Taking a "Half" Day

Today was a day of halves. I knitted about half as much as I wanted to (silly housework), watched half of a television series while I knitted, ate half a bag of croutons (I'm still trying to tell myself it was healthy since I ate them with a salad), and completed two half projects.

The first "half" was the back to the twist-front top. I started this last Saturday and was quite happy to reach the halfway point in only a week. I'm sure there are knitters out there who could have done it in 2 days, but I am not one of them. For me, this is awesome. I knit the garment true to the pattern and all I can say is the shoulder shaping is downright Weird (and just a little hideous)! I think I can fix the unsightly jagged places with a little blocking, but when I make the front I'm going to do my own thing with the shaping. Hopefully it will be a bit more aesthetically pleasing. . . Rawr, look at all those loose ends taunting me. I won't darn them in until the front is complete, though. If it turns out to be a different length I'll gladly rip out the back to make it match lengthwise and rework the arm shaping again MY way.



So, half of a tanktop is finished. I've already cast on for the front

The twist-front top is not the only project I have on the needles right now - the other "half" I completed today was my first half of a pair of socks. I made these from Cascade's Fixation which I consider to be the perfect yarn for a first pair of socks. Since it has elastic it's very forgiving. The pattern is Knitty's Crusoe; whose stranded stitch pattern is decidedly un-stretchy in the recommended Koigu. That's okay, my two balls of Koigu look just lovely perched in a basket for decoration. I'll save them for another day. I adapted the pattern for an anklet because it is Spring and I was eager to get to the heel turn to see if I could handle it. Unfortunately, I discovered that when one does the heel turn as written for the smaller size they end up with a heel that is off-center. Sad. So, I altered the pattern and centered the heel. I took great care to write down the changes on my printed copy of the pattern. However, now that I am ready to begin sock #2 I realize that I cannot locate my printed copy of the pattern. Hopefully it's hiding in a folder at work. I really need to get my knitting organized!


Speaking of organizing my knitting - my Knit Picks Options needle set arrived on Friday. I was so happy putting all the needles into the snappy little pouches. Organizing makes me feel so accomplished. I had knit the back of the twist front top on 16'' Addi Turbos which was a bit of a pinch. Short circulars don't jive well with projects that are worked flat. So, once I finished the back, I whipped out the 24'' Knit Picks set and I'm happily knitting along.