FINISHED

I cannot even begin to tell you how happy I am that I signed up for the February is for Finishing plan because guys- I AM DONE.  Repeat: I. AM. DONE. EVERYTHING.  I'm so stinkin' proud of myself for just gearing down and doing the 'un fun' task stuff because it means now my brain can focus on other things.  It's so hard to start something new when you feel like you really should be finishing something else.  Right now, I don't feel like that at all.  THE WORLD IS MY OYSTER.

Good thing I am done, a new wave of babies have been announced and I feel like for at least one of those blankets I really need to bring my A game.  (Mom-to-be is a knitter and well, I need to impress her, because I'm stupidly competitive like that....)

BUT enough about what could be- let's look at what IS.

First up- Polaris (Part 2) Mittens.  (Part 1 Here)

Pattern: Polaris Mittens by Rebecca Blair
Yarn: (teal) Berrocco Ultra Alpaca Fine Colorway 1285 and (white) Little Knits Sockulent Colorway 1
Needles: US 1
Notes: I must have been stressed right out when I knit these because they were TIGHT.  I wish the thumb had like 5 extra stitches as it was quite tight.  To say that I "blocked the heck out of these" is a total understatement.  I did everything I could to add in some give.  The good news is that my sister has super teeny tiny hands and they fit her perfectly- so YAY.  She gets a pair of mittens!  I also really REALLY liked that white yarn for mittens.  (Sockulent)  It knits up perfectly and goes great with so many things.  Eventually I might try to get my hands on more.

Why did I make these twice?  You can see my epic fail here- and that sort of brings you up to date.  I couldn't bring myself to rip back so much work, and so I just decided to knit a small pair, thanking the stars up in heaven that my sister has tiny hands and this wouldn't just go to waste!

  

Despite the agony I will admit- these ARE quite lovely.  AND- I finally have that Ultra Alpaca out of my stash.  (Making room in my stash always feels SO good.)

But, that is not all friends.  That is not all.

The Preschool socks are done too!

Pattern: Sock Recipe: A Good Plain Sock (from Knitting Rules) by Stephanie Pearl McPhee
Yarn: Regia Design Line Ombre Stripe Colorway 04480
Needles: US 1
Notes: I have knit this pattern so many times.  In my opinion it's still one of the best "sock recipes" around.

As usual, I went to great pains to line up the stripes to get it perfect.  (Which yes, means cutting up the yarn to get me there.)  I never regret that decision.  Although, I can't, for the life of me, explain why the toes don't match.  (That purple must have gone a little longer by accident?)  It's not enough of a flaw to make me twitchy, so I'm leaving it.  They look lovely don't they?

(It is also good news to note that I did NOT knit the remainder of these at preschool.  My son has been attending on his own since January.  I will not lie, we have good days and we have not so good days, but it is nice to have a little of that time back again.)

And so that's it.  This was an INSANELY productive month- which has now freed me to pursue other avenues.  I decided to try something I've been wanting to cut my teeth on for a while now...

Meet my newest lace project- the Peacock's Feather.  I'm assured by lace knitters everywhere the first several rows of lace look like an ugly blob, so I am trying not to panic here.  I've had a bit of bumpy start but I think I'm just starting to get into this now.  We'll see how it looks in a bit I guess.

I haven't set a March plan yet- I'm still thinking on what I want to accomplish.  I like the short term goal set vs. the long term "all year" plan.  I just haven't decided WHAT March will be yet.  Stay tuned!