FOs, WIPs, & SEX!

(I am not normally one for acronym alphabet soup, but knitting acronyms are so fun!)

SEX:

I am weak, people. First, because even now I am totally procrastinating on what I should be doing, which is working. I have a report due on Sept. 30 (yup, that's right, in 2 days) that I am completely ignoring currently. And if I am going to procrastinate on that, there are a multitude of things that I could be doing around the house. Instead, I have spent the morning knitting, taking pictures, and reading posts on knitty. Second, I am weak because I have been on a yarn diet since the fiber festival in August, and I totally broke it over the past week. In a big way. Take a peek:


The purple pile is Rowanspun Aran in Heath, which I am going to use for the Hourglass Sweater. The grey pile on the left is Rowanspun DK in Mouse, with one skein in Mist(the lighter color). I wanted the Mouse to make the Retro-prep Pullover, and whatever extra I have will be used with the Mist to make a scarf. The Red & Cream Skeins are for a fair isle Christmas Stocking for my grampa. SO--this is a gift investment and is completely exempt from guilt. The Patons Merino on the left is for felted projects, also for Christmas, which should also be exempt. The 2 balls near the top are from Schaefer. One is Anne and one is Lola. The colors are amazing....and I couldn't resist. I have no excuse for these 2. The Anne will be used for socks, and the Lola will be used for gauntlets. The Knitting Ganseys book is to help me design my next sweater for my hubby, which I already have the yarn for. A total investment. I should have known that I could only be good for so long.....

FO's:
Speaking of sweaters for hubby...I have some FOs to share! Blogging about the sweaters helped me get over the hump and start working on them again. Here is a pic of my hubby's Manly Sweater:
I still have to block it, but other than that, it is completely done. Oh--and I used Lion Brand wool-ease for this. My DH wanted washable and easy, so that's what I did. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't as enticing to work with. I also seamed the Erin Sweater at the shoulders and knit the ribbed neck. I think I am really going to like it, so I am going to start on the sleeves soon. But--I don't like how the neck looks where I picked up the stitches, so I am planning to redo that after I get the sleeves done. I also finished the boogie vest:
I still need to block it, but it is otherwise done. I'm not sure that I love the neck. It turned out like it was supposed to, but I would prefer more of a V-neck. I am still debating on if I want to rip it back or not. I used Lopi for this, which I bought from Webs when they had their spring sale. I bought it because I hear so many people talking about Lopi, and I had never used it. The Boogie vest was a good, small project to take it for a test drive. I have to say, I don't think I will use it again. I felt like I was getting rope burns when I was knitting with it and I can't have it touching me at all when I have it on. On the good side, I love the colors that they have and it is super warm. I think for hard core, durable outerware, this would be a good yarn.

And now:

WIPs:
I started a new sweater for me, because I am also putting off Christmas knitting. I have had rowanspun dk in Goblin for months, and have been really excited to start knitting the retro-prep pullover. I really wanted to begin knitting with it to try it out before I bought the Mouse. I like it a lot, and I love the knitted fabric. However, as I was taking pictures for this blog, I noticed this:Can you see it? How 'bout now:



I had forgotten that I had bought a single ball to check the color before I bought the bag to make the sweater. Out of 11 possible choices, I (of course) grabbed the one ball that was a different dye lot when I cast on. The dye lot is one number off, people . So all the remaining balls match the dye lot of the second ball I used. Which means that if I rip this out to make sure everything matched purty-like, I have to rip everything out. All. Of. It. Makes me want to giggle and rock back and forth on the floor. I love this sweater, and was so excited that I would be done in another week or so, if current pace continued. Bummer. I think I may go back to Christmas knitting.