Counting down.

I haven't posted in a while; I think the last time was last Friday. There're a few reasons for this: one, I haven't really been doing anything incredibly interesting after casting on for Magnolia on Friday, two, I was waiting for Kati to update so it's not "All Jeanne All the Time" (it's a shared blog, not just mine!), and three, my pet parakeet died on Saturday night, which has definitely thrown me for a loop. But the sun came out today (after a thunderstorm, no less), so it's a good day to get some pictures.

I also officially broke the yarn diet last Saturday and again yesterday, but hey, I haven't bought yarn since October, so that's pretty good restraint on my part. I bought some Rowanspun DK off of eBay, which should be arriving this week, and I bought some Beaverslide Merino yarn, which should also be arriving this week. The Rowanspun DK is going to be used for Salina from Rowan Vintage Knits, and the Beaverslide Merino is for Rogue. (Yes, I'll be trying again.) I'm still waiting on the yarn and pattern for Peacock Feathers, so if it doesn't arrive in time, I'll start on Rogue instead.

I'm throwing myself into nice, professional-looking sweaters because of the hope that I'll be going to Japan and will need nice things to wear (and keep warm), but even if I don't make it to Japan, I'll need nice things to wear to the office. But I still need to make more cardigans.

Speaking of cardigans and professional-looking pullovers...



Here's Cabled Jacket, all nicely blocked and waiting to be sewn up and finished. I even put the zipper there to show that I have it and the color match is pretty good. I've told myself that once I finish the Magnolia sleeve cap I must go and sew up Cabled Jacket.



This is the back and the first sleeve of Magnolia. I realized that the smallest size calls for six skeins of Kid Classic, but I only have five. But because I'm knitting it to a slightly smaller gauge, and thus cutting out some of the ease, wouldn't you think that I could squeak by with five? The back used about 1 1/3 skeins, which is why I decided to knit a sleeve next to see if I will have to get the sixth skein after all. Since I bought it in California in... August, there's probably no chance that the Knit Shop will have the same dyelot, but I'd probably need the sixth skein for seaming and the sewn-on collar, so it won't matter too much if it's slightly different.

So I'll be continuing on these until Friday, when I start my Olympic project whatever-it-may-be (let's hope that the mailman arrives with my Peacock Feathers kit soon!), and then, once the Olympics are over, I'll be continuing on the sweater path until early April. Why early April? Because in early April, I find out if I'm going to Japan or not, and if I am going to Japan, I better get to work on as many socks as I can (no shoes allowed inside the house ever!).