Nothing to see here, folks

Just checking in to let you know I am still alive and almost over my cold.  I would have some knitting to show, but I have been reworking the bodice on the summer slumber sack over and over and OVER again.  Since all my mistakes may be due to illness and/or OTC medications, I decided to give the knitting a rest for a few days.  Instead, I watched all three Stieg Larsson movies.  It's difficult to knit while reading subtitles.  BTW, I thoroughly enjoyed the movies, but they are not for the squeamish.

I hab a code

Little girls may be made with sugar and spice and everything nice, but when they are not quite 6 months old, they don't know to cover their mouths when they cough or to sneeze into the crook of their arm or to wash their hands regularly.  Hence, my cold, courtesy of my granddaughter.  She seems to not only be a new vector for infectious diseases, she also mutates the germs into something my immune system can't cope with.  This is the worst cold I have had in a long time.  That's the bad news.

The good news is I am not too sick to knit.

Here is the bottom portion of the new sleep sack my daughter requested for Baby N.  I want to try it on the baby before finishing the top.

Here are the birthday socks for my son.  The gussets are done, so it should be (relatively) smooth sailing to the toes.

Even Belinda has gotten some attention.  The pink yarn is much easier to see, so I can work on this even when the lighting is not perfect.

The only thing being totally neglected is the Danish shawl.  I would not mind wrapping up in that today, to ward off the chills.

While knitting, I listened to Poser: My Life in Twenty-three Yoga Poses, by Claire Dederer.  Initially, I found this book to be mildly entertaining, but there are nuggets of wisdom scattered throughout.  Next up on the audio book list is The Pioneer Woman:  Black Heels to Tractor Wheels.  I also downloaded a Sherlock Holmes to my Nook, in part because I have never read any Arthur Conan Doyle, in part to see if I like listening to books on my eReader.  And it was one of the few books available through the local library that could be checked out immediately AND comes in MP3 format.

Now, time for a nap.

Breaking news

I have managed to stab myself with a knitting needle, so I know how sharp they can be.  Hope we hear the rest of this story.  Maybe a riot at an LYS with good yarn at cheap prices but low inventory?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_knitting_needle_stabbing

It's my daughter's fault

The sleep sack I made for my granddaughter has had a lot of use this winter.  Not only does Baby N sleep in it, she travels in it.  And she has not yet outgrown it.

Now my daughter wants a summer sleep sack for Baby N, more like a long jumper, to keep her warm in their air conditioned house while she sleeps.  And what knitter can resists a special request and/or the invitation to start something new?  Not me.  I'm combining some patterns and adding my own ideas to the mix, to come up with a solution, one that does not include a draw string or buttons at the bottom, because Baby N now can do this:

So progress on current projects may grind to a crawl.  Here is the status of those soon-to-be-neglected projects:

I am over halfway done with Belinda, as evidenced by the change of colors above.  The going will be slow, however, because I am now working 208 stitches per row.  Also, I prefer to knit KidSilk Haze on straights, so every one of those 208 stitches has been crammed onto one needle.  KSH is light weight, but having all those stitches on one needle can still cramp one's style.  Or hands, as the case may be.

I'm plodding along on the Danish shawl, which like many lace projects, doesn't look like much right now.  I'm anxious to get the bottom border done so I can move onto the body, which is mostly garter stitch.  Theoretically, that part should fly.

The current pair of socks feels like it is dragging, which I blame on the K2TOG's.  Otherwise, I would be cruising on these.  I like the resulting pattern, plus this is my portable project, so it shouldn't get totally neglected.

These not-quite-springlike gray and rainy days are perfect for knitting, were it not for the need to earn a living.  Stupid job.