And then we talk knitting

Right now, knitting is my favorite crafty thing. I also crochet and cross-stitch, but in the last few years the "favorite" status has been rotating. Several years ago, cross-stitch was number one; then I got "into" crochet. Now, it's all about the knitting, KIP and all (that's Knitting In Public, for anyone not here primarily for the knitting content, ha ha).

On the needles:

1. Sleeve 2 in blue. I'm knitting sleeves to wear at work in summer, so that if I'm too chilly for a short-sleeved shirt but not chilly enough for a sweater, I can cover just my arms (it's summer, I should be able to wear a short-sleeve shirt!). I based it on a legwarmer pattern from Knitty, which I am modifying to fit (arms) better. The first one, the actual legwarmer pattern, will be a legwarmer (I'm thinking, under boots, to prevent friction when I don't want to wear really tall socks). The next one I did, I added a decrease to improve the fit, and was pleased with the result. Now I am making a friend for it. No Second Sleeve Syndrome here. It's good practice with DPNs, since I'm taking a sock-knitting class and the needles for that look like toothpicks compared to my usual. Eek!

2. Shawl 1, which will probably be a Christmas present, so no details. Move along.


3. Shawl 2, just started, with yarn I bought at Woolcott's summer sale last week. It's Italian, "Ritratto collezione, S. Charles" according to the label, and it's a mohair-viscose-polyamide-polyester mix that seduced me with its colors. (How do you like the photographer's assistant, by the way? The shadow on the right is the second assistant, who was monitoring from a distance, as is his wont.) This one will probably be for me. It's working up loose and lacy-looking, and although it's still small I like the way it's developing.

There's something about a sale that lets me buy yarn that isn't really cheap, and that I don't know what I'm going to do with, just because I like it. See, it was on sale! This yarn brought out my inner crow: look, sparkly! I would say it's not my usual style, but looking over my recent works, I don't think I can say I have a usual style. I have to say I've had a short attention span recently. Don't know why. Anyway, the sock class starts later this week, so we'll see if I like socks or not. I should work on the sleeve this week, since going from size 6 needles to size 2 won't be quite as jarring as going from 17s to 2s. Of course, I want to work on the shawl, so we'll see.