Making progress

I have whittled down my knitting to four active projects. The Man Mittens are done, and are already getting some hard wear. I am conflicted about this. I think a lot of knitters are. On the one hand, they are a utilitarian garment, knitted to be worn and used. So he wears them all the time. This is good. On the other hand, this is a handknitted work of art to be cherished. If he actually uses them as intended, they will start looking scaggy and, at some point, wear out.


The Fleece Artist socks are done and have been put in the mail. I wanted to keep them, but they weren't for me.


The beagle blanket is in hibernation, and my part of the secret project is done and I need input from others before I can do the next step.


This leaves me with three pairs of socks and my purple cardigan. It is supposed to rain hard and icy today, which not only hasn't happened so far, but isn't even showing up of the radar yet. I've got a pile of firewood on the deck and football to watch, so I should be able to get in some good knitting time.


I've started the decreases for the armholes on the sweater. This means I have to pay attention to the pattern, but it also means that I can see tangible progress, which makes it more enjoyable to knit.

Here are the Monkey socks. I used the YB-approved Lorna's Laces. I've done one and finished the cuff of the second one. I need to knock these up the priority list because the person for whom they are intended has had a mishap and could use some thoughtfulness.

This is the tofu sock. I'm love/hating it. It looks great and it is going to feel nice. However, the yarn is a bit slippery and I'm using metal Susan Bates needles, which amplifies the slipperiness, so it's constantly coming off the needles. Plus one of my needles is seriously bent so, awkward to knit with. No I can't switch needles mid-project because then the gauge might get fucked up. That's right. An f-bomb. That's how bent needles affect me. I need new ones, but none of the yarn stores carry them. I'll have to go to the horrid all-purpose schlocky craft store that sells the kind of shit you'd need if you were the sort of person to decorate your house with homemade angels fashioned from feathers and raffia and baby-doll heads.

Back to tofu. It looks pretty good.

Why, thank you. I think the heel flap shows off the colors nicely too. Sez The Man: uuuuuuhhh, kin I have 'em? Sez Bunny: Sure, sweetie. You do realize they're purple, right? Sez The Man: Yeah, so? Sez I: and the yarn is made from tofu? Sez The Man: Cool.

Once was a time when The Man wouldn't eat tofu, and now he's going to be wearing purple tofu.

And finally, the sock club socks:

I'm working the heel flap on the second sock. I do not love these colors. Not at all. But at last I'm getting it finished.

When the sock club socks are finished, I can start the next sock club socks. When the Monkey socks are finished, I can start the Cookie A. Knitty Gritty socks. When the tofu socks are done, I can start some nice grey fair isle socks.