and I made a promise to California

So it turns out that the Bay Area might be the perfect knitting climate.  I wouldn't have imagined that I could wear a wool-and-cashmere sweater in August anywhere but, delightfully, I have been proven wrong.

(photo credit: Wamps)

This is another iteration of the Paulie cardigan although this one managed to go much faster than the last.  It's again in Plucky Primo Fingering, colors Childhood Memories (teal); Thornfield Hall (gray); The Hills are Alive (green); and Dandy Lion (yellow).  I'm especially thrilled to get to wear something with Dandy Lion since I've loved knitting gifts out of this color but it's not one that usually works for me.  More details are on Ravelry.

Now if I could only figure out a ribbon backing for the button band.  Anyone have any pointers for that?

What Up, Knitters (Crafters)

A couple of weeks back, a very special someone landed in my neck of the woods.  It just so happened that there was a Fiber Festival in Oakland ON THAT VERY DAY.  Fate, yes?

Here's some proof.

In other crafting news, I picked out a bundle of fabrics that I decided would make a not-too-shabby bookcase quilt.

Of course, then I decided to move, so I packed that away for another day. (Note: that fabric thus far is the only thing I've packed.)

we are travelers, only passing through

Thanks to CH, my yarn will be well protected as it heads 3000 miles west and relaxes in storage while awaiting a longer-term home. 

I have four projects that aren't headed to storage: a Paulie that now just needs sleeves, a Rocky Coast cardigan with Plucky rustic, a baby-sized sylvan afghan, and that celebratory project that I mentioned weeks ago.  Any southside knitters interested in a summertime KAL?  I'm hoping that focusing on these four will prevent me from buying yarn in every state along the way, and would love company on whatever knitting strikes your fancy!

so get your hands dirty

Where are you all knitting-in-public for Worldwide Knit in Public Day?  As you can see, I didn't make much progress on my cardy between the corn and the roast clam special.

and I envy their consistency; it seems so priceless

As will probably surprise no one who knows my knitting, all my spring knitting plans were put aside on a whim as soon as I put these skeins next to each other.  Thanks to a long weekend where I had plenty of knitting-on-transport time, I've made quite a bit of progress on a Paulie that I plan to keep.   (I'm not following the paulie stripe pattern because I don't have enough of any of these colors to do so.  And I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I won't run out of the gray, but I think it's likely that I'll be ISOing on Ravelry for more.)

But my current dilemma is that I am a little smitten with the reverse stockinette side.  So I have *almost* decided that I'm going to make it the front side.

But then I see the stockinette side from a distance, and I think maybe it should be the front after all.

Since I'm not doing a very good job of deciding myself, any and all input is welcome!  I don't have any long weekends coming up, so I probably have a while yet before I really have to decide...

the ones who wear the walking shoes

It's time for a lot of spring cleaning for this southside knitter, and I'm consequently destashing some beautiful yarn, including the skeins above.  Find the details at my ravelry stash if you're interested.

the future was wide open

As I near completion on Christmas 2011 gifts, I'm letting myself daydream about some upcoming knits.

This yarn is destined to be a celebratory wisp of a project, which I'm very much looking forward to knitting.
And I've got a design in my head for these beauties.... Here's hoping I can translate what's in my head to reality! I also need to come up with a plan for completing some long-lingering WIPs. (My current thought is that I may take a break from all Christmas knitting this year, and focus on long overdue years, but we'll see if I can stick to that plan.)

And, just in case you were longing for a shot of my poor continental knitting, here you go:

It's not a trick of the photo: those stitches really are that wonky. They're getting better as I go along, however, and I'm hopeful that they will all block out in the end.

What are your spring knitting plans?