About those resolutions...

As soon as I got home from Hawaii, I was slammed with work and responsibilities, and I think I've just about gotten my life under control again.

So, how have I been doing with my knitting resolutions, you may wonder?

First off, I bought new yarn. It's allowed, because it is for a gift for the aunt with whom I stayed in Hawaii... but still, I felt a little guilty. I very nearly averted disaster, as I was about to fill up my Knit Picks shopping cart with lace-weight and sock yarn and other goodies to get free shipping, but I cleared it all out and bought just the gift yarn by itself. The shipping cost? $2.99.



The gift I'm making is a Cropped Raglan Shrug, like the one I made for myself (which my aunt adored), in Shine Worsted, in the color Sea Spray. So far it's coming along nicely, though I wish it would move faster so I can send it out soon.



While I'm confessing to new yarn, I should say that my package from discountyarnsale.com finally got here. I ordered this yarn in October, then when they realized I'd ordered a discontinued color, I had to reorder it in early November. Now I know that it was special order and I should have expected a delay, but I was still pretty antsy. The price, however, was fairly fabulous, so I think it was worth waiting, especially since it will take me a while to build up ample skills and courage to knit with it. It is Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool in color 48, intended for a Tangled Yoke Cardigan, which I know is well beyond my current skill level.



My boyfriend teased me, as I'd asked him to be there to sign for my package. When he gave it to me, I opened the bag, stroked the yarn lovingly, checked all the skeins, then put it immediately onto a shelf with the rest of my stash. He said "So that's it? You wait four months for yarn, then just throw it on the pile?" I didn't really know how to explain that yeah, pretty much, that was the plan all along.

Another significantly challenging resolution has been the limitation of WIPs to a set of three (one simple brainless project, one fiddly complex one, and one portable one).

I brought my Coachella on vacation with me and got a few more inches along (knitting in the car and such). For the first plane ride, I knit obsessively on a Hedera sock, and I got all the way through the heel flap. As we were getting our stuff from the overhead bin, a mother and daughter across the aisle said they'd been watching me the whole flight and had bet each other on whether it was a sock or the sleeve to a baby sweater. The mother had guessed sock.



I finished the first Hedera and cast on the second on the last day of January, prompted by a new month's Sockdown challenge on Ravelry. I am becoming consumed with sock-knitting as a consequence of this brilliant group (Sock Knitters Anonymous), and I of course broke my 3 projects rule by casting on two more socks while I'm still slowly working along on the second Hedera.



First, a Pomatomus, which I also cast on for on the last day of January, just in case I gained the ability to warp the space-time continuum and sneak in a really complex and fiddly pair of socks. I doubt these will ever get finished by the end of February, but it's good to at least have them going. I have been thinking about them in this yarn for so long it's almost bizarre, so I'm stoked to know that with some knitting, I could actualize the dream.



I also cast on a pair of toe-up socks, which I intend to give an Eye of Partridge heel. February's challenge is a new-to-you heel technique, and though I've knit heel flaps before, I've never done them toe-up, nor have I done an Eye of Partridge heel. I'm using this pattern (PDF) as a guide.



This was my first figure 8 cast-on, and I found it rather pleasant and easy. It was so soothing to be able to immediately start knitting without having to pick out a provisional cast-on or do the wrap-and-turns of a short row toe. I think because this is a 72-stitch sock, it may have been wiser to cast on 12 or 16 or so stitches for the toe, but it doesn't look too terribly pointy when stretched over my toes. I will just have to make sure to get the length spot-on.



This yarn knits up in very interesting ways. It's Regia Color 4-ply, and from the skein I am not sure what I expected, but I think it was longer stretches of color with fewer quick changes. As I keep on knitting with it, I am really enjoying the sudden, gorgeous bursts of new colors. I think from a distance, they will look kind of muddy and indistinctly magenta, but I love looking at them up close.

Lastly, I am extremely tempted to cast on a fourth pair of socks, though these are prompted by the sad passing of Gigi Silva, better known as Momma Monkey. A lot of Ravelers are knitting socks from her patterns in memory, and I wanted to make a pair of toe-up Brigits (PDF pattern).



I think the only thing that kept me from casting on immediately is that I couldn't decide between these two greens:





The jury is still out, though I think I mostly prefer the second.

So I guess this is going to be not just a green-knitting blog, but a green sock-knitting blog. Just kidding, I have lots of other stuff planned. In green.