Beginning to move

While coughing isn't the greatest thing in the world, a moderate amount sure beats hanging around in a cocoon all day wondering if one is awake or not. And 3 days of coughing bouts an hour before the alarm goes off is enough to inspire an hour of extra knitting time in the morning. I can be a slow learner, but three days was enough of a hint.

Hat photos! Here, with no further ado, is the February Swatch Hat. (Minus the pom-pom, added to suit the recipient's fancy). The yarn is Stash Yarn, probably wool, two strands, two ply each. The motif is from Philosopher's Wool. The shot of the top of the hat could have been cropped ... but this way, you can see what represents half a day of miscellaneous reading in our house.


The Alpine Lace is coming along slowly, but surely. I had my Very First Dropped Stitch on it yesterday, and took a photo during the minor surgery it took to repair it. The colors are pretty true ... blueberry and blue-purple. I haven't hit a spot where both plys of yarn are purple yet, but one looks to be coming up. The pattern calls for 37 (or so) repeats of the leaf pattern. I have the dubious pleasure of knitting over 60 of them, I think. Twenty-two are done already, and the portion I blocked a week ago has, with a little bit of stretching, 8 leaves per 6 inches. The border is 5", top and botton, ... and that gives me a quantity of repeats I really don't want to think about yet. I'll keep knitting, block it again in a week or two, see how much it relaxes when off the board, and pick a nice random number of repeats at that time.

In the meantime, I have finished one modified Jaywalker sock, and am ready to start the patterned portion on the second. My felted slippers are saying good bye, so a pair of those is rapidly climbing up the 'to make' list (although it was above freezing today, and ds is plotting to bring out his summer clothes and go on long bike rides with dh.) I also got my Peace Fleece Yarn, so the Green Mountain Spinnery Cardigan is calling to me. I will probably start one or the other tonight, after I get a repeat or two done on the shawl. Knitting with worsted Peace Fleece after working with Graceful is going to be like writing with a chunky crayon after using a single-hair calligraphy brush. That stuff looks FAT! (113 grams = 200 yards; the same weight of Graceful would measure 2034 yards). The stuff is fat.

Of course, the slippers call for bulky yarn. A spate of quick projects seem to be calling me.

Quote to think about:

Silly sensitivity has displaced intellectual honesty in American education. We've produced a generation with no sense of national identity and little connection to the nation's collective memory. In the proces we've traded life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for fat, dumb, and happy.
~ Kathleen Parker