Motivated Monday

Number of buttons sewn on to new sweaters today: 9

Number of lacy sweaters blocked today: 2

Number of officially finished objects to wear or gift today: 2

February Sweater by Elizabeth Zimmermann
Knit for baby neice (due in May!)
Yarn: handspun by me!
Henley Perfected from Interweave Knits Winter 2007
Knit for self!
Yarn: Handspun by me!

Okay, so you might have noticed that I haven't blogged in a while. Actually, I haven't done much in a while. For the past two weeks I've been feeling lame and groggy and not doing much of anything. Since my weeks start on Monday, I decided to start this week with the motivation I've been lacking. I cleaned my house (including the bathroom which I've been putting off for an embarrassingly long time). I cleaned my cube at work (which is amazing because I collect junk in my cube for work and it was getting way overwhelming). I went running. I did the dinner dishes RIGHT after dinner. I'm telling you... my week is looking up!

So, now that I'm done with my sweater (and yes, by the way, I spun the yarn for both of these FOs today), you might be wondering, "What amazing thing will she knit next?" Well, I bought yarn to knit some socks for my dad while I was at the yarn store buying buttons. He's been asking for a sweater, but I've never seen him wear sweaters in the past 10 years, so I'm thinking socks might be a safer bet (I have seen him wear socks).

I'm also planning on knitting a sweater for myself! I saw the preview of the Summer Interweave Knits and fell in love with the Apres Surf sweater (coincidentally by the same designer (ravelry link) who came up with the pattern for the Henley Perfected that I just finished). My mom-in-law bought me a gift certificate to her local yarn store, so I've been emailing them to get the Rowan Cashcotton 4 ply in the "Pretty" shade... The pattern is for sale May 13, so hopefully I'll have the sweater knit up by mid-July!

Insert One (tiny) Baby

I've gotten a lot done on my mini-vacation! I finished a sweater for my soon-to-be-born neice:

It still needs to be blocked and I need to find the perfect buttons. Sadly, since I apparently can't concentrate on simple directions, I made this much smaller than suggested (missing a key increase at the sleeves), and it will only fit for a few days (hopefully she's not too big when she's born). Luckily, it's a cardigan, so hopefully that will help.

I also got insane amounts of spinning done. As you know, I have been at a standstill on my sweater, waiting for more yarn. On the long drive home today, I found out that I can actually spin in my car (while being a passenger, of course)! My spinning wheel is very small, but we drive a Prius, which is also super small. I wish I knew this on the drive to our vacation! My skeins are blocking/drying, so hopefully later this week or weekend we'll be full speed ahead on the sweater.

Also, while on vacation, my wonderful mother-in-law read my mind and bought me a book that I had been wanting.

At least I will have something to read while I am waiting for my yarn to dry!

More Baby Goodness

So in addition to the cat, I've also been knitting some other delicious baby items for my unborn niece. There are, of course, baby booties (that match Kate the Cat):

And I'm still working on a sweater (February Sweater by Elizabeth Zimmermann, in yarn spun by me!):

In more selfish knitting, I've come to a halt on my sleeves for the Henley Perfected. I ran out of yarn. I am spinning away and hope to be back knitting it next week.

Hubbie and I are going over to hang out with his parents this weekend for few days, so I'm hoping I can sneak in some spinning time while no one is looking... it's a good think my spinning wheel is so portable! Oh, also, my sweet mother is buying me another bobbin, so I should hopefully start making 3 ply yarn soon!

Look for mini-vacation pictures next week! I'm also in the middle of picking my next project, so look for that update as well!