Breaking the Rules

First thank you all for inflating my ego with all the compliments on both the sweater and my shape post-childbirth. I could write a paragraph on how this 2nd jaunt into motherhood has totally erased all my hopes of ever looking like I used to, but I'm not quite upset enough by that to expend the energy, so I will just say a simple "your compliments made my day".

On to the rule breaking! I have a little internal rule that allows only one sock in progress at a time. I am, after all, not an insanely fast sock knitter. When my (mostly non-sock-wearing) mother requested a pair of socks, I had a great excuse to break the rule. The red ones you see below are the Trekking socks that I cast on just 2 days before P-Girl arrived, and have been languishing for months. Mom happened to ask just after I had done a little stash enhancement from Blue Moon, and she chose some blue-licious lightweight in Midsummers Night. Needless to say, these are flying off the needles, I could knit this yarn all day and night.


Also in that photo, you see the seldom-seen and quite elusive Pumpkin-swatch. To add to its rarity, this one is actually washed and dried. I freakin' abhor swatching. I have no idea why, as my rational side knows it saves all kinds of time and anguish. My impulsive, instant gratification side often wins swatching battles and I start and rip a sleeve over and over til I get gauge (or don't). Yes, I realize this method actually wastes more time than a swatch would, but I'm nothing if not irrational when it comes to getting my knit on.

In this case swatching paid off. I have come to the conclusion that my current super- cabley-craving will be fed by Celtic Dreams. I got spot-on gauge for that, and would have to go mucking about in too-small-needle land with this yarn to get it for the couple A.S. projects that were in the running. The yarn, by the by, is Classic Elite Skye Tweed, in a color that I like to call "My Deck":

(color most accurate in this photo)