A few projects in the works

I haven't posted in awhile, so I thought I'd do a quick update.

The first sleeve on the cardigan turned out pretty well! It might be about 2-4 stitches tighter than ideal, but I refuse to frog for that. DH is cool with it, too. So I've started the slow, boring process of making the second sleeve the same way. Since I've BTDT, I figure this can be my "take with" project until I finish. It only took a few days of concentrated knitting to finish the first sleeve, so I'm entering the home stretch! readingwhileknitting recommended a few books, including Knitting In Plain English and while reading that, I found a way that COULD have fixed the button band... she recommends doing a double-width button band, with an every-other-row slip one stitch halfway through it. This makes a nice "fold line" and you can then fold over the band and stitch it, making it actually lay flat and have substance!!! I have to say that this cardigan has been the best learning experience. If I really wanted to (and I don't!), I could rip the whole thing out and make a truly awesome cardigan! :) Maybe next year...

Tomorrow is the day Sockapaloooza starts, so I'll soon be knitting socks! (Don't know the specifications of those yet, so I can't start. I am hoping to try out the Magic Loop both-at-once method, however.

Yesterday, on one of my weekly (at least) pilgrimmages to Target, I found that all of their hats, gloves/mittens, scarves, etc. were 75% off. For some reason, my kids' school seems to eat hats, gloves/mittens and scarves and it pains me too much to knit them, only to have them disappear. So I bought T. two cool hats--one the jester type and one that has a mohawk-kinda stripe of bright yellow fur on a black fleece hat--and got C. a magic scarf for $2 (I'd previously knit a magic scarf and it didn't hang right and it also cost a heck of a lot more than $2 in materials--more like $20...). I kept myself from buying more. So this morning, C. tells me that she's lost her hat (which is actually MY hat, but I only wear earmuffs now). I am amazed to find that she has ZERO backup hats. So today she's wearing one of T's old, snagged, simple hats. I am still debating whether to drive to another Target to check out THEIR stash, or to whip up a knit one for her. (It's been close to a year since SHE has lost anything, and she rarely loses hats. Besides, I have enough stash to afford to knit several hats for "free"). I did some browsing and came across this pattern for a really cute ear flap hat and I might give it a try... It's something different with the pattern (or I might wimp out and do simple stripes instead).

I do still have to get to Ruhamas today, as my Yarn Club membership expires today and I want to stock up on needles at 20% off. They came out with the coolest business card that I got last time I was there. It opens to a mini needle inventory, broken up into straight (different lengths), circular (different lengths) and dpn's. Evil store! I now feel the need to fill in all my blank spaces!