Crazy From The Heat...Again

What is that, you ask?

It's the beginnings of a swatch.

For yet another project.

But first, let me just say: It was a busy, busy weekend, people. I ran a TON of errands, helped set up and participate in a Baby Shower, went yarn shopping and somehow managed to meet up with a Knit Pal in-between. The knitting meetup was my attempt at not having my ENTIRE WEEKEND overrun with obligatory Baby Shower-related tasks.

And, I have to say, meeting up with this gal is always fun. This time, I was finally able to meet these little guys AND I got to try on the fabulous Tivoli! Why? Well...uh...because I'm planning on making one.

And before anyone says anything...it's HOT, people! I need a tank! I will eventually finish Cool Cagoule and the two other sweaters I have on hold, but it's almost the beginning of July and all I can think about are socks and tanks. So, leave me alone! (hehehe...just kidding, of course).

Anyway, I'm afraid I'm going to have to modify the Tivoli somewhat and make the strap into a cap sleeve. You see, I am not pleased with the state of my upper arms this summer, and until I can whip them into shape, there will be nothing more revealing than a cap sleeve.

In any case, the Tivoli is quite the little number, with it's darts and it's raglan sleeves and the nifty waist shaping (which gives it a nice flare at the hip) -- I love it!

So, Miss J, I have finally found the perfect project for that GGH. You can now breathe a sigh of relief ('cause I know you were just sitting around thinking about it, right? hehehe). :-)

In any case, despite the oppressive heat, I managed to have a great time. I even snuck out early from the shower on Sunday for a little trip to Wickford to pick up...

you guessed it! MORE Ultramerino4!

I also worked the measurements for the Tivoli, reworked the design for the sock I'm making with the Ultramerino4 and started this Feather and Fan sock for Granny:

See, Granny sort of fell in love with this pattern and prefers this over the Padded Footlet. Which is COMPLETELY FINE by me, since I don't think I can bring myself to work on that sock again. I love the Rowan 4-ply Soft and the lace pattern, but all the back-and-forth and the uncomfortable knitting with the double-strands is just too much. It never seems like I make any progress and it isn't even enjoyable. So, I may frog it and start over. Someone suggested just double-stranding along the heel in  a basic double-strand way (not using the fussy method in the pattern) and retaining the rest if the pattern with modificatons to account for the lack of the extended thickness of the sole.

So, that sounds like a good plan.

In any case, I'm enjoying the Feather and Fan pattern and am modifying and playing around with it somewhat. I've kept two purl rows on the top of the cuff, but changed the frequency with which it shows up (after two repeats on the first purl row and after one on the second).

I'm also experimenting with just adding a purl section above the feather stitches and excluding them where there are fan stitches because I like the major uninterrupted wave the fans make across several repeats. (It isn't very clear in the pic, but in person you can really see it. Trust me. Hehe).

I haven't forgotten about my PDA posts. It's just that I'm crazy from the heat right now and can't handle another minute in front of the hot laptop. I'll also post images of my stash from the yarn crawl at A Good Yarn with Kathy.

Soon, my people, soon.

P.S. There were so many furry critters out and about this weekend! It was SUCH a treat. I needs to get me one. :-)