprise Jackets!  They’re coming out my ears at this point…

Or at least, it seems like they are.  I had my first BSJ class this past Sunday and I have another one on September 21st.  I think (and hope!) the class went pretty well.  I can’t wait to see how all my students’ sweaters turn out.  That’s part of the fun with this pattern — they all turn out so differently based on the yarn and striping pattern that a person chooses.  It’s so much fun!

Now that my prep and samples for the BSJ class are done, I’ve been focusing on Christmas knitting.  I have a huge list of things I’m hoping to knit for Christmas gifts.  I’m not sure that I’ll finish them all, but I’m trying to start early so that I stand a fairly good chance of doing so.

One gift that I started is the Yarn Harlot’s One Row Handspun Scarf.  It’s a fantastic pattern, so quick and easy to memorize!  I’m knitting it with some handspun corriedale from Sakina Needles that I finished a couple months back.

I’m also making an Amanda Hat to match this scarf.  The hat is made from yellow Malabrigo worsted, and in parts I held it together with a single-ply of the handspun to tie the colors together.

I’m also knitting up Violet Green’s Wavy Lace Scarf using some Jojoland Melody sock yarn.  I added one more pattern repeat (an extra 18 sts) to the pattern to make it a bit wider.  It’s turning out really, really pretty.  The subtle variation in color is really what makes it, I think.

Again, this is a wonderfully simple pattern.  Originally I’d thought about doing something more complex and lacy but I knew if I hoped to have it done (along with all my other knitted gifts) in time for Christmas, I had to pick something a bit less difficult.  I’m not good at lace.  This still looks gorgeous but it’s easy to memorize the pattern.  It’s become my “lunchtime project” at work and lives in my bottom desk drawer.  I can’t wait to see it all finished and blocked.

Lastly, I wanted to mention, I have a new custom layout for this blog about 80% done.  I’ve got a lot of freelance webdesign stuff going on right now, so I’m not sure when I’ll finish it — but hopefully soon!  So look for that. 

As promised, here’s an updated picture of my progress on the St. Louis socks.  I’m so loving the Socks that Rock Lightweight yarn!

Pattern: St. Louis Socks by Wendy Johnson
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Lightweight in “Pondscum”

In case you’re wondering, my “On the Needles” list (in the sidebar) grew today because I decided to force myself to gather up all my unfinished projects to start working through them.  I like having several projects going at once, but right now I have so many that it’s just ridiculous.  It’s overloading my mental-RAM.  Hopefully I can finish a few of the UFOs and then I can start my Christmas-knitting.

Last night I finished up my drop-stitch scarf, which was my oldest UFO (cast on back in January).  I just need to weave in the ends and wash/block it and it will be totally done.  (I’ll post pics soon.)  Tonight I think I’m going to tackle my Bombshell sweater and/or my Lunchtime @ Work socks, which are all but finished.  If I get those two things done, I’ll feel much better.  (*Ahem* Well, those and Nick’s socks, which he’s been buggin’ me about for quite some time…)

OH!  Check out my new Fiberspheres!  Nifty, eh?  These have become kind of a running joke at my LYS — “pink balls”! — but seriously, they’re a great tool.

I’m not sure if they show this on the website, but if you get two of them, you can either use them individually or hook them together, which is great for knitting socks two-at-a-time or for knitting projects where you’re holding two yarns together.

Finally, I’ll leave you today with an updated picture of my yarn and fiber/roving stash, which I recently reorganized.  If you’re especially curious, I labeled what everything is on the photo’s Flickr page.

So what did everyone do for WWKIP Day?  I’d planned to go to the event being held in Centennial Park in downtown Nashville, but when I got up and saw how dreary it looked outside, I just didn’t feel like going.  My local yarn shop came up with a great alternative though: we all got together at 9 a.m. at our local Barnes and Noble to knit together.

Starbuck’s coffee, lots of books and knitting?  Count me in!  There were also door prizes involved, and I won one!  I got a nice tote bag (I think it’s from SWTC), a Starbucks gift card (woo!), and a cute nail file that has the Neighborhood Knit Shop’s logo on it.  It was fun to get out and knit someplace outside my house or the knit shop, and I hope to get the opportunity to do it more often.

After the morning WWKIP event, I went home and checked on the animals and did a little house work… Friday night I had come home to a flooded apartment.  Water had come in under our font door and soaked our throw-rugs and carpeting around there, and it had also come up through a foundation leak that’s apparently somewhere between the kitchen and utility room.  The kitchen actually had standing water and there were soaked towels and laundry in our utility room because I’d left them on the floor when I was sorting laundry.  Ugh!  So needless to say I had a mess on my hands and worked quite a bit on Friday and Saturday to get things back to normal.  The joys of apartment-living, I tell you.  At least they have to pay to fix it.

Anyway, I went back to the knit shop after lunch time and spent most of the afternoon there visiting with my friends and knitting.

I’ve been working diligently on my Clapotis…

Pattern: Clapotis by Kate Gilbert
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in “Emerald”
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See?  I took it up onto the plaza to photograph it by the fountain during my lunch hour today.  I’m fairly certain I probably scared a few tourists.  (”Why is the crazy lady over there taking pictures of her knitting?” … “Why is the crazy lady knitting heavy wool in 90-degree heat?” …)

I’ve gotten to drop the stitches on two rows so far.  I love watching it unravel down, down, down.  Unfortunately, my one and only complaint about the Malabrigo: it sticks to itself.  So sometimes you have to help the stitches drop.  That’s also why my skein is rolled into a regular ball rather than a center-pull.  When I had it in a center pull ball, it kept sticking and getting tangled.  I think when I join the next skein, I may roll it into a center-pull ball, but pull the working yarn from the outside rather than the middle.

I’m also knitting socks, as always.  I’m finishing up a couple pairs before Summer of Socks ‘08 begins.

I still have a pair of socks for my husband on the needles…

Pattern: 7 Stitches Per Inch Sock by Ann Budd (from Getting Started Knitting Socks)
Yarn: Rio de la Plata in “Teal Black Too”
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I’m discovering that plain stockinette socks really don’t hold my interest as much as they used to, despite using interesting yarns to try and compensate.  So I’m really suffering to finish these.  Not to mention that the husband has BIG feet, so I still have lots of knitting ahead of me.  ::sigh::

My Swirls socks have been getting more attention because it’s a really fun pattern to knit up: challenging enough to keep my attention, but not so challenging that it becomes frustrating.

Pattern: Swirls by Monica Jines
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Sockittome in “Wind in the Willows”
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These socks (pattern and yarn) were from the first month’s shipment of the Loopy Ewe sock club.  I’m finally finishing them up!

And speaking of sock clubs… I managed to finally get signed up for Yarn Pirate’s Booty Club!  I’m psyched.  I’ve always missed sign ups in the past.

I’ve also been lusting after some of the new(-ish) colorways from Blue Moon Fiber Arts.  Specifically I’m eyeballing Kaw Kaw and Grimm’s Willow-Wren.

But ya know… all I need right now is more sock yarn.  ::ahem::

I’m rather behind in reporting this, but I’ve been “assassinated” in Sock Wars.  But “dying” has never been so good.  Take a look at the beautiful socks I received:

This is my first pair of socks knitted from TOFUtsies and they feel fantastic on my feet.  I may have to knit another pair for myself at some point.

I’ve been working on knitting my socks from the first (March) shipment from The Loopy Ewe sock club.  The yarn is Cherry Tree Hill and the pattern is called “Swirls” by Monica Jines.

One down, one to go.  They’re quite lovely!  I’m saving the second shipment (which included Wollmeise!) for Summer of Socks, which begins June 21st.

To be honest, I’ve been neglecting my knitting somewhat.  I’ve been spinning instead.  I’m finding that when I don’t spin for a few days, I really miss it.

I just finished spinning 8 ounces of Sakina Needles corriedale (in “Yellow Peony of Arkansas”) this morning.  I have it divided on two bobbins to be plied together tonight or tomorrow.

I also got my first shipment from CJ Kopec Creations‘ fiber club earlier in the week.  Take a look — isn’t it fantastic?

It’s a 2/3 merino, 1/3 colonial blend.  I love the rich jewel tones.  To be honest, I just plain love all of Coby’s fiber.  If you’re a spinner and haven’t ordered from her, you need to go to her Etsy shop and place an order now!  I could seriously spend my entire paycheck in her shop.  Not to mention, Coby is one of the nicest people you’d ever want to meet.

My fiber stash is slowly growing, but thankfully unlike my sock yarn stash, it hasn’t yet started growing far beyond the speed that I can use it.  I feel like I’m keeping up pretty well.  Then again, that may not be the case for long.

In addition to the fibers I’ve already mentioned, I also got some Sanguine Gryphon roving (Sheri from The Loopy Ewe was the enabler in that case) the other day.  It’s a merino/silk blend, which should be interesting to spin.  AND I just ordered an entire pound of Dark Bluefaced Leister wool from Hello Yarn.  Take a look(link) - isn’t it absolutely beautiful?

I guess I’d better get back to my spinning (and knitting)…

This, my friends, is what happens when knitters destash…

No, *I* wasn’t the one doing the destashing.  I barely have a stash by the standards of most knitters.  (My sock yarn stash is mildly impressive and I have a weird affinity for dishcloth cotton, but I’m lacking in everything else.)  No these are the treasures I added to my stash after a friend of mine decided that she needed to clean out some of her yarn.  She had three garbage bags full.  I only took one of the three, and I already have no idea where I’ll put it all!  Not that it matters, I’ll find some place!  I did have a heck of a good time dumping it all out in the middle of our living room floor (while my husband was still at work of course) to sort through it.

I managed to fit it all into one storage tub.  That storage tub is sitting in the middle of the floor in my office/craft room though.  I really need to clean out the closet in that room so that I can store tubs-o-yarn in there.

I’ve really been on an anti-sock-kick lately.  I know.  My friends at The Neighborhood Knit Shop were concerned I might be ill.  No need to fear, nothing is wrong!  I’m sure I’ll be back to knitting socks in no time.  I’ve just been in the mood to knit other things lately.

I knitted up a Ballband dishcloth the other night.  I’ve been meaning to knit one for a long time.  It’s such a fun, clever pattern.  I want to make some more and mod them to be Swiffer-covers.  I think that is such a clever idea — saves money and they’re washable/reusable so you’re not tossing more junk into landfills.

I also started knitting up Deb’s Hug Me Shrug.  It’s this fun shawl/shrug pattern that wraps around your shoulders and loops through itself in the front so that it “hugs” you.  It’s another one of those things I’ve been meaning to knit for quite a while.  I finally bought the pattern last week and started knitting it on Saturday.  It goes so fast!

I’m using Schaefer Sandra yarn in the “Jeanette Rankin” colorway.  I’ve had this yarn (4 skeins worth!) in my stash for quite a while.  I really struggled with finding a good pattern to use it with, but the “Hug Me” is absolutely perfect.  I think I’m going to bring it to work and keep it in my cubicle to wrap around me when I get a chill.  (Which is often, our office is usually COLD!)

I’m hoping to finish the Hug Me later this week, then I’m going to get back to my Bombshell sweater, I hope.  So much to knit, so little time!

Finally, I had to share with you my new little buddy, Little Loopy from The Loopy Ewe.  Ain’t he a cutie-pie?

I’m sending much love to Lantern Moon. The other day I posted about my Sox Stix needles snapping and chipping. I was pretty disappointed. Well, earlier today, I got a very nice e-mail from a representative from Lantern Moon, and they offered to replace my needles! I was so happy. I had no idea they stand behind their products like that, but I’m glad to know they do. So I’m going to give the Sox Stix another go (which I’m eager to do — they really are lovely needles!).

I’m also finally making some progress on my Baby Surprise Jacket:

Pattern: Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmerman
Yarn: T. M. Hunter Shetland 2-Ply Jumper in FC9 and FC21
Needles: US size 5 Knit Picks Options

When I first read the pattern, I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to figure it out. It’s written in a much different style than the patterns I’m used to; it’s almost in a paragraph-style format rather than being row-by-row directions. I’m not sure if this is representative of the time he pattern was written (1968) or of Elizabeth Zimmerman’s style (or both). Thankfully, the Baby Surprise Jacket group on Ravelry was extremely helpful in getting me started. Now I’m progressing quite confidently through the pattern.

I’m really thrilled at how it’s knitting up. I know I don’t have much done on it yet (20 rows) and that it’s only simple garter stitch, but when I look at it, I can’t help but feel like I’m finally earning some “knitting-cred” that will help me work my way to finally becoming a capital-K “Knitter”.

Nashville is supposed to be getting hit with a big snow storm tonight. According to the news, people are rushing to the grocery stores to stock up on bread and milk. Being a Yankee from the Great Lakes region, I’m quite accustomed to this sort of weather. So rather than rushing to the local Kroger, I stopped and picked up some real necessities:

Yummy sweet wines: Bully Hill and Stonehaus Winery (local). Yum! So I plan on snuggling in a warm blanket to knit and sip my wine. Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!!