Easter

It snowed. 

cold...

Milwaukee is too cold right now. I'm not intending to leave my house today, which should allow for a lot of knitting. I've been recently side tracked -- a friend of my sister talked me into knitting a tam and then my sister decided she needed one... Anyway, the green socks have been finished:

Mum is wintering her hibiscus plants in the dining room. She did this last year and swore never to do it again... Here are two of them; they look sweet and innocent in the winter sun light (some of the white in the background is snow...) but in reality, there are six of them and they're threatening to take over. The extent of this threat is evidenced by the removal of my humidifier from my room and its subsequent placement near the hibiscus.

Finally, a new sock. Since the textile exhibit at the Victoria and Albert Museum was closed when I visited, I spent a lot of time in the wrought iron section... The motif on this cuff is loosely based on a gate.

not again...

I ordered _Knitting Full- Fashioned Hosiery_ in the UL yesterday and it turned out to be about machine knitting: total disappointment. Therefore, as a pick-me-up, a trip to Sew Creative was necessary. Two balls of RY Classic Cashsoft 4ply later, the cotton sock had been told it was taking a vacation and this appeared on my needles. Tomorrow: London. Monday: home.

yet more socks

The monkeys have been finished:

I'll get a picture of them on their recipient sometime in the next couple of weeks.






New basic socks in elann.com esprit have somehow been started:

And, this morning, I ran into someone I knew as an undergraduate in the UL. This would be less surprising had my undergraduate degree not been done on another continent...

A finished jumper

I couldn't resist. In fact, I think I'm going to spend some time this afternoon curled up with Harrius Potter et Camera Secretorum... I saw the LOTR musical yesterday with someone I knew in Toronto. Comment on the musical I shall not, however the company was fabulous.









The first monkey is finished (and not blocked) and the second one has been started. I've just finished the second cuff repeat... Maybe I'll have a heel by mid afternoon.




And what's this? The knitting for my sister's Christmas present has been finished. It still has some seams that I've not sewn...but they'll get there. I've been to John Lewis this morning for pins and if I don't spend the afternoon knitting the second monkey, I'll seam and block.

I got a surprising amount of reading done on the train yesterday. I had forgotten how nice that can be -- when one isn't in a car full of screaming infants. I'm ahead of schedule for the self-inflicted-winter-break-reading-list and I think I'd like to stay that way.

Monkey Progress

First off, perhaps, I owe an apology to the weather. Since the snarkiness of my last post, I've seen a lot of blue sky and even some sun! (I reserve the right to snark about the angle of the sun later... and to resume weather related snarking should I ever have to go more than 2 days without seeing the sun again.)

My monkey is progressing quite well. I've turned the heel, worked the gusset and am well into the foot. I can see how many knitters have become so addicted to this pattern and am already contemplating a second pair.

Plans for winter break knitting are taking shape -- provided that I finish my sister's Christmas sweater before Christmas... If not, I think I may have to force myself into some fibre related penance. Like de-stashing. Nothining like an incentive to finish...
So:
1. Work on Kunegunde. I left her in the US and thus absolutely no progress has been made.
2. Attempt to dye self striping yarn.
3. Knit recently designed socks with said yarn.
4. Avoid starting the Tangled Yoke Cardigan from the Fall 07 Interweave Knits.
(Feel free to remind me that I hate knitting sweaters...)
5. Try to convince self that, since said cardi is knit with spot weight yarn, it won't be much different from knitting a few pairs of socks, order yarn, and cast on anyway.

New socks!

The rain has let up enough for me to go outside and photograph my latest socks. I'm certain that this is just some sort of ruse on the part of the weather -- something to lure me in to thinking that I can get to the library without getting wet. It'll start to rain again as soon as I forget my umbrella and walk out the door.
First up: finished Charade socks in knitpicks essential plum. I'm not sure why we have a laundry rack in our back yard, but it could be that I've misunderstood something and that one hangs one's laundry there to wash it rather than to dry it...
Up next, a close up shot of the same:

I got to be quite fond of this pattern and my only modifications resulted from misreading the instructions for the toe -- my toe is a bit longer than the pattern intended...










I have caved and cast on for a pair of Monkeys.
The wool is Lorna's Laces in Amethyst Stripe, that I had been hoarding since a trip to Knitch (Delafield, WI) with E. some months ago... The pattern is quite enjoyable but not really one I can work on whilst reading.