What to make next

My knitting obligations are all met! I finished the baby blanket I was making for my mother-in-law to take to a baby shower. I was really happy with it and only found one mistake which, of course, I didn't point out since it was so minor. I forgot one small section (5 stitches?) of knit on a row of purling, so the garter stitch border is missing one ridge. No big deal. Other than that it is lovely. I just used TLC Baby Yarn by Coats and Clark in Powder Blue. I had my mother-in-law buy 5 skeins, but I only used one full skein and a few yards of another. Amazing how much yarn is in one skein! I also used my good circular needles to make it. It's the first time I've stuck it out with the circulars. Just seems like I'm always slowing down to push the stitches up onto the bamboo part of the needle even though the circulars are well-made and have a nice smooth join. I noticed it more on the rows with several yarn overs. I'm glad I stuck it out though because I want to get used to using circulars and they are nice for toting around a project...no big needles sticking out.

I also finished the socks I was making for Karen, my mother-in-law's friend. You can read about them at the end of this post. There's a picture there of one of them. The other one looks the same. Ha, ha.

I finally put the finishing touches (i.e. buttons) on this cell phone bag...another felting project. I'm waiting for some books of felted purse patterns to arrive at the library. I know I could probably play around with some existing patterns and figure out what I want, but I'm not much for improvising. Give me a pattern and I'll follow it! I'd like to make one for Claire's Girl Scout leader and I told my sister I'd make her one, too.

So, now I'm at that happy place where I'm anticipating the next great knitting project! Elliot and I went to Knit One in Squirrel Hill on Wednesday. It was pouring down rain, but we braved the weather and found the yarn store I've been wanting to check out for months. The Yarn Harlot was there last year and I know she's made other visits, too. Elliot was a very good companion in the yarn store and wanted to touch everything. Well, so did I. He was particularly fascinated with the ball roller and helped me roll my new purchase...Jitterbug Merino by Colinette in Mardi Gras. It will make some really wild socks! Watch Elliot's awesome winding ability!

The end is my favorite part!