knitting notes and thoughts

Baby sweater progress:  Knitted both fronts, seamed back to fronts at shoulders, picked up and knitted both front bands and neckband, picked up stitches for first sleeve.  I think the edges where I picked up stitches are a little bit wonky, but it's good practice.  I wasn't sure, on the vertical edges, whether to pick up the sts 1 stitch in from the edge, or just 1/2 a stitch (if that makes any sense).  Just two little sleeves and seaming up left.

Green alpaca cardigan progress:  I'm about 4 rows away from starting the cap shaping on sleeve #1.  I'll still need to unravel and knit the cuff, but I think it'll be done soon.  Then on to sleeve #2!

Thoughts on ribbing:  I'm trying to make up a pattern for some knitted armwarmers for my man.  I want to do them in ribbing, but since his forearm is about 13" and his wrist is 8", I want to shape/taper them so they won't get all baggy.  What I'm trying to figure out is how to decrease in ribbing, in the round, without the ribs getting all wonky.

Embroidery

Okay, so my thoughts are a little scattered this morning.

I recently ran into doe-c-doe (probably through craft zine's blog, but I don't remember) and became enamored with the vintage embroidery transfers posted there. Some of them are cute, and some are a little creepy and some are both. I like the simple, line-drawing, running-stitch style.  Since my last embroidery project was an experiment in soft shading, which is more natural-looking, I think I want to play around with something more cartoony next.

Also, I was watching the public television last night and saw a documentary about loggerhead turtles.  The turtles were so beautiful, it made me think I should embroider some on something!

Then, of course, I started fantasizing about my next embroidery design.  It will feature all of my favorite animals, done in running stitch/line drawing style, all hanging out doing something together.

So far on the list:

Cow (of course)
Turtle or tortoise
Some kind of long-legged bird
Some crustacean
Ladybug

I think I also need a smiling tree and one other completely unrelated animal.  Or a robot.  Maybe they should be playing ninepins.  Or croquet.  I want it to look odd and old-fashioned and adorable, but not so adorable that it is insipidly sweet.

I just need to keep this separate from the other embroidery ideas I have rattling around, namely, the Baba-Yaga's hut and the happy vegetables.  Wouldn't want it to look overdone, now would I? ;)

The real question is, can I draw and/or collage a scene like this together?