A Whole Lot of Knittin' Goin' On

I kind of dropped the ball on the whole blogging thing this week. Sorry about that. Not only have I not been blogging, I have not been catching up on your blogs either..heck, I have not even responded to e-mails from friends.
I guess you could say I have been laying low.
I am doing great. I appreciate all of your supportive comments on my last post. I was then, and am now totally fine...it is just that sometimes in life we have to deal with some real "winners". I was just standing up for myself and letting someone know that I was not going to be intimidated by them..and it is all good. =)
As a friend of mine would say, "Save the drama for the mama"...and that is exactly what I did. (Thanks for you advice and support mom, now and always. =) )

Just because I have not been blogging doesn't mean I have not been knitting though. I am starting to realize I may have bit off a little more then I can chew for my knitting goals this month...we shall see. I still remain hopeful, but if things don't work out all according to plan I don't think the knitting police are going to come after me!

So here is a little bit of what I have been up to:

First, the Mitered Square Shawl that will never end. (At least it feels that way!)

I have nine more squares to do. Then I need to weave in ends, and do a crochet border. I am really shooting to have this done by Thursday. Yarn Yoga is this Friday and come hell or high water I want to have this thing done and ready to hand off to the store that night. I will breath much easier when this project is out of my life!

I did manage to get the first baby hat made..isn't it cute?

I stuffed it with plastic bags for photo purposes, that is why it looks a little weird.

I got the yarn and pattern in a little kit I bought of EBay ages ago. It is Alpaca dyed by Cherry Tree Hill. It was so lovely to work with!

Next, and this is a horrible picture I am sorry..is the 2nd Dulaan project. The yarn is actually much lighter then this. This is going to be an Avalanche Vest..the progress you see here is about a 1/2 hours worth of work..this thing is going to work up fast!

And this is my UFO resurrection/ May Sweater of the Month project.

It is the Fairly Easy Fair Isle Cardigan from Stitch-n-Bitch nation. I started this during the horrible power outages last winter because it was the only thing I had to that was light enough and big enough (gauge-wise) to knit by firelight. Once the lights came back on it got tossed aside for other projects..but I really want to finish it. I love the colors (perfect for Project Spectrum), and I am really excited to see how they are all going to work together.

As far as the other projects?

I have finished tier 2 of the Forest Path Stole.

I have done 30 rows on the So Called Scarf, my UFO resurrection project for April.

I have Faina back on the needles..barely.

The Mystery Shawl needs to be tinked (again). I made a mistake somewhere a few rows back..and the rows for the border are loooooooooong. I am trying very hard to avoid this project..

The round 6 Sock Madness socks have not seen any love..and I have yet to look at the pattern for Round 7. I do want to finish/make these so I hope to find time for them soon.

All in all I think I am making good head way. And once I get that darned store sample shawl done I will have A LOT more time to dedicate to my projects.

OK, back to work for me. That shawl is not going to knit itself!

Happy Mothers Day everyone! See you next week!

My "Little" Secret

Woohoo! I finally had a day off. And I still have a few hours to go!
It was lovely. I sat on my butt and worked on my tunic, and lo and behold:

I finished the knitting and the pieces are blocking.

I have high hopes for this project. I am a little concerned about the gauge. (As always). I knitted to gauge, even a little smaller, but the stitches still seemed a little "loose". And I really had to stretch the hell out of it to meet the blocking measurements.

I am sure it will be fine. At least, I hope so. If nothing else, I will just need to wear a dark garment underneath.

All that needs to be done now is a little seaming..and a little shopping for some ribbon to thread through the eyelets. Yeehaw!

So now, I Must get back to that store sample I should have finished weeks ago. Woops.

I took it with me last night to Ya-Yo (Yarn Yoga), which is the knitting group at the storefor which the sample is being made. (Wow, now that's a sentance!)I dutifully worked on it..even though I really wanted to finish up the tunic back. I felt bad that it was not finished yet, but the yarn manager did not give me any flack about it. She just complimented me on my work thus far...so, it's all good.

I just better have it done before the next Ya-Yo..or I am going to lose some serious face! =) (I have nothing to feel bad about, I always get stuff made for them lickety split..and B is working on a store sample as well....and he is much more in the dog house then I am. But then again, he is making a blanket out of a furry yarn all in seed stitch..the poor man!)

So that is next up on the knitting agenda. As well as Sock Madness round 5..pattern release is this Friday. I am working that day, so I will get the pattern late..oh well. I am also still working on the mystery shawl..I am now on clue four (I will post on this soon!).

Then I hope to resume work on the Forest Path Stole, and hopefully whip out the Argosy scarf, the 2nd Jaywalker, and the My So Called Scarf that has been languishing in my bag.

I am really trying to truck through these WIP's. There is a whole lot more where these came from! But I am also trying to get my projects done for Dulaan, as well as bust out a few baby hats for Sophia. Oh, and lets not forget all the KAL's I have joined...or all the patterns waiting in line to be cast on....

Wait. Stop. Chill! Does anyone else do this?

Well, if you are still with me after all this rambling on, I guess I will reward you.

Many inquiring minds have asked where my new job is at. Until now, I have not revealed this little tid bit because I wanted to have permission first. And now, I have it.

I work at Little Knits. Have you shopped there? If not, you should. Check out those prices! And why yes! We do ship internationally.

So what are you waiting for? You know you want to browse the site, possibly even pick up a thing or two while you are there. And hey, if you do place an order..tell them Melanie sent you, k? Make me look good people! =) Who knows, maybe I will be the one to pack your order!

It ain't much, but it's somethn'.

Remember this picture?

That would be my progress on the Forest Path Stole as of 2 weeks ago. But now..look at this!


Big difference don't you think?

What? You can't see it? Here is a close-up shot of all the progress I have made:

That would be 2 full rectangles, A triangle and a partial rectangle in action.
I know you are gob-smacked.
At this rate I should have this done in time for my 40th birthday...And 10 years might be pushing it.
So, remember about a week ago when I said I had a plan for my WIP's? Well the plan go's something like this...concentrate on one big project, and one small one, before moving on to another project..Amazing concept don't you think?
But anyone that knows me knows that I can't do it. But I am going to try.
How about this..for every three projects I finish (as of now), I get to cast on a new project. I still must do my UFO per month, and a Sweater per Month..but that will be added into the afore-mention plan.
The only exclusion to this rule is Sock Madness, and store samples.
I think that is do-able.
I shall now go organize my sidebar into priority of projects.
I'm weird, I know. You don't have to tell me, I am well aware of that fact. =)