Knitting: Mr. Foster meets a unicorn

I finished the Supernatural Knitalong shawl, "Gabriel's Wings" a couple days ago.  I then totally forgot my New Year's resolution to only work one project at a time and went into a casting-on frenzy.  I *finally* started the Mr. Foster stuffed animal kit, Monkey Business.  I've had the thing for quite a while.

Sock monkeys trouble me, though, especially in the colors presented by the Knit Picks kits.  I think I need to ask a few of my friends if they're still considered a throwback to a time when racist representations were commonplace.  I did a google search and found out that a recent media scandal involved a toy company creating a representation of President Obama in sock-monkey form.  I think I'd feel much more comfortable if the kits were in purple, or orange.  I have a crap-ton of sport-weight cotton in purples, greens, and fuschias... I may make Mrs. Foster out of one of those instead.  She may clash with her frilly pink Rio dress, but I'll feel better letting my daughter play with it.

My husband just wants me to finish Mr. Foster's sailor uniform so he can make him say "Ahoy!" a lot.  Then again, Barronius is not the most PC individual.

I've also started a smoke ring scarf in Knit Pick's Imagination sock yarn, in the Unicorn colorway.  I think I would LOVE to make socks out of the Imagination yarn if I could get the exact same base yarn in solid colors for heels and toes.  Unfortunately it is the ONLY yarn they carry with that particular fiber content and ply-style.  It is soft, yummy stuff though.  It has just enough halo to make it snuggly.

Knitting: Tang and Gabriel

I'm working two projects concurrently right now... a striped "Tang" sweater from Custom Knits that was put into hibernation briefly last month while I waited for additional yarn to come in, and the "Gabriel's Wings" shawl I'm doing for the Supernatural Fans group KAL.  They've tagged it the #dickswithwingsshawl.  It's a line from the show.  I think I'm the oldest gal in that group, because I still cringe when I use that tag and remember that my mother reads my blog through my notes on Facebook.  Hi, Mom.

The shawl is actually going *too* fast, as it's supposed to be a summer-long project.  I may  cut back to only working on it on Thursdays when the KAL picks episodes to watch in place of the normally-aired episodes while the season is running.  It's not like I can wear it until summer is waaaay over anyway.

The Tang sweater was supposed to use up the yarn I had leftover from the New Traditions Afghan kit, but in order to make it look right, I wanted to do the bottom, neck, and sleeves in Oyster Heather, and I didn't quite have *that* much left over.  Thus, the order of extra.  And the waiting.  Again, can't wear it for at least a few months.

Queued up on Ravelry to follow though is a series of stuff I can wear this summer, including Entralac Socks, the Craic socks by Three Irish Girls, and of course the Foster monkeys, which I still have not started.  I swear, they will get done.  Do you know why I've been putting it off?  My poly-fiberfill is buried in my closet, and I don't want to dig it out.  Yeah.  Lame excuse, but if you saw the closet, you'd fear for your life too.

Knitting: Guesstimation

I'm starting a knit-along today so let me throw the hashtag in: #dickswithwingsshawl

I have roughly six rows of ribbing and then I am *really* done with my Girly Top.  I said this exact same thing yesterday on Ravelry, but today it's actually true.  It's amazing what a difference ONE line in a pattern can make.  Nobody warned about little lines that say "Do four more rounds, then repeat"

It did not help that an expansion pack showed up yesterday afternoon.  "Sims 3: Ambitions"  You just have to install it and reboot the machine right?  And uh... you know, test it to make sure it didn't break anything.

Today I start the Supernatural group knit-along, the "Gabriel's Wings" shawl.  It's fairly simple, so I'm thinking I'll be okay with it.  Normally I frog shawls about halfway through, but this time I think I'll go the distance.  And if I finish before the summer is over I might make another one with that Noro Silk garden I still have left, because it's too scratchy for sweaters.  Seriously, WHY is that crap so popular?  There are plenty of cotton/wool blend knock-off yarns with the long color repeats that are much softer.  You know I found vegetable matter in the Noro I used for my Jewell sweater?  Not just once, either.  Yeesh.

Well, I ordered one of the knock-offs from Paradise fibers last week.... just enough for Jared's Noro Striped scarf... we'll see how it measures up.

In the meantime, I'm doing the KAL with some Knit Picks yarn whose colorway is named "Make Believe".  Should be fun!