Yarnlove

I bound off the shoulderette on the train this morning. Tonight I'll wash it (train hands are dirty) and pin it to something, and keep working on the lovely gloves I cast on last night. Yes, these are probably the most adorable gloves you've ever seen. I found them on Saartje's blog, and she linked to Nanette's blog, where I found the smallest pattern photo ever. The gloves come from a Japanese book, but since I'm cheap and clever I'm deciphering the pattern and trying to knit something glove-like from how I'm guessing it should be done. I really like Nanette's cuff, so I'm kind of following her example. My colors are baby pink, raspberry and brown. I think I'm on gauge, around 30, but I also think my hands are kind of small, so maybe I'll go down a needle size, from 2.5 to 2mm (oh my gosh that's tiny!). I'm using Drop's Alpaca, since it's the bestest yarn ever. I've never done gloves before, and the mittens I've done didn't have a thumb "wedge" like these. It's not really glove season, but I'd like something for my hands that isn't too warm and clumsy. This might be it.

Pictures of the shoulderette on my bare shoulders will be published on Monday, during the awful ball hangover.

I spent Easter on Gotland, the wooliest piece of Swedish territory surrounded by water. (?) We saw sheep and lambs they were all very cute. I didn't get to buy any yarn, probably because: 1) everything was closed due to holidays, 2) I was broke, 3) I spent all Easter (Thursday through Sunday) mostly in bed with the most evil (and I mean Evil) flu I have ever had. There were no vomiting and no fever, but apart from that this baby had it all! I had to actually stretch and twist my head to be able to swallow, and that was if I had taken enough painkillers. Oh poor poor me. Vacations like that make work fun.

All the knitting I had planned to do, like almost finish the shoulderette, is still undone. With 12 days to go, the tension is growing, but I might still be able to make it. No plans for tonight, so maybe I can knit an inch or two.

On the bright side, my new mobile has arrived and it's so cool I'm blushing. There's a number problem though, since my phone number won't be transferred until July, so I have to use a temporary number until then. Quite uncool. But it has a great camera, video camera and radio. I'm thinking of knitting a cover, so it will stay fresh forever. Pink might be the colour.

Two days ago I was informed by my better half that I'm expected to accompany him to this year's spring ball at the palace (yes, the palace, again). I looked it up and it's not until the end of May, so I thought I had plenty of time to give my ball gown a Cinderella fix-up and find a nice something to cover my shoulders with. This is what I found: a shoulderette. And also, as things were really going my way, I had still six skeins of CottonViscose in white, which, as it turned out, has the perfect gauge for this shoulderette. Obviously, this flow couldn't last, and it didn't. It's not that bad, but it's not the spring ball we're going to but the Valborg ball, 30th April. Gives me 3 weeks to finish, instead of the eons I had yesterday.

CottonViscose is actually quite nice. I got really fed up with it last summer, since I thought the gauge (23) was too tiny. Hah! It's good to see I have developed in only a year, since 23 is actually quite big to me now. The yarn does tend to split if you don't watch it, but I have quite sharp needles so it's OK.

Another positive thing about this project is that I discovered I actually do have a stash. On "Flash your stash" day I got a bit depressed since I only buy yarn for a particular project and never just for the fun of it (since I'm a student on a restricted budget), and I thought that a photo of my so called stash would just be a picture of a red box with twenty halves of skeins, mostly pink. But when I came to think of it, I actually do have some stash. With this current project it has diminished, but still.

My regular project, the Frost flowers shawl, has come on nicely, and I am now one row from finishing the first (of like seven) repeats of chart 2. I'm a bit concerned over the yarn, since it's quite uneven. A very very thin strand of yarn can be knitted into an unusually thick one, creating a strange effect I'm not so sure this shawl is the proper place for. Hopefully it will look authentic and artistic when it's done, and not cheap and irregular.

One week until Easter!

I'm on bind-off on the argyle vest, and I'm on needle-change on the shawl. I called maybe five different yarn stores last week and finally found a circular long enough for the rest of my shawl. If I have the time I'll go to Marias Garn this afternoon to pick it up. I think it's a good sign of credibility for a yarn store to have 100 and 120 cm circulars. Shame on the rest of you!

Sofie wants to knit socks, and I'm up for it. I've never knitted socks, but I have had my eyes on a pair from the Norsk Strikkedesign, with a separate toe with a heart on it... Might be a good gift for my Secret Pal! Yes, I've just joined my first Secret Pal and I'm so excited! I can't stop thinking about all the little things I will buy, make and send to my secret pal, not to mention receive. I love presents! I've spotted an outrageously luxurious silk yarn at Nysta, but didn't know what to do with it or for whom... but now I'm getting ideas.

Also, I've been looking around for the next big thing, and I think the next BIG thing will be the Aran Sweater in Vamsegarn, but that might be a couple of months. The next quite big thing I think will be this one, the sweet and hot nightie from Knitty, but slightly modified... I think I might have to crank up the gauge, since the sizes are quite far apart (probably because of the feather and fan lace repeats) and the M is quite big. As if 31 sts/10 cm wasn't enough. And also, I was thinking of making it shorter, more like a tank. And green. I think it might be an excellent little summer thing for those special occasions. Should I go for cotton, or a merino? Please advise.