Blah...

That's pretty much how I feel about just about everything right now. The weather? Rainy and cold = blah. Pittsburgh? Hilly and no sidewalks, plus blah weather = more blah. School? Blah, but at least class is some good knitting time.

My knitting? Pretty much blah. I've been knitting a round or two a night on the Bayerische sock, and while I really do like it very much, I really want to work on something faster, less complex, and easier on the hands (the combination of pointy needles and tight stitches leaves my fingers aching after a few rounds). The scarf to match the mittenettes is no longer my class time knitting - there was too much cabling and turning to really be knittable in any class with note taking, and it was getting to be awkwardly long for knitting in class - it kept falling out of my lap. I'll finish it eventually, probably in the next month (or three, let's be realistic). My opinion of my current class knitting? Blah. It's blah for a number of reasons - color, the fact that I had to frog it once, the fact that my test bit for gauge lied to me (what did I expect?), and it turns out that I screw up a lot more when I'm knitting little yarn without looking at it than when I'm knitting big yarn without looking at it.

Ironically, the only piece of knitting I don't feel blah about is definitely my blahest:


The black ribbed scarf is coming along quite nicely, especially considering that I've only been working on it while reading for class. I really like how quickly it's going (gotta love the size 9 needles), and I really, really love the yarn. I'm using Mission Falls 1824 Wool, which is soft, smooth, and delightfully sproingy. Sometimes, instead of knitting on the scarf, I just sit and squeeze it and appreciate the lovely bounce in the yarn.

The blahness, though, has spread even to my consideration of what to cast on next. I got some Kidsilk Haze for Easter, that's destined to become a Print o' the Wave shawl. I've got some Kidsilk Night and some general shawl plans for it. I've got some really nice Artyarns Ultramerino to become a sweater, and some fun looking sock yarns that want to become fun looking socks. The problem though is that I don't feel like knitting anything complicated or doing and design work right now, and all of the above involve one or both. The solution? Garter stitch. Specifically, a blanket of garter stitch miters out of 1824 wool. I did some online shopping, and in a fit of reason, decided not to order several hundred dollars of yarn without knowing what the colors actually looked like, and only ordered color cards (I ordered the one for 1824 Cotton while I was at it). I've been planning to go by a yarn store this weekend in search of needles (for knitting the Kidsilk), though, so I'll probably see if I can pick up some 1824 wool while I'm at it...