Intro

I'm a secretary. I sing in a choir, something I've done since high school. I'm a mediocre alto in a really good group. Yes, I really am a low voice; I'm not secretly a soprano trying to avoid high notes. We do mostly big choral works, like masses and requiems. Our concert next month will feature the Bach Magnificat and the Mozart Requiem. It's gonna be awesome. Also, on an odd whim, I took up the violin a few years ago. Pongo is my instrument, not my dog, though with the way I play, sometimes they sound the same.

Oh, yes, and I knit! I've got a bunch of things on the needles right now. There's one humongous afghan that I always find an excuse to avoid finishing. I'm on ball 6 of 7 and progressing very slowly. Here's a close-up of the front (apologies for the crappy cameraphone pix):


and the back:

It's a sort of faux cable pattern. There are a couple of tricky parts (Row 3 bites! I always get confused!) but the hardest thing about it is the size! It's 129 stitches wide, so each row seems endless. I do still work a row or two now and then, to assuage my guilt.

The others WIPs are scarves. One is the ubiquitous Scarf Style ruffles. This one is done in Lion Brand Microspun with some mystery ladder yarn carried along.

I really like this pattern. It's pretty, easy to memorize and simple to do. I finished one recently using some Karabella Aurora 8 (thanks to a LYS's recommendation), Cervinia Genova, and Bernat Matrix. The other scarves are from Stich 'n Bitch Nation. The Wavy scarf looked interesting but I don't care for the results I'm getting. Maybe it's me, or better yet, I'll just blame the yarn. Hmmm, time to rip? The third scarf is the drop stitch (Yo Drop It). I've done this one before (with the same yarn too), so it's coming along ok.

My latest FO is a birthday present for my brother, and as such has to stay under wraps until the big day, which, unfortunately, is in October. For now, I have to hide it. So there is a downside to finishing early! Here are some other recent FO's:


a couple of mohair scarves (Knitty's Loopy and Luscious pattern). The orange and red uses Rowan kidsilk haze and Gedifra ashtrakan. The rainbow one is from a little ball of Kidhallow Farm mohair I got at the MD Sheep and Wool Festival. The contrasting yarn is Lion Fun Fur Prints. It's not a thick-and-thin but the color was so right, I just had to use it.

I also made a pretty flower for my dearest smother:

The flower is Lion Chenille and the leaves are leftover Aurora 8 from the ruffle scarf. Woohoo, creative use of scrap yarn!

I'm trying to get up the courage to try a more complicated project, like a sweater. I've been thinking about either the free Rebecca patterns, like the eyelet or ribbed sweaters. Well, if that isn't an excuse to go shopping, I don't know what is!