Works in Progress

Life, or at least my life, seems to be a string of works in progress. I constantly have a few knitting projects on the needles, I'm pretty much always working on one piece or another musically, and relationships are constantly evolving and need attention in order to flourish. All works in progress. This isn't a bad thing. If anything, it's a good thing. It means that I'm growing, learning, exploring...all necessary to a full, enjoyable life. Stagnation would be so sad. So, I'm glad there's always something new to do or learn or experience. Right now I have several works in progress. I'm preparing to audition for the substitute personnel list for the Spokane Symphony on September 24. I also have two weddings to play this month, one this Saturday, and one on September 26.

Knitting wise, I have five projects in progress by my count. The two pairs of kilt hose that have been commissioned, the two pairs of socks I started while waiting for the yarn to come in for the commissioned hose, and Katrina's sweater. I still need to put the sleeves in and do the collar. Sorry, Katrina, for taking so long. I promise I'll get it done.

I have made significant progress on the kilt hose. I have the first sock done of the heather green ones (minus weaving in the ends). The annoying thing about this sock is that I thought I would have enough yarn in two balls to complete the sock, but I was about three rows plus the grafting short of a full sock. I did order five balls of yarn for the pair, to be on the safe side, and I'm glad I did. Here is a picture of the completed sock on my leg. It does not fit me well at all. The foot is about two inches too long, the leg is way too long, and it wouldn't stay up for long if I tried walking around in them. This is all as it should be, since they're for a man with feet two inches longer than mine. But it looks better on a leg, even a too small leg, than it does just lying limp on the floor.

Close up detail of the cuff:

The first sock of the pair of argyll hose is coming along. I have nearly all of the ends woven in and have seamed down the back and started the heel. I still need to finish the foot and sew down the hem on the cuff, as well as weaving in the last few ends once that's all done. It does look a bit silly right now, though.

The front:

The back:

Here is a picture of the clippings after weaving in about half the ends:

In an earlier post I postulated that I might get an entire pair of socks done before the yarn arrived for the kilt hose. This is true, and not true at the same time. While I was knitting the sock I had started at the Highland Games, which was a toe-up sock, I had the urge to make a top-down sock. So, I got out the yarn that I bought a year and a half ago when my mom and I went to Spokane on a yarn shopping tour, and started another pair of socks in a popular pattern called Monkey by the designer Cookie A. I finished both the toe-up sock and the top-down sock, but then the yarn came, and I haven't finished their mates. Here are the photos:

The Evergreen Sock (toe-up)

Monkey sock 1

Monkey sock 2 (or at least the cuff)

So while only two projects are actually on the needles, I technically have five in process. Katrina's sweater is not much further along than previous pictures (the body is sewn together now), so I won't post more of that until it's finished (whenever that may be).