crawling out from behind the books

OMG I cannot let the knitting blog languish like this. I've been deep in the mires of the dissertation and haven't been online much other than for email and library use. I have made progress on my various WIPs though!

As predicted last time, The Black Sheep has long outstripped me on Eris. I'm here:



now with yoke stitches finally picked up (thanks to my longer cables arriving today!). And she's way over here:



(as seen on her blog). CORRECTION!! She just told me she finished it! *falls over*

LOL! Ah well. I thought the Knitting Gods had taken their vengeance when they killed her cables (I put her replacements in the mail Thursday). Meanwhile, I forgot my cousin's birthday was coming up so had to stop to knit these:



That's Peaks 'n' Valleys from Knit Socks! which I *finally* got right! I've now got Cat Borhdhi's Columbine Peaks on the needles (at the gusset) and am at the armholes on Charm. Hey, I had to do something while I waited for those cables.

Oh, and I finally broke down and bought one of those wraps-per-inch tools. It was driving me slightly nutzoid that my stock socks knit up a bit loose:



I used US 2s since those are my fave sock needles lately, but while I was knitting I kept thinking I should've been using my 3s (which I tend to avoid because of the kinky cables). Today I checked the wpi on that lurvly Valore and it came up to sport weight, so definitely size 3 material. I really need to start trusting my instincts. No matter. I still love those socks and am itching to cast on the rest of that yarn for another pair. I've definitely decided to have at least one pair of socks on the needles at all times. They're so addictive and enjoyable.