Don'tcha wish...

Don'tcha wish your Girlfriend could knit like me? Don'tcha?

This is a sticker from one of my online Girlfriends: 

Girlfriends Knitting is one of my favorite knitting podcasts!
I've been listening to Carolyn from the beginning,
and we've even designed a sock pattern!

(Thank you Carolyn!) She sent this sticker to me a few days ago, and I have been racking my brain ever since, trying to decide the perfect place to stick it so I could see it every day. It's not like when I was in school, and I could put it on any assortment of folders and/or notebooks...but I did finally find the perfect place! My Kindle Fire! You know, the place I now store all of my working digital patterns, as well as every single other pattern available online several patterns that I am thinking about knitting someday. And, since my KF  sticks with me so closely, it's only fitting that my Girlfriends Knitting sticker and my Fire are sticking together!

I love that my KF has really been helping with the knitting since I figured out how to put my digital patterns on it. It's also helped me out with choosing which sweater (for me) and secret knitting (for Christmas) to cast on next! Sooo, yesterday I cast on both projects! Obviously, I can only tell you about the sweater, but I can sneak in a picture of the secret thing:

Bonus! I get to use the Ruby Slippers bag,
and my favorite row counter!

This is the last pic of this project you will see on the blog until after Christmas. You'll also notice, if you are not a Ravelry member, that you cannot follow the link to my project notes...again, this is a secret. I am going to keep it a secret. (If you have not already picked up on this, I am not very good at secrets. I tend to want to share everything...my knitting, my uterus, wait...story for another day.) =/  Oh, well. Best laid plans, you know. But, this next one is not a secret, yay!:

I have 10 balls. Ummm, of this yarn, that is.
I am hoping to have enough leftover to craft a mini
version of the sweater for someone special...

It's also not actually cast on yet. I have the yarn (some Debbie Bliss Cashmerino that I have been dying to try), and I have a couple of needles (although I am not sure which one will actually give me gauge), and I have chosen a pattern. I had hoped to cast on last night, but again with the best laid plans. =/ Turns out I knit better than I plan, but for now the pattern is going to be another one from DROPS...

*crickets*

I know, I know! I remember the Baseball Sweater...and I remember agonizing over knitting it because I am so notsofond of how DROPS patterns read...and I remember that I had to re-write the pattern before I could even cast on the back to give myself a fighting chance of keeping track of moving lace, waist decreases and edge stitches. It was exasperating! But, in the end, the sweater was BEA-YOU-TEE-FULL!!!

Even the newest member of our group about passed out when
he heard that I am attempting another DROPS sweater.

Still, every time I search patterns for sweaters that I think will look good on my frame, I always end up adding half-a-dozen (or more) DROPS patterns to my Rav queue as my faves. I guess it is what it is, and I believe for every drop of rain that falls, a flower grows. I also believe that this will be a gorgeous sweater that I will love to wear, so here we go again. Besides, even with an easy pattern, sometimes the knitting is exasperating...take this new Wallaby, for example:

Just a little more hood to knit, then this happy sweater is DONE!

Again, I love this pattern, and I love the finished sweater it produces. It's seamless, so when you are done, you are done, and I am nearly there. Of course, a seamless sweater (even one with stripes) really should never look like this on the inside:

What's up with all those ends? 

As simple as this pattern is, I kept thinking I was at the end of a section, so I'd cut the yarn. I thought that every few rows (apparently). And now, even though I have not run into any knots in my yarn, and despite the fact that I have used just one ball of each color (no joins to deal with), I have about a-gazillion ends to weave into the inside of this sweater. Ugh! Best laid plans? I guess so. =/

A weaving I will go, a-weaving I will go! 

Hi-Ho, the dairy, oh...the Cheese stands alone! 

*even the crickets are silent...that was a very odd mash-up*

I hope that your knitting is treating you well, and that you are finding time to spend with your favorite people. And I hope that you know that someone out there DOES wish their girlfriend could knit like me (or you)! 

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!