Here's the thing...

I keep meaning to get a photo of my WIPS so I can make a post with pictures, but whenever I've had a chance to take a photo I've felt like knitting instead. I'm sure you understand. So this will be a largely pictureless post.

I am so close to finished with the lamb all-in-one. The hood is knitted, the sleeves set in, the bootie fixed. Oh, what's that? You don't know anything about a broken bootie? Neither did I, until I began to seam. Somehow, I managed to have both booties facing the same way, instead of being mirror images of each other. See, the pattern uses short rows in the bootie, knitted flat, to create a wee pocket for the baby's toes. On one bootie, the pocket was facing forward, on the other, it was facing backward. No matter how much I twisted, pulled and prodded (and tried to convince myself for one insane moment that I could block it out), the toes obstinately faced the back. I obviously couldn't leave it that way. The problem was that the leg was knitted from the bootie up. When the bootie is finished, you join yarn for the leg and knit merrily away. So I couldn't just frog the bootie and reknit it down from the leg. I thought about threading lifelines through and cutting the bootie off, but wanted to see if I could come up with a better (read, "any other") alternative first. Finally, last night, I figured out that I could simply pull the last bootie row out, leaving live stitches at the leg. The result? The leg stitches, which I picked up as I unwove the bootie row, came out perfectly. I had the correct amount, and didn't drop a one. On the bootie side, there was some damage, but once the yan was free, I could frog back a couple of rows and reknit, which is exactly what I did. Tonight I have a date with kitchener stitch to reattach the bootie to the leg. After that, I predict smooth sailing. All I have left for knitting is a pair of ears and a tail. I have to seam the legs and add buttons. I've thoroughly enjoyed working on this project, and adore the yarn I used. Next time I'm near the yarn store I bought it from I'll have to do some stocking up.

I've been adding continuously to my list of future projects. One sweater that I am dying to make is the Debbie Bliss pattern in the current issue of Vogue Knitting. It looks so comfortable, yet suitable for work too. I am also quite taken with Sesame, from the new issue of Mag Knits. It's a more casual sweater, but cute as hell. I might be crazy, but I'm going to swatch with some Cotton Ease for it. I've also been rediscovering all kinds of patterns in my knitting magazine library. I was flipping through them to find hat ideas for the boy and kept pausing to admire all the sweaters I'd forgotten about.

I spent last weekend in Vermont, so of course I made a visit to Kaleidoscope Yarns. I love that store! The staff is so friendly and helpful, and they have such a great selection. Especially of things I can't find at home. I picked up a couple of skeins of Lorna's Laces Shephard Sock in Gold Hill, a couple of skeins of Lorna's Laces Shephard Worsted in Tuscany (I had never even seen this yarn before... it is so soft), a felted hat pattern and enough Cascade 220 to make two of them, and the Bobbi Bear pattern. Oh, and a Chibi. Whoa, I love those needles! They slip through the stitches like a hot knife through butter. I also casted on for Branching Out while I was in Vermont. I love how the pattern is coming along, and it's a very quick knit. If I could devote more time to it, I could easily have it finished in a weekend.

I'll post more knitting pictures soon, but for now, I leave you with this:

A freshly shorn alpaca! Doesn't he look so soft?