Whipping myself into massive productivity

Several days ago, I was going to post a bunch of photos of my multiple UFOs, but the sight of all of them together just made me put away my computer and get to work. I refused to have another post without any significant progress.

I finished Mel's things Monday and blocked 'em, then tried them on yesterday morning and discovered that the ring, middle, and pinkie fingers are all too short on the left hand glove. I would tell you how this happened, but it's too sad and embarrassing to talk about...

 

One small triumph I had while working these though: the pinkie fingers kept being a wee bit tight. First I ripped back the bind-off and re-did it way looser. Then, when I blocked the gloves, I inserted a rolled-up sheet of paper into each pinkie, resulting in a very comfortable fit. I can't believe it worked!

Now I have to add two more rows to 3 fingers, which I'm patiently working at a few moments at a time, in between crying jags...

In the meantime, I've been working on a swatch for some mitts that I've been promising my friend Morganeve (she would be the hottie on the left there with the upright bass...) for months now. Her birthday is coming up right quickly, which seems a reasonable deadline for this project, seeing as I am using sock yarn and size US 2 needles, plus I'm making up my own pattern. Speed math just is not one of my strengths, and something I strive to improve.

The cable pattern, while not original (BGW Treasury of Knitting Patterns, Vol. 1), took some doing to determine how I could do the Wave of Honey Cable as fancy ribbing (as BGW suggests) and have it fall evenly under the Triple Braided Diamonds. I did so by eliminating one purl stitch from each end of the Triple-Braided Diamonds panel, since I opted not to put a barrier between the two stitch patterns. I may chart this one out when I write up the pattern, as the instructions get awfully wordy. As you can see, the Triple Braids grow right out of that fancy Wave of Honey ribbing, which looks like a lovely tree.

The silk chenille top...well it's just frustrating me. I have under two weeks to complete it so that I can wear it to my sister's wedding, and let me tell you, black silk chenille is hard to see. I am not convinced that I'll have it ready, especially since getting the performance part right is going to take up a lot of my time from now until then...priorities...

And here is my repertoire for the wedding:
Intro
-Allemande, Sarabande, Menuets I/II from JS Bach's G Major Suite for solo cello
-Arioso, also by JS Bach, from Cantata #156
-Jesu, Joy of Man's desiring, from Cantata #147 by my man JS Bach
Parent/Bridal party procession
-Prelude from said G Major Suite for solo cello
Bridal procession
-Trumpet Voluntary, by Jeremiah Clarke
Recessional
-Hornpipe, from Water Music, by Antonio Vivaldi
Outro
-Gigue, from Orchestral Suite #3 in D Major by JS Bach
-Gigue, again from the G Major Suite by JS Bach
-Courante, from the G Major Suite by JS Bach

Then, I'll be about ready for a stiff drink.
And, one last photo:

Knightsbridge by the Fibre Co. in Holly and Ivy, that used to be knit up in cabled arm warmers. I have some ideas for this yarn's new life...