No photos, just text. OK, one photo.

I decided after two picture posts in a row, I'd better actually say something.

Knitting updates
On Saturday at knitting group I got most of the way down the foot of the current sock. It's from Brown Sheep Wilde Foot in a very pretty green. I think I'm nearly ready to start toe shaping, but need to double check on my foot.

I've been working on the hot pink cardigan (Plum Shrug revised) the last couple of nights. I had some interesting glitches in some of the early on rows (don't ask me how), but decided to soldier on with errors I probably should have gone back to fix. My excuses are that my grandmother, the intended recipient, is extremely visually impaired and might die before I finish the project. So, if I'm going to give it to her, I can't really dawdle. Right now, I'm taking a break because I noticed my left hand starting to rebel on the purl rows. I took my ibuprofen and I'm waiting for it to kick in.

Scott's tweedy sweater is completely parked in neutral. Until my hand gets happier with long stretches of purling on little needles, that might have to stay dormant for a while.

Last year my friend Jim asked me to make him a sweater with natural lanolin. I started one in Bartlettyarns' Sport weight with a Shaker Rib, on my double bed knitting machine. I was able to crank out a back and front in relatively short order and then started experiencing frustrations with the sleeves. So the whole project got back-burnered for many months. A couple weekends ago Scott took the boys up north for an overnight and I made a sleeve while they were gone. It was a charmed piece of knitting. Determined to clear this project from my pipeline, I started the last sleeve with great optimism. But the males were back in the house and it was doomed. I thought it was going well and I was about two-thirds of the way through the raglan decreases when the yarn broke mid-row and the work dropped to the floor. And then I realized that there was a screwed up section about four inches down from the last successful row, which would have ruined the effort anyhow. I think I need to send the guys away overnight again. Jim says as long as the sweater is done before May, when he and his girlfriend are going to Alaska for three weeks, it's fine. So, between now and March, I would like to create one more successful sleeve and then put that sucker together. Hell, if I have to do the neckband ribbing by hand, so be it.

Other News
It has been abyssmally grey and dark and dreary here. I tried to get some photos of the Hyde Park Pullover, but even in mid-day there was not enough natural light. It's a hard combination of things to control. Getting a flattering angle of me and having the stitch pattern on the sweater show up and not catch me in the middle of pulling a goofy face. Also, I need a photographer who notices things like how the garment is hanging and adjusts as necessary. Scott is very well-intentioned and tries, but he has never taken good photos of me. He takes amazing pictures of bugs, butterflies, and inanimate objects. He just can't seem to do the same for me. I'll try again on a clearer day: can't sell a pattern without good pictures.

Off to finish the sock: I think the wrist is happier now. Let's hope for photos of works in progress soon. If the sun ever shines in Madison again.