finished 'borg swatch, fun links, and lots of other stuff

1. I finished the Ingeborg swatch this weekend, and decided not to do a second swatch. I didn't make it a full 4" tall, but that's because I know there's no hope of getting row gauge, anyway. I'm fairly close to stitch gauge, and know that I can block it to what I need. I'm at 30 stitches per 4", and it's supposed to be 28 stitches per 4". I'll eventually block it out to that gauge just to make sure it's possible, but I'm fairly certain it will be okay. My row gauge is 8 stitches per inch, when it's supposed to be 9. Should I be surprised? The gauge I got using the same yarn for the mittens was a square 9x9. I should have known from the beginning that 7x9 in a colorwork pattern wasn't going to happen. It's not a big deal, though. I can knit the body to whatever length I want, with minimal shaping, and re-engineering the sleeves will not be hard. Plus, this means I get to use my 3.0mm SRK bamboo circs, as opposed to Inox Express metal needles. This is a big plus for me.



2. I cast on for the Mamluke socks this weekend. That didn't last long. The color combo just wasn't going to work, in that it hurt my eyes to look at it. Orange on off-white? meh. (There is no photo.)

3. I have a bunch of fun finds to share.

• These mittens are wonderful, and a good example of two similar colors working well together, as opposed to my failed Mamlukes.
  
• Fair isle fishies!
• The only dog sweater I'd ever make.
• Marvelous knitted Yo-Yo-Yo-Yo Yoooda!

4. I've started to get a lot of hits on the blog from search engines. It's really neat to see what sorts of things people are searching for. Unfortunately, I think the posts of mine they find aren't usually of much help for their specific searches. My favorite search, so far? Picture of people from the hood. That makes me giggle.

5. Thanks for the comments on the two circ method and magic loop. I also asked about it on the livejournal advanced_knit community, and will post a round-up and/or links tomorrow. Lots of great opinions and advice.

6. Coming up this week: I may have a finished Retro Rib sock (remember those) tomorrow, and think I'm going to give the fair isle vest armholes a go this week.