ITE IV Bag Started!

Since I finished so many UFOs, this last weekend, I can start this one guilt free! (Well....almost =) ) My partner loves earth tones so I am using Lamb's Pride Worsted in Chocolate and Natural. I'm making Knitty's French Market Bag. As of this morning, I'm done with the increases for the bottom of the bag and only have 8 more rows to knit before switching colors! Its going quickly and the fabric is looking nice. I am thinking about making a muted pink rose and sage green leaves to accent the side of the bag, between the handles. I just have to see if I can find some yarn that will work in my stash, or maybe a friend might have a little yarn left over from another project that I could trade for. I don't want to buy an entire skein of each color, just to use a few yards off of each.

I pulled the second May Day sock off the sock blocker, last night, to take a picture, and what did I see, but the second one has one less repeat in the foot! I spent a few minutes frogging the toe and putting the needles back through the stitches. I'd love to finish it off tonight and then get the finished product posted to the Sockamania (& my own FO blog) tomorrow.

Lots of FOs!

This past weekend, we drove about 3 1/2 hours to spend some time camping with friends. We were out near Pateros, WA staying in the trailer. There was some work to be done, as the property owners (my friend C's parents) are getting ready to have their manufactured home brought in. I mostly walked about, going to find and retrieve things that were needed for everyone else to keep going...Things such as duct tape, beer and water, and so on...This gave me lots of knitting time. I finished so many projects this weekend!
On the way to Leavenworth to meet up with our friends, I finished the Lace Wing Scarf. (See the details here.) Since it was dark on our way from Leavenworth to Pateros, I worked on Green Gable for while. On Saturday I finished the second May Day Sock, and then went back to Green Gable, finishing on Sunday. After that, I turned to Snowmen and Skates, finishing up to the point where I needed to sew & then cut the steeks! After all this, I worked on the Luna Moth Shawl. I knit more than one skein of yarn into it, though I had to spend about 2 hours fixing some mistakes. When the pattern mirrors for the left side, I seem to have troubles remembering to change the pattern that I was knitting for the right side of the shawl. I do love it, though and expect to get much wear out of it. (I'm going to try to get more pictures up of my FOs later this week, maybe one a day? =) )

Finally, to answer a great question from Put a Sock In It:

"How do you decide which ones to work on? I only ever
have 3 or 4 on the needles, and I struggle!"

I, too, often struggle with this one...There are many different things that will get me to work on a specfic project: 1) if it is nearing a deadline (for gift knitting or KALs,) 2) if it is nearly done and I really want to have a FO, 3) small items are great for knitting on the road, 3) simple projects are great for either knitting on the road or knitting when I'm tired or there is little lighting (like in a movie theatre!) Sometimes, I just reach for whichever project is closest to where I am sitting. This reason, I guess is just out of laziness, but I do get some knitting done!

Sock Progress

I have been working diligently on my second May Day sock and it is almost half done! I'm about halfway through the heel flap. I'm excited to get these done and then, on to the next project, Green Gable. My mom's birthday is June 3rd, so I want to have it done by then. We are going camping, again, this weekend. Woohoo! 3 days to relax, knit and enjoy the sunny, warm weather of eastern Washington. This will all be with the same, good friends that we last camped with, plus some of their extended family. This time, we're staying at C's parents' property. 40 acres on a hillside above the Methow River. Aaah, the views are stunning! I plan to try and finish Green Gable on the way to "the property." That way I can knit on something more fun, like Luna Moth or one of my other WIPs. I won't be as tempted to start a new project as there aren't any LYS out there (at least none that I know of.)

A Decorated Desk

This hat (yes, its a hat!) was sitting on my monitor, when I arrived at work, today! Isn't it funny! There were various other "Happy Birthday" signs, as well. A coworker in my office, loves to decorate cubicles whenever someone has a birthday. She didn't over-do it and it has been fun.

In knitting news, I finished the first lace, fingerless mitt for Laura's friend Mary. The lace is coming out beautifully, and they are very stretchy so they should fit just about anyone. Check out Laura's blog. She's having a drawing for 2 skeins of Koigu for anyone who makes a pair of fingerless mitts. Also, check out the pair that Katie is making for Mary. The smocking looks good, too!