Triage

Let's just take a moment to gauge the state of affairs, shall we?*

* I have a diamond baby blankie 3-4 repeats from completion.
* I have a sock that just needs a toe.
* The Rebecca cardi only needs the ends woven in. [even the crochet edging is done!]
* I leave for a long vacation next week....
* I have a baby shower two days after I get back.

So, of course, it's time to start something new:

It's pink! It's ruffled! It's gonna grow up to be this:

That's Truelove from the Rowan Babies book. In my desire to procrastinate the baby blankie last night at late night, I think I looked through every baby pattern book. [I had good company in Holly, who also has a wee friend to knit for soon.] This was a clear winner for a few reasons:

* It is quite girly. The recipient will be the not-yet-born daughter of a co-worker. The co-worker, who is also quite feminine, has made much mention of just how much PINK there will be in her firstborn's life. I can definitely support that!

* It doesn't require any new skills. Let me just say, I never realized how many SUPERCUTE baby cardigans there are out there! But I've never done buttons and buttonbands -- and as much as I want to learn them, a deadline-knitted gift is not the way to do it. Ditto intarsia -- I won't be doing the heart in a contrasting color. Laura [who has a great new blog!] suggested that I purl the heart instead of working it in another color. I like this idea.

* It is not very complicated, so it should be quick. I love the little 2-row ruffles, and other than that, this is a fairly straightforward raglan sweater. Though there was a collective "huh??" when I realized that the pattern called for casting on 313 stitches for the back. That seemed out of control. Clearly I didn't read the pattern enough to realize that the 313 stitches make the ruffle, but the back itself is only 79 stitches. Thanks Shelley for clueing me in!

* It's a chance to try a new yarn. This is Rowan Cashcotton 4ply [or is it Cashsoft? I forget. Will report back.]. It's very soft! [and a little splitty on the ruffly bits, but so far, so good on the stockinette parts.] It's also a chance to buy new needles. Welcome to my collection, first-ever set of US2s!

And, when I got home, there was more yarn waiting for me.

This is some cotton I ordered from Mystical Creations Yarn, in color "cranberries." [Do you know how hard it is to find nice handpainted cotton? If you have another supplier to flak, please share! we're all about resource-sharing here.] It's a quite pale smattering of pastel sherbet colors -- it's going to become a Pinwheel Baby Blanket. [And I need to stop buying yarn -- between this week and MDSW, I'm officially out of storage room to put it! Must...knit...faster!]

*And yes, I know I'm completely ignoring things like the half-done thrum mitten and the half-done boyfriend vest. And the one-third done ruffles scarf and the abundance of yarn I already own and have projects picked out for. We're in a triage state here!