Fronts, Backs, and a Surprise!

I'm feeling much better than I was. I didn't have anything to blog yesterday, I've spent the last couple days getting everything done around here that I let slide while I was feeling so miserable. Now I've got the house back under control, I feel like a person again, and I'm getting a bit of knitting done. As you can see above, I finished the fronts of the cardigan (Order and Chaos from Inspired Cable Knits). I've got them blocking with the back now and I plan to begin a sleeve today. I usually like to work both my sleeves at once, but with this bulky yarn (KnitPicks Sierra in the Mist colorway - that still cracks me up), I won't be able to fit both sleeves onto my needles at once. I could use a circular, but I really dislike using circulars if I can avoid it. If I'd just suck it up and use the circ, I could have the cardi finished faster, probably. Obviously, I need to make a decision today.

OK, I promised a surprise on the blog so here it is - actually, I think I'll start with the backstory. Last year for Christmas I knit Mindy (my Sister in Law) a stole. It was a simple stole knit in the Shetland Fern lace pattern (the same lace pattern in Birch and Kiri), with the edging from Kiri knit onto each end to make little points. I knit it in some of Handpaintedyarn.com's laceweight in a deep smokey violet color. I don't think Mindy had ever really had a wrap like this before and neither of us were sure how much she was going to wear it. She lives in Texas which isn't really known for its Cold Weather Wear Opportunties. Added to that Mindy is a pretty casual person. I'm not saying she's sloppy or a bad dresser, but unless she has to be dressed up for something, she tends to base her clothing choices around jeans. (I totally stand behind this philosophy and one day, when I have no knitting content, and no pictures of Finn and Ramius, I will delve headfirst into a discussion of my deep and passionate love affair with jeans. I want to be buried in them. That's all I will say about that, for now) So, when I planned her stole, I decided that she needed something simple that could be dressed up, because it is a lace stole, but not so fancy that she would hesitate to pair it with jeans or khakis or her everyday life. Well, apparently she has just loved it, she wears it everywhere and she even took it with her when she and my brother went to Italy. (Yes, my knitting gets to go better places than I do.) When I asked her if she wanted another one, in a different color, she suggested pink or red. So, since Christmas is closer than I really care to think about, I asked her if she minded if I blogged the design and knitting of her stole. She said that was fine with her and it will really save me time, not having to do secret Christmas knitting as well as blog fodder. So, the surprise is, starting on Tuesday, at least once a week, I will be blogging the design and knitting of Mindy's Christmas Stole 2006. I do plan on writing it up into a pattern which will be available for sale once its completed. There are a couple of reasons I think this will be amusing. Number One: The aforementioned fact that Christmas is coming faster than I think it will. (Now, before you get your hopes up, I don't think I will achieve the levels of Christmas Knitting Insanity, I mean Christmas Knitting Genius, that certain other knitbloggers do. Sorry.) Number Two: Below is the yarn I plan to use. KnitPicks Alpaca Cloud in the Peppermint colorway. Why will this be fun? Ramius has an Alpaca fetish! Let the games begin!