random crafting

The last week or so has been a whirlwind.  I've been packing a bit every day and finally the end is in sight.  There's quite a bit of spare time though, in the evenings.  So, there's been crafting time, indeed.

I finished my hat from last time:

 

This is White Frost by Babette Ulmer.

And then I worked quite monogamously on socks for my MIL:

This is just the first one.  The second one has a cuff and about three rounds.

And then a few days ago I picked up my cross stitching for the first time in awhile:

I am very pleased with the progress on my new cross stitch lady.  I've been doing quite a bit of jumping around and changing colors frequently, but progress is being made.

And finally yesterday I went down to my Local Yarn Store (LYS) for one last time and got one last local yarn souvenir.

 

So, maybe I went a little overboard.  But to be fair (to be fair, to be fair, to be fair), there isn't an LYS near where I'm moving.  Plus, I've been packing the whole house on my own.  Not to mention all the money we're SAVING by not buying foods right now.  I could rationalize it any way I want.  The point is, I wanted the two on the left for a shawl, and the one on the right had to come home with me because it's beautiful and one of my favorite yarn colors these days.  And I deserve it.

 Anyway.  I got home with the yarns and immediately started sifting through the pattern database on ravelry.  It took almost two hours before I settled even on the type of knitting I wanted to do.  The trouble was, in the beginning I wasn't sure what sort of knitting was in the mood for.  Brioche and Mosaic knitting are both really fun and have a cool effect, but they are really mind melting when you're going through a bunch of stuff. You pretty much have to be glued to the chart.  Garter and cable shawls are beautiful, but again, how much mental fortitude do I really have these days?

 And finally I settled on garter and lace.  And then the pattern pretty much chose itself.  I didn't want the lace to be too simple.  Which is counterintuitive, but I have to say that when lace is too simple (I'm talking feather and fan and even mesh) it's SO EASY to lose your way.  I find it much easier to read a motif in lace than a feather and fan.  So, I chose Green Pastures by Melinda Measor. Which as you can see has a little bit of feather and fan in the beginning, but ends with a wonderfully complicated lace bit.

My progress thus far:

It does not look like much, but I feel like I made a pretty good start on it!

And the cool bit about this feather and fan lace, if I can give a little bit away, is between each repeat is a purl stitch, so it's extra easy not to lose your way.

 Thanks for reading!  I honestly do not know when I'll be able to post again. Computer is going with movers in just a few days and I'll see it again when I see it.

Cheers!