Works in Progress

My shalome cardi is moving along nicely. I am working on the body. I forgot to shape the waist so I am hoping it blocks out right for the button holes to work, I think it will. I really love this pattern and have a feeling that when I am done I will make another at some point.

I am frantically working on a blanket for a friend's wedding shower. It is the Cabled Wedding Blanket. I am working it in Eco-Wool and it is going pretty quick. The hardest part for me is that I have to concentrate on the cablings, so I can't just knit while the kids play, and the amount of stitches in each row takes me forever! I have modified the blanket to make it a bit wider (the Eco Wool is a bit thinner then gauge suggested) adding a second set of the love knot.

To date it is the hardest (most intricate) cabling I have done but the pattern is written so nicely that it is easy to do. I LOOOVE how the designer wrote out the chart. She did row by row directions, but also wrote out each section of the pattern in a grid, which makes it easy for someone (me!) who has trouble with "real" charting to do it.

I was able to do the border in about 2 nights, and thus far I have one repeat of the 16 row cable pattern finished. The shower is in 3 weeks. If it is not done by then it will go to another friend as a housewarming gift!

That's my new plan. I am knitting things that will work for multiple people, this way if I miss a deadline the knitting wont go to waste. I have put the dress on hold. There is just no way it will be done (it is not even gauged yet) and I don't need the pressure. I need to start thinking about christmas as well. The problem with Christmas is that my nieces and nephews are bordering on too old to knit for, though I am hoping that the Harry Potter and Twilight inspired designs on Ravelry will help in that regard.

All the rain has been super helpful in our garden (though how tasty things will be I am not sure). Everything we planted is sprouting and we are adding some helpful flowers as we go. So far the marigolds are mostly in so maybe the cats and deer and other critters will start staying out! We still need to build some trellises for the beans, and Joe is asking to plant a popcorn plant, he has been eating the radish leaves as they grow. He wont eat salad and yet he is turning into some sort of micro-green gourmand.