Knit knit knit

Just a little midweek status report...
Currently on the needles I have my Silk Shrug. This project is not the most exciting knitting, as the photo may indicate (I'm just starting the part that is straight stockinette with no increases or decreases for 29 inches!), but the yarn more than makes up for any boredom. The Blue Sky Alpaca & Silk is absolutely wonderful to knit though it is a tad splitty. I've had to ladder down to correct a split stitch every once in a while. It's going to be perfect for chilly fall weather.

I swatched for the Town & Country scarf from the Elizabeth I lace scarf set. I'm using KnitPicks Alpaca Cloud in Midnight and unfortunately, yet again, I had to order a smaller needle size. The Alpaca Cloud is so fine that the fabric looked best knit on size 1 needles. Of course, the only size 1's I have aside from double points is a 16 inch circular. I cannot knit 60 inches of lace on a 16 inch circular without severe hand cramps, so I've ordered a longer size 1. Maybe by the time it gets here I'll be finished with a project or two (the Besotted Scarf is coming along nicely, but I've been neglecting it for other projects...).

Finally we have my current socks. I decided to knit them at the same time for absolutely no reason. I guess I kind of wanted to get casting on and those first few rows out of the way. That is my least favorite part of a sock so it is nice getting it all out of the way early on. The yarn is some Koigu KPPPM (P704) that I picked up on my recent first visit to Three Bags Full in Northbrook. I say first visit since I know I'll be back (Lots of lovely yarns to paw). This is the first time I'm knitting with Koigu and now I understand what everyone (Jen) is raving about. I really didn't think the yarn was going to be that wonderful when I just touched it in the hank, but once you start knitting - nice! It has a lovely texture, the drape of the fabric is gorgeous and just while knitting I can feel the warmth of the wool.

The pattern is just my plain old sock based off the template in Ann Budd's Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns. I thought about doing a more exciting pattern. I even knit a few inches into one, but this yarn just calls for stockinette, so stockinette it is. The colors make me think of late afternoon sunlight falling on autumn leaves. I can almost hear the leaves rustling.

And how about the new Knitty? I've already ordered the yarn to knit Ivy. So pretty. Oh, and I signed up for the second half of Sundara's Petals Collection. I really went back and forth on whether to do it, but in the end I couldn't resist. I'll just stay away from buying any Socks that Rock for a while:) I just can't get over how elegant and wonderful the kits have been from the earlier mailings. I can't wait until my first kit comes in December!

My Mom and Step-Dad are visiting this weekend so there may be less knitting and probably no blogging for a few days. I'm so excited that they are visiting! I'm taking a couple vacation days so that we can go do touristy Chicago things. We're going to go to the new King Tut exhibit at the Field Museum and I think we may also go out to the Chicago Botanic Garden if the weather is nice.

***Knitting GROUP is tonight (Wednesday) at the Borders' Cafe in Wilmette (corner of Lake & Skokie). We meet from 6:30 until 8:00 and any yarn enthusiast is welcome!***