Now we're cookin' . . . .

Boy howdy did the knitsibs ever get my mojo going again! I've been a knittin' fool ever since Cat's book party.

Here are the socks that were finished in only 8 days:




They're so cute they deserve another picture from the side.



Here are the stats:
Fraternal twin socks ('cuz they're not identical, don't ya know)
Lion Brand Magic Stripe sock yarn in "Lucky" colorway, 100 gram ball
US size 2 dpns
Using Judy's Magic Cast On, my standard sock recipe knit on 56 stitches with a reverse heel flap and k2p2 ribbing starting right after the heel gusset ends
And knit entirely on the commute to and from work!

Now that I'm commuting to downtown, I may have to seriously consider having more than one project going at a time. I have always been "project monogamous", even years ago when I sewed my own clothes and when I (GASP!) crocheted. In fact, every craft or hobby or handiwork, whatever you want to call it, has been "one project at a time" for me. Maybe it's because I'm so anxious to get it completed and can hardly wait to see what it looks like finished, or maybe it's because I have a short attention span, or because I'm obsessive, or because I'm afraid that if I start something new that I'll never go back to finish the one left behind. Whatever, I've never had more than one thing going at a time. But the commuting means that a big project is just to much to drag around all week. Plus, my MAX ride is only about 30 to 40 minutes, which isn't a lot if I'm working on long rows in a sweater or an afghan.

Up to now, I'd been knitting socks on the train, which are pretty good at keeping the seat next to me empty. But then, I saw the "Aunties In Stitches" on Duffy's blog and committed to knitting up all the baby yarn odd balls in the stash into preemie hats. And since I alter every pattern to have the least amount of seams possible by converting the patterns from flat knitting to dpns, assuring that I'll still have an empty seat next to me.

I started knitting preemie hats on Friday of last week and here are the first 3. First, an itty bitty one, sized for a 1 to 1 1/2 pound preemie:



Yes, I had to stretch it to fit over 4 fingers. It makes me sad to think of somebody that small and fragile fighting for their life. I hope my little cap helps him or her succeed.

Then, a couple in successivly larger sizes:




The front one is sized for a 2 to 3 pound preemie and the one in back is for 4 to 5 pound baby. Here's a close-up of the larger one:



I found all these patterns on Bev's Country Cottage. This one is called "Angel Lace Preemie Cap - Seamless", but she's got a whole bunch of patterns on her website for preemies, infants, and more. This gal's definitely got a heart of gold for accumulating all these free patterns for charity and gift knitting.

Tomorrow evening, our local ABC station, KATU is having a "Meet the Bloggers" get-together. It seems they were surprised to learn that Portland has 300 bloggers, so they sent out open invitations to this shindig. What they don't know is that the Yahoo Group, PDX-Knit-Bloggers is now at 84 members. If our little niche has that many bloggers, I think 300 must be a really low estimate! Tool Man has decided to go with me; he says he doesn't believe people actually blog about something besides knitting and has to see this for himself. Being the good knit blogger that I am, I'll be toting along not only my camera and paper for notes, but some traveling knitting as well. I plan on some getting some pictures of the crowd, al la Stephanie, and maybe even one of Tool Man. So, I'll be puttin' on my travelin' socks to hot foot it over there right after work tomorrow.