Overdue *Edit

I've finally managed to get in some decent knitting!

But first, the pretty. Here's the view from my living room window.

If you look closely (and click to embiggen), you can see the pretty flowers on the tree just outside. Okay, so the tree is the reason all the bugs keep getting in, and my head isn't crazy about the pollen, but it definitely looks lovely. You can also see my new windowsill garden. The little plastic container is cat grass from my easter basket--sprouting happily. The three peat pots are chives, green onions, and sweet basil. (I decided that the carrot, broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage seeds that I bought would prove to be too much for the little pots. Ah, ambition.) Two of the three are sprouting, but I don't know which ones they are. It'll be a fun surprise.

I've made a little progress on my Bellatrix socks.

It's not quite the effect I was hoping for, but I guess the color repeats in this colorway are longer than the ones in the colorway ReBelle used. Still very cool. I have to say, though, that when I challenge myself, I really challenge myself. The two-at-once thing is going pretty well. It seems to be even a little easier than doing just one with the magic loop technique--possibly because this way there's less cord hanging around getting in my way. But rather than two balls of yarn, I'm dealing with four balls. They keep getting all tangled, despite my clever use of plastic bags as yarn bras. I shall persevere, though. I'm confident that I can conquer the socks.

Overdramatic? Me?

I also cast on a sock in Sockotta. I did an interesting thing with the ribbing that I didn't catch for quite some time--it's not quite 2x2. There are a couple of 4s in there. Oh, well. I started on Celebration socks, then messed up because I wasn't paying quite enough attention. I decided that I didn't want an attention-heavy pattern, so I frogged back to the ribbing. I picked another pattern (I don't even remember which one), but that one wasn't going to fly either. I finally settled on Charade socks. It's a pretty herringbone rib pattern. Here's the best picture I could manage. I was hobbled by the yarn color. (Click to see pretty herringbones.)

It's too bad that red is so hard to photograph. I like the way this is working up. I even managed to memorize that pattern. We'll ignore the part where I did math, messed up, decreased two stitches, realized that I'd had the right number all along, and frogged back to the ribbing again. I'm on track now, and that's what matters.

Yesterday I managed to finish crocheting Abby's Afghan! I even assembled it. Now all that remains is the edging. I'm going to save that until after May 2, when they turn on the air conditioning in my apartment complex. It's a thousand degrees in here, and I don't fancy spending a few hours with a big heap of afghan on my lap.

And now that the afghan is mostly done, I can start on a new project for myself. I'm planning to borrow a dress from Amanda-by-way-of-Samara to wear to one of the wedding events, but there's a problem. Its strapless nature means that my ample charms look even more ample than usual. I've decided that what I need is a bolero to break up the lines. White. And I think I'm going to make the Anthropologie-inspired Capelet. It's not so much a capelet as a little sweater. I bought some natural Cascade 220 at ReBelle, but I've pretty much decided that it's not white enough. So yesterday I went to Michael's for some Cotton-Ease. I was persuaded to go for 100% cotton, but now (sorry, guys!) I've changed my mind. Cotton has no memory and tends to stretch--and that's just unacceptable. There will be an exchange today before the cast-on.
EDIT: New plan. That pattern is one-size. Not mine. Damn! So I found a soy silk shrug (.pdf), very similar, and I don't have to do math. Much better!

And that's what I've been up to! Dieting is going well, but I think it's adding to my general crankiness of late. I'm doing my best to snap out of it. Hopefully, all this fun yarniness will help!