Do-overs

OK, there has been some knitting going on here at the home front but I haven't taken any pictures to post. I'm afraid this will be text-only with pictures to follow at some later date.

First, I now understand the call of armwarmers/wristwarmers/fingerless gloves. They are so quick and satisfying. I was able to finish the first Fetching glove in a weekend. It looked a bit too stretched so when I cast on for the second glove, I added five stitches. I know, I should have checked my gauge but I figured by the time I finished a swatch, I could have made the glove. I already finished the second glove and have started re-doing the first one so that it is the same width. I'm up to the point where I knit with waste yarn for the thumb so should be done by tomorrow.

I was trying to keep my yarn buying to a minimum in 2007 but, um, I just couldn't resist. I bought the shade card and two skeins of Jamieson's Spindrift from Two Swans Yarn. (The service was good and quick. Karen, the owner, seems to have reasonable prices and a wide selection not to mention cool sales every month.) Why the shade card? Because I desperately want to make the Venezia pullover but am thinking I want to change the colors. With all the colors in the original, I wanted to be able to compare the original selection to what I think I want instead. I bought two skeins, in Yellow Ochre and Peacock, to make the Endpaper Mitts and simultaneously get a feel for the yarn. I want to see if the wool will soften enough to really be next-to-the-skin soft. (Let's ignore the fact that I will have little use for a wool sweater in Florida. I can always wear it when I go visiting up north.)

In case you can't tell, I am a big fan of Eunny Jang's designs. So when Little Knits kept sending updates on the sale on Opal sock yarn, I finally gave in and bought some of the solid colored 6-ply yarn. The plan is to make some Bayerische socks and use a couple of skeins in the black color to make a lacy (and machine washable) scarf for my older sister. I hope to have the yarn by next week.

Also motivated by a sale, I have started re-doing the scarf using the novelty yarn. Hubby pointed out some Balene 14" straights on sale at Tuesday Morning. Normally, I wouldn't have bought them because I rarely use straights. However, it was a set of five needles (sizes 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10) for about $6. I've also been on this kick to use as many different kinds of needles as possible to see how they differ and which I like best. I almost bought about $100 worth of needles from JK Needles the other night because I was so in awe of all the different materials and brands. Anyway, I was motivated to re-do the scarf using the new size 10 needles. After only about an hour of knitting, my left wrist hurt badly. I think that compared with my usual needle choice, the 14" straights were just too heavy and my poor little wrist couldn't take it. However, I like the way the Balenes feel. I would probably get their circular needles and dpns. The tips are very similar to the Bryspuns, a nice concave tip that really catches the yarn.

The Alpine Lace scarf has stalled out for now. I didn't finish it in time for my friend's wedding so the frenzy to finish is over. Perhaps after I get the wristwarmers out of my system, I'll be able to focus on it again.