It's a shame TealArt doesn't have a "currently playing music" option. Lets pretend it does. The music for this post would, then be: "Never Tire of the Road" from Andy Irvine's Rain on The Roof.

I think I'm a little more together now than I was last night when I wrote that entry from hell that I subjected you to. Up on the docket for today's entry some more thoughts on my knitting, and maybe, if we're lucky, an update on writing and reading projects.

I've started the sleeve on the Turkish Delight sweater. I think some serious blocking is going to be enough to fix the flaws in the collar, so I'm being guardedly optimistic about this garment. The sleeve knitting is fun.

After a mishap that's really to embarrassing to relate, I had to go out and purchase a new US size 5, 16 inch knitting needle. I did, however, not get an Addi Turbo, opting for a needle brand I wasn't familiar with. It's metal, and is as slick as an Addi. The cord is stiff, and the needle bits are heavy, so it might not get the dents and dings that my Addis so frequently get. The join isn't perfect, but this isn't a high traffic needle, but I'm mostly pleased with what I'm working with. My only other complaint is that the pointy bit on the needle is a little shorter than an addi, so it took a little adjusting, but all is well. Frankly most of the time, I don't notice any difference.

16 inch circular knitting needles always make my hands hurt anyway, so I'm working to get through this as much as possible. The sleeve has about 5 inches on it already, and I started it yesterday. These sleeves go fast for some reason.

I've been thinking about knitting a lot of late, because I'm drawing close to being done with my major projects of the moment. I usually keep a number of small projects on the needles at all times, usually a pair or two of socks, and my current sock projects are supremely uninspiring. I want to make a couple of pairs of normal worsted weight socks, I think, and instead I have two socks on size 0 and 1 needles. Unacceptable. I think I want to give my mother the last of my uninspiring fingering weight sock yarn and be done with this. The other sock I have on the needles has a cable on it, and was able to knit 4 or 4.5 inches without realizing that I really hate cables. I think they both have to go. Casting on a pair of socks on reasonable size 2.5 needles will make me happy.

The other flaw with these pairs of socks that I hate, is that their toe up, and I rather like traditional socks, so I think I'm just going to settle on that.

In sweater news, The Faroe sweater is of course next, and I'll probably start that this weekend. I also want to start another Turkish sweater. I'm going to use a slightly (oh so slightly) modified pattern from TD, which is called Gul, apparently meaning rose (frankly I don't see it, but whatever). It's the center panel, and it's a lot of fun, pretty balanced foreground/background, and looks like it has vertical columns, but is only one pattern. No tessellation. Woot!

Part of me wants to make it into a cardigan, but I can't figure out how to make all the bands hang right. My current game plan is to read some of AS's Fair Isle book on the subject of cardigans to see how to manage this quandary.

In other knitting news, I'd like to make note of a development. I'm no longer sewing steeks at all. Just finding the middle stitch and cutting. It works. The key is knitting in wool that you know will felt with a steaming and a little encouragement, and that's as good as anything you could do with a needle, and perhaps even better, and making the steeks wide enough 8-10 stitches is plenty. Any kind of sewing, even gentle backstitching as AS recommends, alters and malformes the fabric, and knitting won't ravel sideways, so I think this is a winner.

That's all for now. I'll do the embodiment post later. Hows that for organization?!

Stay well.

Mid-day Update: I did mid-project blocking, and it calmed many of my fears regarding the neck lines of both of my sweaters. I need to do some sewing to make it perfect, but I'm ok.

I also haven't ripped out the two socks which have been bugging me, but I did start a new pair, and it's making me happy. And that's what's important.