Progress!

The Clapotis is finished! I am pretty happy with how it turned out, actually. I'd like to make another one at some point, but way, way, way later. The pattern is really easy, though it gets a bit monotonous in the middle section.

I used a lot less yarn than I thought I would. I bought three skeins of 330 yard merino-alpaca yarn (bargain ebay laceweight yarn from yarn treehouse—I really am impressed with it), but only ended up using about 1.5 or 1.66 of them. The yarn is a really pretty color, and it's really soft & warm. It's a bit narrow because I used thinner yarn than the pattern calls for, but it's at least wider than a standard scarf. I'm hoping it won't matter too much because my mom is tiny. I suppose I could try to block it, but I am a bit hesitant to do so because I don't want it to lose any of the bumps and waves. That's kind of the whole point of the Clapotis.

...I just hope my mom likes it.

I'm on Project #2: The Drive-thru pullover for my nephew. I'm making really fast work out of this one. Mostly because it's almost all straight stockinette stitch in the round, and a sweater for a 5-year old isn't going to be an insanely large project. ;) I've already done up to the armholes on the body, and I've just stated the sleeves. I'm trying to knit them both at the same time on two circulars. It's a bit tricky—like trying to wrestle a spider. Hopefully it gets a bit easier after a few rows. If this one goes well, I'll do a second one in a slightly larger size in green for my other nephew. If not well, I guess he'll get a vest. Heh.

I'm making ok overall progress so far, but I have a lot of knitting ahead of me in the next few weeks.

I found a few ebay sellers that sell hand-dyed sock yarn for not-insanely-expensive, so I've also stocked up on sock yarn. My photos look a bit off in color, but it is hard to take accurate pictures in anything but natural daylight.

I am at this point planning on making a pair of socks for each of my three nieces. I don't know which yarn I'm using for which niece yet, nor do I know what pattern I'm using for any of them. I have about 30 sock patterns saved in my ravelry queue, all of which would be fine for any of them. I guess I'll just wing it (i.e. pick the ones rated easiest). I'm hoping that I get the hang of the knitting-two-at-a-time method, and that none of these are a particularly large investment of time.

In addition to the socks, I'm going to give them some screen-printed tote bags. I guess I should burn those screens soon. And buy fabric.

Still no idea about dad, or my eldest nephew (age 21). I'd really like to do an entrelac scarf for my dad, but that seems like it will be tricky & a huge time-suck. I guess I'll troll around ravelry or craftster to see if i can find some inspiration & ideas.