Ripping off the Band-Aid

it may seem odd but I kind of don't know how to post here anymore. So I'm just ripping off the old band-aid and diving in.

My husband requested mittens. He said he wanted them to be just like the ones I made for The Squid last winter (she still wears and loves them). It's just a basic old mitten, no pattern, but that's what he said he wanted. And he picked out the yarn - delicious-yet-sturdy merino from Little Turtle Knits in the "Midnight Ride" colorway from last winter's holiday collection.

He also insisted on modeling them in various positions for the photo montage above. He likes them a lot; he grins like a child when he puts them on. The one complaint is that it's been so unseasonably warm that he hasn't really gotten a lot of wear out of them. And he wants a matching scarf, but I've got no matching yarn. Oh well.


I've also re-connected with his Elizabeth Zimmerman Seamless Hybrid - one sleeve nearly complete. If I'm lucky I'll finish this sometime before the New Year. Fortunately we don't do any real standard holiday so i don't have a specific date by which I need to have completed the sweater. But New Year's Day is my goal.


I also have a pair of socks on the needles. These are for Martha, the professor's mom. I started them when I was flying down there, and somehow thought I'd actually finish them there. I even brought yarn to cast on for a different project for the return trip. Ha. that was 16 days ago and I'm still knitting them, a little bit every day.

I have so say I have issues with these socks - or it could be my weird, loose-jointed pregnant hands. They are really baggy and loose. I'm using Trekking XXL, and though size 2s are recommended, I'm using 0s. I tend to prefer densely knit socks so I often size down. But these feel very airy and loose to me, even on 0s. And though I've cast on my standard 60 stitches on size 0s, these are big and floppy as well as being airy and loose. Fortunately Martha loves me and will forgive my weird saggy baggy socks. Plus she lives in the tropics and probably won't ever even wear wool socks, so it's just a sign of her kindness that she's feigning excitement about them at all.

And here's the newest "just can't say no" project I've gotten myself into. I went to pick up The Squid at preschool the other day, and found her and her teacher (whom I adore) sitting in the doll-play corner, lamenting about the shabby state of the dolls and their lack of clothing.

So the teacher says "these dolls need new clothes, don't they, hint hint." And somehow it was suggested that since The Squid, among all of her classmates, is most taken by the dolls, that she bring them home, one by one, to bathe them, comfort them, and bring them back with new outfits.

So It has begun. This was the first victim, and I got away with a tank top with crocheted straps and shorts. Let's see how things progress, shall we?

Oh, and I finished the octopus pattern. It's available in the sidebar.