Monday, Monday

Ta-da! I've already finished sock #2; here's a photo of the happy couple. The second sock was much easier and knit up much faster than the first. I tried to knit a little looser, so you can see the heel looks nicer and roomier on sock #2. It's not without its problems, however; on either side of the ankle, there are small gaps where somewhere along the way, I didn't pull the yarn tight enough. I'm not sure exactly where this problem arose, perhaps when picking up stitches for the gusset. But regardless, I'm happy to have a completed pair of socks!
I also took a bit of scrap yarn this weekend and knit up a cat toy. I thought it might look like a mouse, but it really doesn't; it looks more like . . . an ice cream cone. But I stuffed it with cotton and catnip, and the cats haven't expressed any reservations about its failure to resemble a mouse. Here's Nelly enjoying her new toy.

I also got a big box full of beautiful yarn from KnitPicks this weekend. I'm so excited to start a new project, because I actually have nothing on needles! But I'm not sure what to start on. I need to start up some gift projects for Christmas (which, of course, will be here in the blink of an eye), but first I'd like to take a crack at the "Tank Girl" tank from Stitch N' Bitch, for my Mom for her birthday in August (this would be my first "real" article of clothing!). Which means I need some cotton yarn, and all I've got is wool. I hesitate to visit my LYS, however, because I will invariably buy a bunch of yarn I don't need and spend more money than I ever intended doing so. Hmmm....
Another project to ponder: soon I will, I think, be participating in my first knitting exchange! The KnitKnack group on MySpace is doing a one skein wonder exchange, and I'm planning to sign up. I've been very jealous of all the knitting bloggers doing KALs, because I've yet to find one simple enough for a knitting newbie like me, but this exchange is broad enough to include knitters of all skill levels (it's an anonymous exchange, so you can't exactly be knitting sweaters for people when you have no clue what size they are). Hopefully I will turn out a finished project I won't be embarrassed to ship off to a stranger.