Knitting is Definitely Happening

As I mentioned before, I'm not following my normal "thou shalt not cast on in February" rules.  I really wanted to get in on knitting rainbows during the Olympic Games, so I decided to go for it.  It's my dumb arbitrary rule, and I can break it if I want to.

So!  I finished up my Oregon Socks (they deserve a post of their own.  They traveled all over Idaho and Oregon last summer).

And I promptly cast on my Olympic Pride socks.   I had a couple of balls of Felici Rainbow in my old-growth stash that I dug out for the occasion.

Please note:  I cast these on last Friday

They are practically knitting themselves, holy crap.  The pattern is Traffic Island Socks (a riff off of the ubiquitous Jaywalkers), and it's pretty much perfect.  I've modded them a bit to add afterthought heels, because a classic heel and gusset arrangement jacks up the stripes.

They are pleasing me greatly, and I'm hoping to have them finished before I leave for Connecticut on Sunday.  I'll need something else to knit on the plane, so I guess I'd better plan to cast on another pair of socks....

It's that time of year again

It's February 1st, and that means it is time to knuckle down and start doing some serious heavy duty finishing.  (As inconstant a blogger as I am, you can check the archives and find posts in most years from February.)

This year I am starting the month with 10 projects on the go.  Interestingly, four of them are crochet projects.  I used to be crochet-curious, but now I think you can actually call me bi-craftual.

I'm not entirely sure what my strategy is for the month -- I know I want to finish my Oregon Socks before the Olympics start.  I'm not playing by my usual rules this year, since the Winter Olympics are in Sochi this time.  I'm planning to cast on and knit a pair of rainbow socks, "BECAUSE OF THE GAY," as my dear friend Jess so eloquently put it.

Anyway!

Here's the list:

1. Watergarden Cardigan.  Yeah.  Again.  I know.

2.  Knitting in Red.   This bad boy's been in hibernation since before last February.

3. Ripple Afghan!  I started this handsome fellow December of 2012.  I plan to finish it soon.

4. Sarah's Gnomes.   This will be a (overdue!) gift for my niece Sarah.

5. Emelie.  This is meant to be a short sleeved cardigan.  I'm not sure if it's really destined to be or not.

6.  Circles to Squares Afghan.  When I saw the (then new) Lion Brand Heartland yarn, I fell in love with the colors.

7. Oregon Socks.   My sister and my husband and I went "home" to Oregon last August.  It was lovely and awesome, and so good to go back and reacquaint myself with the land.  These were my travel socks.  I need to finish up sock number 2.

8. Multnomah.   I brought this with me to Oregon too.  And then we went to Multnomah Falls.  I tried to pass it off like I was an awesome planner.  Nope, just lucky.

9.  African Flower Bag.  This is me messing around and trying to use up old stash.

10.  Happypotamus.  Because there is nothing about a crocheted, multi-colored, funky, hippopotamus that is not awesome.  This is the back legs and the octo-butt.  I promise that there is a hippo in there.  Really.

Well, there you have it.  This is what I have on the go as of this morning.   Last year I only had 8, in 2011 I had 25, so I'm calling this year a solid B+/A- going in.  

More to come as I begin to kick finishing ass.