Clearing off the needles

I just finished another project yesterday morning. This means that, at the moment, I have one active project OTN, and one non-active project sitting around waiting. Besides that, unless I am forgetting something, there are two projects that are so old that I will probably never get to them, and I should just rip them and either repurpose the yarn or sell it or give it away (edited to add: I did forget one more that I will finish someday; Ravelry certainly keeps one honest). One project I'm pretty sure is something that I wouldn't wear anymore, even if I were to finish it. The other is a pair of socks that I would like, in yarn that I would like -- it was the size 0 needles that have made this project less than enjoyable, but it might be time to pick it back up and see what I can do. On the other hand, that skein of STR from the latest installment of the sock club is calling...

Meanwhile, I blocked the project that I finished and let it dry. That took ages and ages, given that it is currently extremely damp and somewhat chilly around here. It's been misting enough to leave the ground wet, in fact; not a lot of water (and not as much as we need), but enough ambient humidity to make drying fabric a slow process.

And, of course, the gray weather doesn't do photography any favors, but I've done my best for you.
This is the seasilk scarf/stole (Rav link) that I've been knitting for myself. The yarn is Hand Maiden SeaSilk from The Loopy Ewe, in the Sangria colorway, which I truly adore, even after all of this knitting. I really wanted to use up the entire skein, but I got paranoid at the end, and I started the finishing rows just a bit too soon; I probably could have squeezed one more inch out of it (another repeat or so), but I didn't. If this length bothers me, I'll unpick the end and do it again, but for the moment I'm happy. I was trying to find a length/width balance that would make it wide enough to cover my shoulders if I'm feeling cold, but long enough to wear in a more scarf-like manner if it's my neck I want covered. I think I hit it fairly well.
I'm happy with the textures in this scarf; I wanted something that felt dimensional, and that broke up the striping, at least a little. What I ended up with were vague runs of color, rather than pooling or striping, and the color runs are diagonal. The seed stitch edges and the trinity stitch main body go nicely together, and make the light shine off the stitches. And I'm so happy that I figured out the faggoting thing (thank you, Anne!), since those little spaces always charm me to pieces.
The ends turned out fairly well, too.
I think I'll get a lot of use out of this; it's bright and cheerful, and it's a warm fabric, without being too warm or weighty.
Looking at the pictures I got of this, I realize that there are no good modelling shots; they were all taken indoors either in a mirror, or by Rick, who is in the middle of a good bit in his book, and therefore not as inspired as he might otherwise be. I understand how that goes. But here's a quick PhotoBooth shot to give you a sense of the width.

Other than getting this done, we've had our usual busy weekend. Older Daughter played a fabulous soccer game yesterday. They were up against a team who was undefeated this season, and I think that, for her team, that word was like a red flag to a bull. They just went out there and played harder and better than I've seen them play all season. They won the game 1-0, and we parents enjoyed the heck out of every single minute of it. They played their hearts out, and both teams worked beautifully together, using all of the strategies and tactics they've been taught by their coaches (which they so often forget to do in the heat of a game); we kept looking at each other and marvelling, "it's like real soccer!" What a treat. And then we got to go have dinner with some dear friends (no cooking after soccer, wow!), and go for a walk and hang out and laugh and talk. Life doesn't get a lot better than that.

This morning was all about completing the big errand of getting hiking shoes for Older Daughter, and making sure that Younger Daughter has a pair that fit, and getting waterproof hiking pants for our trip. We leave in less than a month, and hiking shoes need time to get broken in. Now I'm just hoping that mine are still waterproof. In fact, the plan for the rest of the afternoon is to head out to the trails for a nice hike; I'll try to find a few puddles to stomp in, shall I?