I have WIPs! I have WIPs that I’m actually knitting and making progress on!

This is kind of a big deal because I lost my knitting mojo a bit right after the holidays. No, actually, gift knitting wasn’t to blame. It was the Zelda Skyward Sword game for our Wii. I am not a huge gamer, but I’m addicted to this one. I’ve gotten to a point in the game that I need a break. And I finished my handspun rainbow socks (stay tuned for FO Friday!) so I immediately cast on two new things.

First for Tweenboy, I started Eugenia’s Mittens, a free pattern designed by Mollie Woodworth. I’m using PAL Boundless Worsted, a 4ply conventional merino. It’s soft, but will hold up to melting snowballs. Tweenboy chose Surplus, one of my new semisolid colorways. I finished mitten #1 in a couple of days! I’m so used to knitting with fingering weight yarn, I’ve forgotten how quickly projects work up in worsted.

I vowed to use my Tripping Yarn Balls club yarns for my travel-friendly projects this year. Having just received January’s club yarn from Shameless Twist, I was struck by how beautiful January’s Capricorn and October’s Libra are together. Obviously, they had to become a Stripe Study Shawl. So far the shawl is pretty mindless but very satisfying. I can knit several rows at night before bed without worrying about following a chart or finding my spot the next day. And if late night knitting gets the best of me, it’s all garter stitch so tinking will be easy!

left - right: Libra and Capricorn

This shawl is going to be HUGE. Two 400+ yd skeins are going into this baby. When it’s done, I’m going to wrap it around me like a security blanket.