*double sigh*

Well, my brain is screwed on right today and I'm blogging in the right place, but I'm having to un-knit part of my Errold's Grove shawl. I got as far as row 39, but now I seem to have an off number of stitches in one section and I can't quite tell where I went wrong. I'd been debating ripping back about 6 rounds anyway since I'm missing one of the yarnovers bordering one of the quarters, so I'm not terribly upset about it. Would it have passed the galloping horse test? Maybe. It kinda sticks out that there is a LINE of YOs above and below this spot, plus there are the other three uninterrupted lines of YOs. If *I* were galloping by on a horse, I'd notice, but I probably wouldn't have ripped all the way back to the YO error if I hadn't had a 2nd error to correct.

And now that I've had a boo-boo, I'm now going to knit off the chart rather than the written directions. This should, in theory, help me identify any errors sooner, rather than later. We'll see how well theory and reality match as the knitting progresses.

Boy Sock Update
Boy has tried on his sock. You may have heard the squee when that happened. Everything fits well, except the toe area. The toe seems to be perhaps a bit short and definitely a bit narrow across the smaller toes. Boy will mail the sock back to me for a toe re-knit. When I re-do the toe, I'll make the toe decreases at a shallower angle and leave the toe "seam" wider to create more space in the toe box. The rest of the sock--the instep, the heel and the cuff--were all up to Boy's rather particular sock specs. (He doesn't like "floppy" socks and can be on his feet a lot for his job, so fit is important.) I figure I can re-knit the toe within a couple days of receiving the sock back, then send it out for fitting #2.

Bellatrix
Is languishing at the moment. I had an Errold's Grove craving over the weekend instead.

Holiday Knitting Plan
Ok, so I'd initially planned to knit my niece and nephew sweaters for Christmas and I may still do that. Then I found the Morehouse Merino critter patterns. I sent the web address to my sister so she could ask the kidlets what they'd like. My nephew would like an alligator scarf, alligator mittens (he called them "glubs") and an alligator hat (really a dinosaur hat, but I can see how you'd call it an alligator). My niece would like a pony tail hat, a caterpillar scarf and puppy mittens. My sister also wants a caterpillar scarf and niece and sis have decided that matching scarves would be really cool. I'll order the patterns later this week and then set about on a quest for machine washable yarns in the best colors. (Unfortunately the Morehouse Merino yarns are not machine washable or I'd just order the kits.)

In a fit of madness....
I signed up for another laceknitting knitalong--Secret of the Stole 3. I have the first clue printed out and waiting with the chosen skein of yarn. I'm using J. Knits Lace-a-licious in the color Pueblo. It's a soft, pale green alpaca yarn that reminds me of lichens. Although I'm really looking foward to this project, I have yet to wind my yarn. Oddly enough, the sometimes compulsive project starter in me is okay with waiting until I fix my Errold's Grove shawl error before starting SOTS3. A few weeks ago, I don't think that would have happened.