Hump Day

It's a slow moving Wednesday here. I am super sluggish.

Quick update on the Viking Bag:
Words cannot express how much I adore this pattern. It is one of the first projects I am close to shameless in pride over. Karen is brilliant and that center cable delights me.

My dear Mamma-san has now requested a hat to go with her scarf. It was a simple garter stitch, so you'd think 'no problem-o.' But, the yarn is all gone and was bought in Nova Scotia. Oh, and I've never made an actual completed hat before. Sigh.

Mom's RavGames scarf

Will add more info later. But here is Mom's RavGames scarf:



Isn't my mom cute?!?!?

Mom's Mystery...solved

Mom's Mystery Socks are no longer a mystery. Completed them today. She already has them on her feet and proclaimed the colors a perfect match for Mardi Gras. I will be changing the name on Ravelry soon.

Now, on to that blasted sweater!

And then there were slippers

Finished mamma-san's pocketbook slippers today. I showed some women at work and two asked for pairs! Maybe they aren't the ugliest things ever? I dunno. I am still fairly not in love with them. But hey, two quick and easy holiday gifts handled? That, I am a fan of!

And I do think it's kind of magical how this:


Stretches out to become this:


I elected to leave the flowers off. I pinned one on and it was too ridiculous for words.

It is a sock, afterall

Finished the First of Mom's Mystery Socks. Yahooey. I cast on the second toute de suite to avoid the dreaded SST.

I love/hate this yarn. On the one hand, it is insanely splitty. It unplies at the drop of a hat. It is slippery as all get out and pretty much refuses to stay on steel needles. Knitting is a b*tch when you're worried constantly about stitches slipping off the needles.

On the other hand, it appears to be treated with something (teflon maybe?) that makes it glide across my fingers. It feels great. I know the Lion Brand Sock-Ease is supposed to be treated with aloe and both feel good and have positive affects on the hand, but this stuff feels like it really might be. Also, once knitted up, it is buttery soft. Insanely soft. And once knit up, it gains some kind of wonderful elasticity. In the finished sock, it feels like my foot is being hugged by velvet. In a sock, it makes for a pretty happy foot.

Also, I love, love the colorway. I truly does represent the mardi gras colors richly and accurately.

It's beginning to look like a sock...

I've been hot to make mom another sock since that first crazy pair. When the ravelympics came up, it seemed like perfect timing. I was beyond thrilled to find a sock yarn in a colorway called "Mardi Gras." Must be kismet, right?

Here's the yarn:
It's Crystal Palace Cotton Panda. I bought in online from the Loopy Ewe.

Here's where I am thus far:
(i've entered the 'ick' - interesting that i suddenly felt the need to be blogging instead of knitting - hee hee)

I've struggled with the yarn. It has a strong tendency to come unplied whenever it wants. It's also slippery as all get out. I eventually decided I needed to switch off my beloved steel DPNs in favor of bamboo. Only problem? I'm missing one bamboo needle in the size I'm using. Solution? I'm using one floating steel with the four bamboo. It actually seems to be helping with my tension. Go figure.

Knitted up, this yarn feels buttery soft. So soft that I kind of love it.

The Ravelympics are ON, baby!

Finally, finally! Too busy to write much, but want to get photos up. So, random photos for now that I will make sense of at some point:

My first FO: little flowers for mom's slippers

They're wee, but they were my very first flowers and I kinda love them. Two went down in flames before I produced these three. They took an entirely embarrassing long time. I cannot knit. Why do I think I can? But they scored me a trip to the Ravelympics Podium. Yahooey! Even though they're tiny, they are done, thus FOs, thus I was awarded the new nifty avatar of BobicusMaximus himself.

And a medal:



How is this ever going to be a sweater in 17 days???




Okay, starting to look like a potential back of a sweater. But in 17 days? Still seems impossible...


For reasons unknown, I started on bamboo single pointed needles. Um, right after that photo was taken, I slapped myself hard on the head and switched to the nice Addi turbo circulars. duh.

There is one pocketbook slipper:



I do not love this slipper. I don't love it a lot. A whole lot. My lack of love for this slipper may be boundless. No offense to the designer (actually, I think there are two) but this is not a project I find aesthetically pleasing. At. All. It looks cute as all get out when all folded up earning its name. However, when stretched on the foot? Ummm...as I said, I don't love this a lot.

No photos of sock yet. Gotta get back to knitting (and the boards).