Startitis Has Struck

Today was my last day as Miss Reilly at work! There were so many things i needed to get done today, packing, finalizing the music for the wedding (ceremony, not reception), gathering my gifts for the wedding party...oh i'm exhausted now. While waiting for iTunes to sync my ipod for the 3 hour drive north i will be making tomorrow, i started the Shalom cardigan using Cascade Yarns Eco +, a bulky weight wool, in a deep red/maroon color. The skeins are huge. My gauge using the suggested needle size was way off, but to get gauge I would have had to use something like a US 13. That fabric was not dense enough, so i backed down to a 10.5 and cast on 80 stitches to account for the gauge change. i'm about 15 rows into the yoke and it looks pretty good so far.

Then i realized i needed something to take with me for the weekend. i didn't want to lug around this huge ball of bulky yarn for a cardigan, so i started the Gabriel shawl using Knit One, Crochet Too Ty-dy socks. i bought this yarn quite a while ago, but never found a pattern for it. the stripes are too wide for socks for me (i wear a size 6, so a stripe is about half my foot) so i wanted to make a shawl that would show the color changes well. i figured this would be a simple enough pattern for me to work on during down time (if i have any). however, this yarn splits like crazy! the p2tog on the eyelet rows are probably going to kill me. i'll have to find another way. 

these are both in addition to my second pair of vanilla socks, c/o the knitmore girls. the first pair i made with zitron trekking xxl turned out great, but just a touch too small. so, i'm working on another pair in Schoeller+Stahl Fortissima Colori Socka Color in colorway 15. its a blend of browns and creams with gray bits mixed in. in the ball i thought it could be cool. but when i started knitting it, it's turning out a little ugly. i'm not sure, maybe i need to knit more of it and get a feel for the color changes. for these socks, i cast on 60 (instead of 56 like the pattern) but am going to work the rest of them as the pattern says.

Now that I've added 2 more projects to my WIP box, i feel relaxed enough to try to sleep. wake up is coming just as early as a normal work day. the morning means picking up the bouquets, turning up the ipod, and listening to podcasts all the way to lake michigan.

wish me luck!