Sleeves are the devil

I hate sleeves. They're worse than second sock syndrome, for me. A sock is a finite object, and kinda small, and there's not usually very many pattern repeats needed to make the socks match in size. Sleeves, on the other hand, are pretty much infinite. They feel like they go on forever, anyway. Especially since I have excessively long arms. 

That's the amount of sleeve I've gotten done in the last 3 days. Admittedly, I haven't really made that much of an effort. But you'd think it would be going faster. Especially since I'm doing them one at a time. 

Originally, I had planned to do them two at a time, so that they would definitely be the same length, and I wouldn't have to power through the second one. Unfortunately, it turns out that it's much harder to make sleeves two at a time when they are attached to the sweater, not waiting to be seamed. 

On the bright side, it allows me to use the fancy square double points that I got for the colorwork sweater again. I really dig these needles. They're really pretty, and they're wood, so my stitches don't slide off so easily (let's not talk about how often I try to extricate the fifth needle from the rest of the knitting and it turns out I've pulled out the wrong needle.), and I find the shape just fascinating. It's great. You should try them, they're from Knitter's Pride, so they're not terribly expensive. Definitely super bueno.

Also super bueno: finishing the body of the sweater while getting a pedicure! The guy who was doing the pedicure kept staring at me. He was real cute about it. He and one of the nail ladies were very impressed with how quickly I was knitting, and by the seeming complexity and size of the project.

He also did a very nice job on my toes. I always like to have nice looking toes when it's sandal weather. I can't keep a manicure looking nice, but my toes don't get a whole lot of action, so I like to have those done. Plus, who doesn't love a free leg massage?

In addition to the lovely sweater, and the equally lovely toes, I have some lovely spinning to share with you. It's the alpaca that I started last week. The spinning is still not as simple as I might like it to be, but it's going better. I hope it looks nice when it's plied. We shall see.

Confessions

I may not have mentioned before that there are some knitting projects of which my mother disapproves. She is frankly worried about my obsession with fingerless gloves, she wants to know why I have so many hats, and she has forbidden me to knit anymore blankets until I get my own place, at which time it is no longer her concern where I stash the profusion of blankets that I am driven, as a knitter, to create. 

Oooops.

See? Doesn't that look like an accident? It totally was. I blame Caitlin's plethora of Lacy Chunky Throws that she has churned out for various family members. They made me lust after blankets again (even if they are strictly prohibited). This time, I'm just making the suggested size. No more of the monstrous blanket indiscretions. I swear. 

Incidentally, I hate the needles I bought for this throw. I didn't have any size 19s, and you can't get them at the regular craft store. I was scouring the local yarn shops for size 19s with a cable long enough for a blanket (one owner suggested that I should try straights. I tried not to laugh at her), but apparently they like to make fixed circs in size 19. 

Or maybe yarn shops just don't like to stock them. 

Either way, I wasn't having any luck. I was talking to the lady who thought I should try straights, and her friend asked me if I had tried a particular brand of interchangeables. I hadn't, because I'm pretty happy with my KnitPicks ones, but apparently they stocked this other brand in the shop, and they had 19s in them, and a long enough cable. I promptly purchased them, because I just couldn't bear having to wait to cast on this blanket. I don't really like acrylic needles in general, and I especially dislike these since the yarn is Bernat Roving and it's snagging on the slightly rough surface of the needles. And the needles are too short for my taste, which might just be a failing of all circs of larger than average girth. (I can tell you that certain people who read this blog are giggling right now). 

Anyway, I'm annoyed with these circs, and the blanket isn't going as quickly as it might, probably because I'm annoyed with the needles. But the blanket will be just lovely, even if I kind of have to work on it when my mother isn't around. 

Oooops.