"It comes in Pints?"

So this is my new stole. It is wonderful, it is easy, it's knit on needles that are probably 5 sizes too small and it could stand up on its own, but I love it anyway. It matches the dress I'm wearing to a wedding this summer. I'm only 2 repeats in, but that being said, they are 20 rows long each and I've added 20 stitches to the original pattern. I still have plenty of time though. No rush at all on this. I would like to get it done fairly quickly, or at least get to the point where I may be able to wear it in Ireland this June....maybe. Or be able to knit on it in Ireland without taking such a large yarnball with me (I know that sounds like a silly reason to work on it, but I can't imagine the jokes I would get from anyone that saw this beast. Wait....yes I can.) I am going to an Arts & Crafts day in Frating (probably spelled that wrong) on Saturday, which gives me something to look forward (ie wake up) to.

You probably want to know the specifics, though, right? It's called the Chalice lace baby blanket (which is a dirty word!) and I'm changing it up a bit, and the yarn is an uber-skien I got at Franklins. It's all on Ravelry if you're interested. Since the skien is 920 yards, I plan on just knitting until it runs out. That's always a good length for something. Unless that's ridiculously long, in which case I will make a couple baby hats with the rest. It is a lovely colour. The name "It comes in Pints?" was my friend Louise's idea; when discussing the monstrosity of the yarnball, she said it was like that scene in the Lord of the Rings where Merry says to Pippin (this is dork-talk for all who don't understand. It's okay. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you're probably what we would classify as "normal") "It comes in Pints?" after the wee-Hobit grabs himself a proportionally hilarious pint of beer. I tried to find a decent clip on Youtube to post here, but I could only find a dark, bootlegged copy. Sorry. Anyhoo...the "It comes in Pints?" excitement was almost exactly the same thrill that came over me when I saw this uber-skien. So until I think of something better, this is the "It comes in Pints?" stole to go with my dress for the wedding.

Moving on: Here is my latest pair of socks. The yarn is amazing, and I got it at the Fiber fair I went to on April 10th or 11th with Janet and Melinda and never posted about. Oops. Anyhoo, I took one of the skiens to Florida and casted on there, by the time I got back to Indy I was on the first heel flap, and by the time I landed in Heathrow a couple days later, I was here. The yarn is delicious but it's pooling quite strangely. That being said, I kinda dig it. I took pics of both sides to show off this super-weird pooling. For those of you who are in on the secret, I'd like to buy quite a bit more of this in a few months for no reason at all....

(It's 64 stitches around on size 2 needles, with an 8-row picot edge, plain stockinette)

So those are my new projects! I'm going to try to post after Arts & Crafts day in Frating and hopefully the stole will be starting to actually look like something.