…that this puppy isn’t going to be done by the end of February.

You see the tape measure? That shows how long the sleeves need to be, including the ribbing (65″ cuff to cuff, if you are wondering). I really, REALLY doubt I’m going to manage to knit that much, plus steek the front and do the button bands and neckband by Friday.

Sleeve closeup:

Oh, well. I lost a week to the flu, so if I can get this done by the end of the first week of March, I’ll call it a win in my book. Mostly, I just want it DONE so I can wear it!!!

I, too, am a fan of the deliciousness that is that combination of chocolate and hazelnut. However, I have found a competitor for my affections.

Peanut Butter & Co. Dark Chocolate Dreams. So, so yummy. I found it at my local grocery store, but you can also order it online. And they make other flavors - White Chocolate Wonderful, Cinnamon Raisin Swirl, The Heat is On - in addition to the standards Smooth Operator and Crunch Time. I forsee more of their stuff in my future.

In honor of your annual contest, my dear, here I am, in my prepped-for-Oscar finery: hair pulled back in a series of it’s-too-short-for-just-one ponytails, a 15-year-old Greek Week t-shirt (Yes, not only am I old enough that I was in college 15 years ago, I was also Greek. Kappa Delta, baby!), cropped workout pants, and white socks. (I’m going to hit the treadmill at some point tonight, so I’m all dressed for it.) And the closest I get to a red carpet is my beloved red leather sofa (God bless you, Ikea…)

You will notice that my Fair Isle cardi is by my side, all ready for some progress during the ceremony. I’m on stripe 7 of 15 on one sleeve, 6 of 15 on the other. I’m not holding out much hope that I will be done by the end of February like I had hoped. Damn flu knocked me flat for a solid week, and I was so wiped out and feverish that I didn’t knit a damn thing. It will, however, be done as soon as humanly possible. It is NOT going to wait until next February.

I’m prepping for a visit this coming weekend from two of my favorite Knittyheads, but I am planning to make a concerted effort to actually post a bit this week.

See, I was working on the Palette cardi backstage at the theatre the other night, and my friend Lizzy walked over to me. She took one look at it, and started singing: “I closed my eyes… Drew back the curtain…” For the non-theatre geeks among you, that would be “Any Dream Will Do” from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. And now it runs through my head every time I pick up the sweater to work on it.

I was telling Carrie and Maryanne and Carol about it, and we were trying to figure out if the sweater actually had all of the colors mentioned in the show. This also led to a question of if we could actually list off all of the colors. Sadly, although it’s been 13 years since I did the show, I still can: Red, yellow, green, brown, scarlet, black, ochre, peach, ruby, olive, violet, fawn, lilac, gold, chocolate, mauve, cream, crimson, silver, rose, azure, lemon, russet, grey, purple, white, pink, orange, and blue. And I’m pretty sure most of them are in fact represented in my sweater.

Anyway, that is why you may notice that it has been renamed in my Ravelry projects and therefore in the progress bars - my Amazing Technicolor Dreamsweater.

Speaking of, a couple of people asked what I was doing now that the steeks have been cut. I’ve started the sleeves:

Picked up through both loops of the outer steek stitch:

And got all the stitches for each sleeve onto a 32″ circular.

Nice and tidy!

And the steek folds neatly to the inside of the sleeve opening - I’ll tack it down later, once the sleeves are done.

And I’ve gotten the first stripe done on each sleeve!

Oh, and remember Kris’s new toy? Check out what he bought the other day:

That’s right - he’s gone electric. Heaven help me…

A photo essay (with a few words) by trillian42 (photography by, as usual, hubby)

Basting a line up the center, to keep track of where to cut:

All mapped out:

Crocheting together the stitches:

All crocheted…

A little liquid courage (Good stuff, too.  Thanks to my friend Mary (of the yarn-ball cleavage) and her hubby for introducing me to it.)

Snip, snip, snip!

Gaining confidence:

Ta da!  All ready to seam the shoulder and start the sleeve!

I did the same on the other sleeve, and now I can attack both sleeves at the same time (one pattern stripe on one sleeve, then the other, so that I can keep track)

Now to finish that Magner’s in celebration!

(Anyone else headbanging right now? Clearly, I’ve been spending too much time with Rock Band…)

OK, not ACTUALLY iron, but I picked this up at Rainy Day Creations with Aimee with a plan to make KelpKnit’s Ironwork socks (Aren’t they GORGEOUS?!). Opal sock yarn in a lovely heathery sagey green. :)

Also, I have discovered the coolest headphones ever. See, I can’t wear regular earbuds. Apparently, I have freakishly small ear canals or something, because earbuds don’t stay in (and they hurt), and any in-ear earphones (like the ones with little switchable covers) are still a little too big, even with the smallest covers on them. I have a pair of earphones with covers that squish down and then expand to fit your ears, and they work pretty well, but they block my ears so strongly that I can’t hear anything other than my iPod. Behold the solution:

The Outi earphones. I ordered them from Think Geek, and I am in love. They clip to the cartilage on the outside of your ear, and use the cartilage to transmit the sound to your ears, without blocking them from outside noises. And they WORK! I can pop them on, listen to music, and still hear everything around me. Freaking awesome!

I’ve made some progress on the Fair Isle cardigan - I bound off the body yesterday! This weekend, I’m going to steek for the sleeves, and hopefully get them started. I’m going to try to get some pictures of the steeking process (You’re welcome, Betsy. :) ), but I may have to resort to a tripod and timer, because Kris’s work schedule today is looking a little… ugly. Either way, I should have pics on Monday.

Happy weekend!

ETA: And WordPress is making me a little insane. It keeps squashing together paragraphs, and I can’t figure out why. Things are spaced out correctly when I am writing them, but when I post, they go all stupid.  Really, really annoying…