And sometimes a break from lace...

is just what we need!

Funny, because I had just read a message from my camp pal, Happy Stasher, telling me that she was taking a break from her Mystery Stole 4 and working on some double-stranded, size 13 needle slippers! And wouldn't you know...I had just cast on a baby hat for one of the new (well, maybe not-so-new since they have already outgrown their baby hats I made them!) babies. Then I see Nartian, who admits to me that she had cast on a cabled baby hat last night, too!

Though not at the same parts in our stoles, I think we are all at the point in the KALs where we are needing a bit of a breather-and a tad faster pace!

So here is the cabled baby hat I'm working on...
I think with all this talk of holiday knitting, I was starting to feel antsy and wanted to get a jump-start.

Sometimes it's not ALL about knitting!

So I'm sure there are some of you out there who are like me and start stuff like this...

and well...maybe it just doesn't get completed?! And...maybe you don't quite know what happened to the patterns/instructions?

Yeah, well...I just resurrected this and from what I recall, it was VERY close to being finished! I think it is a bracelet and I was on the last portion. I also think I can probably figure out the last portion to finish it, but will have to either find the instructions for the clasp portion or wing it. It was a pattern from a 'Bead' magazine I bought a while back and I'm pretty sure it will turn up...

And speaking of BEADS...as you all know, the projects have been all about beads these days with the Mystery Stole 4 and Secret of the Stole iii KALs well underway.

I am happy to be able to show you two finished clues:

Secret of the Stole III is now completed through Clue 2. There are now 6 clues that have been released, so I am now 4 clues behind! Oh well...I will plug on!

Mystery Stole 4 is coming along. I am not thrilled with the laciness and think I should have done a smaller gauge, but long ago, I had decided I would not frog. I'm sure I will still be happy with this once it is completed, and I am getting more used of this tiny-thin yarn knit at this larger gauge, so at least that part's gotten better.

And now, after a school picnic at the park, I'm tired and am thinking 'nap' more than 'knit'...I'm dying to continue on my stoles, but I think the nap is going to win out! Besides, I really should be doing housework!

Yesterday morning was spent at the beach participating in Beach Clean Up day with Lil' Emp's school, then off to take care of some business in Vacaville (and hour and a half drive from here), then on to Sacramento (another 1/2 hour-45 minutes drive) for a visit/dinner with relatives. We made it back home at midnight. The good thing about long drives where I'm not doing the driving is that I got some knitting done! The bad thing about being away so long is that I have all the house stuff to continue to attempt to catch up on! But like I said...the nap is winning out at this point! ;)

Yarn Pr0n Friday filled with PRIDE!

Yep! That would be my latest Seven Deadly S(p)ins shipment-PRIDE! And look how gorgeous this kit is! FOUR gradated skeins of Unique Sheep "Luxe" (75/25 superwash merino/silk light fingering weight) : Pride 1, 2, 3 and 4! The pattern is a shawl designed by Merike Saarniit called "Syncopated Lace". Not just a pattern, but also included are the lace charts and color changing instructions. Looks pretty intimidating to me...

I also received a plastic pouch, a retractable brush, stitch markers, candies, and a 15% off Unique Sheep coupon from WoolGirl Jen!

So I am still on spending hiatus, but that doesn't stop any of my pre-0rdered kits! I also received a late birthday gift from a friend-another LYS gift certificate! YAY! (Yes, a BMFA gift certificate would have been even more coveted, but hey, I can't ask for the world! I'm just appreciative of her thoughtfulness and well...I can't expect a knitting neophyte to know about BMFA, now can I?)

So...yet another project to add to the cue. Dying to do that cute Sloth hat from last shipment, but with all my other projects I have going...well...you know...I probably have to start posting "what I didn't cast on" photos akin to my past 'what I didn't buy' photos!

Carefree Holiday-or not-KAL!!!

Come join the fun! I just joined this KAL where we will be sharing our holiday knitting and entering contests for some fun Crystal Palace Yarn-so go check it out NOW since participation is limited to the first 100 persons to sign up!

http://carefreeholiday-ornot-kal.blogspot.com/

"How to join the KAL
E-mail Laura --- proflaura at firststepinternet dot com --- for an invite to join the blog"

Thought I'd share the love (thanks, Adrienne--yeah, you thought you'd get me moving on knitting up some of my stash, huh?) Hope to see you guys there!

Today, a color theme...

can you see it? And even the cute lil' "Harajuku Girls" bag that Purple Rain Knitter gave me matches the theme!
It's all about green! These three projects are the projects du jour, and probably of the week...I'm barely half way through the first clue for Mystery Stole 4. Carmen still has a ways to go. And--what's this? A sock? Now where did that come from? Certainly I couldn't be starting another sock?! ;)

Truth be told, I am starting another sock! Accidental, really...You see, I was admiring the Grace Note socks on Ravelry; the pattern isn't released yet. The author sent me the draft version, so I decided that I'd better knit it up now so that I can properly thank her for the pattern and give her some input. So that's my story. And I'm sticking to it! Yarn? Socks that Rock medium weight in Falcon's Eye.

The Insanity has Begun!

The insanity, that is, Mystery Stole 4! Nartian had her Clue 1 well underway when we got together to knit this afternoon. I had come to a screaching halt on my SSiii when I found an extra stitch and tried to fix that one area without frogging. I may have to frog, but it sits for now.

I finished knitting up the one skein of Silky Wool for Carmen, then couldn't remember where the rest of the yarn was! So that project stopped on Saturday. But alas, I found the rest of the yarn and wound the other 4 skeins and am good to go.

So back to the Mystery Stole 4. I was too lazy to continue swatching my pathetic red Cashwool, since I had dragged it around in my bag, it had fallen off the needles and it was looking pretty hopeless. But I wanted to see if the Olive Gold-lined crystal beads would work with the red. The silver-lined light grey probaby would have been nice, too. But THEN Nartian noticed how nice the Olive Gold-lined looked with the "Wet Stone" colorway of Yarn Place "Gentle". Me being the olivey-greeny lover I am, I must confess it took little to steer my course right to that combo!

Though difficult to detect, there are beads on this swatch! The topaz were too warm/orangey, while the silver-lined Rosaline worked well...

So it has started, though I'm barely into Clue 1! And SSiii is on a little time-out.

And so I ended up with this! Talk about 'Mystery'-my yarn and bead choices were literally a mystery to me for the longest time, try as I may to swatch and plan it out a bit!

And what have I been doing lately, rather than accomplishing more than this with my knitting? Dare I say, I've been all absorbed in the election! Obsessed almost, though I have curbed myself a bit! I'm just thinking that with being PTA President and having started a non-profit and being Executive Director of the College of Business Intership Bureau at San Diego State for a year...heck! I should've run for President! What's WRONG with me??? Shall I go for Governor?

OK, I'll stop. I'm a mess!

Illegal Cast-On!

I know, I've said before that I'm only allowing new CO projects if they are part of my gift-giving intentions! But...I bought this pattern, had the yarn back-0rdered for months, and when I finally got the yarn, I couldn't find the pattern! So I just found my pattern the other day and couldn't resist! Psychologically, I seem to believe it is a 'quick knit', requiring only 5 skeins of yarn. It detracted from my SSiii knitting yesterday, but my justification (as if my Plain Vanilla socks don't fill this bill!) is that it is a non-thinking, quick, mostly stockinette project! So far, it seems there is a weird error in the beginning (row 5 or somewhere abouts) that I will need to have Nartian examine with me tomorrow. But for now, I pushed through anyway and figure it is minor enough that I can fix it later. But the further forward I go, the more of a PITA it will be to fix, so I am back at the SSiii for now.

I am past Clue 1 and about 10 rows into Clue 2. Below is my SSiii up to Clue 1...

And I neglected to show the Sweet Baby Cap I had finished knitting a while ago. It was officially finished yesterday when I added the i-cord.

Side view, no i-cord...

Front view, post i-cord, being modeled by the recipient's cousin who will deliver the gift to his cousin for me! It's a bit big and is more of a toddler-sized hat. The model is 5 months old, born on April Fool's Day!

Details (geez, I need to go copy this format from IrishGirlie or Nartian!):
Pattern: Sweet Baby Cap
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts, Socks that RockHeavyweight-Tlingit (leftover from the Forest Canapy, used for the beginning edging and i-cord), Jasper and Rare Gems (blue, green, browns, burgundy...)
Needles: Size 3 circs
Mods: though the pattern instructs to change yarn every 2 rows, it is really a pattern most people make their own choices on where an when to change colors and not even all the pics for the pattern follow this striping pattern-so really, though my striping did not change every two rows, I would say it wasn't much of a "mod"
Size: 6 mo., but this yarn is a nice, thick yarn and knit up at a slightly larger gauge and as you can see, would probably be more of a 9 mo-1 year size.

On on to a random thought...If Brain Age training is supposed to help my memory, and if I just scored an age 24 the other night (age 20 is the best and lowest age you can get...)...why did I forget I was steaming corn and still not remember even when I could smell the faint burning of the bottom of the pan?!

A plug...

I've been following some of the Rav posts for the SSiii KAL; in particular, the Turtle Club and other such threads celebrating the joys of not being anywhere near on-task with this KAL! As us Ravelers know, reading one item leads to another and so on...one of my fellow SSiii KAL members had this posted on her blog, so I thought I'd share (ETA: after posting, I saw that Lisa's write up said we have until August 31, 2008 and thought I was a dork for posting past deadline! Then I realized that August 31 is the deadline for submitting storys, not for voting...):

http://job2310.wordpress.com/2008/08/30/help-a-friend-of-mine/

I figured if you are so willing to help out this woman in some small way, wouldn't it be nice? Apparently this friend of her friend has a terminal brain tumor and her sister submitted her story for consideration for a small home remodel. She actually has quite a few votes as I write (150, as opposed to 7 when she first requested support for her story).

Admittedly, I read a few other stories and there are soooo many others who also have good cases for support. Check it out and if you are so inclined, go through the steps to support her or someone else you feel is deserving. (ETA: And the good news? You can only vote once per story, but can vote on other people you feel are most deserving! :) )

Just a plug. Hope to get a post up with some knitting content, but hey-this is knitting-related sorta...