So many patterns and so little time!

I’ve got a couple of projects on the needles and I’m nearly finished with one of them. My big brother’s birthday socks – only a few more inches on the toe of the second sock and they’ll be done. I still love the yummy “java” sock yarn by String Theory … it feels so good knitting with it (and that doesn’t happen with all yarns!)

Today I visited my LYS here and bought a new knitting needle – a 40″ US 13 Addi that I will be using to make my life much (MUCH!) easier. I finished the bottom of my Noni Medallion tote bag and had started picking up the stitches around the bottom for the main part of the bag. The two needles that I had on hand were not working for me – yarn was getting twisted and it was a mess. My new needle makes life oh so very much easier! The two colored knitting colorwork is getting better and better with every row. Knitting in the round on the right side is so totally more easy than purling on the wrong side! Anyway, I got the new needle today because otherwise, I am going to have to knit with two needles and that’s a challenge for me – particularly since this is my first colorwork. Did I mention how much I like my colors? I am looking forward to seeing the bag once the colors and pattern really start to show!

When I was at the Yardgoods Center today, my darling Betty, who also happens to head up my Wednesday night knitting group, sold me a new sock yarn which I will wind and cast on this week! I’ll be happy to knit with and make another pair of socks – and she’s going to teach me how to do two socks at once. The yarn is a German brand … it’s hand-dyed and wound with two strands together so that when you make two socks at once they come out exactly the same. Fliegende Untertasse means flying saucer, she tells me … and that’s what the package looks like. Very different and we’ll see how it looks when I get knitting!

I started to look for a yarn with which to make some fingerless gloves for a darling girl who I haven’t knitted anything for yet. Her birthday’s coming up and she loves gray. Pattern will be with me on Wednesday (I love the Yardgoods Center! They have knitting classes several days and nights a week, it’s not overly expensive and you get a 10% discount on all purchases.) I’ll find yarn on my knitting night because I know I don’t have the right color in my stash that I brought up with me.

There are so many other projects that I have saved patterns for  … and they’re just burning a hole in my knitting bag (kind of like money burns a hole in a “normal” person’s pocket!)

OH, I forgot to mention  that I finished a new cowl. This one will go up for sale in my Etsy shop pretty soon. It’s made from two different navy blue wool blends so it feels really soft and it will be washable (in the machine, on cold and gentle cycle, always lay flat to dry) and wear like iron. I love the way it turned out and it reminds me of the color of our lake when it’s a beautiful blue day with a little breeze.

Bella mittens, colorwork fingerless mitts (fiddlehead pattern from Ravelry is really cool. The “yarn lady” at my LYS had a pair made in two shades of grey, black, cream and lined with grey – yes, in my head there is another pattern to try.) Oh, yeah, and there are the sweaters that I want to design for my dog line. Oh my goodness, there is a lot of yarn out there and I really want to try it all!

So, with that, I’m out of here – going to bed so I can knit again in the morning!