Just checking in for the sake of checking in.

Not much fabulous new stuff going on and no pictures either today.

I finished the yellow hat, and it seems to be a grownup size. It's cute.


The brown sweater for the monkey is now an Elizabeth Zimmerman pattern. I was having some doubts about gauge and the numbers in Ann Budd's handy book of sweater patterns. (I'm sure it is user-error and the proportions of a lanky 12 year old boy.) But I decided that the beauty of making a sweater for a kid who lives with you is you can actually make a size that fits (pretty radical, I know) even if the kid is a unique size. So, I decided to go with Zimmerman's percentage method and the seamless raglan pattern in knitting without tears. (please forgive the grammer, spelling, and citations. It's been a long day.) I've got the trunk of the sweater done up to the armpits and the first sleeve is 2/3 done. Stockinette in the round on size 10 needles. It's a beautiful thing. I've been truckin' along this week on it. I'm thinking about signing up for Zimmermania.



The Jaywalkers for my sister have made some progress too. It's slow going, though.
I think I have three inches of foot to go before starting the toe.



Oh, and I started a stockinette sock for myself out of the Claudia's Handpainted Pink and Grey. I've been calling it "pink soot" or "Valentine's slush" in my mind. It's really knitting up pretty - reminds me of my favorite knee socks I had when I was 8 or so. Back when wearing kneesocks pulled up to your knees, sandals, and socks was cool. Not that it was probably ever cool in a high fashion sense, more cool in my own mind because they were fabulous knee socks. (is that an oxymoron?)



I've cut out a bunch of tote bags to sew soon. I may have made some technical glitches there, though. I made two patterns - one where there the lining folds over the top and provides contrast, and another like the first, except that there will be contrast on the bottom too. Sadly, I think I was mixing and matching the pattern pieces, so I'm not sure how tall the totes will be. Luckily everything was made for the same width. We'll see how it goes, I guess.

I'm torn now between doing some work on the coin quilt (piecing) and cutting out some squares for LaLa's quilt. I think the coin because it's a "for my own edification" project.