Recent excitement

I have a Finished Object! I completed the knitting on a Brea Bag many many moons ago, ordered handles from a certain notions shop in NYC... and never received them. Tonight I found some (cheaper, with a 40 percent coupon) at AC Moore. And now the purse lives! It looks remarkably up-to-date with the hip and happening current styles, but I'm not sure it can handle the amount of bric-a-brac I must carry with me at all times. Keys, wallet, phone, fine... but add the inhaler, the back pain medication, the umbrella, and it gets a bit heavy. If I get real crazy motivated I'll line the sucker. Also, I need to get a big wooden button. For now, a DPN will do! Voila, the Brea Bag, knit with Cascade 220 Superwash in kelly green:


And a more artistic shot:


Lest you think that's all I've been up to, I also began (and completed) a pair of mittens. The knitting-for-a-boy curse struck again, so I have no documentation of them. Let it be known that they were crafted in a gorgeous red and black Shaefer Yarn, true fireman colors. I've learned my lesson and am never knitting for someone I'm dating EVER AGAIN. It's just too heart breaking.

Knitting for Mom, however, is always A-OK. Check out my new favorite yarn, Scarlet Fleece Painted Merino! These are bed socks, because my mother likes to wear socks to bed. They are perhaps not the ideal gift for such a milestone birthday as this one, but hopefully they help her feet stay toasty. When I'm 55, I hope I have daughters knitting me socks! The pattern is a simple Twisted Rib, loads of fun to knit. The heavy gauge makes for a fast and delicious knit indeed.


Scarlet Fleece Painted Merino is so fun I had to buy another skein, destined for another birthday present. I loved knitting the first pair so much, I'm already at the heel of the first sock in this colorway, two days after pulling it out of my stash!


In recent memory I worked on another sweater out of Classic Elite Sand. Sadly, Sand requires hand washing (the horrors) and I have to keep it for myself. I got nifty technicolor fish buttons to go with it, and will someday sew the thing together and attach the buttons. Since I'm going to keep it in my hope chest*, no hurry. This is the nearly completed sweater:


Most of my knitting time has been going elsewhere, however. Here's an adorable romper at a half-complete stage:


A close-up of the fair isle bottoms. This is a bit over saturated, but to do credit to Cascade 220 superwash it's not actually that much brighter than the real thing.


Coming soon on the needles, after a bunch of baby projects, is Brian's sweater. Since he is only a coworker and friend, and we would never date, he has demanded a sweater on the grounds that the sweater curse could never apply. Sneaky. I don't mind, except for his FIFTY-TWO inch chest measurement. Kill me now. I've found a pattern and yarn that pleases us both, though I suspect nothing will please me 6 trillion stitches from now:


* hope chest = pile of baby and wedding type things that I will probably, sadly, never need