Baby Frogs

So when you frog almost all of the baby knitting you've done over the past week, is it called tadpoling?

Grrrrrrr.

I had so much knitted this week on the baby knits, I was sure I would have some photos to show of my progress by tonight. The kimono was almost 2/3's finished. Baby Albert had it's lower portion finished and I had picked up the stitches to start on the right front. I cast on and was a few rows into the EZ baby surprise jacket. And now, all of them, almost all gone. Tadpoled, frogged, whatever. I had neglected to do something as simple as mark the right side on both the kimono and the Baby Albert and found out the hard way that little details like that really do matter.

The kimono is all gone (although I did cast back on, taking care to mark the correct side this time). Fortunately, Baby Albert is a modular jacket, so I only had to rip out the little I started on the front and a few rows into the lower half, because the buttonholes were going to be backwards and they looked all wonky besides. Finally, I ripped the Baby Surprise because I was *surprised* to find that I had neglected to follow the pattern - the only thing I had close was the correct number of stitches on the needles. (sigh) The problem with knitting is that I have to PAY ATTENTION and FOLLOW DIRECTIONS, not exactly qualities I am famous for.

Not to worry - I wasn't in a funk for long. I resorted to the time-honored mood-enhancing properties of stash enhancement for new projects to distract me from my ADDled knitting woes. My favorite LYS had a great sale and wouldn't they have been disappointed if nobody went? It was a moral obligation to attend this sale. It was a secret sale where you gather enormous quantities of wool and needles and such, then when you check out, you put a penny in a gum machine on the counter and the color of the gum determines how much of a discount you get. Well, today was a lucky day, as I got a very substantial discount - why oh why didn't I gather more??? But here's what I did get - lovely stuff, no?

From left to right, I have 2 skeins of JKnits Felter's Dream in the New Mexico colorway and 1 skein of Cascade Pastaza (a llama/wool blend) in a rich espresso color. These are earmarked for either a table runner or some felted pumpkins; 2 balls of Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy in a sand color that will become a table runner - I am thinking about modifying the Montego Bay scarf pattern from the summer Interweave for this; 3 skeins of Provence Egyptian cotton in a cobalt blue, white and Mediterranean blue that may become another table runner; a ball of Rowan Denim in a medium blue to make a couple of water bottle cozies; and finally, 2 skeins of violet Four Seasons cotton/wool blend and 3 balls of Nashua April cotton yarn in variegated greens and blues which will make an adorable baby sweater (because I haven't frogged enough baby sweaters lately). They're not pictured, but I also added to my Addi collection because I love the Addi's!

I also paid a visit to another favorite LYS because I felt sorry for them since so many knitters were swarming the sale and I wanted to be sure they didn't get lonely this weekend as well (I know, such an unselfish act on my part). To my happy surprise, she also had a mini-sale in progress, so my good deed was reinforced. I picked up 2 skeins of ArtYarns Ultramerino that I had been squeezing and coveting a couple of weeks ago, but, not (yet) being a sock knitter, didn't feel like I could justify the expense. Well, when it's on sale, it's hard to justify not buying it.

Now for all of you wonderful knitters who are sending the love to Greensburg, I picked up a couple of skeins of FABULOUS Alchemy handpainted merino/mohair blend. One of these will become the third prize for the contest (winner chooses the color). I will try to have some pictures in my next post - this stuff is luminous, just gorgeous!

Finally, if you've been knitting for Greensburg, but are getting burned out on squares, don't forget that Laura is also collecting any other knitted or crocheted items you may want to send, such as washcloths, hats, scarves, baby blankets, etc. And these items will count in the contest's final tally!

I also hope to talk with a friend of mine in the next couple of days. She grew up in Greensburg, and last weekend led a group from our church down there to help with the cleanup. She's going to give me an update, and hopefully have pictures. Thanks again to all of you who are helping this incredible cause!