Grover update

And now, for more Grover progress:



The body's finished (except for weaving in ends and buttons) and I've just started knitting the sleeves on two circs instead of dpn's, which is infinitely easier. Thank goodness I already had two 4mm addis on hand, because my knitting budget is officially nil until after the wedding and after the yard landscaping that we need to do badly.

Grover update

Here's my progress so far on Grover:



I'm flying right along on this- and going much faster than I did on the green one when I was just learning. No other knitting news to speak of. The socks are on hold and I have not come up with a lace pattern yet for my little Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud scarf.

Work has been keeping me very busy as of late, which is a good thing as it makes the days fly by. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Finally...

The long-awaited yarn makes an appearance:



It's a little, er, bluer than I was expecting. The photo of the sample card made it look a little less electric, but I think it is too late now to send it back and get another color. It's still cute though- reminds me of Grover. I am planning to cast on for the sweater today and hopefully I will have a lot of time this sunday to sit down and make some progress on it. Unfortunately, this means that the socks are on a temporary hold. I am about a half an inch before starting the gusset increases, based on my formula, which Mary Ann was nice enough to clarify for me. As I had figured out the numbers previously, the socks would have been two inches too short, which would have made for some very uncomfortable socks indeed!

Fastest. Shipping. Ever.

Look what was waiting for me on the front porch when I got home from work yesterday:


It's my Knit Picks order!

That's Knit Picks Sock Garden in Geranium and Alpaca Cloud in Tide Pool. I ordered the yarn on Monday, and it came on Thursday. Now that's fast shipping.

Oh, is this yarn nice. You know I couldn't resist staying up past my bedtime to swatch a little last night:



The sock garden yarn knits up very, very nicely on size 2 needles and it is so soft. I don't have a whole lot of sock yarn experience, but I get the feeling that this 100% wool yarn might not hold up as well as some other sock yarns that are blended with a little synthetic fiber. It's just really soft and doesn't have the crispness of other sock yarns I've seen, but maybe that's a good thing. I'll be interested to see how it will knit up on some size 1 needles, and whether it would make a sturdier fabric. But, it is beautiful and I wish I had the patience to knit an adult-sized sweater out of it because it is so, so soft and pretty when knitted up. I think I will make a pair of knock-around-the-house socks with it. The alpaca cloud is also very soft and the color is just as beautiful as it looked on their website, but I won't get to play with that for a while.

I am still waiting on the yarn for the baby cardi, and it has now been a month since I ordered it. I've ordered from this company in Maine before, and had no problems, but I am a little annoyed that they did not call me to let me know that my yarn shipment would be held up because they were waiting on a shipment, which is what they told me when I called last week. Not many places carry this stuff (Shepherd Color 4 Me), but now I wish that I'd ordered it from Threadbear, who also carries it. Live and learn, I guess.

I'm off to have dinner and margaritas at one of my favorite restaurants in a few hours, so I am looking forward to an excellent start to the weekend. Hope everyone has a good one!

Sluggish socks

Here is a progress shot of the socks as of last night:



Fiance was a little embarassed to have his feet out there for all the world to see, but I keep making him try them on in progress to gauge the fit. Those red lines are my "lifelines" and mark where I finished the increase rows and started the straight, mindless knitting part. I think I need to start the gusset increases soon, but I am not sure if my calculations are correct, so I will be seeking advice on that. I am pretty pleased with them so far- they are matching nicely and look like they will fit. I am wishing again for the hundreth time though, that I had started with socks for myself, instead of for fiance's gargantuan feet.

I finally placed an order with Knit Picks for some of their sock yarn so I can start swatching for a pair of socks for myself. While I was there I picked up a skein of the Alpaca Cloud in a very pretty blueish-greenish color that I hope really looks like that in real life. I was suckered in by a pattern on the page of a cute little scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts that reportedly only takes one-third of a skein of Alpaca Cloud. I don't know if I will use that pattern or make up something of my own from my knitting stitch dictionary, but I would like to make a cute little lacy scarf that is similar to the photo.