Finishing Touches

After nearly a year of knitting on and off, my handspun Breezy Cardigan is very close to being finished. Last night I finished up the first of the front bands; tonight I plan to pick up for the second one (and, provided Rainbow goes to sleep at a reasonable hour, I hope to make some decent progress on it).

Tomorrow is my oral surgery, first thing in the morning, and I'm hoping to be with it enough for the rest of the day to work on this project exclusively. All that's left after this second front band is the collar and weaving in my ends, which really isn't all that much. My Ravelry project page tells me that I cast on for this sweater last June 29. Wouldn't it be spectacular if I finished it in time for its first birthday?

Meanwhile, my Sybaritic socks are still in progress. I finished sock #1 over the weekend and cast on for sock #2 during my lunch break on Monday. I am now through the cuff and into the beginning of the heel flap, though this sock is likely to be put on the back burner until the Tour de Fleece is over, as I'm planning to spindle spin during my lunch break instead of knit for the duration.

As for the Tour de Fleece, I am really itching to get started. My first order of business is to spin up some fiber from deep stash for yarn to participate in the Through the Loops summer shawl knitalong. (Kirsten is currently offering 25% off her shawl patterns through July 1 for those wishing to participate, if you're interested.) I've selected Water Music as my pattern, so I need to spin 800-900 yards of fingering weight. I know I can normally get about 400 yards of three-ply fingering weight from 4 oz., so I'm hoping that it won't be hard to get twice that from 8 oz., especially as I'll be spinning a two ply. If all else fails, I'll just go yarn shopping!