A friend called this “the lily pad,” an idea I like very much. It’s for a little one who’s about six months old right now. My goal is to get this to him before he is seven months old.

I decided to make a second blanket for his older sister, for her doll babies. This one was finished while watching the first few episodes of Eli Stone (jury’s still out, will give it a few more watches):

I made this one out of long-held stashed yarn, and ran out of the purple. When I realized this was going to happen, I couldn’t bring myself to unknit and decided to finish with the gray. I added some duplicate stitch leaves in the purple to try to tie the sections together. I kind of like the duplicate stitch effect, but overall am not loving my solution. I don’t know the little one very well, so I can’t guess at her reaction to the “arty-ness” (or lack thereof).

Green is my favorite color! Catherine hand-dyed the yarn, partly with KoolAid and partly with Wilton’s And the yarn is Henry’s Attic Kona Superwash — very soft and light. I didn’t know about this yarn, so it’s a new-to-me yarn. Thank you, Catherine!

Whew! I’m really happy with how these socks turned out.

When I was in Seattle in January, I found this little sock monkey in a small gift shop and decided to put it aside for my next Sockapalooza pal:

Do all sock monekys look so worried? It did come down to the wire, a bit — maybe that was making him nervous. And he’s headed to another rainy climate…but he’s well prepared.

Now I just have to pack it all up!

The most excellent news is that I did settle on some socks I already had in progress. My sockpal and I have the same size feet and share some color preferences, so I decided to finish up the Spearfish socks already underway. I am now 1/3 of the way through the second sock, and should finish in a few days. I love these socks, and hope my sockpal does, too!

Spearfish Socks pattern from Designedly, Kristi
Lang Jawoll wool in red, with reinforced heel and toe. One pattern repeat in the cuff.

This month, I finally finished a pair of socks for Kira — a pair I started a million years ago:

Baby Cable Socks on Kira’s feet, from Sensational Knitted Socks. Gems Merino Opal, Size 2 needles.

These are Thank You Socks for a craft favor from Kira. Kira made a fantastic set of Barbie clothes for me to give to my friend Fiona, who turned 9 last November. She and her mom appreciate Barbie fashion. Here are three of the garments Kira made, the knitted ones (see the rest of the wardrobe):

Thanks, Kira!

In between the socks, I’ve completed a few other things.

Today, I sewed the buttons on a baby sweater, for a friend at work:

It’s Mission Falls 1824 wool (stashed from the old mill), in the Mission Falls “Star” pattern. I added the smaller star on the back of the sweater. The intarsia’s looking a bit puckery, but there’s no time to block again — baby’s imminent. Let’s hope he’s not a critic.

For myself, in the early spring I finished a couple of things in the Blue Sky Alpacas – Alpaca Silk:

I don’t think I could ever get enough of the Alapaca Silk. It washes up beautifully and has a lovely sheen to it.

I required something straightforward to knit on while watching TV on Sunday, so I decided to try to finish a neglected item from the tub — my Melody’s Shawl, a kit from Morehouse Merino. It’s an easy shawl that’s knit in the round and involves dropped stitches *and* slicing (wheeeee!) at the end. I honestly can’t remember when I started it — but it was long enough ago that my credit union has “archived” the purchase info.

Here are some shots of the last steps:

It seemed so uninviting toward the end that I said that I would give it away. But after a wash (in Kookaburra Woolwash — I loooooooove it), I knew that I wanted to keep it after all. The laceweight yarn, while thread-like in spots, seems very strong and flexible. The natural color (“silver” — a blend of white wool and black wool) is soothing and the yarn is soft.

Cascade 220, Felted Tea Cosy pattern from knitty.com

Cascade 220, 8-ball pattern from Stitch ‘n Bitch Nation

If you look closely at the tea pot in the left picture, you can see a little me in the reflection. It kind of looks like I’m trapped in there. Definitely not as glamorous as Jeannie’s bottle.

Anyway, she made me these beautiful mittens. And they have a Cascade Pima Silk lining. My fingers have never had it so good.