The color isn’t very accurate in that shot, because I took it indoors at night, but you can see the pattern. It’s awesome. The KAL on Ravelry is lots of fun, too – all those colorways!

Artsy-fartsy closeup!

To quote:

2009 is going to be the Year of Decisions. I’m tired of my WIP pile getting out of control. I often lose interest in a project or fall out of love with it. Sometimes it was just not the right project and I leave it thinking it’s a shame to frog it. But no more. This year, I challenge all of you to join me in the Finish or Frog It 2009 campaign. Here are the rules. They’re pretty simple.

1. On Friday, take a moment to evaluate your knitting projects.
2. Decide if you can either finish something or frog it.
3. If you finish a project, post a picture on your with the Finishing Friday button below. If you have a blog – link to this group so others will know about the Knitalong. If you don’t have a blog, add the FO to the projects section.
4. Tell us how it feels to have finally finished this project and let us know how long it’s been on your UFO or WIP list.
5. If you frog a project, and you have a blog, post a picture with the Frogging Friday button below. Link to this group so others will know about the Knitalong. Post a picture to the projects section and be sure to select “Frogged” as its current status. Maybe you’ll even put a picture of the frogged yarn in the your stash and share it with the group. Will you wash it? Will you dry it?
6. Tell us when you started it. Tell us why you fell out of love with it. Tell us how you plan to re-purpose the yarn.
7. I have officially started this Ravelry Group called Finish or Frog It. Post your pictures here, add a comment to the appropriate discussion thread (Finish or Frog) or email me or leave a comment with a link to your post so I can keep track of whose finished and whose frogged what. PS – for those not on ravelry – they can also email me at majorknitter at yahoo dot com or comment on my blog www.majorknitter.typepad.com.
8. I’ll have a monthly prize give away for the random Finished O and the Frogged O.
9. There is no requirement to either finish or frog an item every single Friday. Friday is simply a benchmark to remind you to reflect. Go at your own pace. Once a week; once a month; once a quarter or even once a year. Use Friday as your incentive or reality check.

If you have a blog – here is a link to the button you should use if you complete a project for Finishing Friday. You know the rules. Please save this image to your own computer before posting it on your blog.

If you have a blog – here’s the button you should use if you frog a project for Frogging Friday. Same linking rules apply.

There. That’s my New Year’s Resolution. Want to join me?

So, since I’ve been photographing and documenting the ENTIRE stash in Ravelry lately, the projects are next on the list. I think this is a great way to keep me honest. By next Friday, I want to have my full list of WIP’s documented, and I’ll list them here, along with the ones that I am absolutely frogging.

I also finished up a SUPER quick project yesterday – the Om Eye Pillow.  I spotted it on Glitty Knitty Kitty on Friday, and I knew I needed to make one for my uber-fabulous yoga teacher Joan.  We start back to class this Thursday for the winter session, so I’ll give it to her then.

Unstuffed:

Stuffed (I made an inner pillow of cotton and filled it with flax seeds):

I used Patons Organic Cotton in “Hemp”, and I really liked working with it.  The label calls for US7′s, but I used US3′s, and it came out as a nice soft fabric with plenty of drape for the pillow.  I hope she likes it!

This one I’m pretty sure I can stick with. Off to Little Knits! …and Knit Picks! …and WEBS! …and StitchDC! …and All About Yarn!

My very first Malabrigo! Yes, I know – it sounds crazy, but I’ve honestly not owned any before now. It’s lovely stuff, though, very soft and squishy! (But not “yummy”, Bezzie – I’m trying to stop using that one so much. ) This is the “Dark Earth” colorway, and the three skeins I picked up are destined to become another Calorimetry (Oh, yeah. I made one out of Paton’s SWS. I just haven’t gotten a picture yet.) and a My So-Called Scarf. If there is enough yarn left, I will probably also make some wristwarmers.

Following along in the same color scheme, I picked up some Artyarns Ultramerino4 in color 105.Very soft stuff, which will be (of course) socks for me at some point.

And two progress shots of my KnitPicks Palette Cardigan (my Fair Isle February project) – three pattern stripes done, 15 to go on the body, plus the sleeves. Honestly, I’m surprised at how quickly it is going so far, but I have to say, I am totally thrilled with it. I’m even looking forward to the steeks! (That would be because I am clearly insane, of course. Happily, I’ve long since accepted and embraced that part of me.)

Closeup!

Once again, Happy Friday, all!

Kris had to also get a nice closeup of one of the skulls.

And lest you think I am a slacker, the reason I started the hat was that….
Jenneke‘s socks are done! It’s a little hard to see in that picture, but I did do a picot bindoff at the top of the cuff. So, yes, Jenneke, I’ll be gathering a few goodies to tuck into the box, and then your socks will be on their way!

And yes, you might have noticed that I mentioned “hanging out with Mtwelovett“. She and I have been talking for a year and a half about getting together, so when we found out that the musical of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels was coming to Raleigh, we decided that was our sign. I got tickets for Kris and I, and we went down this weekend and had a complete blast with Mary and Robert. I also got to meet Qeltic, too. Heck, my Bear even got to meet his long-lost cousin Teddy. Kris got some great pictures, which I will post as soon as he gets them uploaded.

I originally picked this sweater pattern for him because he does love woodworking, and the dove-tail-like detail where the colors meet up just seemed kinda cool. And since he decided on the grey/black color scheme, it is a perfect fit for the Grey’s KAL. Plus, this means I’ll finally make the dang thing.

OK, off to check on the chili I’m making for tonight’s dinner!

Oh – and anyone who is having formatting issues with the blog – I have no idea what is going on. I’m not seeing anything weird here, and I’ve tried to size the pictures down as best I can. Hopefully it will clear up soon. Until then, I’m sorry!

And in non-pirate news, Carbon Leaf has a new cd out – Love, Loss, Hope, Repeat! Mine came in today’s mail. Yay!!! And we FINALLY got a copy of Robin Hood: Men in Tights on dvd, which we have been waiting for for years. It’s the dopiest movie, but I love it.

And in knitting news, I joined the Grey’s Anatomy KAL. I’m FINALLY going to start working on the Handyman Sweater from the Fall ’05 issue of Knitter’s Magazine. I’m making it in Cascade 220 in Black and Grey, so it’s totally appropriate.

ETA: I shrunk the picture, so that might help those who are having formatting issues with the blog. I hope.

Anyway, nothing much going on here (No, Cristi, seriously), but I do have a couple of pictures to show.

First – I joined the Monthly Dishcloth KAL, and the mid-month one for August was the first pattern I did. (I skipped the beginning of the month one). Happily, the pattern came out right about the same time that I got some Sugar ‘n Cream in a swap. So, I cast on, and a few days later,I had this:
I’m gathering a nice collection of washcloths, which is cool. Happily, Kris likes them and uses them in the shower. So, I’ll keep making them. =)

Also, I’ve gotten two more sets of stitch markers from the swap. The orange ones came all the way from Egeria in Ireland. There was a bar of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk chocolate with them, but, um, I must have misplaced it. =) The fishy ones are from Batty. They came with a note that said “So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish,” which completely cracked me up. Thank you both – I love them!

Other than that, I’m making some progress on the Christmas gifts, and I’m being good about not “cheating” and casting on anything for myself.

ETA – For those of you unfamiliar with Douglas Adams and the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy books, my screen name is a reference to a character, and the 4th book is titled “So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish”. Hence the markers from dear Batty.