its april?

What happened to March?  I can not believe I lost an entire month!  Today is for taxes.  I have never, ever waited until April to do the taxes.  In my defense, I did not realize it was April.  What happened to March?

Yes, there has been some knitting going on, but not as much as you would think.  Let's have a round up of everything on the needles.

First up

Fiddlehead Mittens.  These have been sitting on a shelf longer than I can believe. (please note the loss of March)  I really like the pattern and the colors are great.  The thumb gusset has been finished, so it is really all downhill to the end of the mitt.  Still, it sits on the shelf. 

Cleopatra

When Cleo arrived it was all Cleo all the time.  This past weekend I pulled it out to knit and think I may have made a big mistake.  At this point the shawl is worked with a right side chart, a center chart, and a left side chart.  I am having a hard time keeping the right and left charts where they are suppose to be.  It is quite possible I mixed the carts up and will need to rip.  I placed a life line 11 rows back, so all is not lost.

Hyacinth

A challenge for me.  Yes, a simple sock, but toe up.  Here comes a BIG confession....I don't do toe up.  I have knit more pairs of socks than I can count.  I taught myself how to knit for the sole purpose of knitting socks, but toe up is beyond me.  It is the short row heel.  I hate the short row heel.  It is messy and complicated and requires counting.  In the end it is too small for my big feet.  HATE the short row heel.

In the past, when I encountered a toe up sock that I wanted to knit I simply converted it to cuff down.  No fuss, no muss.  There has only be one sock that did not want to convert.  I shake my fist just thinking about that sock.

Anyway, Hyacinth.  When I saw the pattern I took note that the sock had a heel flap.  OK, I am aware that toe ups can be made with a flap.  I took a deep breath and prepared to learn something new.  *#@^@^$ (watch me not swear)

Measurements were made, I learned a toe cast on and knit away.  Too big.  Yes, measurements were made.  Rip and do it again, smaller.  Still to big.  Ridiculous.  Rip and do it again.  All is well.  I hit the gusset.  All is well.  What?  Really?  Even with a flap there are short rows?   &^@%#&^fuc (there was a little swearing involved)

So the sock is now sitting and waiting for me to figure out a way to avoid the short rows or learn how to do Japanese Short Rows.  My friend Debra has planted that little gem in my brain.

Lastly

The Man Socks.  I have not had much waiting time, so they have been huddled in a dark project bag.  Not a hurry.

Oh, of course there is the ever present Sock Yarn Blanket.

I have not worked on it for a couple of months, but I love it.  Many years from now it will be finished, until then it is the constant WIP.

Right, taxes.  What happened to March?

   

Comments

[knittingkitty]

Right there with you on the taxes issue. That's the goal for this week.

[kate]

March blew, is what happened to March. And apparently April will, too (as I type this listening to the third big storm of the week hoping not to lose power).

Love all your projects. I personally love short row heels because I hate picking up gussets. Ain't knitting grand?

Taxes. Give me another week. Our deadline is the 30th, so I can procrastinate a little longer, right?

[Toby]

What a lovely group of projects though - both in texture and color.

I am still more comfortable with top down than toe up, but I will say - Cat Bordhi's method of doing the heel flap on a toe up sock is WONDERFUL. No short rows! And no picking up gusset stitches. Short rows don't fit my heel either and something I do makes the stitch work all wonky on one side.

In fact, even though top down is still my default that I can remember in my head without referring to any instructions, every time I do a Cat Bordhi toe up I think I really need to do MORE of them. ;)