Un-finishing

Why don't I, Miss FO herself (well, maybe that's exaggerating JUST A LITTLE), have anything finished to show you today?

Well, there's the Rob's sock issue. I really wanted to have this (Trekking XXL, for Trek Along With Me) pair finished by today, because today starts the Summer of Socks KAL and I wanted to start fresh to enter the contest. So why isn't it done? Because it's just fiddly enough that it's difficult to work on while doing something else, but I've been trying to do that anyway, so I keep messing up and having to frog/tink. Right now, it's waiting for me to frog four rows of heel flap because I forgot to slip the first stitch...

Now THIS:

This little puppy, a bathmat knit in bulky-weight Cotton Clouds Peaches and Cream (100% cotton), I'm not working on because it's not fun. It turns out to be kind of hand-cramping to work in bulky-weight cotton, and the pattern isn't very exciting. So I'm putting it off, which is a shame because really, I could use the FO. Our bathmats are not in very nice shape.

Then there's this little gem, the Mariner tunic. Actually I'm making pretty good progress on this, but it's just slow work. And the pattern is strangely similar to the bathmat (stockinette interrupted with bands of seed). I'm nearly done with the kangaroo pocket (so I'll have knit that section twice, if that makes sense), and then I'll be scooting up the chest. I really want to finish this in time to enjoy it this summer/fall, as it's lovely cotton and so smooth.

So... given all these unfinished dudes and dudettes...
What did I do?

I cast on for something new.

This is going to be Nezumi, by Debbie Tuttle, from MagKnits. The yarn was a ball of 'mystery wool' I bought off Kate via deStash. When I wound it into a center-pull ball, I found a note in the center that said it was handspun, and I discovered how SOFT it was (the original ball was wound hard). The note also had the yardage -- enough to make Nezumi -- and I was so pleased. The yarn is a gorgeous color, a deep dusky blue with flecks of magenta, and incredibly soft and cushy.

I've made a weird error in this already. I apparently dropped a couple stitches (something I don't often do), right in the middle of a cable (argh), and I don't know how far back I dropped them. I think it's just two rows, and I picked up the stitches with a crochet hook and knit them up, but I am not 100% sure it's right. It looks a little odd at the moment, as though those two stitches are worked with doubled yarn -- so possibly they got slipped for one row, somehow. But they might just be stretched -- this IS handspun, and thicker in some spots than others.

Conveniently, Stephanie posted some great instructions on how to fix a messed-up cable (if you cable and don't know how to do this, save these instructions!!), which would help me to repair this if I did mess up the pickup and have to rip back further. I'm going to knit a few more rows, enough so I can see if it looks right, and then, if I have to, rip just these four stitches and redo the cabling. We shall see!