It’s been so long since I’ve posted, and I’ve finished up a few things.  I’ve been in a sort of clean-up mode (only for knitting, mind you, certainly not for things like the house!), and I’ve been gradually weeding down my UFO pile, by either finishing up or ripping out.  It started with digging out all the UFOs, which was depressing by its own right.  There’s the ugly-sweater-turned-to-pillows that I’ve been ignoring since January.  The story?  A lady at work brought it to another lady at work, who brought it to me.  Seems that her mother-in-law had started a sweater for the granddaughter, then died before it was completed.  It would mean so much to the little girl if it could be finished up.  Sure, how bad could it be?  It was a striped sweater, acrylic, royal blue, baby blue, and pink striped.  No pattern in sight.  The body was done, and the sleeves were started.  I tried, I really tried, to make it into a sweater.  I counted stitches and rows, tried to make a bit of a pattern, then I realized just WHY Grandma had put it down. Big boo-boo – about half again as many stitches on one sleeve as there were on the other, slightly more finished sleeve.  There was no way to fix this and make it look pretty.  OK, it wasn’t pretty to start with.  I put a lot of thought into it, since I know the “little” girl in question.  She’s 14, very stylish, and I guaranteed that even if I was to finish this sweater, she would never ever wear it.  I went back to her mom with the suggestion of making it into pillows – maybe one with the body and one with a sleeve?  She talked it over with her daughter, and decided that would be great.  I worked diligently for a week or so, then tried to put a pillow form in, and the ribbing was just too small in relation to the body.  I put it down for a month or so, and tried again.  Repeat this over a few months, and suddenly it was summer break, and I didn’t see the mom or daughter for a few months.  Then school started again, and I saw them, and realized I just needed to do it.  I ripped out a good bit, reknitted a good bit, and finished up.  They are certainly not the most beautiful pillows in the world, but hopefully they will get more use than the sweater would.

The bonus in doing this was that I found the first set of #7 Options tips that I had lost (I’ve lost 2 sets in the last several months, and recently ordered set number 3).  That, and I get to feel at least a little good about finishing it up – guess this is my charity knitting for the year!

I also decided that both of the sweaters that have been languishing on the needles (ArtFibers and Lorna’s Laces Bulky) were never going to be finished as they were both too short.  So, I gathered my bravery and ripped them out.  Both of them.  Nearly finished sweaters.  Yes, my husband thought I was crazy.  I’m reworking the Lorna’s Laces as a v-neck, and the ArtFibers is in reconsideration status.  No pics yet, sorry!  I’m working on finishing up the 2nd sock of the coordinating LL socks, figuring that it will get me motivated to finish the sweater, since the 80+ degree temperatures we’ve been having here sure aren’t helping.  Oh – and bonus #2 – found the second lost set of Options #7 tips in the ArtFibers sweater – now there are 3 sets in my binder!

I made some socks for OtherMom for her birthday – she loves footies, so I pulled out some Austermann Step that Kim had bought for me, and cranked some out.  They’re soft, and warm, and a little funny looking with the pink chickenpox on them, but she liked them (and I didn’t call them chickenpox in her presence – I’m not nuts!).

I finished blocking Mom’s Swallowtail, and it gorgeous (and still really fuzzy!).

I also finished up some socks for me – the OnLine Supersocke I’ve been working on since right after the cruise, and a pair of Cascading Leaves socks from HandJive Nature’s Palette that Tricia sent me a while back.  There’s a boo-boo in the Cascading Leaves that I didn’t notice until the first time I wore them, but I’m trying to not be obsessive and rip it out to redo it.  It’s right near the toe, and I’m drawn to it every time I look at them, but I’m going to let it go.  Really I am.

Since I know my husband has now quit reading about 2 paragraphs ago, I can post this picture.  Sarah had come over to visit, and brought along some sock yarn to wind.  She also had ripped out one sock, and had wound the yarn onto a water bottle, thinking that would make it easier to rewind.  It wasn’t, but Mark quickly had a solution, and ran in the kitchen, grabbed something (I didn’t see what), dropped the water bottle on it, and sat there to help while she wound the yarn.  I was so impressed!  He was annoyed that Shea took this picture, so of course I have to post it.

I’ve also started trying to post some projects in Ravelry, but it’s time consuming, and our internet has been particularly slow, so I’ve only got a few of my most recent things up.  I am, of course, Knitnik over there, so drop me a line if you stop by!

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