Where Have I Been?

 Hello Dear Knitters!  I feel like I've been neglecting the blog lately, so I'm here to show you why.

Typically, I'm a pretty monogamous knitter.  I like to have one or maybe two projects on the needles at a time.  This is partially because my brain gets confused if I try to work on writing more than one pattern at a time.  But I also like starting something, then finishing it as quickly as possible, and this gratification is delayed if I have
 more than one thing going at a time.

But, 'tis the season for holiday knitting, and this year it coincides with a big creative burst.  It's not often that I look at my stash and have no idea what to knit, but it's just as rare that I look at it and come up with 8 ideas simultaneously, all of which I love, and all of which I need to make right now.  That happened about a month ago and I'm still casting-on those projects!

In the top picture, you can see that I have finished the Very Manly Socks that I made for my husband.  I don't love knitting socks, but they were my desperation project while I was waiting for ALL THE YARN to be delivered.  I had a dry spell of about 5 days where I could either knit something from my stash or have nothing to do with my hands while watching tv or riding in the car.  I hate that even more than I hate knitting socks, so I cast on!

The second picture is my daughter's green cardigan.  I've actually been at this point for almost a month now.  I was waiting for my yarn reinforcements to arrive.  As it turns out, 600 yds of dk yarn is not enough for a child's size 8 cardigan.  I bought 600 more yards to finish the thing, just to be safe, but I think I'll need more like 400 yds.

I cast this red guy on yesterday.  I'm going to keep you in suspense about what it is (you'll know it when you see it!) but I thought I'd show you the fun yarn.  I went to the LYS yesterday with the very specific idea of "red, variegated, spun (not single-ply) dk or worsted yarn"  They had two types that almost fit the bill, but they weren't exactly what I had in mind.  This wasn't either, but I think it will be a good substitute.  It's one skein of Cascade Fingering held double with a Zauberball that is mostly red but has pinks and purples in with it.  I figure it approximates the right weight of yarn and I got gauge with no problem, so I'm going with it!

Speaking of secret projects....I'll show you these two ladies, but I'm not talking about them!  You'll see them again after the holidays, but some things must be kept secret! 

And finally, the reason I was in such a hurry to get those socks off my #2 needles.  I've done an almost-toy pattern before (the sock monkey lovie blanket) but this will be my first stand-alone-with-no-blanket-attached toy.  I'm sure you can guess what it's going to be!

What projects are you juggling these days?