Works-in-progress update

Much knitting has been accomplished of late! Since I was at K's for the holiday, my travel projects got some time in. These are usually small, light, and portable stuff--a la lecture knitting--but they don't need to be so simple. Hence, Travelling Roses got some attention paid to it. I'm really liking the pattern so far--it's well-designed, and it looks nice even in the rumpled pre-blocking state. Even better, the repeat is really long (44 rows), so it never gets boring or repetitive to knit, and there are only 13 repeats. Excellent for the knitter with a short attention span. (I love how in the picture you can see errant dog hairs clinging to the scarf. Everything I knit has an unusual fiber content.)

I also did some work on the toe-up Regia socks. After working my way up the foot, I used the short row heel from Wendy Johnson's Generic Toe-Up Sock Pattern. It looks fine, but I think I'll try something new when I knit another pair of toe-up socks. I find the wraps kind of irritating to work with. This is a good lecture-knitting-type project. I can work on it in the car or on the phone or in the dark. And the stripes happen like magic! (Have I mentioned how fascinating I find the self-striping yarn? Once or twice, perhaps?) I do like the toe-up method, too--I may knit all my basic socks toe-up from now on. If nothing else, you cast on fewer stitches, which appeals to those of us who hate casting on.

Since finishing my last big project at home, I've begun work on these. You guessed it--another pair of North Star Mittens, same yarn as before. Since the last effort resulted in mittens a little too big for me, I'm knitting them in the smallest size this time. It's working fine so far . . . It's amazing how using all this very lightweight yarn changes one's perspective. The first time I knit socks in actual fingering-weight yarn, I spent the whole time thinking "this is sooooo sloooooow . . ." Now, after spending all my time with the Regia and the Diana, the DK Cashsoft seems huge. If I ever knit something in worsted weight again, I'll probably be shocked at how quickly it goes.

Having launched myself well into Travelling Roses, I'm already looking ahead to my next lace project. There are so many patterns out there, free or not, and they're all so gorgeous. I'm thinking another scarf or two, to earn my lace credentials, and then something bigger, maybe an Anne Hanson shawl. Now THAT would be a challenge . . .

On another note, I finally figured out how to turn off the flash on my camera. Hooray!