To add a little variety in my knitting (sleeve knitting gets boring after a while), I joined the shoulders of my It-Might-Be-the-Hawthorn-Pullover-But-Kinda-Sorta-Isn’t via a three-needle bind-off. The pattern does not have any kind of finishing on the neck, but I did a simple crochet chain edging to neaten it up.

And that is the extent of my crochet skillz.

I also set the one finished sleeve into the armhole, but did not sew up that side seam.

And I am just a few rows away from beginning the armhole decreases on the second sleeve, so the end is in sight for this project.

The color is way off in these photos. Chalk that up to artificial light!

I have something really fun planned for my next project.

Meanwhile, I am slowly working on my BFF Scarf. As it is commuter knitting only and I generally knit on it only in the morning, there is not much project. I will make a pattern available for it when I am done, but don’t expect it any time soon!

Just for fun, here is my car’s odometer reading as of yesterday:

It’s my 2004 Honda Civic EX that I’ve had since February 2004. Proof once more of how little driving I do!

Next, it is time to announce the winners in the Knitcircus giveaway.

Cathy-Cate and Allison have each won a 1-year subscription to Knitcircus magazine. I’ve forwarded your email addys to Jaala.

And the following people have each won a copy of the pattern collection for the current issue:

• Sabine
• KimW
• Denise in Ohio
• Lisa
• Erin
• Sue
• Malin
• Anna
• Cayli
• Heather

I have emailed the link for the collection to each of you.

Thanks for entering the giveaway and a very big thank-you to the Knitcircus editor-in-chief Jaala Spiro for her continued generosity in allowing me to so these giveaways!

I’ve made some nice progress on my It-Kinda-Sorta-Looks-Like-Hawthorn-Pullover — the first sleeve is completed:

And I’ve made some progress on the second sleeve:

And I started a new commuter project, as pictured in my last blog post, which I worked on a bit on Friday’s commute. Here’s the yarn:

This is a lovely single-ply sport/DK weight 100% silk yarn I bought last weekend when we visited Kid Hollow Farm. It has approximately 273 yards per 3.5 oubnce skein and I bought two skeins. My friend Muriel saw me pick up two skeins of it so she picked up two skeins as well, cleverly thinking that whatever I designed for the yarn she would knit as well. So I worked up a design for a scarf and asked her to knit along with me. I’m calling it the “BFF Scarf” because Muriel is one of my BFFs.

It’s a rectangular scarf with a fairly simple lace design. Simple because the single-ply yarn is soft and I don’t think would lend itself to a lot of complex lacework. It’s also variegated, so a relatively plain design is necessary to balance out the variegation.

So far so good. I love knitting with 100% silk, so this project is making me very happy! Here’s mine:

And here is Muriel’s:

And here is a precious sleeping baby:

Sleeve:

New commuter project:

Purring kitty:

The Winter 2010 issue of Knitcircus magazine is live today!

You may note by looking at the masthead that I’ve been “promoted” — I am now a contributing editor. In this issue you will find my article: “Make It Fit: Adjusting Stitch Patterns for Sock Design.” I hope you enjoy it.

This looks like a lovely issue — after a quick read-through I can see that there are as usual great articles and reviews and of course a lot of wonderful patterns to knit — many of them great for holiday knitting and giving.

As usual, my lovely and generous editor-in-chief Jaala Spiro has authorized me to give away two one-year subscriptions and ten pattern collections from this issue. Want to win one? Leave a comment on this blog post by noon eastern time on Sunday, November 14 to be entered in the drawing.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, the day job is getting in the way of my knitting progress. I tell you, this working for a living nonsense is starting to annoy me. I managed a few rows on the sleeve of the Not-Quite-All-the-Way-So-Much Hawthorn Sweater last night.

Tomorrow is a holiday for us Feds and I have nothing planned for the day, so I’m hoping to spend it relaxing, snuggling with Miss Lucy, and knitting.

A bunch of you commented on the boot photo in yesterday’s post. These babies are currently the only pair of cowboy boots I own — I gave away my collection a few years ago. These are Lucchese boots, handmade, from the Classics Collection.

I bought them online from Zappos (love Zappos!) on sale at a very deep discount. The retail price of these suckers makes me feel faint so the sale was a happy thing. But these are hands down the most awesome boots I have ever shoved my dainty feet into. So very very comfortable.

Last night Stacy (Stacy, her sister Muriel, and L-B and I were the attendees at the cabins-in-the-mountains weekend) emailed me what is my favorite photo from this past weekend:

That’s L-B and me walking the road up to our cabin. (See? L-B does exist.)

I did actually get some knitting done over the weekend. I finished the front of my Not-Really-Hawthorn sweater:

I made the neckline deeper and narrower than the pattern directs.

And I started a sleeve:

I decided for the sleeves I’m going to twist all the cables towards the front of the sweater. So on the other sleeve, the cable twists will be going in the opposite direction.

I’ve done little work on it since I got home because I’ve been insanely busy and consequently insanely tired. I knit 2 rows last night. Whee. Hopefully things will quiet down a bit and I can get back to what passes for normal around here!

Lucy sez:

“As long as it does not interfere with my nap schedule.”