My shoulders are killing me. I guess that’s what I get for casting on for Wicked and refusing to stop until I finished the increases. Sheesh. I know I should probably give myself a break today, but I really want to finish this ASAP. I don’t know why…maybe it’s just the thought of finally having a sweater done and not leaving it to marinate in the WIP basket for half a year. I finished up the increases at around 11 last night night, pulled it off the needles and tried it on, and thanks to my mammoth chest, the freaking sleeves are about 4 inches too big. Lovely. I could rip back, do some math and fiddling and fix it, but no. No, No, No. I’ll worry about fiddling when I get to actually finishing the sleeves. I can already tell though, that i’m going to need to make the body a couple of inches longer…I hate short sweaters, and don’t want to spend all my time yanking on the hem trying to get it to sit right. Good thing I bought extra yarn!

Pattern: Wicked by Zephyr Style
Yarn: Cascade 220 in Cordovan (The most perfect heathery brown ever.)
Size: Ha. See above; re: fiddling.

Also! FOs!

Pattern: Two-Toned Ribbed Shrug from Fitted Knits
Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease in Chocolate Brown and Gold (Woo! Stashbuster) 1 skein of each, no idea how I managed but I think the yardage is mislabeled…need to weigh the remaining skeins to see.
Size: 17″ with modifications…shorter sleeves, less ribbing.
Meh. It’s cute-ish. And functional. But. The yarn is, quite obviously, crap. I’ll make it again, but with better yarn and no mods. And probably all one color, so it will be a smidge more versatile.

Pattern: Cotton Baby Hat from Last Minute Knitted Gifts
Yarn: Bernat Cotton Tots in Berry, not even half a skein. (And another stashbuster, yay!)
Size: Toddler
Oh my gravy. This is one of the cutest, easiest baby hats ever. I love the nubbly, homemade appearance the cotton yarn gives the hat. I will definitely be making this again, once I find a source of mini-humans in need of cotton hats. And i’ll use the recommended yarn next time, because the colors are to die for and the hat is even cuter in solids.

When I ordered my Wicked yarn from Webs, a skein of Malabrigo in Brown Berries just accidentally fell into my cart. Oh. Oh. I see what the fuss is about. I’m currently alternating between wanting to find a project for the single skein and wanting to just unwind it and roll around in it. I don’t care that it’s a smidge pricey…for this level of soft i’m willing to fork out the dough for a sweater I will never, ever want to take off. Chris even wants a sweater made out of it, and he’s not a sweater person. I know what i’m doing for Christmas!

On the spinning front: UGH. How, how, how do you people make such smooth, squishy, wonderful yarns? I spun up 90-ish yards of the Texas Peach merino the other day to see how the colors spun up, plied it, and ended up with around 45 yards of nicely colored fingering-DK weight crap. I know it takes time. I know it takes practice. BUT. But. While i’m getting better at spinning finer yarns, the nubs, slubs, and fuzz continue to haunt me. I’m being ridiculously careful with my pre-drafting, and nothing seems to help. Honestly, the slubs don’t bother me quite as much as the fuzz, although I wish they would go away too. I can’t figure out if it’s something i’m doing when i’m drafting, or what. It’s driving me bonkers and I do not like it, no Sir. This is yet another one of those times when I really really hate living in the ass-end of nowhere, and can’t find anyone to show me what i’m doing wrong. Sigh. I wish (ha. wish in one hand…) I could find somewhere to rent a wheel, and see if the spindle itself is part of my problem, but well…ass-end of nowhere. I’m beginning to think mastering the squishy smooth yarn is not in my future. Hmph. (And sorry about the crap picture…camera batteries went pffft on me.)