done, Done, DONE!

I've got my knitting DONE! The pants were done over the weekend. And in true bad blogger form I didn't take pictures of the finished objects. I just neatly folded them, admired their cuteness, placed them in a bag, and handed them off without a second thought. I'm hoping to get a photo shoot with the new owners soon. They turned out too cute not to show off.

And the shawl?

DONE, DONE, DONE! I put the final stitches in it yesterday during nap time, between sets of Rock Band 2. (In a marginally related side note I can play "Living on a Prayer" in expert, turns out I'm a closet Bon Jovi fan from way back).

My usual MO would be to abandon the shawl in an unblocked mess for about three months until the guilt was too much to bear, then, and only then, would I break down and block it. But I am working on being a more responsible knitter (as part of my goal to be a more responsible person, which is not at all in odds with the fact that I have been woefully neglecting my kids all week while The Greatest and I play Rock Band. Feeding them scrambled eggs for dinner is responsible parenting. I mean, I fed them!) so the lace is now submerged in a bowl of mild soapy water as I type. Alright, I'll admit it. It's not. But I'm going to soak it as soon as I get done typing, I swear. I want this thing blocked and mailed by the weekend. I'll explain the urgency later.

With empty knitting needles and a clear conscience I began knitting a gauge swatch for Tempest.

Not content with just a gauge swatch I had to swatch the stripes.

I'm not sure I'm feeling this. I might have to swatch this combination

and this

before I can make a final cast on decision.

I'm starting to wonder if my expectations of this sweater are a little too high. My mental picture of me wearing this sweater is just so perfect. I've never put so much thought into deciding on a yarn before. I fear this will either be the best thing I have ever knit or a wonderful hot mess of a mistake. (I also fear I will run out of yarn.) Either way it should be fun.

In the meantime I've also fallen in love with this sweater

and I just so happen to have lots and lots of chocolate brown wool in my stash. Maybe I'll knit a gauge swatch of that while I'm responsibly knitting gauge swatches.

And since I'm being so responsible, maybe I'll even measure my swatches to see if I get gauge.