Frogged!

So, the Cable Waist Cardigan has been frogged. The 8-ply cotton on the mondo cone just wasn't working right with the cables. Bummer. I will find something else for both yarn and pattern, however, so no despair. Well, not much.

I've heard others talk about losing knitting mojo, but I don't think I've ever experienced it -- until now. See, I have also had to tear out Rita's Scarf three times now. You'd think this one would be easy: I've made this scarf before; it's just a simple garter stitch. This one ain't rocket science, and still I can't seem to get it to work.

Luckily, my sock is still behaving itself. I'm almost to the heel, and I'm thinking of using the modified heel that Wendy used on her Temptation Top-Down Socks (pdf link to pattern). Maybe I shouldn't press my luck?

Right now the sock is the only (non-hibernating) project on the needles (well, there's the Dr. Who Scarf which I've never blogged [Ravelry link]). Perhaps I need to take some time and celebrate my near-WIP-less-ness. There are all those needles that need organizing, and story deadlines fast approaching, and that pile from my latest trip to the library just mocking me from the floor next to the desk (note to self: must get some sort of bookshelf-like thing for next to the desk). When I am ready to return to the knitting, it will always be there waiting for me.

Or, I could just haul out one of the warps I have stashed. Yes, I tend to wind scarf- and stole-sized warps in batches and store them for future weaving needs (I've never had a good place to keep the warping board always available, so it makes sense to wind multiple warps when I have it out). You think knitting and washing a gauge swatch interferes with getting to the "good stuff" -- what about winding a warp and dressing the loom? Though there are those (LB, for one) who enjoy that part best of all -- takes all types. Okay, I DO enjoy dressing the loom, but winding warps can be tedious.

For now, I think I'm going to take the dog for a walk and then crawl back into bed with a book. I haven't slept well this week for some reason (hmmmmm, could that have something to do with the missing mojo?), and they eyes are feeling droopy.

And That's Just the Sock Yarn!

So, I've finally sat down and explored Ravelry and started inputting stuff. There are now 51 yarns in my stash (Ravelry link), and -- with a couple exceptions -- they're all sock yarns or other yarns destined to become socks. Oh my word! I haven't even started on the stuff out in the garage (which is a perfectly acceptable place to store yarn when you live in a dry climate). Don't worry, it's all in plastic tubs.

Anyhoo, I got this email from Knit Picks and decided I had to have this cardigan. Okay, so maybe I'm totally acclimated to life in the Southwest, but it seems strange to me that they are touting this as a warmer weather sweater but the yarns they're recommending are all worsted-weight wool or wool blends. Doesn't that seem a wee bit warm, even for cool spring evenings? Or am I really a child of the desert now?

Well, there's no way I'm making it in wool for my life here. And M nixed the idea of buying any new yarn for it when she found this

in the stash. It's somewhere near about 8 pounds of light worsted cotton.

So I swatched

and it looks like the gauge should be about right. I'll probably cast on later today or tomorrow.

What about project monogamy? Well, the Kimono Jacket now looks like this:

No, it doesn't really spend its days hanging around in the shrubbery, but it felt like taking in a little sun. And that would be why this little beauty is going into hibernation (though it's called estivation when it happens in the summer) until fall. There's just no way I could finish it before the weather got just too darn warm to wear it.

And then I must do something with these:

Many, many, many moons ago, I made us a scarf using Eros and 24K. Recently M wore it work, and a friend fell in love. So, these two balls are destined to become one for her, in her colors (red and black). It'll be a nice, mindless task that.