Not what I thought

Here it is, a fine Monday morning, and this last week did not proceed as I thought. I planned on finishing these. I planned on finishing a nice little cowl, on starting the swatch bag for the colour work vest. Lo and behold life got in the way. Nary a stitch was done on anything I intended this week.

Two days, I went straight to bed after work. I think I was coming down with a little something, but the extra sleep seems to have helped. I'm still as hale and as hearty as I will ever be. One night was knitting and all I could manage was sock knitting and a promise to have one sock blank far enough along to show everybody how I do the after thought heels (I use Elizabeth Zimmermann's afterthought pocket instructions rather than putting in a piece of waste yarn).

There were no other nights. Any other nights that should have been there to get these small projects done, just did not exist. Saturday morning found me with company coming for Sunday, and the knitting I promised them, undone.

The promised knitting was this. A plain and rather small Calorimetry (She'll have to use the ties. This one was just too small to put a button on for closing.) and a properly fitting one. These knit up in a couple of hours and are a great primer for short rows. The first is Rowan Pure Wool Aran and the second uses some of the Pure Wool and Zitron Loft. These are Calorimetry 4 and 5 for me.. All were made with very different yarns than the recommended weight. If you are using a heavier yarn, just cast on fewer stitches. You absolutely must calculate gauge to avoid a too small hat. (Obviously, I didn't take my own advice) In each and every case, the important thing about the yarn is that it needs to be able to bounce back to hold its shape.

While getting ready for dinner, I found a small card on the dining room table addressed to me. It was an invite to my sister's first grandchild's baby shower. I purchased yarn for a sweater for the babe way back in October. I haven't started yet. Insert mild panic here.

I pulled out the yarn I had socked away, stopped the endless debates about how am I going to do this sweater, and cast on for a Baby Surprise Sweater. The brilliant fuchsia pink is Merino Soft. The eye poppingly brilliant multi colour is Socks That Rock Lightweight Sherbet.

Eeeep, I just spotted a flaw. I hate when that happens. I'll go down and fix that on the next round.

I know some people have trouble with the way Elizabeth writes her patterns, but if you read and use her books you will come to see that she wants to put you in the drivers seat, put you in charge of your knitting. The directions are spare, but complete. You just have to be paying attention (Ask me how I know you have to be paying attention) .

I may not have gotten anything done on my planned projects and my hands will continue to be chilly on the way to the store, but I am knitting an EZ pattern. Fair trade, I say.