Can't Keep UP!

I've been busy.  Something has to give... teaching, playing, museum time, blogging, knitting, gardening, laundry, fixing things for certain visitors, sorting through photos?

I've started picking and choosing, and guess what?  Blogging is really taking a hit.  I don't read them and I don't write them (as often).
Things aren't going to get any better... I've signed up for a Nancy Bush workshop next Saturday, and my daughter and granddaughter will be visiting for the next weeks.  Remember last March, how much I got done then?  But I love you all!
I have several posts started, but they are awaiting time to fine tune.  You'll see Knit Nite, and comments from previous FO's, and ... you'll hear about my kitchen fire, of course, no pictures... too busy putting out fires and ...  but what you DO need to hear about right now, is someone else's projects.  It's in Norwegian, but don't let that scare you...  she's amazingly versatile and talented, and when I saw this last blog, I just fell off the chair.
Muffin's World showcases this person's (Jorid's) knitting, painting, crocheting, embroidery, photography and general chit-chat.  (Great recipes, too.)
This is the link to her post about Finishing the Leftovers Jacket.  Yes, she used leftover yarns and every favorite pattern she has. For more of this sort of thing, see her leg warmers on September 23.  It you aren't impressed... well, I'm speechless!

Blocking

Funny shawl:
Here it is pre-blocking.

Then the foot-work.

And what it looks like when wet.

And in final shape.

Color:  Straw, this is the best true color match.

I re-shaped it several times.  There wasn't a diagram and I first tried it in a crescent shape.  As a crescent I couldn't make the points pop.

 It will probably be a favorite this winter as a "scarf" and used wrapped around my neck.  It's very lovely soft, except the beads... will they be cold?
Modeling later.

Good needles, Bad needles

I've got nothing against needles, in fact, let's be truthful here:  It's the fingers that can "be bad".  I blame myself when things go wrong.  Lately, I've been scratching my head wondering why I haven't had more calamities to report.  That makes for more interesting reading:  Problem, and solution.
Funny, but I haven't had any 'near misses' or so I thought!
It always happens that way, doesn't it?  I finished a few things lately and said to myself, "Well, that's that!  Move along. No excitement here, just nice FO's."  I'm talking about my lacey socks, cashmere vest, and romper. 
 Socks?  My 'on needles' Busy Bee socks, two-at-a-time/not at the same row humbled me.  There was a rather noticeable botching of the "honey comb" in one sock which alerted me to my non-super-human cleverness.  I carefully removed 4 rows of just the honey comb/10 stitch pattern.  In my frustration I conveniently 'forgot' to take a picture... heh, heh.
I looked down and thought, "You're crazy, Lady!  You're 20+ rows into TWO (count 'em) 2 shawls of lace and you haven't even thought about the ramifications of a dropped stitch."
Then I looked down again at my hands and found... yikes!!  A dropped stitch.  Nothing like a dropped stitch to call attention to NOT having had forethought to put in a life-line.

#1  Mystery Shawl

After a little fudging and guessing where that stitch might end up, I (almost immediately) put in a life-line in both shawls.  Here's the second lifeline for shawl #2. (I'm awaiting instructions for shawl #1, so it needed just one life-line, so far.)  Number 2 may look a little lop-sided because--err, it is!  I'm doing the final 46 rows which are short rows making the middle longer than the ends.  Can't wait to stretch it out (blocking) to see what it really looks like...

#2 Oslo Walk Shawl

Lesson learned, THIS time...  I think I'll knit a cow.

Cute? Or what!

Just had to share my latest FO.  It's called a romper, and made for those chilly, wet days in Norway for my two-year old granddaughter.  Not entirely finished since it needs 4 more buttons.  I'm vacillating between using 7 buttons of the same kind (as those pinned on) or looking for plain blue, red or yellow for the remaining 4.  Those fancy buttons might be over-doing it.

 The original pattern has buttons and opening all the way down the leg.  Just seemed like too many buttons to me!

Pattern:  Gift Wrap Romper by Carina Spencer from Gift Wrap Collection eBook

Yarn:  Encore Colorspun Worsted by Plymouth Yarn,

Worsted / 10 ply, 75% Acrylic, 25% Wool, 200 yards   Red with specks

Yarn: Vintage™ Chunky by Berroco Bulky / 12 ply, 50% Acrylic, 40% Wool, 10% Nylon, 130 yards  Blue Moon

Busy WIP's

Yes, it's been over a week, and I've been scrambling for time.  Time for everything. Somehow I'm teaching again, and it greatly interferes with my knitting,... and blogging, time.
When I've had a few moments, I end up reading everyone else's blog and never getting to writing anything of my own.
Here's what I have to report:
On needles:
Romper, waiting for a quiet moment to start the finishing!  Needs the button bands, buttons and short sleeves.

Very cute with the off-set front opening.  The second leg is finished - they are the same length.
Mystery KAL:  A shawl by Susanna IC which is more fun than I imagined - getting 10+ rows at a time.  It's a mystery, so I'm not supposed to share.  If you want to see the first 22 rows, you'll have to look on Ravelry.
Meanwhile, I have my own little challenge going on.  I decided if I was to KAL a shawl that I should take time to knit my own shawl that has been started (one row) since last March. It's been frogged several times, has beads and all the lace and is also designed by Susanna IC.  So I have TWO shawls simultaneously creeping along...  Here's the Oslo Walk Shawl:

Why, I ask myself, should I be knitting two more shawls.  For the past week by Europa shawl has been my constant companion.  It stays in my bag for cool moments, and accompanies me out of the house in the brisk morning air.  I really like it more than I ever imagined;  it isn't all lacey like the above but many rows of stockinette.  And in 3 weeks I'll be spiffing up my lace techniques with Nancy Bush when she visits Yarn Durango (Colorado). But I digress... there's more:
Like the socks I started side-by-side.  Or not really 'started' at the same time, but they are side-by-side...now.

Then I have another toddler pullover, a lightweight cardigan for myself, and a cow waiting in the wings.  Better put my feet up!

Lacey Socks

I finished!  How long does it take to knit socks?  Ever been asked that one?  Of course, you have.  And there's no good answer, is there.   If I JUST knit socks... they might not take so long, but MY sock-knitting is normally saved for those moments when I'm trying to stave off boredom.  Almost NEVER at home.... until today, when I have the fire lit to start a NEW pair of socks, and yet those others... all they need is the second toe.
They are so pretty, yet I'm ready to move on, so at home, I put in the final time, about an hour and here they are:

They are a bit oddly colored, but you'll have to take that up with Kaffe Fassett!  I like them.  Very quirky with little bow on the back of the leg.  As long as the weather stays below 80º F, I'll be wearing them!

Pattern:  #29 Lace Socks by Star Athena from Vogue Knitting, Spring/Summer 2009

Yarn:  Regia Design Line Hand-dye Effect by Kaffe Fassett by Schachenmayr nomotta

Light Fingering / 3 ply, 70% Wool, 25% Nylon, 5% Acrylic  100g/459 yards  

How long?  I cast on on June 29 (this year):  2-1/2 months.  Socks number 6 for the year.  Not many boring moments in the past 12 months, I guess.
Happy weekend!

??

It's a mystery to me!
I joined up with 1,000+ other "ravelers" to take advantage of Susanna IC, and her wonderful talent to design shawls.  It's a mystery shawl, which means I have no clue as to what it will look like.  It doesn't matter;  it's the process!
Lots of things I don't know:
#1:  How do you sign up for a KAL?  I'm not sure how I discovered it, either, but after 3 visits to groups in Ravelry, I managed, and received my first 6 rows. (Which I devoured as if I hadn't anything else on needles...LOL)

#2:  What colors are in my yarn?  I had no idea, until I looked at this picture all blown up, that I had such a variety of colors.  Are they real?  What I've been holding in my hands is MUCH darker.  I'm using green beads, since it's all about stash busting, AND these are the only beads I have.
#3:  As soon as I cast on I was consumed with remorse at having put aside another shawl.  I cast on in January, thinking I would use it as a KAL with a friend - long distance.  After 2 rows, a frog and one row completed, it has languished in a container on the shelf.  Then I decided to challenge myself:  For every row of my new-found-friend-mystery-shawl, I would complete a row of my "Oslo Walk" shawl.  Little did I know...(hence #3 - I don't know) it was by Susanna IC, too!!  So this is turning into a two-fer!  Now I can't stop... until the beads run out.
Using the same beads.

#4:  I also don't know when I should go to bed!  My eyes are closing... I can type with them closed - THAT I know.
#5:  I didn't know:  My long distance friend had signed up for the same KAL!  Great minds...
Sweet dreams, shawls!