In Which the Pirate Ventures Ashore.

I found a local Stitch ‘n Bitch through Meetup, and tonight I went for the second time. It’s a relatively new group, but it has a lot of potential. We had about a dozen people there, both two weeks ago and tonight. Ages ranged from high school to grandmother, and the skill range was from total beginner to wow, look at that lace! I’m excited to be able to knit with other people once in a while, instead of sitting at my computer and occasionally typing to a friend with one finger while holding the ends of DPNs in my mouth.

[friend] hey, what’s goin’ on tonight?
[me] am knitting. cant type. bbl.

Either the conversation goes slowly, or the knitting does.

The So-Called Scarf is now five or six inches longer. I’m at the end of the second ball of yarn, which means I’m two-thirds done… and now, of course, the scarf is totally out of season. I’m working with Manos del Uruguay in a dark green, which I bought in cold, snowy Ottawa in cold, snowy February. Although we are supposed to get snow showers here on Friday night, I’m pretty sure that I’m not going to finish the scarf in time for Saturday. I will just have to keep working on it and have it ready for next winter.

Pomatomus is progressing, slowly but surely. I’m almost done with the second pattern repeat. These are the most complicated socks I’ve ever done, and I’m loving how they are coming out! The Plymouth Sockotta (color 14) is not as bad to work with as I had thought. I’m not generally fond of cotton, but this does have a part wool content… and they are going to be summer socks. I can’t decide if I’m going to make them taller than the pattern calls for. I do have twice as much yarn as necessary, so I could theoretically make them pretty tall socks. They’re stretchy enough that I wouldn’t need calf shaping, I don’t think. Here’s a more artsy shot which shows how awesome the yarn is. I think the color is just perfect for the pattern, and I love the white mixed with the color. It hasn’t pooled at all yet, but I’m wondering if I won’t get a little on the foot. Time will tell!

The third WIP on the needles is Blu, from the Winter 2005 issue of Knitty. I’m into the seat shaping of the first leg, and haven’t got any pictures yet. I picked up some Sugar ‘n Cream in a horrific orange color for the seams, but I’m a whole leg away from that point. The baby – my niece! – is not due for another six weeks, so I have some time left.