My wrist has been acting up again. This time it’s from moving the furniture and everything we own in & out of all of the rooms of the house. Why? Because we had the whole thing painted! It’s no longer all the same color in here. And the walls are clean again.

So, I’ve been babying my wrist this week. It’s starting to feel better finally. The large lump on my tendon has gone down.

I get fidgety at night while watching TV. It’s just not right to sit here with nothing in my hands! What did I do before I learned to knit? I can’t even remember. Did I just sit here and stare at the TV and not do anything else productive? Surely not. Maybe I did crossword puzzles or something.

I have a sock-in-progress, started before the wrist began acting up again. I’m itching to pick it up again.

I will also need to start another baby blanket, but I think I will wait until they find out if it’s a boy or a girl.

And I have a wedding shawl to plan for!

I will have to use this resting time to search for shawl patterns.

And blogging. I need to get back into the swing of blogging. If there won’t be much in the way of knitting updates, there will definitely be garden updates!

How about some Moderne Baby Blanket?

This blanket is for my nephew-to-be. He’s due 5/13, but he’s being given an early release sometime Wednesday (or maybe Thursday, depending on how long he takes!). His big brother got the Alphabet Blanket. Dad is a big Bengals fan. I thought about trying to do a tiger stripe blanket, but I didn’t have enough black yarn. And that would also involve intarsia. So a log cabin fit the bill. I didn’t do the whole blanket, but it’s perfectly baby-sized and square.

Details:
Started: March 7; Finished: May 1, 2010
Pattern: Moderne Baby Blanket, from Mason-Dixon Knitting
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton-Ease; Licorice (1 skein), Orangeade (about 1.5 skeins), Vanilla (about 1.5 skeins)
Needles: Denise Interchangeables, US7

I love this yarn. I have a couple of tops that are red & black, and I’ve never had a pair of handknit socks to match them.

Now I do!

The yarn had a lot more orange in it than I initially thought, but it’s still perfect (and thus it also matches anything orangey I may wear too!)

I really like the Patons Kroy sock yarn too. It’s soft and strong, and the colors are nice & vibrant. And it’s available in big-box stores, so it’s easy to obtain. Which I think I will be doing…my mom really liked this yarn too, and wants a pair of her own – but I only have 1 full skein left and some small bits of leftovers. Not enough for a full pair of socks for her (especially since I’ve been informed she wants the legs long!). So I will probably pick up another skein someday.

Details:
Started: November 3, 2009; Finished: January 15, 2010
Pattern: My own basic sock
Yarn: Patons Kroy Socks Stripes, 55615 Bronzed Berry Stripes
Needles: Brittany DPNs: size US 1

Through the end of February, I will donate 50% of the proceeds from my 2 sock patterns, Bevel and Crosshatch, to Doctors Without Borders/MSF for aid for the recent earthquake in Haiti.

Both patterns are available for purchase through Ravelry.

Visit the links above or over in the left sidebar to purchase.

Cthulhu took a break from his busy day at work and went for sushi.

Did you know he likes sushi?

The guys at the sushi shop didn’t know, either.

Hopefully we will see some more of Cthulhu’s adventures soon!

Details:
Started: November 7; Finished: December 18, 2009
Pattern: Cthulhuclava by Anne-Marie Dunbar
Yarn: Knit Picks Swish Worsted, colorway Lawn
Needles: Denise Interchangeables, Brittany DPNs: size US 6

It’s time for the UFOlympics again!

We’re on Ravelry, click to join us!

I started off OK:
January:
Black & Gray Socks
Emily’s Scarf

Then I went to the doctor for my thumb, wrist, and elbow pain. And there was very little knitting until July & August!

September:
Madli’s Shawl
Jaywalker Socks

October:
Emily’s Baby Sweater (not my Emily, but Palma’s new little baby girl! Please send pictures whenever she wears the sweater – even if it’s too big for her!)

December:
Cthuluclava. There’s an almost-finished picture of it on Ravelry. I’m waiting for Seth to take some pictures of him wearing it before I post my final “FO” post.

And that’s it. 6 FOs. Pitiful year. No dent made in the stash!

But the good news is that I found a “magical” cure for my tennis elbow, and it has barely bothered me at all since. All I had to do was make a very light fist, and rotate my hand around one way, then the other. Bingo. No pain in my elbow. WHAT THE HECK? Why didn’t anyone tell me to do that a year ago? All those visits to the hand surgeon and the OTs. (I still would have needed the brace and the therapy for my thumb and wrist, but the elbow was what was really bothering me all this time – all it needed apparently was some hand circles!) So. Hopefully more knitting in 2010. I’m halfway through my black & red (and orange) socks. I’m hoping to get #2 done in the next week. Then I think I’ll have to knit some socks for my mom. She’s been dropping hints for months.

And here’s the real scary view of the Cthulhuclava…

…the inside!

There are an insane amount of ends to deal with. I really think it could have been handled better in the pattern. If I were to ever knit this again (which I seriously doubt will happen!), I might try to come up with another way to do it.

It’s a good thing I like weaving in ends.

Cthulhu!