Catching up

Dear Laura:

Congratulations again on your Knitty submission! I'm browsing my stash looking for a nice worsted weight to make myself one! I mean, it's like The Official Scarf of the Pickin' and Throwin' blog!!

It was a fun week and great to watch the hit-o-meter climb, and read all of the comments. I'm still pinching myself that my blog-partner has been published in Knitty!

This week was a rough one for me, so the happy distraction was quite welcome. My little Jack Russell, Carly, died last weekend. I got home Saturday night, and when she didn't come running to be inside, I went looking for her. It appears that she was killed by a hunter(s) in the area - we will probably never know who it was. I was so shaken that it took me until Tuesday to ask my brother, "Wait, someone was in the fields around my house Saturday with a gun and we don't know who or why?"

My youngest brother Mark got out of his warm bed to come and help me. He did what tracking he could, since it had been snowing for several hours by then, to try to figure out what happened. All three of my brothers, plus a nephew and niece came the next day to bury her, down by the creek where she loved to hang out. She was a sweet dog, and I really miss her.

So, in my knitting time this week, I've been working on warm wool hats for my brothers and the kids. Mark already has his brown hat, made from yarn I got from a local shepherdess & spinner.

I dropped it off last night, so he'll be warm as the temperature drops below zero this weekend. I've started an orange hat for Andy, since I already made him one in brown. The orange will be a little longer per his request. Tim has requested "neutral colors" (really? A guy who wants neutral colors? What are the chances of that?) brown or maybe green. He even considers brown AND green a possibility, which is really quite bold. I have most of a red and white hat done for my nephew, and my niece will like an orange hat as well.

I do have January goals to report on, and I've set February goals. I've decided that I like monthly goals - a year is just too long and has too many variables. A month is manageable, and I'm happy with my progress. I didn't meet every goal, but I feel like I got further than I probably would have, and when I did have an extra project I wanted to do, I had a reasonable idea of how it would effect my long-term ideas.

For January goals, I did finish the scarf for the Red Scarf Project. Lauren and I mailed our scarves earlier this week.

I did not get 15" of progress on my nieces blanket, but I did get 10 1/2" done. I didn't make much more progress on the baby sweater/hat combo. I made about 15 rows of progress on the sleeve earlier in the week, but when I looked back, I used the wrong color about 10 rows back. The thing is, I don't like the look, and if I keep going, I have to make the same "design decision" on the next sleeve and the body. Since I don't LIKE how it looks, I'll be ripping back. In addition to the stated January goals, I added "drop-in project," the scarf that was a store sample for Cass Street. I also made the blue hat for one of my co-workers, and the brown hat for Mark in January.

In February, I would like to do the following:

1. Approx 3 hats. Two are in various stages and two are not yet cast-on, so in "actual yet-to-knit quantity," I've got about 3 hats worth to go.

2. I'd like to finish the knitting portion of the Dale baby sweater. Then the finishing will be part of March goals.

3. I'd like to get the blanket to 30". This is an ambitious goal....but I just signed up for Netflix, so I'm hoping that helps...

4. Yeah, I know, you're laughing at my tenuous connection with reality....but I would like to finish up a pair of socks that are suffering from second sock syndrome.

Please, no one remind me about February being a short month. We all have our areas of denial.....

Keep knitting,


Cynthia (aka Designated Knitter)