Knitting queue overload!

I can't believe I'm contemplating saying this, but I have a feeling I may be adding too many new projects to a queue that I'm not going through at the same rate.

But that's normal, right? Right? Maybe that's what I just cheerfully refer to as 'my stash', and keep merrily knitting at the rate that I'm comfortable with. Yeah, that's what I'll do. Sorry to disturb y'all!

The most recent addition (and a worthy one I'm sure anyone would agree) is the recently made available "Baby Mine" cardigan designed by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. It's available through Blue Moon Fibre Arts, for the extremely decent price of $6.50. I ordered mine a couple of nights ago, along with two skeins of Socks That Rock Mediumweight (you only need one to make the newborn and six-month sizes, but I wanted to be absolutely certain I'd have enough, just in case) in the colourway, 'Pebbles'. I wanted colours that would suit either a boy or a girl, since (a) we're only going to find out the sex the traditional way - when it comes out! and (b) I'm just not fast enough to knit both a "Baby Mine" and a "Baby Yours" in both pink and blue, just in case.

I've been hoping to knit up a storm during this pregnancy so that Little One would arrive home to at least a couple of completed garments, but I'm at the twenty-week (halfway there) mark, and seem to be still knitting lace scarves for myself!

On the needles right now (she said, clearly avoiding any thought of the WIP Drape Cardigan in a bag in the stash cupboard) is a skein of Noro Kureyon Sock Yarn that I picked up at Tapestry Craft in Sydney, on Pete's and my Anniversary weekend away last month. I'm enjoying the pattern, too - enough to look pretty and a little complicated (to the untrained eye, at least), but simple enough so I can knit it in front of the telly of an evening without too much tinking and cursing.

The colours are so unusual. I love the big slash of hot pink in the middle of all the greens best of all, I think. Here we are so far:And, in other knitting-related news:

Several months ago, I was hopping around, looking at other people's knitting blogs, and came upon "Runcible Spoon", where Andrea's most current post talked about a 'Paying it Forward Exchange'. This is a copy of what she had linked in originally, describing the whole concept...

"I like listening to the Changeling's Knit and Stitch podcast, and when I heard she was looking for someone to participate in an exchange, I checked it out. When I saw the terms of the exchange, I put my hand up straight away to participate.

You can participate, too! The conditions are as follows:

The Pay It Forward Exchange is based of the concept of the movie Pay it Forward where acts or deeds of kindness are done without expecting something in return, just passing it on, with hope that the recipients of the acts of kindness are passed on.

So here's how it works. I will make and send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment to this post on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I do not know what that gift will be yet, and it won't be sent this month, probably not next month, but it will be sent (within 6 months) and that's a promise! What YOU have to do in return, then, is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog. I will now Pay It Forward to you THREE, I wonder who you will be?! Please, be a PIF. You will enjoy it just as much as we do! And, remember— you have 6 months to get your gifts done!

So let me know if you would like to participate, and I will create something just for you within six months from the time of your comment. In turn, you will need to make the offer to three other people. Pretty simple, eh? I look forward to making whatever it is for whoever you are."

So, on the off chance that I may not have left it too late, I was the first to respond on Andrea's comments page... and wondered what might happen next.

Well, I was very pleasantly surprised to receive an email from Andrea earlier this week, saying that her Pay it Forward gift to me is almost ready! It's terribly exciting, and means that I need to be getting ready to make a similar announcement... in the vague hopes that I do get a response, of course...

Watch this space.