on needles: loose ends and dreaming

This week has definitely snuck by! How is it Wednesday eve already? At first thought I feel I’ve not gotten much done but my needles have been clicking away.

The second red mitten came off my needles shortly after I took this photo. They were proudly paraded around by Liam before being tossed in a corner. I feel he probably took this approach to his new hat as well (that one is still missing-in-action, sadly). Now I’m working on the second blue mitten to complete the pair for Elizabeth. I’d worked up a second to replace a lost blue mitten but now the original mitten is feeling snug so a new pair it must be.

I pulled a buried project from the bottom of my knitting bag to be completed. An in threes cardigan in fuchsia for the wee lass. It may not fit for a year or two but that’s a small detail, n’est pa? Some months ago when I realized the size was way off (no relation to my lack of a knitted swatch, no sir) I put it in a time out. Therefore a quick knit that may have taken a week took closer to six months. Now it’s out and the last rows are nearly finished.

My most rewarding project this week was the dropped stitch cowl I knit for a friend. I knit one for myself over the holidays which I’ve yet to share here and decided it was the perfect knit for a quick gift. The kids all exclaimed over the progress I’d made while they were sleeping. A few hours were all it took – and if you were knitting without as many distractions as I, you could likely have it on and off needles in an hour or two. My only beef is knitting with an acrylic blend. I’ve yet to get my hands on a great super chunky wool (I’m open to gifts of rasta for this purpose) so I knit both cowls with thick & quick.

Now I’ve made a lovely list of knits upcoming in my journal. A few baby gifts for friends are my most optimistic  goals (maybe these and one of these?), a swatch for my cardigan (!!!), and, yes, still those pesky projects kicking around waiting to be completed.

I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict. Just as I wished last week, the big kids are in on it now too! Liam chose it for his bedtime story and his older sisters edged closer and closer as I read. So I need to trick them into enjoying fiction? Although in a rather ridiculous change of circumstance I am now reading ahead of Liam each night with the big girls (as his bedtime comes sooner) and rereading with him again the next day. So I’m reading the book three times over. All at once. Did I hear someone say, “just desserts”? Yes, perhaps.

Now that I’ve put aside Nicholas Benedict as my personal reading I had the fun on choosing my next read. I’ve had My Antonia awaiting my attention from the library. I just got sucked into the beautiful writing tonight only to discover it’s overdue (with holds waiting) at the library. Alas I’m roaming again for another novel…I think I’ll wander over to my sweet friend’s house up the street to borrow this one I’ve been saving for a rainy day.

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And you, are you knitting or crocheting? Or perhaps you are crafting up some Valentine’s goodies? Do you have a book I should add to my list?

:: joining Ginny for yarn along::