KNITTING WITHOUT DOG HAIR IS NOT AN OPTION

That's how I feel lately. Rush, rush, rush... I guess it's my own fault because I start a lot of knitting projects (which are in no danger of finishing...) and a bunch of them these days are BIG projects with a deadline...

So, important at the moment are:

1. Gale's Sonnet
I met with Gale last weekend. The Sonnet is finished, it fits her and she liked it. Now I need to block it, seam the shoulders and set in the sleeves.

2. Brett's sweater
The body is finished. The sleeves need to be knitted. I want to finish his sweater before SAFF, so he can wear it there. Hubby modeled the sweater body for me and y'all. ;-)

I had him untie his hair - have I mentioned that I LOVE HUBBY'S HAIR???

3. Bag for SAFF
Everyone is knitting a sweater for SAFF. Since I'm knitting one for Brett, I don't have time to also knit one for me. Instead, I thought I'd make a felted bag for myself. I designed the pattern and I will publish it once I finish the bag.

The yarn is good old Cascade 220 in a rich dark brown and turquoise. And you can guess what colors these are... Yup - the colors of my favorite yarn store. I think I'll be done with the body by tomorrow at the latest and then I can felt it and add some funky trim and bright turquoise handles. Stay tuned - the pattern will be appearing soon in this theatre.

4. Jacquie's Lace Shawl
This has a deadline of December 25. Yup, it's her Christmas gift and she'll wear to her son's wedding on the following Saturday. I will be very proud to see her wear something I knitted to the wedding. It's currently on hold until I finish Brett's sweater. So, this is what is looks like at the moment:

It's the Handsome Triangle from Victorian Lace and I'm knitting it with Jade Sapphire 2-ply Cashmere. Yes, it feels as yummy as it sounds. I can't wait to get back to it.

5. My Lily Chin Lace Dress
Since I want to wear this to Jacquie's son's wedding, it has the same deadline - December 29. I've finished one sleeve and knitted about 8 inches into the body.

Update on the pattern mess from the Vogue Knitting Fall 2007 issue: I have not heard a word from the magazine since I sent them my complaint back on August 11, 2007. I guess that's no surprise. I check their webpage frequently, but it's been under construction for weeks. They listed a pretty ridiculous correction, tho':

Pattern #41 Lace Dress
Yarn description on page 156 should say "Greenwich Village," not "Park Avenue."

No mention of the chart being wrong or the set-up of the lace pattern being wrong. Oh, and by the way, in the meantime (because I knitted one sleeve) I also discovered that they printed an incorrect chart for the sleeve. Guess what - the most important pattern row is missing. What a mess! I feel bad for the designer, Lily Chin. She actually emailed me back the same day I asked her about the pattern being incorrect in the magazine. Lily rocks!!! I can't wait to meet her in November when the AKG hosts a bunch of workshops with her.

And besides this little priority list, I am also working on a couple of sock patterns that I'll publish soon. I finished the first one - hubby is trying to think up a name. Let me know if you have any creative brain farts. ;-)

I put a cute bind off edging on the sock - it is called a picot edging:

The other sock is a toe-up as well, and I tried the Turkish cast on for the first time. Where have you been all my life? I totally love this cast on. So easy, so fast, no crochet hook, no waste yarn. BEAUTIFUL!!!

And here is the tiny tip of the first toe. I tried to put it on Hermione as a nose warmer to follow ESC's trend, but she didn't want any part of such a picture. So, her silky fur had to do as a background.

And I got mail. ;-) Mom sent me some German knitting magazines:

The boys are going to drool over this magazine. It has a lot of men's sweater patterns - and seriously nice ones I mean.

And I finally got a copy of the latest Cat Bordhi book:

I have to rave about the service at Bob & Nancy's Services, Inc. They were fast, nice and gave me a discount of $2 because I ordered 2 Cat Bordhi books. I ordered the books on September 24, they shipped the same day, and I had them 2 days later!

And now some eye candy for Pittburgh Steelers fans - I knitted a beer can cozy for one of my coworkers, who is a serious Steelers fan. And he uses it every day. YAY!