March Madness... of sorts

Boy, I'm not averaging very well, am I? It's been over a month since I last posted. Let's see what do I have going?

1) New slippers - after my dismal start on this project, I have put it aside for future endevor. I still want to make them, but I got so frustrated when I found out I was using the wrong size needle(yes I swatched, but it still seem to come out way bigger), and 2-ply instead of single ply. Now with the weather getting warmer, my motivation has waned.

2) New Scarf - sounds silly for someone who does as much knitting as I do, but I don't have a scarf and this last winter I rally missed having one. I found some alpaca/llama/silk blend on the internet, but was disapointed in the color when it arrived. I thought it would be much more red. It's darker, more like a maroon. So I spun it up, but haven't found a pattern I like ( haven't looked very hard either)... I don't know, maybe I'm waiting for something to really jump out at me. I was thinking of doing something moebius with this, but to do that, I need a longer needle to do that special technique. Again, now that the weather has gotten warmer, my motivstion has waned.

3) Doily - I started an pink varigated doily awhile ago. It was just some short ball I had, and wanted to make a little something quick. I can't even remeber what the pattern is, but I should really concentrate on finishing this. I have maybe 3 or 4 rounds to go then bind off. It's pretty, what I can see of it, I just put it aside ( my new glasses, which I thought would cure many og my vision woes, has solved some problems, but not everything).

4) MysteryShawlAlong group #1 - I signed up for the group in January, and just kind of watched the progress of the few members. I lurked and thought about doing it ( the design was pretty enough). Well, 2 weeks ago I finally couldn't take it any more - I casted on the needles, and finished the first 3 clues in the first weekend. Now i'm on clue 4, and it's taking a little bit of time. It's not too bad really, it's just that I came late to the orogram, and now they are starting the next shawl ( a whole other headach in it's own rights!!). I started the shawl on size 6 needles for clue 1, switched to 7 for clue 2, advanced to size 8 for clue 3, and now I'm using size 10 for clue 4( I couldn't quickly find my size 9 needles). It looks great. I can't wait until I finish and block. I am using some fine wool I got off e-bay last year. It's way too thin singlely, so I use 2-strands at a time. Once done, I am toying wiht the idea of dying this. I 'm thinking a pretty wedgewood blue. I just feel like some blue. I am trying to finish this before plungging into the ...

5) MysteryShawlAlong Group#2 - the first clue was posted last weekend, but I can't get to it yet. First I had a problem (well the vendor actually had a problem) with the connection to paypal, so I went direct to the vendor to pay (she received the payment last weekend), but I am waiting for the permission granted to join the yahoo group so I can access the files. I can read all the posts, and it doesn't sound like anything major as yet, but I want to et the file. I was thinking I could get clue #1 so I start when everyone else does, and it wouldn't take long to get it done and out of the way, then contiune with the first shawl, as I am on repeat #4 of the recommended 6.

6) Dye experiment - I bought some purple Wilton's dye to play with. I had some med brown wool in various stages of porcessing, and I wanted to find out what the differences would be to dye at different stages. A - in the lock, uncarded B- carded wool C- spun wool.
I have the first 2 parts done, but need to finish with the final step. I will have more of this to report soon.

7) Baby stuff - I have 2 friends expecting babies in a few months, and I wanted to make them something. They are both expecting boys - one chose "pirates" as her theme, and the other chose "under the sea". I have a great idea for a blanket/quilt for the pirates, but when I explained to my DH what I wanted to do, he poo-pooed the idea. I'm still thinking this over, haven't given it up yet, just reconsidering. It would be really cool, but would be a lot of work. I don't know if it would workout the way I want, and my time is precious.... whine, whine, whine. I did find a washcloth with a skull and crossbones on it, I thought was cute, so I may do that anyway. I also found a bag - "Queen's booty bag" that is knitted and flted. I thought this would be a cute diaper bag. I was thinking of making this up, and if it didn't workout, I could keep it for myslf...it's suppose to be reversable, so I was thining of using red/blue combination of yarn. If I do this, I know I can do something similar with a fishy theme, maybe using green/yellow combination. Still thinking on this.

Well, as you can see I've been sort of busy, but I just haven't finished anything yet. You know, I started this blog to document my progress on various projects, but what it's turned out to be block for blogging, as I get a little embarrassed at how little I finish. Life has a way of getting in the way, so progress can be slow at times. I just have to remember it's not how we finish the race but that we DO finish!