It's amazing how fast an easy-peasy sock knits itself up. Look at that! I am just rows from casting this off, but I really wanted to post this today. I love this colorway, and knitting with koigu is always fun. Carole, this isn't even the easy-peasy sock that you pressured me into casting on for 24. Two pairs being knit at the same time! The sock progress over here is unprecendented! It's thanks in part to some recent fair isle frustration, and of course a bunch of train errands that I've been doing lately.

When I found a pattern that I liked in the book my mom gave me about fair isle gloves a few weeks ago, I should have read all the fine print. Last night, I noticed that "It's a difficult pattern to knit because of all the color changes, which requires very detailed stitching." But there's no giving up now!

The one on the left, my third try, was knit on #2s. Row gauge didn't work out. Note to self, when you have a very precise chart, adding in a few stiches to make up for a small gauge swatch doesn't work. It was for the best, though, because I accidentally lined up the pattern with a super lumpy cuff section. My fourth try turned out to be much smoother than the previous three. But when I got to the top of the pattern and tried it on, turns out it was obscenely large due to a miscalculation of palm stitches. Harumph.

I'm pretty much back at take three now, except that the size is actually right. I just have to make sure not to lose interest in the fingers and I will be right on track to finish before summer! Even though it is mildly irritating that I could have 4 finished gloves at this rate, I am still really enjoying stranded knitting. The colors are a bit too harsh for my taste, but I really like the yarn that I'm using. Maybe they'll come out with some more subtle tones soon. Fingers crossed!

I just got back from a bar nearby to work out the details of a big goodbye party that we're planning for everyone in my prefecture in July. As stressful as it is for me to coordinate a huge party for a ton of people (in broken Japanese no less), I felt very accomplished when I walked out of that place with a plan that I think will work. It's the new me! I am still planning on wrapping up the evening with some knits on the couch though, so I haven't totally changed that much.