Wow. I really need to post more often.

I'm way behind. I finished Shedir. It ended up taking me a little over two weeks. The side picture doesn't really do it justice I think. The cabling is much prettier on, and the star on top is a very nice detail. I learned to cross the stitches without a cable needle. If I'd continued using the cable needle, I think it would have taken twice as long to complete. I'm really glad to have finished it, and I'm pretty proud of it. I don't know if it qualifies as more complicated than Sherwood, but it was a bit of a challenge. The chart was actually pretty easy to read. I put in markers to separate the repeats. I think I would have gotten lost and screwed it up if I hadn't used the markers.
This is the lovely star pattern on top. I couldn't get a good picture of it on, so I had to stuff it with a small knitting bag to get the picture. That's why it looks like it has strings hanging off even though it is entirely completed at this point. I'm just really proud of this project. I would actually consider making this again. It was enough of a challenge to keep me entertained, and it progressed rather quickly. I would, however, use a different yarn. The yarn is natura Advantage 100% Deluxe Acrylic, 3 ply sport weight. I don't know if this yarn is still manufactured since I bought it over 15 years ago, tried to learn to knit, then happily forgot about it. I did enjoy taking pictures of my dd wearing the hat. I couldn't get any good phots of the details of the hat while she wore it, but I think her expression in this photo is priceless! She's such a stinker.

What else have I been working on? This stripey sock! It's a pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks. I did the heel differently; it's the same heel used in the baby socks I made a couple months ago. I find the yarn-over/backwards yarn-over method much easier than the wrap & turn method. I like doing this toe-up too. I think these socks will actually fit me! I need to get me a digital scale so I can measure out the yarn till there's only 50 grams left and make sure I have enough for the second sock. I still haven't figured out the stripe repeat yet. It started with orange stripes, then THREE pink stripes, then THREE orange stripes, and now it's been TWO stripes the rest of the way. What gives? How does this make sense? I keep thinking at some point I'll run into a section of three stripes again, but so far that hasn't happened. How am I supposed to make them match? I don't know if I can have totally not matching socks. I think that would bother me a lot. We'll see. I will be taking a break from the socks for a little while since my wrists started bothering me this morning. Darn teeny needles.

The other project that I've been spending a considerable amount of time with is the Very Cropped Top Hoodie from Magknits. I'm using the yarn from my frogged Big Sack Sweater. Rather than making it a truly very cropped top, I put the body on waste yarn so I can pick it back up and add length after I make sure I have enough yarn to finish both sleeves. It might not end up being a hoodie at all if I run out of yarn. No biggie.

If you're wondering how the Lotus Blossom Tank is going, just scroll down a couple entries. It still looks like it did. I just can't bring myself to work on a summer top when there's several inches of ice/snow on the ground.