Stages of Knitting

I have returned to sock knitting.  These are really "leftover" socks but because the yarns are so beautiful, they are making beautiful socks.  I think I am at the point of heels, or just about, and that part always slows me down.

Last week I had to take a few steps backward.  I discovered that the bind-off I had done on the button band was too tight and it kept the band from hanging right.  And it is to be remembered that the band went from the bottom of one front panel, all the way around the neckline to the bottom of the other front panel.  I have no idea how many stitches there were but I got to take them all out and here you see me redoing the bind-off.  I searched through several loose bind-offs and chose the Latvian one.

This mess is a sleeve.  You may remember that I forgot to knit the sleeves on this "all knit at one time" sweater.  So I knit them after the body was done and now I am readying them to be put on the shoulders. 

I had thought to just knit the sleeves onto the body but couldn't figure out how to do it without having a "bump".  So I am currently binding them off, same as the button band, and then I will attach them.

I decided that once I begin sewing the seams of this sweater together it will be time to start on the cowl below.  I am only planning to do the smaller cowl, not the larger one below, but it will look much the same.  I bought the yarn above but have left it in the bag until the sweater is almost completed.  Next week I will put this yarn on the swift and wind it into two balls and begin.  Of course I am going to watch the Very Pink video tutorial one more time, just to familiarize myself with how to do the pattern.  I am really excited as this will be the first fairisle I have done with hand knitting.  Someday I will show some of the things I machine knit several years ago.

Last weekend we had a bunch of family in our house:  two of our children, and their spouses, two grandchildren and their spouses, a granddaughter-in-law, 3 great grandchildren, and 6 dogs (4 are ours).  We had a wonderful time with lots of laughs and quite often 2 and 3 different conversations going on at the same time.  This went on both Saturday and Sunday morning.  Both Eric and I were energized all the way until Monday morning when the energy started to ebb.  It took until Thursday before I got any energy back:  I was really a slug Tuesday and Wednesday. 

One of the things I did work on while I was "just sitting" was to sort through lots of embroidery designs, thinking about what I want to do for Christmas.  Last year, while I was bed bound, I knit washcloths for family members.  This year I want to do something different.  So I have put my thinking cap on and am searching for ideas.  Anyone want to help?

Gari