A Few Questions

I have some questions.

1. Why do children find that flinging food across the kitchen is totally rockin'?
2. Why does the dog go freaking bananas wanting to be let out, only to frantically scratch the paint off the door two seconds later in an effort to get back inside?
3. Why, oh why can't my husband manage to pick up his wet towel and hang it in the bathroom instead of leaving it in a heap on the bed?
4. And finally, now that the knitting Olympics are coming to a close, what should I knit next?

Number 4 is obviously the important question here. I'm at this point right now:



And I have cast on for the final pair of mittens. I would have more than 8 rows of ribbing knit on the first mitten if Daughter hadn't woken up wailing every hour from 9 until about midnight. She was chowing down on some serious broccoli last night at dinner time and I think it might have caused a bit of a tummy ache. This is a tangent, I know, but it's nights like that when I get really apprehensive about having another baby. Daughter has been an excellent sleeper since she was 8 weeks old but I fear some regression and craziness when the new baby arrives. I like me some sleep, and I don't look forward to enduring several months of sleepless nights again. Because that's what it boils down to - endurance.

Anyway!

We are not talking about babies and sleeping right now - we are talking about me and my knitting. So here we go. I've boiled my options down to just a few, subject to change at my whim. The main point is that after many hats and mittens (boring!) I need to make something a little more interesting. Also, as it is almost March and the sun is actually shining today, I am feeling like I want to knit something with a Spring feel. Since my body is about to vanish again, I want something nice for myself, and soon. And since my brain is also about to vanish, I want to make something interesting while I can still concentrate. Ya'll know, right? Please tell me your brains turned to mush and trickled out of your ears when you were pregnant, so I don't feel alone in my stupid-ness.


Option 1 - Sitcom Chic by Bonne Marie Burns


Looking closely you can see that the copyright date on this one is 2003. I've had it sitting here since then, and I've really been wanting to make it as a cute Spring cardi for myself. It was published in the Spring '03 Knitty.


I found this Cotton-Ease on clearance at JoAnn last year for $1.50 per skein. I got the last six in blueberry with this sweater in mind. This wasn't my favorite color, but it was the only one they had left in quantity. Had I known that Lion Brand was discontinuing this yarn (as well as Wool-Ease Sport, the bastards!) I would have sought out a lot more. The color isn't so right here - the pic showing all the yarn in the bag is better on my screen.



For more technical complexity, I could knit this Faroese Shawl by Marilyn van Keppel, in A Gathering of Lace. I have enough Knitpicks Shadow in vineyard to make this one happen.


And because I figured out the macro function on my camera, here's the detail shot of the Faroese Shawl. Mine would look more like the tan version, as the Shadow yarn is quite fine. I'm considering this one as a way to dip my toes into the pool of lace knitting. I'm not so experienced at it.



And in the "what am I, insane?" category, we have this stunner, the Feather and Fan shawl by Eugen Beugler, from the same book. I have just enough Knitpicks Alpaca Cloud in stream to make this one.


Again with the macro! Here's the shawl a little closer. It's so stunningly beautiful that it messes with my brain. I am willing to try this now because frankly, I have to do all the complicated stuff I can before I have two babies to care for. When Daughter was born I basically had to hang up my needles for a few months out of sheer exhaustion. I knit a few stitches here and there just to satisfy myself, but nothing major got done until we were all sleeping full nights and I felt somewhat normal again.

I also have two baby gifts to create before June, and of course I'll want to get knitting some warm stuff for our new babe. Daughter was a Spring baby, so some of her stuff will work for the new one, but we will need some wee sweaters for our Autumn arrival. Oh, and I have the cutest toddler sundress pattern and twelve trillion yards of fabric to make summer clothes for Daughter. And also the hee-yooge pile of paid sewing that I'm plodding through. Which is what I should be doing right now! Yikes!

Have a great day, and if you feel strongly about what you'd love to see me knit next, do leave a comment. Thanks!