I am an idiot.

At 1 AM this morning (about 4 hours after blocking the Consolation vest), I was looking for some worsted weight " I don't like it enough to save for something I would knit for myself or as a gift" yarn because I need it for a short row class on the cruise. I checked in the various plastic drawers the main stash is in, as well as some of the stash overflow sites. Then, I decided to check inside the closet in our loft. There was a bag there that I recognized from the Eurotrip. It contained 7 or so skeins of Lana Grossa Colore. I probably had enough yarn to knit the Sideways Cardigan, but didn't realize it because it wasn't all stored in the same place. Sigh. I'll have to see how much I enjoy the Consolation Vest, but I have a strong suspicion that it will get frogged when I get home in a week and a half. Since I spit-spliced the ends together, it's going to make a hell of a ball of yarn! Be back on the 18th!

How did May get here so quickly?

I got alot of knitting done during my recent week off, but not much blogging. This weekend was spent at the hospital, so I've only got time for a quick knitting update before I head to bed (was up until 3 AM - need sleep). Monkey socks are now completely done - I ended up having to reknit the toe on the second one AFTER I had finished grafting it shut; turns out I knit one too few pattern repeats. Sigh. I think I ended up knitting those socks about twice over altogether. It's not noticeable, but I accidentally started to knit the second sock from the outside of the yarn cake rather than the inside - so technically one of them is upside down. I of course knit my beloved short row heels instead of the flap heel called for in the pattern. I'm thinking of using more flap heels after I take the flap heel seminars on the upcoming cruise. Speaking of cruise knitting - I am desperately trying to finish the Consolation Vest before the cruise: It doesn't help that I'm having to modify the pattern due to a) being freakishly tall long torsoed, and b) not having the same row gauge the pattern calls for. That red bead is sitting at the point I was supposed to divide for the armholes. This means much trying on to determine when to add the next increase/decrease, etc. Early in the week I whipped this up - it's a headband based on a hat designed by Melissa. It's knit out of Fibranatura Oak. The white blobs of purls will become sheep once I do some duplicate stitching. Although it's possible that might get done on the plane to Seattle - I leave Thursday afternoon, and haven't even wound my yarn, let alone started to pack!

My, but time does fly...

It's been almost a week since I last posted. Part of this was related to travel (we went to Montreal this weekend so that The Gambler could watch the UFC fights. I have to say that the influx of UFC fans made for some interesting people watching), and partly due to work (Word continues to get around to horridly ill people re: the day I take over the ICU service - this is the only explanation I can think of as to why these people come to the ER after 3-4 days on death's door. Obviously, they were waiting for me to be on call.) Because I was in Montreal, I missed Sandi Purl's baby shower - but here are the squares I knit for the group afghan she received: OK, they appear to be more quadrangular than square per se - I'm hoping that blocking took care of that. Speaking of blocking, I blocked my Deviation from the Standard Handwarmers on Thursday morning as I drove into work (What better item to block handwarmers with than hands? Why not take advantage of a 45 minute commute?): It didn't do much for the wonky stitches, but it did stretch them out a bit. (I seem to have a prediliction for posing with handknits while wearing clothes of a totally opposing colour scheme - at least my manicure didn't clash) I had the opportunity to work on the Yoke Vest (which I have christened The Consolation Vest): ...and was eventually able to pry Somerset off of it long enough to get a decent photo: The striping is a bit remniscent of my Lines In The Sand Sweater - hopefully this vest will be similarly flattering ( I have some reservations about a vest knit out of bulky yarn - how likely is it to make my torso look stumpy?).