Progress, of Sorts

I've been rather distracted from knitting for a while, what with Ravelry and all. But it's not just Ravelry's fault. It's the books, really.

I may have mentioned that a friend introduced me to Amelia Peabody, the staunch heroine of many of Elizabeth Peters' mysteries. Full of style that evokes the books of the early 1900s and the female version of the British "stiff upper lip", Amelia cracks me up, in a properly quiet, understated sort of way. I read a couple of the more-recent books, and then headed to my local library for the backlist. I found some of those, but not enough, so yesterday I descended on B&N for more; I'm nearly done with Crocodile on the Sandbank, which introduced Amelia and Emerson and the other members of the ongoing cast.

Along the way at the Burbank PL on Tuesday, I came across a couple of other treats, including Nora Roberts' newest, High Noon, which is included in a section of books that add to our library's fundraising system. To get a book THIS hotly demanded - it just arrived at the library on August 23 - it costs $3 for a week. I finished it last night.

So there's been a lot more reading than knitting.



Moving right along, here's the progress on my Vine Lace Vest, which you last saw a couple of inches past the ribbing. As the Yarn Harlot says, we will not speak of this again.




However, I do have progress on a nice vest for the current Afghans for Afghans campaign. This is being knitted from assorted colors of Patons Classic Merino, Cascade 220, and some leftover Nashua Creative Focus. This is the vest pattern from the website, and I have issues with the increase method to get from the central front edge to the shoulder. However, having frogged about 5 in once, it's moving along as is, though I will be adding a ribbing or seed stitch edging to the front bands, neckline and bottom edge; this will cover lots of wonkiness and ends, all at once. This photo shows the beginning, which is knitted vertically from the right front band, to the beginning of the left side of the back neck decrease. The grey section is the underarm.


When I was digging out the yarn, I discovered 3 hats that I'd done quite a while back; one is a very near match to the vest. These only need the ends woven in and a quick bath in Eucalan.



Tomorrow I'm going to my seniors' group and to my Friday Night Unwind SnB. Then Saturday it's even more exciting: the Yarn Harlot speaks in LA!!!

Maybe I need some wine to help me deal with all this excitement???