Zeneedle...needleart as life: A Case of the Smalls

January 29, 2010

A Case of the Smalls

After living in the land of giant knits (sweaters after sweater and then a large shawl) the need for smaller projects has taken over. Nutkin has been tucked in my purse, safe and cozy in one of Kim's darling (and useful) bags (my bag, however does not match my project). Poor little Nutkin is always ready for any amount of attention I can give, which only a little here and there. For some reason, the first leg of a sock seems to drag on and on, but after the heel is turned the sock seems to fly off the needles. Before you know it, the second sock has been started and is well on its way.

I'm still on the first sock, enjoying the pattern and the beautiful yarn and I've just started down the foot. The rest of this pair will go quickly now that Frida is finished. I'm not crazy about short rows for socks and Nutkin has a short row heel and toe. I'm doing my own thing and using my favorites. I do like heel flaps.

Many new (small) shawl patterns have crooked a finger, drawn me in, and with so many wonderful yarns at my disposal (stash!), it has been hard to decide which to knit first. The list is long, but I've narrowed down the next two.

TeresaC posted about Blue Monday which gave me the idea of having one blue project on the needles throughout 2010. A grrls gotta have something to shoot for and this sounds easy. The first shawl, and first blue project, will be Milkweed in luxurious Casbah. I love the shades of blue in this yarn, a special gift from Rachel. It will feel so good, so warm, and so soft around my neck. Since I wear shawls year round and love small, lightweight shoulder shawls, this design should be a perfect project . Hopefully the pattern won't be too complicated for my brain to handle and I can cast on this weekend.

Did you know you can sort your stash on Ravelry by color? After I saw how much of my stash was blue I knew I could keep up with the challenge (and not buy much more). But, I do love red, pink, brown and many other colors, so don't worry...I'll leave the total blue knitting to Teresa.

There is very good news from my cardiologist. He said my heart is in excellent condition and the surgery was a success in all ways. After having valve and rhythm problems for most of my life, my heart is better than ever.

Posted at 12:41 AM in Process Progress | Permalink

Comments

I love the idea of a stress-free knitting year and I also have some blues to use up. You chased my blues away this morning by sharing your doctor's news! So happy to hear that all is well.

Posted by: Sunnyknitter | January 29, 2010 at 11:49 AM

I probably won't join you in the blue challenge, but I do love how blue goes with the other colors in Nutkin. That is such wonderful news about your heart!

Posted by: burrobird | January 29, 2010 at 12:05 PM

Hooray! I'm glad your heart is strong and safe!

I love the color blue, so I know I'll enjoy blue Mondays!

Posted by: kelly | January 29, 2010 at 01:37 PM

I'm so glad to hear about your heart! Yay!

I'll have to sort my stash on Ravelry. I'm betting green wins the day....

Posted by: Kristin | January 29, 2010 at 01:41 PM

So glad to hear your wonderful health news!
Also, the Nutkins are precious in that yarn and I am looking forward to seeing your Milkweed. I just loved knitting that shawl and the pattern is very well written with no mistakes that I found. Casbah is really perfect for this shawl, as it is slightly thicker than most fingering and really creates a smooth fabric- and the colors are amazing! You may want to weigh your Casbah as make sure it is not an under-weight one since many people on Ravelry have run out of yarn near the end. I found that mine was 8 grams heavy and I had about 7 grams left at the end.
Blue Mondays? I may have to join you grrls for that-unofficially since I don't have a blog. I'll dig through my lace yarns for a long skein of blue to last the year!

Posted by: Trista | January 29, 2010 at 02:18 PM