The Sweater of Avoidance

Long time no knitting update, right?

I have been on a mini streak of knitting small projects. I finished a hat for Nate using yarn I spun from some fiber he got me for my birthday a few years ago. The hat is about as plain as they come and, between the long hem and the gauge (6 sts/inch) it felt like it took forever to knit, so I really really hope it fits him. I have fit tested it on myself, but as more and more of my children outgrow me this seems to have less value. 

The mini-shawl in this dreadful picture is much prettier than it looks here. It is the class sample from the lace knitting class I took with Anne Hanson a few weeks ago. I looked at my next work deadline this morning and decided I could afford a hooky day. So I put on the rest of The Saturday Big Tent Wedding, which has been I languishing in my CD drive, and finished it up. It is about the right size for one of Isabel's American Girl dolls. They are honored guests now, rather than regular playthings, but I think they'll enjoy it just the same.  I was reluctant to use this yarn for the class because I love the colors in the skein and I didn't want to squander it on a bunch of samples. As it turned out, all three class samples used just under 30 grams of the skein, so there is still quite a bit to work with. And, I don't love it quite as much in the knitted project as I do in the skein. Go figure. 

Last up is still another substandard picture of the Hat for Matty. I did the crochet edging in orange, which I thought would be more fun than keeping it in the main color as called for in the pattern. This hat was on and off the needles in record time, at least compared to most of my projects, and the yarn--Berroco Ultra Alpaca-- softened up considerably after washing, pretty much losing all of its itch factor. 

You might think that all of this progress would inspire me to work on my Alpine Lace Shell, and you should, of course be right. Not only is it closer to completion than any of my other projects, but I really would like to finish it so I can move on to any of my other projects, since all of them right now seem more glamorous than the shell. I think the whole cotton yarn thing is getting in my way, though. The color (a bright peony pink) is great, but the yarn is a  bit of a battle to knit and I can't avoid feeling that every row is work. Still, I'm off to work on it for a few minutes before bed. I can just hear all those other projects calling to me.