Stock, Taking

It's a new month, and because I'm so disorganized calendar-wise I didn't remember all the important stuff that is happening this month (because as long as my calendar reads "September" I don't need to pay attention to what comes after September), I'm organizing my knitting.

(We all have our little procrastination faults. Let me have mine.)

I have finished the back of the Wee Baby Maggie Cardigan ("Cotton Cardigan" on the sidebar) ...
And have cast on for one of the fronts. It's all very exciting, all this garter stitch (5 rows) leading into miles of scintillating stockinette. Thrilled beyond belief, I am. But seeing Wee Baby Maggie (Nick's cousin's daughter) over this past weekend kind of perked me up on the baby knitting. Fortunately this doesn't have to be done anytime soon (I'm making the 18-month old size), and her (one year) birthday present is already done (the Fluffy Baby Sweater). I'm ahead of the game on this one. And because I just typed that the yarn gods will smite me, and they smite hard.

I'm also exactly this far on the twisted rib socks. Remember how I said I didn't care about the pooling? Yeah, I think I might be starting to care.It's reminding me too much of a candy cane. But do I want to rip it all now? Meh. I don't know -- they're just not going very fast (perhaps they would if I actually knit on them), and the twisted rib stitch is the likely culprit (not my lack-of-knitting, of course). I'm putting these on the Banished list, and I'll think about it later.

In other sock news, I have turned a heel.It looks like a jack-in-the-pulpit, don't you think? Do you know what a jack-in-the-pulpit is? Because my sock looks like one. This is another source of meh -- it's sport weight self-striping yarn on size 4 dpns. I'm not really excited about it. I mean, it's good practice and I'm definitely into a solid "green" phase right now, but ... meh. Sport weight. Size 4s. I have some sweet Koigu and Socks That Rock beckoning to me. Banishment?

In New Project news, I have begun almost all the Bridesmaids GiftsLaura gets the Penobscot Scarf, my first attempt at small and non-threatening lace. It's Socks That Rock mediumweight, possibly the Azure Malachite colorway. I'm really enjoying the lace bits (they make me feel competent!), the yarn has a perfect springyness (can't wait to work up some socks in this stuff), and I love seeing the colors work up so prettily. These colors are very Laura, and I'm excited about working on it.

Maribeth gets the following:A 3x3 rib scarf in Catalina bulky alpaca, color "natural" or "cream" or something. It's so soft, but it tends to bloom a bit and the errant hairs inevitably go up my nose and I have to contort my upper body so as not to sneeze all over the pretty gift and leave an unexpected embellishment buried in the ribs.

And Miss Margaret gets this:

Mistake rib scarf in KnitPicks Andean Treasure (baby alpaca) in the Moss colorway. Oh my god, this stuff is amazing to work with. Soft, silky, and it doesn't bloom like the other alpaca. Brilliant! I am working with it doubled because Margaret wants a scarf to wear when she returns to the Midwest from Florida, and she doesn't want a wimpy scarf. No wimpy scarves here!

So why am I getting all organized? I'm deciding what to bring on the plane. What plane? The plane to California for Christine's wedding this weekend. (Christine, the only bridesmaid whose project is not yet begun, because I am a bastard.) This is the Big Thing in October Which I Forgot, Kind Of. I did buy my ticket and everything, but that was a while ago.

Airplane knitting. I'm thinking the Margaret scarf, because it's on bamboo needles and those are less likely to be interpreted as an open threat. Maybe the lace, too? I'm not bringing the Hourglass Sweater because it's currently occupying the "glorified swatch" position in my workbag and I'm not sure if I'll keep going on it in its present incarnation. More on that later, after California.