Boo!
The witching hour is upon us.
Look, it's my daughter's pirate pumpkin.
The moons must have lined up mysteriously. See what it made me do ... that, my friend, is the beginning of my son's mitten (a first for me).
I will leave you with a rare picture of Jasmine, Buzz Lightyear and Moi in my Hourglass Sweater.
With Branching Out out of the way, I just wanted to show you where I am with the other projects.
I picked up the Child's Placket Sweater on Friday and knitted up one sleeve. I did the 2nd sleeve today.
The last time I worked on Molly was last weekend. I finished off the left front. I had to take a break from it. And of course, Branching Out was distracting me. Boy do I already dread having to seam those sleeves.
I missed knitting this week (too busy with kid's school projects and homework). I felt like I was in a rot because I kept seeing my WIPs and had no sense of accomplishment in sight. Earlier today I picked up Branching Out which was at 16 repeats. I sat down and planned to do a couple of pattern repeats. There's something about lace that kept pushing me to continue knitting (just one more pattern). I got so engrossed in it that I ended up finishing it (all 27 repeats).
It still needs to be blocked but here it is ...
I guess there are several reasons why I taught myself how to knit.
1) There's this obnoxious officemate who said "knitting is so easy, if you can manipulate 1 and 0s in your programs then I don't understand why you don't know how to knit".
2) It keeps my hands out of the potato chips.
3) I was so frustrated last winter when I could not find any mittens for my Little Man. His poor wrists were freezing in the snow everytime those oversized mittens slipped off.
Of course, reason #1 really set me off. So off I was to Michael's to get myself a Learn to Knit kit. The kit was for a scarf and hat. I finished the (garter/stockinette/ribbed) scarf but never did the hat. Reason #2 really works as it gets me out of the kitchen and I don't want crumbs on my projects. Just keep those fingers busy and the chips stay in the pantry.
I think now I'm coming close to full circle by finally attempting to knit mittens. I joined Peaceful Palms KAL yesterday and just joined the Warm Hands KAL.
Of course, full circle means these mittens become FOs.
I was so excited to begin Branching Out that all other knitting projects were neglected. After 2 pattern repeats this is what I have to show. I have 25 more pattern repeats to go.
This is so addicting because you see the pattern revealing itself. Cables are probably the same way. I may need to start designating a night for each project so that they all get worked on.
I'm branching out into lace. I just joined the Branching Out KAL. I've been looking at this pattern since I discovered Knitty a few months ago. The cryptic pattern just terrified me and the chart did me no good. It doesn't help that I rarely wear scarves (even in the dead of winter). This will be a gift to my MIL. I had my hubby pick out the yarn for this project (it's his Mom after all). It will be the red Patons Merino pictured in the previous post.
I'm looking forward to learning something new with this project. I will cast on tonight. Send good knitting vibes!
My local craft store had a sale yesterday. I got the books and the yarn at 50% off. These are my only knitting books so far.
1. Ann Budd's "Knitters Handy Book of Sweater Patterns"
2. Nicky Epstein's "Knitting on the Edge"
3. Nancie Wiseman's "Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques"
4. Paton's Classic Wool Merino in red and white
The red yarn is for a MIL scarf for Christmas, the white is for Kool-Aid dyeing (something I've been wanting to try). I also picked up FC Holiday 2005 magazine.
A 25% off sale, some pretty pink yarn and a new project has been started. Not like I don't have enough going on. I've been promising my daughter some sort of sweater she can wear during her dance class. Well, I finally started Molly from Junior Knits this morning. I've been eyeing this pattern for quite some time and I finally got the courage to try knitting it.
I can't tell how far I am as she does not provide schematics (Oy!). I've knitted about 4" so I'm guessing I'm at 10%. 
1) Child's Placket Pullover is coming along. I'm about 4" into the body for the size 2-4.
2) Ribby Cardi - I've decided to make the 2x2x3x1 ribbing which is a lot of work but I'm liking what I see. The marker is located at 6" from the cast on edge so I'm probably about 8" into the body. You can see the ribbing details in this overexposed shot.
I started yet another project - this time it's for my almost 3 yo son. I've been wanting to do a raglan for him and since I've completed one (Hourglass sweater) I feel confident to do one for him. It's the Child's Placket Pullover which will be a stashbuster for me. I'm using LB Cotton-Ease in Pineapple.
I got a few rows in the Ribby Cardi - almost done with 1 ball (about 3"). I'm still debating whether I'll do the entire cardi in ribbing or make a flat panel front.
Hopefully with 2 projects going, when I get tired of 1 color I can switch to the other project. I'll let you know how this works out.
Finally, a picture of the elusive Bear. My 2 kids refer to him as "older brother".
Still high from the completion of my recent Sitcom Chic, I went ahead and started another big project. I am such a fan of Bonne Marie Burns especially after she helped me out on a freebie pattern of hers. I joined the Ribby Cardi KAL awhile back but could not decide on color combination. Finally, I decided to go with a solid cardi but will attempt to knit the body in one piece and do the sleeves in the round.
Here's my progress so far - about 2.5". This is going to be a slow knit.
Here she is ... Sitcom Chic. I stalled on this project a few times (sleeves and button bands). I got quite confused with the sleeves instructions so I emailed the designer, Bonne Marie Burns. To my surprise, I got a response back very quickly with some clarification. Talk about Customer Service (and this is a free pattern). Thanks Ms. Burns!!!
This project has a lot of firsts for me. I learned a lot! Let's mention a few:
1. Knitting sleeves in the round since I actually started this project before the Hourglass Sweater.
2. Now I know how to create eyelets.
3. Picking up stitches for button bands and collar.
All I need now is the perfect button.
