I’ve had the idea in my head for awhile to review some knitting apps for the iPhone & iPod Touch. Currently, I’ve only used a stitch/row counting app, but haven’t been convinced that knitting apps are necessary. Knitting is so pen and paper to me anyway (aside from the thousands of electronic knitting patterns out there, of course!).

Before I delve into my reviews, I wanted to hear from you. Do you use any knitting apps? Have you used any knitting apps in the past? What did you like/dislike about them? Please send me an email at themarioscarf@gmail.com if you want to contribute! I’d love to hear from you.

Wow, my knitting queue is huge right now! Everyone wants some knitwear these days. I have about 5 active projects on needles right now and another one to start. I just wanted to share my three coolest ones really quick.

This is my Cranberry Sauce Hat! It’s the Mushy Peas hat pattern, except I screwed up some increase rows, and ended up with a bucket-style hat. I actually really like it this way. Nugget could not look less amused with me! I used some beautiful merino worsted yarn from Squoosh- her yarn & fiber always dresses to impress. I always enjoy what I order from her shop.

I’ve also started on the February Lady Sweater in a very soft blue in Malabrigo worsted merino.

The color of the blue is actually much softer than this picture shows. And oh my word is this lush. I’m on a total merino worsted kick right now. The goal is to finish this cardigan by the time we leave for San Francisco on March 6. I have to get buttons sewn on, ends woven in, and block the darn thing, so I’m hoping that’s all enough motivation to get it done.

Other projects in my queue include the Totoro mittens for Jason (!) and a cute raspberry stitch cowl in soft moss green for my Etsy shop.

In other life news- I started tutoring in a 6th grade math class this week for grad school and it’s going surprisingly well. I didn’t think I’d be able to handle it or enjoy it, but after just one week I’m kinda into it. We’ll see how long that enthusiasm lasts!

I also recently finished reading Jesus Land by Julia Scheeres. Very intense, and very good!

Gosh, I wish I had more to update about. Life just seems to get in the way! But things are going well, and I can’t complain.

Yikes. It looks kinda excessive all piled up like this, but I have big plans for all this yarn! I made a 2010 commitment to myself to make something nice for myself this year, and that starts with the Blue Sky Alpacas Lacy Wrap Sweater for my spring break trip to San Francisco in March.

I figure San Francisco weather in early March will be kinda chilly, and what’s better to combat chilly than with a cute wrap sweater in Malabrigo worsted? This is the first big garment I’ve ever made for myself so I’m really hoping I don’t screw it up too bad. I decided to go with Malabrigo worsted in light blue (Stone Blue 99) because a.) Malabrigo worsted is probably my favorite wool yarn in the whole world, and b.) I LOVE light blue. I’m a rather curvaceous gal and quite short to boot which means this sweater will be challenging, but I have faith in my skills. I’m looking forward to the lace as I’ve not done any patterned lace in a really long time.

The other yarns are Lion Brand and Patons yarn bought with a gift card to Michaels. I plan to use all of these yarns to make items for my shop. I decided this morning that I want to get serious about making a few standard items to sell. I played around with my shop for the past two years and I want to give it a real go this Spring to see if I can make this a part of my life.

I picked up some of Lion Brand’s Nature’s Choice Organic Cotton yarn in ‘Pecan,’ ‘Strawberry,’ and ‘Pistachio.’ I’m really looking forward to using this as it appears and feels to be very similar to Cascade’s Luna line. I usually don’t like a loose ‘boucle’ spun yarn, but I guess there’s something about this style in cotton that works well. I like the colors I got in Organic Cotton, but I hope Lion Brand expands the line because with the quite comparable price of Luna online, I may just stick with Cascade in the future. But I’ll give Organic Cotton a chance before I start professing any brand loyalty.

Ah, what a beautiful day it’s been in Atlanta. It’s so nice to come to the evening and finish the day with lots of winding to do!