I Am the Beach Ball

Ever held a beach ball under water? It squirms and struggles and eventually breaks free from you and goes flying up out of the water and into the air. That's me. I've been trying for a while now to keep the WIP list down to a really manageable size. One lace project, one sock and one sweater. Then just to be extra super good, when I finished my Fair Isle Cardi way back in November, I didn't cast on another sweater. Just so I could focus on my shawl and socks. I was so good. I would occasionally start pulling out patterns, rummaging for needles, pawing through yarn. But no. I would stop myself. I would put them away (or, more likely, leave them on my desk or the kitchen counter) and continue on in my newly focused fashion.

Last night the beach ball flew out of the water.



I started a square for Larissa's Square-Along. I had to. I had exactly the right amount--to the gram--of right yarn in the right color. This is Nature's Palette in Spring Green leftover from my first ever Sockapalooza sock (can't wait until Sockapalooza 4!). I'm nearly half-way done already. Just a quick little distraction. Barely counts.

But then...

I decided to finally cast on for the baby blanket for my brother-in-law and his wife. This is the Ribbons Baby Blanket by one of my favorite designers, Evelyn Clark. I'm knitting it in Henry's Attic Inca Cotton. I've wanted to try this yarn for a long time. It's terribly soft and I find the color very appealing.

But then...

Like Ted on How I Met Your Mother, I found that Nothing Good Happens After 2 A.M.. I cast on for a Baby Russian Prime. I got a copy of this pattern my first year at Knitting Camp. At the time I scared the crap out of me. Now less so. And there's a knitalong. I looked at the yarn requirements and thought I could do it in Cascade 220. And I just happened to have the bag with all the leftovers from my Fair Isle Cardi sitting right next to me. I picked out the darkest blue and the natural because I had the most of those two colors and they would have the best contrast. I found a needle. I cast on. I knit the "beautiful and intriguing braided edge." It's kind of a fussy, slow-going thing to knit. One round is knit alternating colors with both yarns in front bringing the new yarn over the old one. The following row you bring the new yarn under the old one. Then it goes into corrugated ribbing. Once I started ribbing I realized it was about 2:30 and I needed to go to bed (like hours earlier). When I came downstairs (I want to say "this morning" but I've got to be honest and tell you that I slept through all hours that could legitimately be called "morning" today. Thanks Wes.) and picked it up today and saw that I had a twist in my knitting. Bah! It also looked much too small to fit on a healthy newborn human child. I need to start again on a bigger needle.

Lastly, today I started my Custom Raglan Sweater class at the shop. I'm teaching basic EPS (Elizabeth's Percentage System) for a bottom-up raglan. So I had to start casting on for one of those too.

I better stop writing now. I have a lot of projects to work on.