Could not resist the lure

I've got all those great projects for myself in the planning/swatching/concept stage (remember Alice? Mavis? Fabric stitch tee?). So what am I knitting in this first week of the new year? Baby sweater, of course!

This is the Sideways Sockyarn Baby Sweater pattern I got at Needleworks, using Opal ZwergerGarn in a color I think is called petticoat (1290). I cast both sleeves on last night at knitting meetup, and with much fussing, arraged the two sleeves on my Brand New size 2 Addi circs. (I knit the gauge swatch using a 16" needle, becaise I couldn't find any 24"-ers anywhere in the house. Where did they go? Maybe we have gremlins).

This was my first attempt to knit "2 Things on 2 Circulars" other than toe-up socks. At least twice in the first 11 rows, I managed to get the two sleevies out of sync with each other. Poor Lori sitting next to me at meetup got an unnecessary earful of my insane attempts to figure out how I'd gotten the yarn to the wrong end of the 2nd sleeve (Answer: somehow I managed to knit a half-row backwards. But how? Did I turn one of the little sleevies inside out?) Starting with two closed toes was definitely easier to keep track of. But the ribbing was only an 11 row trial -- once I got past the cuff, everything sorted itself out and I've been sailing right a long today

I love keeping track of my progress as the stripes grow. And see the leaflet behind the sleevies? I got this as a present from J, who knits with me at work. "Creating with Macrame'" is a pricelessly hideous-yet-informative leaflet full of straightforward technique info and some very very wrong macrame items. I am in love. The edging & knot techniques are the best. I must make knotted buttons for something using the cute cute french knots. But I promise NOT to make or wear the alleged poncho-cum-evening-gown shown here:

You must click to get a hint of the attraction and revulsion, the yin and the yang of macrame -- all here in one little booklet. (And check out my extra cute new boiled wool jacket -- perfect for a California winter. Thanks to my mum-in-law for a lovely gift).