It seems during this time of year the knitters who blog get very quiet. I am sure this is due to a coup staged by the various Christmas knitting projects we have all lined up to cast on and a sudden realization that it is November already. Our blogging time has given way to time scrounged to busily knit up all the end of the year projects and holiday gifts.

This knitter is not immune to the holiday (end of the year) knitting. Although I only have one present to knit this year, I have many projects quickly approaching completion status. In the spirit of sharing projects in progress and giving you all a sense of what I do with my knitting (non-day job) time here is a short, although no where near complete, list of my current WIPs.

Secret of the Stole (*********): 100%

Oops, I can’t show you that. My stole is complete, of course and photos will be posted in just a few weeks. However, running the group, posting the hints, and keeping everything on an even keel occupies quite a bit of my time. I am almost finished with the complete pattern which will be available as a PDF for download from the patterns page when the KAL is over.

Secret of the Stole KAL for January: 35%

Oops, I can’t show you that. The stole is in the charting, swatching, and test knitting stage at the moment. It is going to be very different from (*********) the one we are working on right now. I have made it much more lacy, a little larger, and with a totally different theme.

William’s Hershey Kiss Hat: 50%

There is a photo of me knitting this hat at the Auburn basketball game last week in the previous post. Mr. K and I attend pretty much every home game and I take my knitting, cool. This hat should be done soon and when I have it finished I will post a photo of the hat with free instructions.

Christmas Around the World Knitter’s Swap Present: 20%

Oops, I can’t show you that either. I am working on a scarf for my partner and would you believe this is the first scarf I have ever knit. Sounds crazy, I know, but I really love lace and other types of knitting and never had a “reason” to knit a scarf. There will be photos of this later, however, when it is more than a blanket for a snail. In addition to knitting for my swap partner, I thought she might like a little sparkly, so I will be doing some beading as well.

Costumes for the National Polka Festival 2008: 15%

I have finally received the shirt and slacks from my father for his part of the costume. I will be embellishing these to make them look more like this. You can expect to read about this adventure over the next few months and see progress photos as the festival gets closer in May 2008. My dad and I will be competing at the festival this year for the polka king and queen contest. I am so excited because my father is the one who taught me to dance when I was five and that was — years ago. I hope we win the contest, but even if we don’t we will be the best dressed couple on the floor, I will make sure of that. There will be embroidery, sewing, and loads of embellishing. I even have to make a headpiece for me to wear with ribbons and flowers. Stay tuned on this one…

Frost Flowers and Leaves Shawl: 50%

This is an older photo of this shawl. It is so large now that I can use it to stay warm while I work on it. It doesn’t sound like much, but I am sticking to a row a day on this thing. A row takes me about an hour. Yesterday, Mr K and I went to the craft shop and I purchased some clear beads to put around the edges of this monster. I have been a member of the Yahoo group for this stole for quite some time now and there is a handy little excel chart in the files section that tells you row by row what percentage of the stole you have finished. As of this coming Friday, I will be at 50%. This shawl will be finished, slowly and methodically, but it is not top priority.

Whew, well, there you have it. That is just a small portion of the projects I have going, but these are the most important ones right now. Check back next week, or even tomorrow, who knows what will come up…..