i’m gonna march right through, and make a smile outta your frown

The sweater is very, very nearly done – all I have left is to sew on the snaps. I am impatient like a little kid, right now, waiting for it to dry so I can put it on and wear it and just bask in how much I love the project.

In the meantime, though, I’ve been slowly chipping away at other projects that most of you have probably forgotten about. For instance, my socks. My glittery Dream in Colour socks. These? Yeah. They’re not done, but I have finished one sock and I’m well on my way to being done the second.

These socks are especially exciting because of this detail, right here. You see the gusset? See the bit where the gusset joins the top of the foot? See how there isn’t a hole there? I have finally, after four years of knitting socks, figured out how to do that. I even repeated it on the second sock, so I am hopeful that it was not some sort of fluke.

Also, I am still entranced by the fact that this yarn has glitter. In case any of you were concerned.

Song of the Entry: Matthew Barber – (I’m Gonna) Settle My Accounts With You (Watch)

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.)

she likes, she likes to be

So, one of the things I did while I was recovering from my wisdom tooth extraction, besides finish my fabulous purple socks, was finish up a major project for school that involved setting out a plan for the entire year. In the spirit of planning, this is one of those entries where I sit down and collect my thoughts and plot out all of the knitting I’d like to get done before the new year. (I’m also taking in the new Forever the Sickest Kids EP, The Weekend: Friday. It’s delightful.)

First up are these, which need to be Christmas presents for my parents. My mom picked out the skeins of Lorna’s Laces herself, and I’m really excited to make something that I know she’ll appreciate – she is the best kind of knitwear recipient, she wears everything I make for her all the time. My dad is also getting some vastly more sedate socks (because “he already has a hat and a scarf” – the idea of multiples is completely foreign to him), in a pattern I have yet to pick out. Something straightforward and manly – maybe the Boyfriend Socks.

The next is the knitting I thought I’d get done while I was recovering from my surgery. I bought a skein of the much discussed Dream in Colour Starry at knit night a couple of weeks ago, and planned to make a pair of incredibly awesome, sparkly stockinette socks.

The sock yarn, you see, has glitter in it. And anyone who knows me even a little should be pretty clear about my feelings on glitter. However, now that I’m lucid and still haven’t had the time to even wind it into a ball, I’m thinking I want to do something a little more special with this yarn. I mean, I still want socks. And possibly all I want is some very tall socks, because I plan to use absolutely every scrap of this yarn. But I am going to need to sit down and do some sketching and figure out how, exactly to maximize this stuff, because it’s a treat for me and I’m probably not going to work with it very often.

The last thing in the works is my sweater, the one I’ve been talking up for weeks without actually knitting. I’m pretty confident about the plan I’ve got for it now, and after finishing the first sleeve I’ve cast on for the body.

(Am I the only one who loves taking photos of notes about knitting? There’s something in it that just feels very artistic and satisfying to me.)

Song of the Entry: Forever the Sickest Kids – She Likes (Bittersweet Love)