distraction from thinking too hard about the end

My grandfather died last weekend. At this point I don't have too much to say about it as it's too recent for me to gather any concrete rational thoughts on it. The loss makes the distance between here and there feel even more immense. I'll go home in mid-September for the memorial. For anyone interested the obit can be accessed here.

Moving on to less tearful things....

my baby surprise sweater in action!

Now that I know how the sweater fits together I would stripe it differently the next time I knit this. (I really had no idea what I was doing. I'm not sure how I feel about the shorter sleeve (as per the original design) but I'll withhold judgement until I hear feedback from the parents. I'm sure EZ knew what she was doing when she designed it. And who am I to argue with EZ? I'm also not happy with the buttons - it needs bigger ones. the bottom two buttons in the picture aren't done up because really, there's no point if they are just going to fall out of the button holes every time the little one moves.

The WIP parade:

Something for someone for Christmas. That's all I can say for now and all I'll show until after the 25th of December! I think it will be a big hit. :)

I finally turned the heel on V's sock. I'm hoping to have these wrapped up within the month. The flight to the west coast and back should help with that.

More mindless knitting. The pocketbook slippers. My feet are always cold and I hate wearing socks so this could have been a good solution to that issue. I'm not convinced about this pattern for me. It might be better for someone with shorter feet. I'll finish the second one that is barely started so I have a pair. These really aren't using much of the wool (Patons SWS - 70% wool, 30% soy) so I'll have enough to make these slippers as well. I know I like this pattern so that should be better.

in case you weren't convinced they actually could be worn on the feet...

Thrums to make mittens! There is no way in hell my hands are going to be cold here this winter. Ha! Take that Newfoundland winter! Jen 1, Newfoundland Winter 0. (OK ok, it's more like Newfoundland Winter 8675, Jen 1... but whatever).
(and in case you have no idea what I'm talking about when I say thrums, THIS is what I mean. It's tradition. It's warm. I figure I can knit my own, no need to buy!)


The leisel scarf. I'm feeling particulary 'meh' about the pattern as a whole. The only reason I cast on for it was because I happened to have it lying around. This might get frogged in favour of the flame scarf from Knit and Tonic.

green scarf, lounging

another scarf, this one almost done. it's just a nice easy brioche stitch: cast on of a multiple of 3 and then *yo,sl1,k2tog* repeat. alternating greens every second row. niiiiiice and mindless. and the fabric created by brioche is really really soft and squooshy. yum. this one might get kept by me.

a big PS for Michelle... you complained that you don't figure prominently enough in my blog...does it count that i got your baby AND the back of your husband's head in this post??