Southpaw.

today i taught myself how to knit Continental. i can't believe how fast i picked it up--i was going on a half-remembered lesson that Adriana gave last July and a photocopied page from that Anna Zilboorg book--but it took no time at all to get my hands used to the new motions.

though my main motive for picking up this techique was mainly utilitarian (read: eliminate all that annoying untangling while working with multiple colours,) i couldn't help but enjoy the very feel of it. holding both work and yarn in the same hand simultaneously both literally and figuratively made me feel more closely bound to the fabric i was producing. knitting with both hands at the same time isn't as difficult as i had thought! the resulting swatches (one in-the-round, one in the flat) are destined for a spin in the washing machine so i can finally see how garter stitch and in-the-round colourwork look properly fulled.

on a totally unrelated (but mitenny!) note, tonight i grafted the top of the first Checks and Charms mitten. it remains thumbless with about a million ends (where did those come from?) still unfinished, and it will so remain until...well, until i get around to it. as such, i'm striking it from the "On the Needles" list as it is, frankly, no longer on my needles. working mittens fom the bottom up (with the exception of Latvian mittens) just isn't satisfying or fun for me lately. i suspect i'll have better luck with top-down mittens.

Everything but...

...a mitten. yes, i am still keen on the Sea Mineral mittens--if only the yarn would get here! it should arrive soemtime this week. as such, it will only complicate matters.

i've been attempting to tie up some loose ends (read: finish the things that can be realistically be finished before commencement of new complicated project,) but it hasn't been working very well. the project i'm closest to finishing is the first of the Checks and Charms mittens. i actually picked it up the other day and knit another inch or two on the freaking thing before it made me very, very angry (the reasons for which may have something to do with how Jane never bothered learning how to knit different colours with different hands and how she has no patience for tangled working yarns.) did i mention i'm about an inch from the finger decreases and i simply can not make myself finish this mitten?! i don't even want to think about the camouflaged thumb--so elegant! so annoying to work!! somehow, i don't think these sentiments that i'm having are boding well for a prospective Latvian mitten. c'mon, yarn, any day now...

ok, how about a picture of something that i have managed to complete (relatively) recently:

it's the first of the Queen of Cups socks. it really didn't take that long to work through; those large lace repeats really eat up the inches. which is why i'm not too concerned that, at present, the second sock looks like this:

it'll get there, i know it will. all i have to do is pick it up a little more often that i have been lately.

this might have something to do with the Queen-of-Cups neglect:

yes, a new sock on metal needles. i loathe metal needles. i had purposefully tied up my bamboo dpns with the second Queen of Cups sock to prevent such activity. i was nearly convinced that it was working until i saw these and was suddenly inspired to do away with that errant ball of blue superwash and the bits of koigu hanging around in my snagglin' box. these will be short summer socks, what you see here is a 5" sock leg waiting for a properly worked short row heel (i'm getting it this time, i swear!) in a striking break with tradition, the second sock will mirror this one--this will be a first for my crazy springtime sock experiments.

and just because it's been a while, here's a current picture of Birch:

the third repeat is done; the rows are getting shorter and faster to work. the pattern is near second nature to me now! i must remember to pick it up every now and then to get it down to an even more manageable size. did i mention that when i actually do i look like i've been snuggling a duck egg blue-coloured goat?

Ants in pants...

it's springing outside! all the windows are open! i'm feeling antsy!

this isn't surprising, really, i get like this every year. when everything feels this fresh and new i get this gigantic burst of creative energy--the trick lies in channelling it properly while still under its spell. this is not always easy to do.

today this energy is urging me to knit socks--lots and lots of socks. new socks! intricate socks! look, there are lots of sock patterns! no, i'm not helping you decide which one! maybe you will have to buy new yarn, haha! knit socks!! (stupid energy.)

so before i let this sunny energy wheel me down paths (socks!!) unknown i figured i'd better tie up some loose ends that have been lurking (and nagging) of late.

the main one which needs tying up is (wait for it,) a sock:

this is the second of my spindle socks (so called because they're made completely from my own handspun.) i had turned the heel without a pattern and ended up guessing the numbers wrong, so i knew i was going to have to rip back. at the time this was hardly appealing (it was pre-Christmas and the heat was on) and so it got tossed INTO the stash to await repair. yesterday i re-turned the heel (properly this time) and today i finished the gusset. before i know it, it'll be time for the toe decreases, and then...new spindle socks!

the other end may or may not be tied up, since i'm happy to stuff this one back in the box (literally) and forget about it for a while:

it's the first of the Checks and Charms mittens, and i fear if i don't finish it soon i won't have a fancy pair of mittens for next winter, either. this happens every time i knit mittens--i get burnt out after the rush of knitting in the waste yarn for the thumb hole and it all goes downhill. i know i'm really close to the end and i should just finish the thing and at least have half a pair of mittens, but...what i'm saying is that i need your help. feel free to plead on the mitten's behalf.

this final one isn't so much an end but more of an incipient treat:

this is more of my handspun, evidence of what can happen to a nice Fleece Artist merino sliver (colourway: Pinata) when left in my company. i'm bad; i still haven't bothered measuring the WPI, but it's fairly consistent in weight (somewhere between laceweight and fingering.) i decided a week or two ago that a nice thin scarf in a basic lace pattern would be the perfect reward knitting. the scarf only made it to about four inches in length before it was ripped (it was too wide and the lace wasn't doing it for me.) so now i'm on the lookout for another basic lace pattern to inflict upon this yarn...or maybe on the other handspun (from another FA sliver, yet to be documented,) or maybe...

there goes that energy again...i'd better get back to work.