WIP Wednesday: Gray Day

I'm feeling very overwhelmed by everything I'm making lately. I'm pleased to report that I only have three-fourish knitting WIPs right now, but, unfortunately for me, they are all active and they are all large. I hate the feeling that the end is not in sight and that is exactly how I feel right now. And, while I love gray, it doesn't help that it seems like all of my WIPs are grayish in hue and all my happy FOs of late have been pink and cute. Sigh.

Terra by Jared Flood

The first WIP I'm chugging along on is Terra by Jared Flood. Terra (and it's distant cousin Shaelyn) has as been in my queue since it was first released. My friend Lizzie is getting married in just over a week(!!!) and since it's in Chicago and on a boat, I decided I needed to have a shawl to wear with my bridesmaids dress. I was torn between the beautiful Juneberry Triangle & Terra, but I decided to be realistic about this (I'm also "designing"/improvising her wedding present) and went for Terra. What I love about it is that it's simple enough to wear with jeans, but that pop of lace at the edge means it can be worn to fancier occasions. I just started the lace section last night, so I'm *hoping* I can finish and block it before I head back to Illinois on Saturday.

I bought the yarn (Stonehedge Shepherd's Worsted) while I was in Philly and I love, love, love it. This is my second time using it, but it will be my first actual FO. The other project I'm using it for is lost at home somewhere and was meant to be my Rhinebeck shawl this year, but it will have to wait until next year. I will finish it by then! I will! I'm surprised by how soft and squishy this yarn is. It's borderline ridiculous considering it was only $12.something for 250 yards. Ridic, right? This shawl might be mostly garter, but the sequence is just different enough to keep you interested. 

Timberline by Jared Flood

I've also started Matt's anniversary present (7 is the wool year!), but it's such a big endeavor that I can't really dedicate much time to it right now. The domestic war that I mentioned yesterday doesn't help, but it will pass and (hopefully) I will be excited about this project again. I know that if/when I finish this sweater, it will be the most beautiful thing I've ever knit. The fact that it's not for me isn't a huge issue, because I will get to look at it and feel pride & love whenever Matt wears it. Today was finally a cold day in California (and rain is in the forecast!), so Matt wore his Brownstone to work today. I love how much he loves it. Maybe someday he will get socks, but I feel that might be our sweater curse endgame.

Excuse my half-gone toenail polish

Ok, I shouldn't claim that all of my current WIPs are neverending. I went to a new knitting group last week at the Alamitos Bay Yarn Co Annex. This group was completely new, but the turnout was pretty great, so I'm hopeful it will stick around. The group? Dedicated to knitting socks! I started two pairs while I was there, but quickly shifted my focus to one over the other. These started as just ribbed socks, but when I didn't really know which heel to do, I was delighted to see that there is a simple (and free!) 3x1 ribbed sock pattern on Ravelry (of course there is one!). I knit my last pair of socks in about 4 days, so I guess that's why I'm thinking this pair is neverending. 

The other thing is the yarn. Well. I'm not in love with it. One day, not too long ago, Matt gave me a giftcard and let me go to town on Etsy. I hemed and hawed for hours over which skeins of mystery sock yarn I would buy myself because they had to be perfect. I discovered Purple Goddess Design and knew that I needed to buy all of the yarn a skein from her. I seriously had 8 skeins in my cart and it was crazy hard to narrow it down to one. I finally settled on Pretty Japanese Ladies in Twisted Fingers and...I just don't love it. I'm not ready to write this dyer off on a whole, but I don't think I'll be purchasing that base again. Maybe next time I'll try one of the bases with a little more twist to them.

I've also gotten the cross-stitch bug and oh my god these will take me forever. I decided to design myself a little Heisenberg face to help ease the mourning period of a post-Breaking Bad world. But then I realized that I actually should have used more than one color for him and that his hat/glasses kind of take over the whole design. Long story short is that I ran out of room for his beard and now it looks like some weird Fu Manchu mess. So finishing that guy up is low on my priority totem pole right now, especially since my heart belongs to another.

Yes, that is Winnie Sanderson from Hocus Pocus. What better way to celebrate my FAVORITE Halloween movie of all time? Isn't she adorable? Seriously. I wish I was faster at this because I want this to be done right now. I guess I can enjoy her next year. The pattern is available from Pixel Power Design, but beware! That site just might steal all of your money.

One last gray swatch before I get back to work. Loving this so much.


P.S. it actually IS going to rain. First day storm since I moved to California nearly 3 months ago. Oh, happy day!