Knitting!

Several days ago, I promised actual knitting content. Well -- it's here!

I finished the Nereid mitts, and are very happy with them. They're longer than most mitts, with the hand part coming almost halfway up my fingers, which I like a lot - my hands are frequently cold.

These took longer than they should have, because I reversed the pattern on the second one. To do that, you can read the chart backward, or flip it over in your Photoshop-type program, which is what I did. Then I replaced the K2tog TBLs with plain K2tog's. The pattern on the second one doesn't look as smooth as the first one, and I'm sure there are further modifications I could have made to make them better, but I'm happy! The yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Pink Blossom -- I think I'll buy more and make a pair of matching Pomatomus socks!

I also started a baby blanket for a co-worker and his wife, who are expecting a girl in June. My suspicion is that they are people who would not be inclined to dress their little girl in pink daily (unlike me!), so I'm limiting the pink.

I'm making the Artful (Elegance) Afghan, which you may have seen on Chris's blog. (If you buy the pattern from the Lion Brand website, beware that, even though PayPal is listed as a payment option, you have to use a regular credit card for patterns, even though putting $2.50 on a credit card seems crazy!) I was going to use Wool-Ease, because of its washability and, um, cheapness, but my Michael's was out of most of the colors. Right next to it, though, was the Cotton-Ease -- also washable, and not scratchy -- and I just loved the colors, so I went with it. Luckily, knitting with cotton doesn't usually bother my hands.

I'm using fewer colors than called for, obviously, so I spent some time last night figuring out how many rounds of each color I need to knit. In theory, you could just knit until you're out of a color, but since this is a gift, I figured I should plan a little! So far, I like it -- there's enough going on that I don't get bored, but it's easy enough that I don't have to think too much!


Have you noticed all the sales in the knitting world right now? I guess it's a sign of the times, but I"m trying to be a combination of economical but supportive (or at least, that's what I'm telling myself!)

Lexie Barnes had bags on sale (half price), plus there was a code on KnittyBlog for 10% more off, so I indulged and purchased the Lady B in Diablo, which I had looked at many times. I actually see using this as a laptop bag, not a knitting bag. And it came with the tiny bag leaning in the front!

Grafton Fibers also had their Darn Pretty DPNs in red on sale for Valentine's Day, so I ordered a couple of pairs -- I can never have too many size 1 and 1.5s!