So, while I’m on row 50 of the Zarabel sweater, I still have miles to go.  And though I’m half way up the first sleeve, I’m still many hours away from having both sleeves done in order to start assembling the coat.

In similarly dull news, I made a mistake on my second Mojo sock and decreased the heel stitches WAY too quickly (as in every row instead of every other).  After mulling over it and wearing the socks for a while, I’ve realized that I’m just not willing to live with it, as it significantly interferes with the fit of the sock.  So, now I’m procrastinating on that because I don’t want to deal with ripping my work back and trying to pick up the stitches without completely ruining all that work, but at the same time, I won’t let myself start another pair of socks until I deal with it.

I’ll end on a good note, however!  After working on the lace pattern on the Zarabel sweater, I’m feeling confident enough to tackle the Vogue lace stockings again.  I really think I can do it this time.  Plus, the motivation is better now that the weather is warming up and I’m not so obsessed with warm wool socks.

It all started because I need more college credits to move up the pay scale at work.  There is a university that offers classes specifically tailored to teachers at the local high school, which is only about a quarter of a mile from my home.  This winter they offered a course in book making geared towards use in the classroom…a way to engage students in the learning process in addition to creating a way to display their work.  It sounded like fun, and was relatively inexpensive as far as college credit goes, so I signed up even though I didn’t know any other people who would be taking it.

Wow!  Did I have a blast!  While I have several ideas for how to incorporate this in my classroom (I’m thinking a poetry book for the eighth graders and a mythology report for the sixth graders), the course went beyond simple structures for children and got into the quality of books that I’d like to make for myself and as gifts for friends.

Now, I need another hobby like I need a hole in the head, so I’m avoiding paper stores and the clearance section of Michaels until I actually need to purchase supplies for my students projects.

But for now, let’s get back to my yarn hobbies, which is what you are really here for.  I’m making slow progress on my last mojo sock.  It should be finished soon-ish.  They are cute…not exactly my usual taste in socks, but I think the pattern works with the yarn.

I’ve also spent a little time working on my Spanish Moss Coat.  I keep pausing on this project because it seems like such a huge task.  When I think of all I have left to do, it’s a little daunting.  So, I’m trying to just focus on my current piece (which is the last body piece).  I still have the sleeves to make, assembly, and then the front edge trim.

My Veronica sweater is still sitting here next to me waiting for the hooks to be sewn on.  Yeah.  I need to get to that.

And, of course, since I have to have a dozen projects going at once, I’ve started two more.

The first is a set of Victorian manchettes (cuffs for a pair of underseeves).  The pattern is from my Riego book from 1850 and they will hopefully be worn with my Dickens Fair dress this year.  It took a little bit of trial and error to figure out a threat and hook size combination that would produce a cuff that fits my wrist perfectly, but I hit the right mix with size 80 thread and size 14 (0.9 mm) hook.  I’ve already made one major modification though: the pattern calls for each row to be cast off so that each row is crocheted from the right side of the work, but I am crocheting it back and forth.  While this may have already affected the shape of the poof-motiff, I simply cannot fathom weaving in all those ends after I finish the cuff.

I’ve also started crocheting little squares to put together for a charity blanket using my leftover sock yarn.  I’m using a pretty simple mitered square in single crochet, but in the back look only to give it a great texture.  I’ll have to make quite a few more socks before I have enough squares to make a blanket, but it’s fun to have the little squares to work on for when I need a break from my larger projects.

I also finished my stash buster kitchen towel.  I even got it washed and put away with my other kitchen towels, so it is now ready for a true test.

I’ve got one baby blanket waiting to be mailed off and another waiting for the baby shower.  Thankfully, both are finished and one even got washed!

So, at this point, I’ve down to three projects that I really should finish before starting something new.  One is the Spanish Moss Coat that I’ve been working on forever!  I really should focus my attention on that, since it will be perfect once spring really does start.  I currently have the back finished, one side of the front, and half of the other side.  There is still a lot to do, since the assembled coat also gets a knitted edge, but if I quit getting distracted by other projects, there’s still hope.

I am very close to having the Veronica sweater finished.  It still needs the clasps sewn on; that sort of got put on hold as I tried to race through the Dove Vest and then a major sewing project, but I should be able to get that done as soon as I have an evening free this week.

Finally, I frogged my one Ambrosia sock and started knitting the yarn into a Mojo sock.  It’s not that I didn’t like the Ambrosia pattern–I just didn’t like it with that yarn nor did I like the modifications I made to it.  (While the mods looked fine on a flat sock, they did not look fine on my fat calf.  I ended up with saggy socks that were that annoying “almost” knee length.  So sad.)  So, while it kills me to have all that leftover yarn, I’m sticking with a shorter sock length this time.