A little stuffed lion.

I knit this little guy in about two evenings, seamed him in another, then put on his mane on. Four days from cast-on to finish. Not bad. Of course, now I have to figure out what I want to knit next. That's the trouble with finishing a project. I guess I'll start digging through my queue.

Until next time, Friends!

Summertime, and the knitting is easy.

So, Friends, I've been away for an age, it seems, and even though I never wanted to be one of those bloggers who starts a post by apologizing for my absence, I guess I just became one: I'm sorry I've been gone so long. My work has been pretty hectic for the last month and a half, so that by the time I get home at the end of the day, I can barely decide what to have for dinner, much less write a coherent blog post. I hope it's at least some consolation that I have been thinking about posting often since I was last here, and really wishing I were posting more.

Anyway, since the last time I posted, I finished my Lanata cardigan, which I love! The sweater ended up draping beautifully and it fits just right. I was able to re-use the buttons from the Peasy cardigan, with a few left over for some project in the future. I really love the Rowan Revive yarn, that I've now used for 3 or 4 projects by now. The next time I'm in Indianapolis, I'll have to take a look at the current colors and see what's out there. I'd really love to have another Vesper (one that fits, since I've lost all this weight) and maybe something sleeveless, too. As for Lanata, I love the way the lacy bits ripple up and down and I love the 3/4-length sleeves. The only thing I think I would change, if I ever do it again, is that I would probably change the shoulders/sleeves from the raglan style, which never really looks as nice on me as I'd like, to a more traditional shaped shoulder and set-in sleeves. I prefer raglan sleeves on smaller frames than my own - on me, they tend to be too wide and end up wanting to slide off my shoulders. I might even try to add the lacy bits on the sleeves as well - they feel a little heavy compared to the lightness of the body of the sweater.

I've also made progress on my most recent Alhambra scarf that I'm knitting up from the rest of the Jade Sapphire cashmere that Cindy gave me to finish Portico. I've been doing a little here and a little there, and bit by bit it's nearly finished. I probably have enough yarn to do two or three more pattern repeats, after which time I'm going to have to figure out some new commuter knitting. I just can't say enough about how lovely and soft this scarf is coming out - it's cashmere, after all, and even though it's been hotter than Hades here lately, this project has been a pleasure to knit. I'm going to kind of miss it when it's finished.

So that's all I've got for today. I have another triathlon this weekend, for which I've trained minimally, but for which I have a little more motivation to do well. My sister-in-law has recently started chemotherapy to fight non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, so I'll be wearing the t-shirt her husband had made up to race in her honor (my husband will be wearing the shirt too). I've also painted my nails lime green (which is the lymphoma awareness color) as a reminder to myself not to give up. Susan and her family have many challenging days coming, but I know she's tough, and has the best support around. I haven't done any fundraising as part of this race, but if you'd like to help fund research to cure leukemia, lymphoma and other blood cancers, here's a link to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's donation site.

Until next time, Friends.

WIPs Wednesday? Alright, I'll play along.

I read a couple (read: many) craft blogs, and a good number of them do a WIPs (Work In Progress) Wednesday, so I've decided this would be a good time for me to do a WIP post. Since last time, I've cast on for a couple new projects.

First, I've cast on a new pair of socks! It's Stephanie van der Linden's On The Aran Isle pattern from her Around the World in Knitted Socks book. In a demonstration of learning from one's mistakes, I'm using a yarn with comparable yardage to what's recommended: Classic Elite's Alpaca Sox. I realize that even though it feels like summer here (90 degrees Fahrenheit today!) and that knitting with an alpaca yarn in this heat & humidity isn't exactly fun, the yarn was in my stash and it's the right weight & yardage. I also like the color and I think they'll be very pretty when they're done.

I'm really enjoying the traveling stitches - they're definitely keeping my interest up. I also like the picot hem at the top of the cuff, although it was very tedious working off the provisional cast on. If I were making these socks for myself, I'd probably add enough stitches for another pattern repeat  on the leg, as they're a little snug going around my heels. I think they'll be fine for Mom's delicate little feet.

For a more summery project, I've cast on Anna & Heidi Pickle's Lazy Daisy baby cardigan. I'm knitting it in Cascade Yarns Cotton Rich DK, which is a nice cotton in some very bright, vibrant, saturated colors. It's a free pattern on the Pickles blog (well, the 3-6 months size is free, you have to pay for bigger sizes). So far, it's been an easy knit. The stitch pattern is simple to memorize, and since it's such a tiny, little sweater, it should knit up pretty quickly. I have a couple friends who are expecting babies this fall, but I'm not sure this sweater will fit next Spring. I may have to hold on to it for someone who has a January or February baby. I'm sure someone I know will be having a baby then.

If I have enough yarn when I've finished the cardigan, I may just try to make the turban. It's almost a little too precious, but seriously, what's cuter than a baby in a turban?

I'm also still working on the Kusha Kusha scarf, but it's not as interesting as the other projects. It's just a whole lot of stockinette stitch on bamboo straights, so not a lot of fun. It's good to have during social knitting, so I might just take it with me to Stitch 'N' Bitch tomorrow night. If it ever looks like I've made any progress on it, I'll take a picture and post it here.

Looks like that's all I have for today. Until next time, friends.