March Madness

March madness is on (even though we're in the first week of April)!  (And, no, I'm not a basketball fan nor do I know much of anything about basketball except that if you can throw from the halfway court, you're awesome.)  So, what's going on you ask?  Well ...

My "shawl" is D-O-N-E!!!  Here's the what it looks like:

Now, as you can see, my shawl has become more like a twin sized blanket ... and upon finally hitting one of the white colored balls I had (you can't really see the white since it's only one (1) row of white), I finally decided it was time to stop.  While I did seriously contemplate about using it as a shawl (or maybe a blanket) at work, it has seriously turned into a much more bulkier item than I thought it would be.  So, alas, I have to wait until it's a tad colder to use it at home as a blankie. :(

But, I still have seven (7) stray leftovers so, I might contemplate on using that and give making a shawl for my office another go! :P  We'll see ... ;)

Now that I'm finally done, I need a smaller project to tote around.  So, I decided to try my hand at a pair of socks for my hubby ... I know, I know ... I really want to make myself a sweater first but, I was thinking that that (the sweater project) might become a bit too big at some point as well so, I figure I'll try my hand at socks since they appear to be a small (i.e. more portable) project.  Plus, this project will be a good intensive learning session for me; I'll get to learn how to:

• Read a chart
• Figure out how big to make a gauge swatch and how to read it (my gauge swatch) to know how many stitches per centimeter (yes, I'm going metric - it's MUCH more accurate)
• Take measurements and how to turn that (with my gauge) into how many stitches I really need to start a project (i.e. learn math all over again! :P)

I already started a swatch using (yet again) leftover yarn from an aunt and here's what it looks like using a size 2 needle: 

Based on the instructions I'm using, it's a tad too big (like by a stitch or so) so, I bought a set of Knitter's Pride Karbonz DPNs at a size 0 and I'm going to give that a go after I finish up my swatch (I want to give it a couple more inches so I get a really good sized swatch - yes, even though it's a bit long for a swatch! :P) ... 

And, last (but not least), I've been having fun making more bottle holders for yet another one of our metal bottles:

We'll see what April brings! :)