UFO's... an attempt to finish!

Last night I actually worked on my Green Waves Shawl (pattern: Shoalwater Shawl).
Every time I pick it up I have to search to figure out where I am and then figure out where my mistake was that caused me to put it down. I think in the end I had to fudge the stitches twice (why when I was on a role knitting I don't know) for an extra stitch appearing. I made the design decision to add a K2Tog instead of ripping out hundreds of stitches to find a mistake I couldn't find after several tries. I am re-enthused by the shawl. I hope this enthusiasm carries me through a couple of more long repeats so that I can wrap myself in it's alpaca goodness and be proud of my first ever attempt at a lace shawl (and yes I know I picked a big one to start with).

....Maybe I should work on the Falling Leaves Shawl I have started as well.....

Lots of Interesting Changes....

I know it's been over a year since I last posted (not that anyone is really watching). I have gone through a lot of changes and have some new exciting prospects ahead. My husband and I have been living in Coos Bay, Oregon for a year now. We LOVE it here. It is green and cool and just feels like home. I can honestly say while I miss the choices that living in the city brings, I much prefer the pace of small-town life. It has allowed us to slow down and focus on us.

In May a huge adventure began, we decided to attempt to start a family. It is a work in progress, but we are hopeful and excited about the prospect. This journey has not been an easy one, and now it is a monthly cycle of waiting. I have so many knitting projects I want to start for our baby, but know better than to jinx anything. So for now I will continue to queue on Ravelry.com and dream of knitting projects to come.

Last night I finished a collection of 8 washcloths for a friend of mine. She and her husband will be adopting a newborn that is due to come very shortly. I liked the idea of the washcloths because they are infinitely useful. They get softer with every use and you never grow out of them. I will try to get pics posted soon. They are currently drying so I can get them in the mail soon.
(The Cow and Owl are supposed to be bright blue and the Monkey and Lion are bright yellow)

I need to finish Noah's Bama hat. It is hard to knit something for a team you are rivals with. Noah turned 1 this month and I know his daddy is excited about the hat. It has 4 different colors in it. One side of the hat says "Roll Tide" and the other has Big Al (an elephant). I found the chart patterns on Ravelry, but no explanation on how to translate to a hat. I tried knitting it in the round, but that hasn't worked out so well. It actually ended in a lot of not nice words and yarn flying across the room. My next attempt (after the extreme pleasure of ripping it all out) will be to knit it flat with yarn bobbins for each color yarn and then seam the hat up. I'm hoping this works. I my end up lining the inside of the hat if it doesn't look nice.

In the midst of all the Bama hat drama I decided to start a pair of socks for myself. I had been knitting for everyone else and wanted something easy for me. I'm using the Lifestyle Toe Up Sock pattern and just doing a simply 2x2 rib. They have just flown on the needles. I use them as my mindless knitting when I go somewhere. I don't know why I have waited so long to knit another pair of socks. I am doing them 2 at a time on 1 circular needle. I'm pretty sure I will keep a pair of socks going always now.

I have lots of other patterns to finish and hopefully will get to some of those while I'm on summer vacation. Speaking of vacation it is time to start thinking of what projects I will bring with me on my Colorado trip.

Now that I've been talking about knitting, my fingers are itching for some needles....