An Ending, a Continuation, and a Beginning

Although I can be a monogamous knitter when I need to be, most of the time I have more than one project on the go at once. I like having the variety and the ability to choose what to knit at any given time. I like the endless cycle of projects -- when one is finished, another one is still in progress and a third can be cast on. That's certainly been the case in the last half week or so. On Friday, I finished my slipper socks:

I still have some weighing and measuring to do, but the pattern is almost ready to go to my tech editor.

In progress are my handspun socks, which hadn't seen any action since the first day I cast them on. I pulled them out again late last week while I was up late watching the convention coverage.

Isn't it something how the color changed right when I switched over from the ribbed cuff to the stockinette leg? I assure you, it wasn't planned, just a happy coincidence.

Because the collection samples need to keep moving, I started the next one over the weekend. This one suffered a similar fate to the slippers. I originally cast on using size 6 needles. I got through two repeats and decided the fabric was too loose for my taste. So I ripped and started again on size 4's. The fabric was better, but the pattern wasn't knitting up how I saw it in my head. So I ripped again and revised my chart. This time, the third time was the charm.

This the beginning of another shawl worked by knitting the edging first and then picking up stitches along the edge to knit the body. I may also add a knitted-on edging once it's done. The fun thing about this pattern is that it's completely reversible, and the whole shawl will be as well. That's the reason for the orange stitch marker -- it's hard to tell your right side from your wrong side when they look the same! This project has become my lunchtime knitting, and it's been the perfect thing this week when I've been extremely busy at work and need something easy and relaxing to clear my head in the middle of the day. I've already completed 10 pattern repeats, and I'm planning about 36, so it's knitting up quickly. I suppose it helps that almost every row is exactly the same, so while I do need to keep track of what row I'm on, I can zone out a bit.