I cleaned up last week, not really in honor of Independence Day, but more because I couldn’t stand the sight of my dresser anymore. I decided that there are a few things I want to accomplish in July, and that includes finishing things that I’ve been working on for a long time. Number one on that list is my Op Art blanket, which I’ve been working on since October. The baby it’s for is almost 6 months old; I do feel a little bit ashamed, although previously this shame wasn’t enough to spur me into action.

Over the course of May and June, I slowly worked the final rows of the second color, and tonight I finished the last few rounds with it. I’m up to 720+ stitches, and I frankly don’t understand any of those brave souls who consented to make the larger blanket. Right now I’m about to bind off using the main color. Then I’ll have to worry about the weaving in and the blocking, but for now I’m just going to be proud of this accomplishment.

I’ll rest on my laurels for a day or so, and then get back to the socks I’ve been making for Amy Sue since January. I feel slightly better about those, though, because I warned her ahead of time how slow I can be at finishing things. I want a pair of socks for me, though, and I’m not allowed to have those until I’ve finished hers.

Oh! And I also need to finish the baby beanie that I’m making with the knit group I lead at work. This is our inaugural group project, and it would probably look bad if I didn’t finish it, right?

My current period of knitting ennui has lasted longer than I expected. I haven’t made anything new in a long time (except the newborn hat that I did with my group at work). I did get a great pattern from this nice woman in Boston, but then I lost the paper that I wrote it on. UGH! I will have to phone the shop again and see if she can help me remember what I was supposed to be doing. I’ll probably start finishing stuff soon, seeing as I have so many UFOs from which to choose.

Actually, though, I haven’t done much of anything lately but read and work out. Both good things, I guess, but I’ve missed a lot. The only show whose season finale I saw was Chuck, so now I have about two months’ of tv to catch up on. Well, at least I’ll have something to watch when I’m catching up on my knitting.

I haven’t posted here in a long while, mostly because I haven’t worked on anything recently. I still have not finished poor baby M’s OpArt blanket. I’m home sick today, so I am going to work on it right now before I lose my motivation and ignore it for another two months. I have just decided that I’m not allowed to post about the awesome yarn I just bought until I finish the blanket, so maybe that will provide a well-needed nudge in the right direction.

I finished my two-a-time-socks, and while I’m happy that they’re finished, things aren’t perfect. The two black and grey socks are pretty much the same size (there’s about an eight of an inch difference in length between the two socks), or at least close enough that I can live with it. The red and pink pair, though, are nowhere near close in size. I don’t understand how they ended up being so different. I finished them last night before i went to bed, hoping that the second red sock would grow overnight, but no dice. I’m not necessarily a perfectionist, but I need things to look a little better than this, so I’m going to rip out the decreases for the toe, add more rows, and then finish again. The whole thing shouldn’t take more than an hour to fix , but it’s still demoralizing.

I was able to go back and change all the pictures in my posts from those on the Blogger servers to those that I uploaded to WordPress. In general, it doesn’t make much of a difference, but in reality, I need every bit of space that I can wring from Google without ponying up extra cash, and now I’ll be able to delete that album. Here’s what I’ve been working on lately: one mitten (Subway Mitten pattern), finished, and horribly oversized (now palmed off on my dad, or will be whenever I finish the second); a pair of socks using my lovely Brooklyn Handspun (prettier to look at than to knit with, although I no longer loathe it); and the ever-present OpArt, which is growing, but not nearly as quickly as it should be, given the kid is expected somewhere in the next 3 weeks.

I finished Terea’s monkey socks! I’m so glad that they’re done, because it’s always so satisfying to finish a project, but they were fun and quick to knit, and I miss the project already! This is me modeling them, just because.

I was going to make a pair of monkeys for myself, but then I saw another pair of socks by Cookie A, Hedera, and I knew I had to make those! She’s such an amazing designer. I have this lovely sea green yarn by Brooklyn Handspun, and I think it’s perfect for this project. I opened my Magic Loop book and tried it out, and I really get this method! I’m sure, though, that I’ll find a way to eff up these socks using this method. To make things really interesting, I’m going to try them toe up.

I’m really concerned about how little trouble I am having with my revamped Monkey socks. I had started them in September, done a lot in a little time, and then got bored with all of the purling and stopped. Good thing.

It turned out that I had been knitting them backwards; I’d pushed the right side into my the space between my DPNs, and therefore was knitting the whole thing in reverse. Stupid, but it was still okay, at least until I went and did the heel inside out, too. Then I was all messed up. I frogged the whole thing, and started over again this Tuesday. Right now, I’m about to start decreasing, and I feel so much better about my skills as a knitter, and my ability to read and understand a pattern. Also, I got to practice my short row heels again and am really getting the hang of it now, which is awesome.

I can see why people keep making these socks again and again (the other day I met a woman who has made 5 pairs of Monkeys in a very short time). They’re cute, fun, and really easy, and I think I will make myself a pair soon, after I get through all of the obligatory knitting that I need to finish up.