Inspired

What do you do when you are in a bad mood? Sometimes I just want to escape the feeling for a while, so I watch a movie or read fiction. But other times, I want to do something to make me feel better. This morning, inspired by several brave, brave knitting bloggers who have been revealing their WIP's and vowing to finish at least some of them, I decided what would make me feel better is doing something similar (but not so brave). I may not like the process but I will like the results.

This baby bib and burp rag needed only a few ends woven in and a button to be finished. Voila!



This set is for my hair stylist who is expecting her second (another boy). For her first baby, I gave her this electric green baby hoodie and wasn't sure if she like it. But she recently volunteered that she was looking forward to using it again on son #2.

A recently completed knit-wise project just waiting for some blocking was the Shetland Triangle Shawl.



The pattern came from a book, and I don't know which one because the photocopied pages don't have that information on them, but the pattern designer is Evelyn A. Clark, if that helps. I used Schaefer "Anne" in powder puff pink, which bled a little during the soak.



Quite a while ago, I purchased some blocking dressing wires from HandWorks Northwest, but I had not yet tried them. Heck, I hadn't even opened the package yet.



The kit was recommended by Yarn Harlot, I believe, and even though I'm not sure I was using them correctly, they did help with the blocking.



I used two wires across the top and one down the center. The pins that came with the kit were almost enough for this shawl.

The pinwheel sweater got bogged down when I decided I wanted to verify the location of the sleeves. This morning I took it off the needles, fetched a couple of sweaters from my closet, compared and contrasted, and stretched the pinwheel a little, and decided I can just follow the pattern. I am leaving in the yarn I used to hold the stitches as a lifeline, though, in case I change my mind later and want to rip back.

Now, the frustrating story of the Sea Silk scarf.

As you may recall, I have been trying to get something going with this yarn ever since I bought it. Through Ravelry, I found a pattern by Amy Singer that was designed for this yarn, so I thought my problems were over. Wrong! I wrestled with this yarn on multiple needles, in multiple needle sizes, until I despaired of ever getting further than a few inches on the scarf.



But I finally found something that works: my Turbo Addi circs in US6. The slippery needles and the slippery yarn force me to be mindful of my YO's, but I think this is going to work.

And, yes, now I feel much better.

It's Snowing Again?!?

February is asserting itself with another snowfall, making sure we know it is Leap Year and not March yet. Now that I have other plans for tomorrow, there will probably be enough snow for cross country skiing. This year I just can't win.



This is the house of one of the neighbors who did not blow my driveway after the last snow. Neither did my next door neighbor. I shoveled a bit, enough to get my car out of the garage, but have not had the time nor the energy to finish the job. Both these neighbors have been very helpful this winter, but I guess even they have their limits. I'm home sick (the usual: sore throat, headache, runny nose, etc.) so I'm not going to tackle it today. Maybe tomorrow afternoon, if it doesn't melt first. One can always hope!

Meanwhile, I needed something bright and cheerful to work on, plus I am out of "expectant grandmother sets," so I knitted up this Mason-Dixon Knitting baby bib and burp rag.



They are in Peaches & Cream on US 6 needles. I like how the "Daisy Ombre" colorway pools on the bib but not the burp rag. All I need to do is add a button to the bib and they will be ready to go.

The other night, I had to try my hand at filet crochet, so I worked up this pattern from Filet Crochet.



It's in Red Heart Sport (not the best choice), on a size 00 crochet hook, and it took about two hours, including time to figure out what the heck I was doing and to undo some mistakes. The square is about 8.5 inches on a side and took 20g of yarn. It was kinda fun, so I'll probably do more in the future.

Meanwhile, I got this out of the library:



I have to admit, this Harmony Guide is kind of disappointing. I don't know if it is the photography or the yarn, but the pictures are not very enticing. The other Harmony Guides I have looked at were lacking charts, but this book has charts... for some of the designs. I wonder what the editors based that decision on, besides cost.

Well, sick or not, I am washing the dishes. Otherwise I will have no pots to cook supper in. Then it is time for a nap.

P.S. The spell-checker is back, but Blogger is balking at uploading photos today, so I have resorted to using Flickr. The template seems to be chopping off some of the pix, though. *sigh*