Some adorableness to distract us

I'm joining some KALs (Kidsilk and A Sweater a Month, so far) and found this pattern when exploring what various members have been up to.

Ruby Slippers for the wee set - how adorable! The first pic in the entry is hysterical.

I'm thinking about a cowl/hood/smoke ring thing for my new skein of KSH. I'm on the hunt for a good lace pattern that will work in the round, stretch my abilities a little, but not make me crazy. Any ideas?

Spenser's still missing

That's our pup, Spenser. If you've seen him, please get in touch with us or contact Gloucester Animal Control. Thanks.

P.S. Knitting content: I drove by Woolcott & Co. yesterday on my way to pick up Isobel, and there was a parking space RIGHT in front. Since I had a few minutes, I bought a skein of Kidsilk Haze in Candy Girl. No idea what I'll do with it, but it was just too luscious and cheery to pass up.

DELAY: IMOnday: Yarns in the Farms, Beverly Farms, Massachusetts

I'm sorry to have to delay my review of my (tipping my hand, here) favorite yarn store, but Spenser, our sweet, gorgeous, but not terribly bright English Setter, ran off from the dogwalker yesterday during an off-leash stroll at the Goose Cove Reservoir, and we're still looking for him. Please keep him in your thoughts, as it was 13º last night in Gloucester.

I'll try to do the review later this week, since I even have pictures of the shop.

Weekend knitting

One muppet head down, three to go. The first one is a Fun Fur rainbow colorway. I've got purple, pink, and a crazy Moda Dea fun fur and loopy double-strand in the wings. If you're interested in participating and need yarn, A.C. Moore is having a fun fur sale this week.

I also finished a cabled footie from One Skein in bright pink Cascade 220 Superwash. The other one is cast on but I've only had a chance to do one repeat. I think they might be a little big, but that's probably OK. Think I might be able to make a pair for Peter out of a more manly color.

Done and done

I cast off Grandma's shawl last night. That Marmalade colorway is soooo luscious. And then I washed it with some lavender Eucalan. I like the Kookabura wash but am such a lavender girl. The best thing (at the end of a project, anyway) about Kidsilk Haze is how quickly it dries. By this morning the shawl was ready to curl up in. I'm going to send it to Grandma on Monday. Maybe I'll even get a picture before it goes.

What next? I stopped by Windsor Button (watch for a review next month) yesterday and picked up some Cascade 220 Superwash for a pair of the cabled footies from One Skein, as well as a couple of skeins of Fun Fur for Kate's Chemo Caps. Then I have yarn for Fetchings, a hat for Peter, and a sweater for Isobel, amongst many other skeins, of course.

But have you seen these cable purses? Very nice.

...

I started a fun fur hat and a cabled footie. We'll see how long it takes to complete them. Needles on fire!

So close!

Just a few more rows for Grandma's shawl, and then I'll have to send it out to Illinois. Three skeins of Kidsilk Haze on your lap is so amazing. And I have another three in a taupey colorway that are waiting for the right pattern, perhaps Wing o' the Moth.

Confession: I ordered some yarn in my first group buy from 100purewool. Very exciting! I chose some bulky Corriedale for a hat project (Undyed, Springtime, Ocean, Rosado, and mmmmmmm Celeste - that last one might be for me), a skein of the merino laceweight in blue knots (now that Handpaintedyarn no longer seems to offer their laceweight merino) for some sort of shawl, some of the worsted merino in Sky for a sweater for me (top-down raglan, I think, with ribs, perhaps), and a couple of skeins of the worsted in Pasionaria for a Minisweater.

Luckily, all that will take a while to get here so I can work on some stash busting: Fetchings for me, a ribbed hat for Peter, and a sweater for Isobel, I think. Then there is that Hourglass Sweater in Schaeffer yarn to think about. And the Slouchy Cardigan from Greetings from Knit Cafe in ??? What yarn? They used Twisted Sisters Alpaca, I think. Maybe Blue Sky Alpacas Alpaca & Silk? I heart that yarn.

Oy, I still have all that boucle calling out to be a sweater, but I'm going to have to write up a pattern and do schematics and measure for that one. I should figure it out though and get started.

Did you catch that? My knitting book diet was blown. I bought Greetings from Knit Cafe after talking about the Slouchy Cardi with a friend. And there are a couple of other things in there worth making: the Alpaca & Silk Beret, that lacy mohair shawl, and a few others I'm spacing on. It's a nice book

Fin

The sweater was dry enough to wear yesterday, so I closed it up with a vintage sparkler from my great aunt and went to work and Knit Night in my creation. I'm very pleased with how the sweater turned out, though I still need to figure out a permanent closure solution, as the pin had pulled on the points of the sweater by the end of the day.

Knit Night was fun, and I finished my second square for the blankie - as mentioned earlier it was a Van Dyke lace pattern that looked like little hearts. Just a little twinge after knitting with the cotton again. I think it might be a summertime fiber for me. Man, I'm getting old.

Have you seen the preview for the new Interweave Knits? I think I'll buy this issue! Socks from Eunny and Grumperina, some great-looking sweaters from Stephanie Japel (Glampyre), Kate Gilbert, and a beautiful shrug from Pam Allen. Where to start?!?

I'm wearing a long-sleeved shrug I knit up over the holiday break today, but I think it needs alteration. It's basically two rectangles (well, I did increases every so often). Each is one skein (165 yds) of Handpaintedyarn's Merino Bulky (six-ply). I kept the stitches live at the end of the first one and then Kitchener Stitched it to the second (good practice). Some ribbing at the cuffs, and I seamed up from each end about 15". Easy, peasy. But it does this bulgy thing around my shoulder blades. I'm thinking of picking up and knitting a ribbed collar/hem around the opening, since I have another skein of yarn. Oh, I really like the colorway (Paris Rose), though they don't seem to have it in stock any more.

I'll write up a shrug recipe when I figure out what more needs to be done on this one. They're dead easy and can be done a few different ways (knit a big rectangle and sew up from either end to make sleeves, knit in the round and then flat and then in the round again, Kitchener two rectangles together or do a three-needle bindoff).

P.S. Jill (and anyone else looking for help on installing a sweater in your cardi), check out Bonne Marie's zipper tutorial!