shake (what your mama gave you)

Life has slowed down, at least for a couple weeks, which is lovely. I feel like I’ve got nothing but free time and delicious freedom ahead of me. This is – not strictly true, but good enough. I’ve got enough free time that, at least, the sock knitting is continuing apace.

I’m also doing lots of planning, because I’m going to be starting a project this weekend as – well, we’re going to say it’s part of the Knitting Olympics, but I have no real commitment to finishing “on time,” as long as it gets done. More on that later.

Song of the Entry: The Game – Shake (Listen) (No seriously, do it. It just makes me want to dance.)

we applied the cortical electrodes, but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

So, as you guys may have noticed, I haven’t been knitting a lot lately. This – as always – is largely due to this sort of thing.

My cat is about as impressed as I’m sure all of you are. However, earlier this week, in a moment of weakness, I wound some yarn and cast on for a sock.

Guys, look how nice it is. Look how the sparkle is spun right into the yarn, so that it’s subtle but glittery but awesome. Look how pretty the subtle variegation in this colourway (Dream in Color, Spring Tickle) is going to be.

I’m pretty stoked.

the best way to spread christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.

The Christmas knitting is well underway – this is the first year I’ve really had any down-to-the-wire gift knitting undone, and I’m not sure it’s a feeling I like. Next year, I plan to take on less. The current flurry of (unphotographed) work is for my parents, who are both theoretically getting socks for Christmas – I have exactly one of my mother’s pair done, and I started the cuff for the first sock of my father’s pair yesterday. This is Bad News.

However, the scarf for my good friend B- is done. And now that I’ve given it to him, I feel safe about putting pictures of it on the internet. This was the first scarf I’ve ever knit sideways (by casting on 470 stitches and knitting 40 rows, instead of casting on 40 stitches and knitting several hundred rows). I’m still not sure how I feel about the process – each way of scarf knitting has its upsides and downsides, I guess.

Either way, the scarf went from this:

To this.

(That’s linen stitch, not colourwork, so it’s actually dead easy.)

He likes it (and wears it!), so that’s more than good enough for me.