Yarn Along 3: 2 Done, and 2 In Progress

Joining Ginny at Small Things again this week for the Yarn Along.

I finished the dish cloth that I was making for the August KAL.  It turned out to be a flip-flop, and, while I personally hate flip-flops (all that flapping on the bottom of my feet and the thong-y part between my toes--OUCH!), many people love them.  So, I can see myself making several more dish cloths in this pattern to give as gifts in the future.

Not the greatest picture in the world, what with the dish cloth lying all wonky and the color being washed out, but, well, at least you get the idea of how the design looks.

I also finished the Irish Mesh cowl.  I was surprised by how fast it knit up; being 220 stitches per row and all.  Just might find time to do another one of these to keep for myself; this one is slated to be a Christmas gift.  Since I just finished it last night, it got included with today's pictures of my WIPs  (Work In Progress, for those not in the know of crafty lingo, LOL).

Still working on the socks for my Mom; sock #1 has the heel done and about 1" of the foot so far.  It should be finished by this time next week, with sock #2 cast on as soon as this one is done.  I really like the way the colors of the yarn are working with this pattern, and I think Mom will love it.  She wears a lot of these tones, which is why when I saw the yarn it screamed "socks for Mom" at me.

My other WIP is another KAL dish cloth.  If you want to join in, you can find instructions here.

I gave up on the book I was struggling with last week.  Once upon a time, I would force myself to finish every book I started no matter how dry it was or if it turned out to be not my genre or writing style.  But then, a few years ago I realized I was reading for myself, not for a class, not for a work assignment.  So why in the world would I force myself to finish a tome I just wasn't into?!? That was the day I gave myself permission to drop a book if after a good long chance (roughly 100 pages if it's a largish book, 50 if it's short) I wasn't liking it.  Happy Wives Club, I just wasn't liking the writing style, so about page 80, I said "bye-bye" and took it back to the library.

Phew!  On to more interesting books, like this one:  Dressage Tips and Training Solutions, which is right up my alley.  Instructive, with good descriptions, not dry or overly wordy.  And lots of diagrams and pictures.  Best of all, it's sparking my interest in riding again, which is something I used to love but somehow let other things get in the way and drag me down until riding wasn't such a priority anymore.