Socks Of My Very Own

I have this yarn.  It's yarn that many knitters worldwide stalk as if it is a lion on the Serengheti.  Me?  I lucked into it.  A friend (LittleMy) from Knittyboard sent it to me in a secret pal swap.  I knit a pair of socks out of it and I wear them at least weekly in the winter.  I had a lot left over, so I thought I'd knit another pair of socks.  They needed to be special, so I looked for a pattern.  I didn't find one.  I looked through a stitch dictionary, and found this:

a pattern called lily.  Here it is in yarn with decreases and yarnovers.

 It looks better on my right foot, because that one is wider.  (It's the one I broke back when we lived in Lexington.)  The pattern opens up a little more.

 On the bottom, is the view someone else will see when they look at my feet (hey, I have nerdy friends).  I think it looks like a jelly fish (which is also cool).  On the top, is how they look when I look at my feet. I do that sometimes, especially when I'm wearing hand knit socks.  They make me happy.

I need to make some decisions about these socks.  Do I enter them in the fair?  Should I write up the pattern?  Or shall I keep them mine, and mine alone?

Weekend Busy-ness

The Collar has a new hobby: he's knotting a prayer rope. He has been working on this for a few days. It's a pretty complicated knot. He wants to make 100 knots--currently he is at 57.

I've been knitting a few things. I finished one of the carry around and knit while waiting socks for the Collar. The colors spiral around the leg and foot. I've started a second sock, and it appears that it will be similar spirals.

I've started another pair of mittens. See?

I've also been sewing bags again. These ones are sort of lined and aren't drawstring at all, but I like the way they look. They'll work well as small project protectors.And finally, a gratuitous picture of the boys. Wiz had quarters, and spent them on mustaches out of a quarter machine. Game Boy seems to like his way too much.


All in all, it was a quiet but busy weekend. I made things, and did laundry, and we watched the Superbowl. Game Boy watched all of it except for the half time show (he wanted to know why the bad singers were on) and Wiz is thrilled because football is over until fall. He doesn't like to watch football.

This week will be busy. On Tuesday, Wiz and I head up to Seattle for his pre-op appointment. After that, I have a meeting in Spokane. The blog is kind of dull right now--I'm working and Wiz has had a lot of medical things going on. With all of the dull weather (grey is so not my color), we haven't had any real adventures. Maybe as spring shows up, we'll be out and about more.

And a correction: the fabric for the curtains is from India, not Ethiopia. The theme of the room will be places the Collar's family have been/lived, which is still not early American garage sale. Ha!

Finished Socks

I finished a knitting project!This pair was bothering me. I started them back in October and took them to Seattle, and where ever I was waiting for/on something.

They are done. Finished. Washed even.

They were knitted from Trekking XXL. They are just plain stockinette socks knitted on size 1 needles over 64 stitches. They are man-sized, so that's part of why they took so long. (Of course, it's mostly because I only knitted them when I was running around doing other things.

Now I'm working on simple Christmas stockings, so that I can show them to my class. Fun, eh?

Embossed Leaves

Another finished object:Pictures in the late afternoon sun in our back yard. It's really nice out there right now. Maybe soon I'll be wearing capri pants and no jacket nice!


Pattern: Embossed Leaves by Mona Schmidt (from Favorite Socks)
Yarn: Claudia's handpainted sock yarn in Jungle colorway.
Needles: Size 2 US
I mostly knit this as written. I'd never had a twisted rib cuff before, but it was easy and I like it. The socks are a wee bit loose, but that's okay. I did knit the heel flap as written, but then I did the gusset in the usual way. The toe I knit in the usual way too. I like the green quite a lot.

Next up are a few more pairs of fingerless gloves/mittens. I'll have so much time next week, right?

Knitting

I finished something!
It took its bath.Then it dried as I blocked it. It was 41 inches long before blocking.After blocking, it was 54 inches. Lace is amazing!
This is a closeup of the pattern draped over my arm.
And here's another view. Specs:
Size 3 circular needle
about 1/2 skein of Shimmer yarn
Fern lace stitch from Vogue Knitting Ultimate Sock Book.
Finished size 4" wide, 54" long. If anyone cares, I could post the "pattern".

The next finished project is probably this:man socks. There really isn't any pink in them, that's a flash artifact. I have knit a bit more on the top sock. I still have about two inches before the legs on both socks are finished.

Really what I want to do is knit more lace. Stockinette socks aren't exactly stimulating.

While I was waiting

I knitted, quite a bit, in fact. Once your house is packed up, and you are in a car for hours and hours, there must be something to do. Then, of course, our closing was delayed, so I had more time to knit (and no tv or internet, so what else to do?).

So, here's what I did:

The socks are Spring Forward from Knitty. My version should probably be called Fall Back. The yarn is Brown Sheep Wildfoote Luxury Sock yarn in Brown Sugar. Very autumnal colors, I think. They'll look good with my tan clogs when it's cool enough to wear them again.

I started these socks at camp, and literally wove in the ends as we drove into Washington. I really like the colors. My pictures aren't so wonderful, but they'll be great socks.I have finished all of the mitre squares for the dishcloth cotton baby blanket. It needs a border, but I'm waffling on what color to use. Suggestions? It's going to be very soft, and machine washable once it's finished.

I am almost finished with this, too. It needs to be blocked, and I've decided to use some sort of clasp, rather than the buttons that are called for. It will be good for throwing on when I'm too cool in air conditioning or at night. (It really can get cool at night here, even if the days are in the 90's).
The color is closer in the second picture. It's not the best picture of the sweater, but it's not too bad considering it's a mirror shot. :) (I think I've lost weight during the knitting of this sweater!)

I think that I'll be wearing it a lot. It's the Hexacomb Sweater from the Spring IK, and I knit it all in one color from Knit Picks Merino Style in Crocus, which is no longer available. I used Addi Turbos for the first time with this sweater, too.

Later, I'll post pictures of the boys' projects. Next week I might be ready for a "tour" of the house.

CAMP!

We've been there. (For a week--that's why there has been blog silence.)
I even finished a pair of socks for The Collar. These were mostly worked on during waiting times and airplanes. He likes them.
It may be the last time we go there. (Sob!) But it was another lovely week, and I am glad that I spend a week doing this.

Socks!

I finished a pair for me!

Started: February 20, 2008
Finished: March 6, 2008 (all of 15 days)
Pattern: Dublin Bay by Ryan Morrissey
Yarn: 2 skeins of Wildfoote Luxury Sock Yarn, Handpaint in Ragtime colorway
Needles: size 1 dpns (I used five), but I probably should have used size 0s. I guess I'll need some.

These were fun to knit. It's a really easy pattern, and the lace panel is simple enough that it doesn't compete with the variegation in the yarn. They are a bit too big, though. I went down to 64 stitches for the foot, so the foot's fine, but apparently I knit loosely. The leg is kind of baggy. I only got 8 stitches to the inch rather than 9.5, and I didn't check gauge, so it's my own darn fault. I'd rather have baggy than to tight, any day!They are happily drying upstairs on my handy dandy blocking rack/dog crate as we speak. I won't get to wear them tomorrow, but they'll be ready soon.