I wish I weren’t but it’s been so, and for a while.

Sadly this means that not much substantive is getting done on any of my main projects.  I feel quite badly about this because I promised a pair of Octopodes Mittens to a niece.  Thanks to the ungentle hands of the Philistines at TSA, during my trip to Florida, my on-the-needles project was unceremoniously dumped out into my checked baggage, the needles were pulled out of the work (and one was lost); the magnet board I was using was bent, the magnetic strip that marked my place is missing, and they broke the yarn to remove and lose the Strickfingerhut knitting thimble thingy I use to make stranding easier.   So progress has been stalled while I replace the needles, Strickfingerhut, and magnet board.

Here is the barely-begun first mitten prior to TSA’s pillaging:

Back to Square One on that project.

In the mean time, my mindless “briefcase project” socks march on.  These require little to no thought, and are done in stolen hours while waiting on line at the post office, in large group meetings at work, and the like.  The ankle patterns are improvised on the fly. Since January, I’ve done 3.75 pairs – all toe-up, quick knits on 76 stitches around, (US #00s – big as logs…)

Starting with the blue pair with red accents, yarns used were blue striped Cascade Heritage 150 Prints, with Kroy Sock toes/heels/ribbing; orange Cascade Heritage 150;  Plymouth Neon Now (it really does glow under UV light); and Berroco Comfort sock, in pastels – which is an acrylic/nylon blend with no wool in it at all.  The last one is an experiment, we’ll see how it feels to wear, and how well it holds up in regular sock rotation.

Now that I have the requisite replacement materials, it’s back to the Octopodes Mittens.  Winter 2018 may be almost over, but I have a feeling the niece will appreciate them in 2019.