So. After I finish the other stuff we’ve talked about this week, I plan to turn my attention to The Basket of Doom:

In here are assorted unfinished projects, most of which don’t really require that much work. What am I saying, and who am I trying to kid? I actually have no idea what all is buried in that basket, but I do know it contains a just-needs-seamed BSJ and a just-needs-sleeves-and-turtleneck sweater for me. I guess we’ll just have to explore it together sometime soon, won’t we?

Earlier this week, I showed you a mystery piece. This is another one. I’d been trying to think of the perfect thing for my purpose, and I had to go to ACMoore for That One’s mom the other day (oh the torture, right? She has no idea what she asks of me!) and I cruised through the yarn as I am wont to do, and this jumped right out at me. I’ll take part of the mystery out and tell you that it will become a Clapotis, but I won’t tell you what I plan to do with it just yet. I want this one finished by March 9th, so please tell me that the Clapotis is a quick knit and that these four balls will make it.

As an aside, the checker got a little flummoxed, apparently distracted by that fella beside me, and she was trying to use a vase sitting on the counter as a barcode scanner. She couldn’t figure out why her register wasn’t working, LOL! I told her I wouldn’t tell anyone, but I don’t figure the blog counts, right?

After I get the project I discussed yesterday finished, I want to turn my attention to this:

If you remember, and I really don’t expect you to, it is the pinwheel sweater I started for myself back last summer, when everyone else was playing wii games. I think I am almost done with the knitting, and then there is the very fancy, very wide crocheted border. However, I am going to a fancy schmancy dancy on the 20th, which I discussed here, and I realized last Monday that this sweater would be about perfect for it, if I can get it done in time. Anybody wanna place a friendly wager? I’m really motivated, because I have nothing else remotely suitable, and if you click that link, you’ll see that the dress is very, very sleeveless.

I purposefully left this project a jumbled up mess on the bed for it’s photo. I’m not yet ready to show it, for two reasons. First, it will take a good blocking to show off all it’s charm, and second, I am not yet ready for it to be recognizable as coming from my needles. So there, how is that for ambiguous? Hahaha!

I finished the 15th of the final 30 rows on it the night before I took this picture. My self imposed deadline for having it completed and in the mail is February 9th, and I think I’ll be done in time if I can tear myself away from Kingdoms of Camelot. Which is a blatant lie, because I can play KofC and still knit, muhahahahaha!

By the way, does anyone actually move around with their laptop? I have this Acer Aspire, and I do enjoy it, but I still find myself sitting in my room to use it. Except for today, when I have actually moved to the kitchen so I can monitor the washer and dryer. But I don’t think the thing has ever left the house.

As I told you, DaBaby is the last of the children to ask for a hat. She’s calmed down a little on her insistence since she knows I am working on it. It’s almost ready to begin the decreases.

I should be able to finish it the next time I pick it up. Please excuse the photos. This lighting in my room is not the best for capturing colors. Perhaps some Dolan lighting would fix me right up. Of course, opening the curtains might help a bit too, but that isn’t going to happen. I’m bombarded with florescent lighting every day at work, and I’ve finally figured out that this is why I like to keep my room so dark. It’s calming, and I like calming.

Yes, the knitting continues. Like fine Padron cigars, it just does good things for my mind. Last week, I finished this hat for That One of the enormous head. Actually, the first one I made for him was a bit loose, so we took this one down to 22 inches, and he likes the fit much better.

It’s knit from Lion Brand’s Vanna’s Glamour in Sapphire, and he picked the yarn himself, so don’t blame me that the man is now blue and sparkly. I used size 5 needles to make it, and for a textured yarn, it wasn’t half bad to knit.

I think I have figured out a way to post more regularly here. Since I really only have time to blog on Tuesdays, I’ve been prepublishing content over on my personal blog and that seems to be working out ok. So today, I am going to prepublish a series of notes about what’s in my immediate knitting list and we’ll see how that works for us.

So, I got off work today, and ate and then picked up DaBaby who came in my room and handed me the yarn she had picked for her hat and said, “here, you need to make my hat now”. And then she climbed up on the bed to watch as if a hat were a fairly instantaneous thing, such as the miracles promised my most acne medicines. But hats, like pimple reduction, do take at least a few hours to achieve. I guess I can show you the yarn and a row or two of ribbing though, right?

Work continues on the sparkly blue hat. I knit on it for a few minutes each day, except for Sunday when I got just about sick of still doing ribbing and so I finished that. Does anyone know how much fingering weight yarn it takes to make a hat 22 inches by 10.5 inches? Is one ball enough? Not a big Opal sized ball, but a regular smallish ball.

I’m in the home stretch of the body of the shawl I am making as well, having completed 260 or the projected 320 rows. I have to find out the relative size of the recipient to be sure of that, and the person I need to speak to about it is to sick to be coherent just now.

Or at least covering them up! Here are the hats I made for Drama and Stuntman, modeled by their owners.

Drama’s band is made from Plymouth Encore and the colorwork is doubled Trekking XXL in color 05. Stuntman’s band is some… uh… black yarn and the colorwork is doubled Lane Cervinia Forever Jaquard in color 230.

And as if mom-knit hats were the qooly equivalent of secure online backup, DaBaby has picked her yarn and thinks I should have started her hat instead of weaving in the ends on Stuntman’s. I am sure Batman will be lining up next!

Also, I have a picture of the Secret Christmas Knitting. I made stockings for Micheal, That One and That Boy. Merry Christmas fellas! Welcome to the fam.