Joining up

I ripped out the beret I made for my sister about halfway, and then, using the instructions from Ann Budd’s Basic Pattern book (which is turning into one of the best references I own), I redid the crown decreases. It now has a lovely swirly decrease and all without any ugly ridges. We took a picture, but it looks like a big red blob on my head, so I am going to wait and hope that my sister will send me a picture of her wearing it (it’ll look prettier on her anyway). But it’s done, and the box with the beret and my niece’s presents (including the Hot Waffles afghan) is on its way to Seattle, in plenty of time for someone’s 6th birthday.

In the meantime I have been knitting away on the diagonal basketweave afghan. I have, in fact, turned the third corner and am finally on the decrease side of things – a huge improvement over having all 228 stitches on the needles at once (itwas getting really heavy and unwieldy!). I fully expect to be done with it by the end of the week, at which point I will not only share pictures, I will also write up how I did it, complete with handy graphics and instructions on how to make your very own.

But along with the beret and the afghan and occasionally poking at some knitted wristwarmers (pictures forthcoming) that have turned out to be the perfect way to use up leftover sock yarn, I have been signing up for some knitting insanity.

First, there is Alison’s Sockapaloooza – her annual secret pal sock swap. I did this last year and had a lot of fun (and got a gorgeous pair of socks out of the deal) so I signed up the second it was open, to do it again. She’ll only have signups through the end of the day, so if you want to take part, get over there and sign in. It’s amazing how inspiring it is to see all those gorgeous socks as they are made and then sent out to all their lucky recipient sock pals.

And next is the Yarn Harlot’s Knitting Olympics, where I have promised to not start until the flame is lit, and finish by the time the flame goes out (a total of 16 days) a project that I consider a personal challenge. I’m still mulling over what I want to make, although I keep going back to the Irish Diamond Shawl. But I’ve got a few more weeks to make up my mind.