Amazing

Isn't it amazing how much easier it is to figure out a knitting problem after you've had ten hours of sleep?  Yes, I have at last worked out the neckline issues on this sweater.  And at long, long last the body is done.  Now it just needs sleeves.

I must give a lot of credit to Holly's September KAL (Knit A-Long), but as you can see the WIP is not finished.  That's in part because I couldn't put the linen stitch scarf down, but also because last weekend I managed to bang my hand so hard that one finger was black and green and too swollen to bend--the third finger, right hand.  I'm right-handed,  though I knit continental style.  Not that it helped because it turns out that I need all the fingers to curl around the right hand needle to knit at any speed greater than agonizingly slowly.  (No worries, I was more or less back to normal by this weekend aside from some residual stiffness in the afflicted finger.)

Naturally the thing that you can't do, immediately becomes the one thing that you desperately desire to do.  So I kept picking up knitting and putting it down after a few stitches and by Wednesday the swelling had gone down enough for me to finish the current pair of mittens.  (The second pair appeared in my knitting bag this weekend needing to be sewn up so I just finished them off so I could tag both pairs and toss them in the gift bag.)

I opened up my cutting board and balanced it across the back of a chair to take photos, on account of the extraordinary level of assistance I've had this weekend.  I blame the cooler weather.  Here's Biscuit 'helping' me work on the computer.

Here he's holding down the blanket so it doesn't slide off my lap.

And here is on the couch, relaxing after such a hard day of supervising.

Cookie and Jake have been cuddly as well, but have also been napping together for added warmth. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say Cookie snuggles and Jake looks bemused and tolerates it.

Jake is much more okay with it when they're on the bed and have more room.  The castle is a bit cramped for two (but it has a great view of the birds in the bushes just outside the window).

And last but not least, a knitting project that isn't mine- One of the knitters in my Sunday knit group was making these and when I said, "Oh, I know just the person to make one of these for!"- she gave it to me.   Very cute.  I found the pattern so I may have to make a few of my own.