With all of my free time lately, I’ve been knitting like a mad woman. Though I’ve yet to pick up my 2-years-and-counting Central Park Hoodie that has sat in Time Out for the past month, I did eventually grow bored after knitting my fourth dishcloth in a week.

During my short dishcloth obsession, something strange happened — I fell in love with cotton.

Normally, I detest knitting with dishcloth cotton as it does feel a bit brash, especially compared to my undying loyalty to the 8th wonder of the world — the unbelievably soft Malabrigo wool. But somehow, my fourth dishcloth left me wondering if cotton could be softer; maybe a cotton blend plied with a much softer fiber.

Before picking out which cotton yarn to try, I decided on a cute lace tank top, the Heart Lace Top. (*FREE knitting pattern altert!)

I ended up buying 3 skeins of Lion Brand’s Cotton Ease (a cotton/acrylic blend; significantly softer than 100% cotton), and so far I’m impressed. Though the color is less than what I was hoping for — I’d have loved a dark, rich purple like the photo on the pattern page — but it was the best of the choices at hand. Because I don’t normally wear such light colors, I plan to knit or crochet a black border along the bottom and I’ll knit the bodice and straps in black as well.

My progress photo doesn’t look like much, but I’ve knit another inch or two since last night when the picture was taken. My goal is to finish the tank by the end of our next race weekend in a few weeks.

I don’t have a great track record when it comes to finishing new projects in a timely manner, but a girl can hope… right?

I am a knitting MACHINE lately. I feel like I’ve been pumping out *FO’s left and right lately, and this sweet, tiny newborn hat is even made of cashmere! This project knit up in about 4 hours time, and knocks another task off my 101 Things in 1001 Days list (knit something to donate).

Pattern: Cabled Baby Hats by Julie Hentz (FREE knitting pattern)

• Start Date: June 5, 2010
• Finish Date: June 6, 2010

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran (55% Merino, 33% Microfiber, 12% Cashmere)

From the top view you can see the flower:

P.S. I’ve cast on a rainbow sock. Progress pictures to come soon. :)

*FO = Finished Object

Originally meant for christmas of 2008, this evening I finally sat down and finished the pair of cashmere fingerless mitts I started for my Portland Mom nearly 2 years ago. Go figure, we’re heading into the heat of summer as I’m giving her warm cashmere mittens, but at least she’ll have them this winter (and when the A/C at work is set to -35 degrees during 100 degree weather next month).

Pattern: Fetching by Cheryl Niamath (FREE pattern)

• Start Date: August 15, 2008
• Finish Date: June 5, 2010

Monday morning is here — okay, it’s nearly noon, so I suppose ‘morning’ is a bit of a stretch at this point — and I finally have a spare minute to post my Traveling Woman pictures I was able to take over the weekend. Both Saturday and Sunday were in the 70’s without a drop of rain to be seen for miles — a change of pace I was more than happy to enjoy.

I blocked my shawl Friday night and was proudly wearing it by Saturday afternoon. I immediately went out in the sunshine to document the fruits of my labor, and I’ve worn the shawl every day since.

The best part? I won this yarn in Twisted’s monthly haiku contest.

Pattern: Travelling Woman by Liz Abinante

• Shawl measurements before blocking: 52” wide x 19” tall
• Shawl measurements after blocking: 70″ wide x 17.5″ tall

• Start Date: April 9, 2010
• Finish Date: May 7, 2010

It looks great slung around my neck like a scarf.

It also looks great on my carbon fiber hood. =]

Modifications:

• Knit the stockinette portion to 215 sts before I started Chart A.

Math as follows:
14 x 15 (# of rpts desired)=x, x=210
x+1=y, y=211
y+4=z, z=215
z=number of sts you should increase to

• Worked 3 rpts of Chart A before starting Chart B.

Project Notes:

I ran out of yarn at the very end of my third Chart A repeat - the perfect time to switch to my leftover black sparkly. I knit the edge (Chart B) in the black and it ended up goth’ing it up a little and giving it a really striking appearance. I can’t wait to rock this at Saturday Market!

Every time I finished a repeat of Chart A, the stitch count of row 1 didn’t line up with what I had left from the last row of the chart. I didn’t realize until starting the edge (Chart B) that the chart had 2 extra stitches on each side of Row 12 in Chart A.

Despite the mistakes, I love love love this pattern. I fully intend to knit another!

I’ve found myself knitting a lot more often than I usually do over the past few months. I’m not sure if that’s because I’m stressed out and subconsciously revel in the relaxing, therapeutic repetition of knitting, or because I’ve somehow been able to stay focused on one hobby for longer than ever before. Either way, I’m making some serious progress.

I’m nearly finished with my second shawl. After running out of the blue-green Cherry Tree Hill yarn, I started the lace edge with my leftover midnight purple sparkly (Dream In Color Starry). So far, it’s absolutely gorgeous.

Pattern: Travelling Woman by Liz Abinante

*My hand is for size reference.

I don’t yet know if I’m the shawl-wearing type, but I’m anxious to find out.

I have no real reason for knitting a shawl other than the fact that I am a knitter without a wearable shawl. This project has no actual purpose other than to look pretty — a tangible display of my mad knitting skillz. And to a knitter, that’s plenty reason enough.

After 11 days of knitting WAY more often than I normally would, I’ve finished my very first shawl. I am proud to announce that I am no longer a knitter without a shawl  — which is exactly like being a brilliant composer who never bothered to write their magnum opus.

Pattern: Dancing Batty by Meta Libenter, Photos: Kristin a.k.a. MeanBean

So it may have turned out a little small. And by a little small I mean really fucking tiny. At first I felt like crying — what on Earth am I going to do with this thing?! I mean, it looks like I knit it for a toddler.

And then I realized: I fucked up.

An oversight so painfully simple. The kind of innocent mistake that comes around to slap you right in the face and then laughs while spitting all over your brand new stilettos.

The pattern says to knit this shawl with sock weight yarn on size 7’s, which would give all those yarn overs (the strategic holes that create the bat shapes) a really dramatic look. This morning, two whole days after finishing the shawl, I realized that I knit the entire shawl on size 4’s.

That’s 3 whole needle sizes SMALLER than the pattern suggests.

No wonder this thing’s so damn small.

I knit this cute little Grass for my partner in a Spring themed swap I’m participating in this month. (Sam still doesn’t understand the idea of packing a bunch of random stuff in a box and shipping it off to someone I’ve never met, and then to receive a box full of random stuff from someone I won’t even be able to thank since they basically drew my name out of a hat and I won’t know who actually sent it. Of course now that I said that, I realize it is is bit… well, completely batshit crazy.) My assigned partner appears to be a quirky, somewhat eccentric sort of person, and I have a sneaking suspicion she will appreciate the level of adorable in this little guy.

*As soon as I let him outside, he went straight for my carbon fiber hood. What can I say, he has good taste.

Not to mention he’s made of Mmmmmmmalabrigo - only the softest merino wool ever to grace my knitting needles. This little grass is definitely snuggle-worthy.

*Grass felt most comfortable in it’s natural habitat.

The FREE knitting pattern for this Grass can be found here.

The long-anticipated 2010 Winter Olympics kicks off in Vancouver, BC tomorrow night. This is exciting for 2 reasons:

• I absolutely LOVE the winter Olympics. In my opinion, all the best Olympic sports involve snow and ice.
• During the opening ceremony tomorrow night, I will be feverishly casting on a project for the unofficial Knitting Olympics. (I realize this makes me a prime target for granny jokes, but I don’t care.)

The idea of the Knitting Olympics is to start a challenging-but-not-impossible project during the opening ceremony, and complete it by the time the torch goes out 17 days later.

Tomorrow night at 6:00 pm (Pacific Time) sharp, I will be in front of the TV casting on to make this ‘lil guy:

His name is Sheldon and not only is his shell removeable, but you can also knit him badass outfits like this pirate set:

I’m not yet sure what colors I’ll use for my Sheldon; that will depend on what I can find in my yarn stash. I suppose he may end up being a girl turtle, in which case I would probably call her Shellen.

*You can read more about the Knitting Olympics here, written by none other than the most fabulous Canadian I “know”, the Yarn Harlot.

Last week I decided I needed a new, fast knitting project to knock out before motivating myself to work on my Central Park Hoodie again. After much deliberation, I decided Felicity fit the bill perfectly - a super quick, mindless tv-watching knit. Unfortunately, only after committing to the pattern did I realize it calls for casting on a surprisingly small amount of stitches on worsted weight yarn - on size FIVE needles.

This is how it went:

1.  I CO an extra 10 stitches to make up for the small number of CO’s in pattern.
2. “OMG this hurts my hands. I’m really hating this.”
3. “Why did I make this out of cheap yarn?! I hate cheap yarn!”
4. After 2 rounds, I switched to size 6 needles for the remainder of the 3.5″ cuff portion, hoping to ease the pain in my hands and knuckles.
5. After finishing the 3.5″ of cuff, I tried it on. It didn’t fit. It wasn’t even close. It hurt my head just trying to get it on.
6. I gave up.

Hat FAIL!

This morning I decided that I am not going to give Felicity another chance. Instead, I’m going to knit something warm and somewhat simple in Malabrigo. I didn’t currently have any Mal in my small yarn stash - I’m not much of a stasher; more of a buy-yarn-as-I-need-it type - so I flew to Twisted on my lunch break (and by “flew” I mean I broke at least 325 traffic laws) and happily adopted 2 skeins of luscious purple Malabrigo Chunky specifically for Bella’s Mittens.

Yes, an exact replica of the mittens worn by Kristen Stewart as Bella in the movie Twilight. Call me a nerd, but I think they’re fitting, as I’m currently enveloped in the third book of the series, Eclipse.

These nearly-elbow length mittens will be warm, smooshy, butter soft, and best of all - MINE ALL MINE. I can’t wait to fondle wind my yarn tonight after Sam and I’s make-up sushi dinner date. =)

Both knitting and reading have fallen to the wayside since getting sick on our return from Las Vegas. Sam and I spent the majority of the weekend curled up on the couch, only leaving once on Saturday for an emergency Home Depot run for a new kitchen faucet and once on Sunday to pick up Chinese takeout for dinner.

Over the course of our two day weekend, I watched an entire disc (4 episodes) of Ugly Betty season 3, Wall-E for the second time (if you haven’t seen it, what are you waiting for?! RENT IT! It’s fantastic!), Blood Diamond, and the entire 8th cycle of America’s Next Top Model (for the record, Sam and I both feel strongly that Natasha should have won). I’m back at work today, but still feeling crummy. Both ears are completely plugged resulting in the feeling of being inside a fishbowl, and the glands on my neck are so swollen it’s painful to move my head.

I settled into a comfy position next to both sleeping kitties yesterday afternoon, determined to read another chapter or two of Eclipse as I haven’t picked it up since the flight home from Vegas last Wednesday. All snuggled in under the covers on the couch, I opened the book only to drop it right on my face. The bookmark went flying and I lost my place. I then spent the next 15 minutes trying to find where I’d left off, to no avail. Eventually, with a few bad words yelled in frustration, I gave up and put the book down. I can’t even remember what was happening when I stopped reading the last time, so I’m not sure I’ll ever find my exact page. I guess I’ll have to re-read for a while until I figure out where I left off.

I really should be working on my Central Park Hoodie, but I’m just not feeling it lately. I knit a few cable repeats in the Portland airport before our trip, but didn’t touch it the rest of the vacation. It has sat untouched since our return home. It certainly isn’t going to knit itself, as much as I’d love that, but it just isn’t calling my name. Instead, I have an insatiable desire to bust out a winter hat using some of my stash yarn. And I may just indulge myself by doing so. So far, I’ve narrowed it down to 5 potential patterns:

• Felicity by Knitology

• Circle Takes The Square by Splendor Knits

• Who? by Penguin Purls

• The Armando Hat by Gina House

• Bella’s La Push Hat by Nancy Fry (not a very good picture, I know)

So now begins the battle of the beanies. So far, I’m leaning towards Felicity despite it’s simplicity.