A brief update:

Well, I honestly never(!) thought I would say this, but the knitting on the boy sweater is all finished. (By the way, any knitter can tell you about the sweater curse, so I am pleased to report: we are still quite happily together, and likely will be for a long time to come.) I started weaving in ends and tacking down the seam facings during a lovely little chick flick, and managed to finish all but a few inches on one seam facing and the underarm seams. I have since put off those two items, mostly out of ennui (I have spent so much time knitting (and re-knitting!!) this sweater, I am seriously in need of a little time apart). Which is a little sad, really, because all I have to do is those two little things, and then the blocking (dread!) and the buttons, and, then, dare I say it, it will be finished! This has been such a journey it's a little hard to believe that the end is in sight.

Meanwhile, I've got a few other things hovering around the horizon. I have always itched to make a Print o' the Wave stole, and I just bought this pattern to repurpose the yarn from Goddess, and there's a black shrug I started a year ago that I promised myself I would finish (besides god knows how much more that has been lost in UFO oblivion). I did a little work on the black shrug last night, which was refreshing (no more wool, twisted stitches, or cables, just nice, easy stockinette on small needles), and right now I think I am actually going to finish it before moving on to greener pastures. Meanwhile, since I have been needing to do something with Goddess, and since I have no yarn for Print o' the Wave, Giselle is next in the endless "to knit" line. I should also point out that Giselle is my reward for being good and finishing a UFO. And Print o' the Wave is my reward for finally figuring something out for Goddess. Whatever works, right?

Oh and good news: I finally invested in a ball winder. Of my roommate's two cats, Tony is only interested in my knitting as long as it makes a good bed. But Bear can't stay away from it. It has been heartbreaking to have nice, pretty, factory-wound (or even more depressing - hand-made center-pull) yarn balls, only to come home from work and find a nest of knots. And there is probably very little of the boy sweater that Bear has not played with or chewed on at some point. Part of me feels compelled to point out that Bear has adopted me and the boy, misses us when we are gone, and insists on being held and cuddled. But do not be fooled by this apparently sweet exterior. He is the devil. And the ball winder, besides being very helpful and a big time-saver, is my revenge.

The Devil, originally uploaded by rubychan4.

Edit: The shrug is finished, it is now in the process of being seamed, and the ends are being woven in. Blocking soon. I should also add that I have used the winder a few times now and it works great. Bear likes it too - he chewed on some of the metal parts. Sigh.

And bonus: the devil in action. He was in the middle of kneading the yarn, so it was hard to get a clear picture.

The Devil in action., originally uploaded by rubychan4.