Kickin' in

Well, the antibiotics have done their job, and I am 98% back to normal and getting very restless now, anxious to get back to the dye pots and insanely trying to tame the carnage that has beset my house. I did five jumbo loads of laundry yesterday. I have been writing down new color ideas all weekend in anticipation of a big dyeing session -- or lots of them -- this week, but especially today, as I have folks waiting for yarn tomorrow night. And guess what? The boy is home sick. AHHH! possible sinus/ear infection. I'll get a lot of prep done today while he is home and resting, and probably dye into the night tonight. It just can't wait any longer!
As for knitting, I reached an impasse in the vest. As previously stated, I began the vest as a mindless, knit-in-the-round project for sick knitting. I was fairly certain at the time that when I split the project for front and back flat knitting I would be unhappy with the change in stripes, but I wasn't hugely invested in the project so just slogged on. As predicted, I didn't like it.

In actuality, I liked the stripes better this way, and considered frogging, but I knew I wouldn't cast on again since I'm really not super thrilled with the colors, so I ripped back and now...

I'm going to STEEK. What better project to try this on for the first time than one in which I'm not hugely invested? I did some internet research for the best way to approach the armholes and ended up deciding to put the "cast-off" stitches called for in the pattern on waste yarn and then casting on (backward loop) the same number of stitches over the gap before re-joining on the other side. I decided to work the steek stitches in purl to make them easier to differentiate and am working the armhole shapingas directed on each side. Fortunately, the pattern doesn't call for neck shaping to start until the armhole shaping is done, so I don't hav eot worry about all the steps at the same time. I plan to work the neck opening as a steek as well. I'm really excited to be taking this leap. I know some people blanch at the thought of taking scissors to their knitting, but really -- it's just yarn. Yarn is my friend. We can do this. And especially in this case, where I haven't spent hours and hours on an intricate Fair Isle design, I have no worries. I so thoroughly enjoy knitting in the round that I am simply thrilled at the possibilities this opens up for me. So, on with the knitting, and next time...the cutting! (And lest you worry, the big red blob has not been abandoned, but is being worked a bit at a time. The rows are getting much longer now, so progress seems so much slower.)