A yarn along!

Wow. It's been ... a long time.

Well. I have been knitting quite a lot these days. Mostly hats. (And painting. But that is for another post.)

Seedling and Lucy

Not pictured: a purple beret (this pattern) I already mailed off to a cousin, and a brown cloche-style hat (this pattern) for her sister who entered a Carmelite monastery last month and need "a brown woolen hat."


And I finished Michael's leaf blanket. I need to take proper pictures, but here is a quick shot of it in its natural habitat.

I went on the Steel Valley Yarn Crawl and managed to make it to all eleven shops (!!!), which is where I picked up yarn for the hats and a future shawl.

And now I have settled down to a Christmas stocking. I forgot what slow knitting this is--a huge sock with not-so-huge yarn. And I've made a mistake. I forgot to continue the pattern on the sole while doing the gusset increases ... I still haven't decided what to do about it. I tried knitting back on just those stitches, but discovered it to be well nigh impossible when dealing with the strands at the back. So it's either pull out five whole rows, or just move forward with a new "design element."

This is the first book I've read by Chaim Potok, at the recommendation of my *other* cousin (brother to the two mentioned above). I am really enjoying it. And in fact, it is making me think about visual art in a way that I love. A way that excites me rather than exhausting me. ;) (I asked my cousin if this was a read that required one to think. He responded with praise for the book. I don't think he understood the question, not being a mom of three whose brain space is limited. ;) )

Linking up with Ginny.

Knitting, crawling, leaves

Taking a break from scrubbing the kitchen floor to blog! It's been bugging me for a looong time, and we're having out-of-town company this weekend which finally gave me enough incentive to tackle it. :) 

This week is the Steel Valley Yarn Crawl. Do you remember those leaves I was knitting, and how I ran out of scraps for them? I decided that the yarn crawl would be a perfect time to buy yarn for Michael's leaf blanket--one skein at each store and I should be set for a while. 

What I didn't count on was how hard it is to build a color palette as you go ... especially if your first five colors came together randomly. Luckily fellow knitters are always ready with opinions about color. :) Here is the palette so far ... what do you think? 

About the green yarn on the far left ... I'm not sure if I want to use it for the blanket, or a Milo vest for one of the boys. It's a (non-super-wash) blend of merino, alpaca, and silk, which is not exactly the best for a blanket on a little boy's bed. 

I am thinking I want one more shade of blue--perhaps a little richer and deeper--maybe a brown, and then several more shades of green. 

Babies like to yarn crawl too! Taken by a friend. :)

(The baby that actually CAN crawl was there too, but he wasn't allowed on the floor. Except that one time I let him on the floor and he ate a tag and forced me to buy the skein of yarn it belonged to. Horrors.)

I'm a bit disappointed that I won't be able to make it to one of the stores. It's over an hour away, and a weekend daytrip is out because of our guest. Sigh. :( Maybe next year!

Linking up with Ginny.