Getting my act together

Once I had finished frogging Forecast, I got caught up in thinking about the endless knitting possibilities that lay ahead and fantasized about all of the patterns that I've been wanting to try out. Kerrera, this means you. I have the yarn (I've even swatched it) and buttons all right at hand, waiting for their magic Cinderella transformation into a sweater that I have coveted ever since Gudrun posted teaser shots on her blog. This sweater would be perfect for April, I thought.

And then it hit me. April starts the spring/summer gifting season here at Tinks and Frogs and I've barely started!

I sat myself down and started to plan out what was coming in the months ahead. Here is what I have so far:

Late April - birthday presents for my good friend N's daughter, little n, and her father Z (they share the same birthday). Little n has gotten handknit presents for her first two birthdays and I'm not about to stop now. Z gets birthday socks, so we'll add that to the list as well.

I've started spinning up some pink merino/silk roving from the stash for little n's present. Don't ask me yet what exactly the present is going to be.

It's really lovely stuff. Pink isn't exactly my color but I know an almost 3-year-old who will adore it.

The pre-drafted fiber makes me think of cotton candy.

It's looking very pretty once spun into singles. This is destined to be a dk-ish weight 2-ply. Thank goodness little n's mom is a knitter who doesn't mind receiving hand-wash-only gifts!

Ok, enough distractions, I've got to get back to my list.

Mid-May - Mother's day. My mom is exploring the idea of wearing lace so I thought I'd make her a Brandywine Shawl. This pattern has just enough lace to be interesting to knit but no so much that it would be overpowering. I've got this great skein of Handmaiden Camelspin waiting eagerly for me to cast on for the shawl.

The color is really a bit more subdued than what you see here (don't worry, Mom!). But look at how it glows in the evening sun. Honestly, I can't explain why I'm finishing this post instead of casting on right now.

Moving along . . . 

Late May - When the DH and I went down to Texas last week, my grandmother really liked the Kai-Mei socks that I was wearing the day we flew in. Naturally, that would make a great birthday present for her. 

Mid-June - Father's Day. My dad is always an enthusiastic recipient of handknit socks and I'm a sucker for that kind of feedback. Let's add one more pair of socks to the list. Actually, I found one dad-sock in the bottom of my knitting basket the other day so I really only need to knit half a pair.

To recap, I've got a toddler sweater, a shawl, and two and a half pairs of socks coming up in the gift knitting queue. I think Kerrera will just have to wait a bit longer.

So what did I do yesterday? Cast on for a basic fitted top-down raglan boatneck to knit while I read. I swear, I really did need another reading project.

Can I distract you, too, from my looming to-knit list? Check out this seam:

It's increase #4 from Barbara Walker's book Knitting From the Top. I'm a convert.