She knits all her own socks

But not lately.... It sounds kinda creepy when someone else (my cousin Chris) says it, but yeah, I knit my own socks. When I wear them, which is rare. Lately, my knitting attentions have been elsewhere, such as the three scarves I gave away at Christmas. All of them were previously featured in this blog, but none of the recipients seemed to recognize them. More proof of what a vanity project this blog is! I've also made three hats lately, and started a pair of socks for my grandmother ridiculously close to Christmas. She has two feet, so three days really aren't enough! Maybe they'll be her birthday socks instead, which gives me six months to finish them.
I was rummaging around in all the pre-chrimbo madness and came across a long-abandoned UFO. It was supposed to have been my first sweater with sleeves, but I never got around to making them. First, I had to remember what pattern I was using, because the dark navy of the body made it damn near impossible to do any knitting archeology. Yes, a little joke. Hypothetically, I could have charted out all my decreases and designed a matching raglan sleeve cap to match, but the idea alone makes my head hurt. So, I tracked down the pattern and got out the needles. After finishing one sleeve, I realized that I don't have quite enough yarn to make the second one. Maybe that's why I didn't knit the sleeves in the first place... I'd used a formula to calculate how much yardage I'd need for the sleeves (since they're colorblock, this is an important detail), which clearly doesn't work for raglan sleeves. So, now I'm looking for the no-dye lots random yarn to finish the project, with little success. I may have to just start over on the sleeves, which means that this project is going back on the back burner.
I broke down and ordered another ball of the French alpaca yarn that I need to finish my sweater. The Canadian yarn shop, which I love/hate, carries the yarn, so I ordered it from them. Seemed more expedient. I also ordered a couple of balls of Noro Kureyon (which I heard pronounced as "crayon" in a very full-of-themselves NYC yarn shop once. It is colorful as a box of Crayolas, but I had to laugh on the inside.) to make a pair of fingerless gloves for Rita. Another project for the list!
So, I've been working on the long-promised Not Another Sweatshirt sweater for Lewis. It's moving so fast, I thought as I worked on it last night, until I realized that I'm knitting it on #11 needles, instead of the #6 ones that are the hallmark of most of my sweaters. I'm on the sleeves now, which I'm knitting concurrently. Since, it's a very variegated yarn, I'm afraid of the sleeves looking wildly different from each other, so I hop back and forth between the two of them. This is a bit slower than one at a time, but worth the effort. I think.

Next up? Hard to say. I really want to dive into my Christmas sweater. No, not with reindeer or snowflakes. My mom gave me absolutely amazing Colinette yarn to make the sweater on the cover of the current issue of Interweave Knits. It arrived two days after Christmas. This could lead to startitis, very easily, so I've decided not to even wind the skeins into balls until I have finished Lewis's sweater. It's such a temptation! I also have a bunch of little projects that I could do, like scarves and those socks. When I have a bit of cash, I'd like to check out the awesome cabled armwarmers I saw at Knit1. I hope that store takes off. It's tiny and carries a lot of high end yarn, but maybe it will find a following. Of course, I should concentrate on finishing the projects I have going now, knitting the yarn in my stash before snapping up anymore. Since I have a few weeks before my next show starts, I think I can make a dent in the current inventory.