I finally finished the purple baby cardigan for Sasha last Saturday before I left for New Orleans. The pattern I used didn’t give instructions for how to make the left front angle down asymmetrically, so after one attempt at doing decreases each row, I gave up, ripped it out, and just knit it straight across.

All in all, it took about 2 and 1/2 skeins of Classic Elite Inca Alpaca. I did a nifty little slip stitch at the beginning of each row, which made for a really nice edge. The sweater is really luxuriously soft — it makes me want to raise alpaca so I can spin and dye my own wool.

I’m now chugging along on Meema’s Felted Marsupial Tote from the Stitch ‘n Bitch book. (Those photos don’t show the marsupialish aspect of the bag — a handy little mini-purse attached to the inside by an I-cord. I’m all-aflutter thinking about starting that I-cord — they’re super-fun.) Instead of using two strands of worsted-weight yarn held together on size 15 needles, as the pattern suggests, I’m using one strand of very bulky Reynolds Lopi Icelandic wool on size 11 needles — I’m hoping it felts as well as the double-stranded version. I’m also hoping that once it felts, the extremely apple-green main color will look a little softer. (That’s what I get for ordering yarn online — I’d been hoping for a sage-ier hue.) The contrasting color on the handles will be black Lopi.

And I know, I sure as H-E-double-toothpicks know that writing about my knitting projects is interesting to zero people, but I want to be able to remember what I’ve done wrong and right. It’s easily the most creatively satisfying aspect of my life. And hey, it’s good enough for Mme. Lafarge, Marge Simpson, and Morticia Addams.

On another note: I seem to have left my brand-new, saved-for-the-vacation Bust magazine in the Hotel Fairmont in New Orleans. It makes me so mad, I could spit.