Socks and Shawl

Here are the photos of projects I promised last week. These are the three pairs of socks I am working on currently. Left to right they are: Pomatomus aka Mermaid socks. They are knit with JKnits sock yarn. Midnight Passion socks made from Fearless Fibers hand dyed sock yarn. This pattern is one of the eight stitch repeats from Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch. Last but not least, Koigu blue and black tweed socks. They are very plain, but they feel wonderful and will go well with jeans.

Here is the Lady Eleanor shawl. This yarn is Rowan Tapestry in color SH 173. The fiber content is Wool and Soy protein. It is working up very nicely. It's very soft. The top photo was taken with the flash on. The bottom close up was taken with the flash off. Alas, neither photo gets the color just right.

What's New

So, I have been knitting, but not anything really exciting. I currently have three pairs of socks going and three shawls started. I know, I am having trouble sticking with one or even two projects. The socks are one pair of plain Koigu in a blue, black, gray combination; the mermaid socks or should I say pomatomus socks in J. Knits blue and green and an eight stitch repeat lace pattern in the midnight passion (purple) Fearless Fibers sock yarn. All of them are going well, I just have trouble concentrating on just one. The shawls are the burgundy Lorna's Laces Faroese shawl, the cobalt blue Icarus shawl and a new Lady Eleanor entrelac shawl made with Rowan Tapestry in a brown/gold/pink colorway. The Faroese shawl is just too heavy to work on right now. I did dig out the Icarus and work on it tonight. It has been lanquishing in the bottom of my knitting bag for the past month or two. I like it, but I get tired of knitting on it quickly. The entrelac shawl was started last Friday. I have not made up my mind whether to keep on going with it or not. I'm not sure if I like the way the colors are working up. I will try to post some photos later this week so you all can get an idea of how it's going.

Candy!

Here is the latest pair of socks that I have been working on. They remind me of the candy hearts that everyone gives out on Valentine's Day.

These are made of Trekking XXL yarn in color number 133. I used US#2 bamboo needles, and it is the standard top down pattern that I always use. They were lots of fun to do, because of the way the yarn striped. It was also very easy to match the stripes, because they were so defined. All in all, much fun.

Spring

I love spring in Texas. We go from gray to green almost over night. The wild flowers have been especially beautiful this year. The bluebonnets and indian paintbrush are blooming all over the sides of the highways. I have not been able to go take photos of them this year, but you can see some if you go to www.flickr.com and type in "bluebonnets" in the search feature.

I do have one photo of flowers, however. Wally took this about a week ago when our azalea bushes were covered in blooms. Sadly, they are just about gone now. They were beautiful while they lasted.

Art Festival

Today Wally and I went to the Bayou City Art Festival in Memorial Park. We have been before, and we like art a lot. However, I was disappointed this time. It seemed like it was all the same artists and all the same stuff. Nothing new. We did see one of our favorite artists, but even her stuff did not appeal to us this year. It was nice, but not "wow I have to have that", if you know what I mean. And it rained. Not the best ambience for an art festival. It didn't rain constantly, but just enough to keep everyone guessing whether to keep their umbrellas out or not.

Internet Yarn

I had never bought yarn over the internet, because I can't feel it. I am a very tactile person, and I like to know what my yarn feels like before I buy it. However, I had heard wonderful things about Fearless Fibers yarns, and I loved the colors. So...I bought some from the Fearless Fibers site on Etsy. What can I say? The photo does not do the colors justice. They are so much prettier in real life. How do they feel? Wonderful! I love them. These are the sock yarn in Midnight Passion (purple) and Midnight Blue colorways. They are 100% Superwash Merino wool, and there are 550 yards in a skein. (Sorry, I still have not figured out how to put links in my posts.)

Anniversary

Today is our 32nd anniversary. Wally is out of town on business. It was one of those things he could not not do. So, on Saturday he brought home these flowers as an anniversary gift. Yesterday before he left town, Wally also brought me these. He said the roses looked old, and the tulips were prettier.

I have a wonderful husband!

100 Books Meme

In light of no knitting content, I give you a meme.

Look at the list of (100) books below.
Bold the ones you’ve read.
Italicize the ones you want to read.
Leave blank the ones that you aren’t interested in. Movies don’t count.

1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban(Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25 . Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie(Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrey Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)


So, I have read 33 of the 100 books.

Valentine's Day

Everyone should read The Yarn Harlot's blog today. It's really good.

Sorry, I have not figured out how to put in links the text yet, however you can go to Yarn Harlot on my Links sidebar.

What's New

Here is a pair of socks I just finished. These are knit out of Mountain Colors Bearfoot yarn in the purple mountain colorway. The close up photo is the closest to how they really look. They are very dark blue with little zings of bright purple. This is my basic 2x2 rib cuff with heel flap. I did not try anything fancy with these socks, because the yarn does tend to fuzz and felt when washed. Any detailed patterning gets lost after just a few washes. They are very soft though. They have just a little bit of mohair in them.

In other knit news, I have not done much on either of the shawls that I started. I just have not had the concentration that they take.

I do have two other pairs of socks on the needles.
One is out of the mermaid yarn. This is the fifth
attempt to make socks with this yarn. I think this one just may be it. I will explain more later when I am more sure they are going to work.

The other pair of socks is a plain pair out of a yarn
called TOFUtsies. It is a wool/cotton/soy blend in
a pretty blue and white tweedy sort of colorway.
It's very soft and works up well. Photos later.

Shawls

This is the Faroese shawl that I have been working on. You really can't tell much about it from the photo, hence the picture from the book. This Lorna's Lace Shepherd Worsted. The color is Manzanita, and the photo is pretty close. I like this shawl, because it has fitted shoulders. Hopefully, it will stay on a little better than shawls that are flat.






This is the Icarus shawl from Interweave Knits Summer 2006. Again, it is really hard to see much of what is going on in the photo. I had stopped working on it for a while, because I did not have good needles for this lace. My mother sent me some of her nylon needles that she has had for a long time, and they are working much, much better. I don't know why these needles are longer made. They are smooth, but not slippery, they have a really good join and the points are very sharp. They are my favorite needles to work with for almost any project.

There are also socks on the needles, but I will not bore you with them now. I will bore you with them another time.

Weird Things

So, my daughter tagged me to list 6 weird things about myself. I don't usually do memes, and she should really know how weird I am after living with me for twenty-three years. However, for the sake of daughterly love, I will try to think of 6 weird things about myself. I have been mulling this over for a while now, and I'm still not sure if I can come up with 6 things. My family would really be better at this than I am.

1. I hate to have my ears touched. I have no idea how I got my ears pierced.

2. I don't like some foods because of their slimey texture. Even if the taste is OK, I can't get passed the texture. Boiled okra=yuck!

3. Even though I have lived on the East Coast or the Gulf Coast most all of my life, I am not a big seafood fan. When I lived in Louisiana, no one could understand why I did not LOVE seafood.

4. I HATE spiders. It's an absolute phobia. This is probably not that weird, but my family loves to torment me about this.

5. I eat the same thing for lunch every day. I don't have to; I'm just lazy.

6. I have a hard time following knitting patterns exactly as they are written. I'm always trying to make them "better/easier". This causes major problems at times. Usually, the patterns are written a certain way for a reason. Hence, I frog...... a lot.

There. Six weird or not so weird things about me. If you read my blog, consider yourself tagged.

Surprise in the mail

I was dragging around today, what with the weather still gray, cold and wet. I was really feeling very gloomy. I went out to check the mail, and the mailbox was packed with three days of mail. I went through all the mail, bills, bills, more bills, applications for credit cards, etc. On the bottom of the stack was a big, plain, bubblewrap envelope addressed to me. I could not remember ordering anything, but I opened the envelope, and this is what I found. Poems of Color, Knitting in the Bohus Tradition by Wendy Keele. I had been interested in this book after reading several different blogs about it. I ordered it, and then totally forgot about it! So, now I am happily reading about Bohus knitting. This is a beautiful book. It has cheered me up tremendously. I don't know if I will ever actually try to knit anything in this book, but I love the history behind the designs and the wonderful use of color. Interesting stuff.

Gray Day

It has been a really gray and gloomy day today. It has rained most of the day, and it's cold. My thermometer on my back porch has not gotten over 35 degrees all day. So cold and damp, ick.

I finally took the decorations off the Christmas tree this afternoon. All by myself, Sarah. It went OK until I got to the lights. The lights did not want to come off the tree. After much struggling and detangling of wires under the tree, I finally prevailed. The next Christmas tree is going to be pre-lit. I put all the ornaments and lights into the four new rubbermaid tubs we bought, but I still need one more. Too much stuff.

On that note, I am going to go feed the dog. Then I need to figure out what to have for dinner for the people in the house.

Sock and No Socks

More socks....I finally finished the TrekkingXXL socks that I have been working on for forever. I really like the way they turned out, and they are very, very comfortable.










I also finished the Koigu Sunrise socks I was making for Sarah. She says they are very warm and cozy.











I took the Mermaid socks off the needles, because I was not happy with the way they were going. I still love the yarn; I just need to find another pattern or make them plain. I will restart them at some point.

So....that means there are NO socks on the needles here. Shocking, I know. This is probably the first time in about a year and half that I have not had at least one pair of socks going. This too will pass.

What is on the needles? Shawls. I am working on two shawls right now. I am working on the Icarus shawl from Interweave Knits Summer 2006 and the Fenna Shawl from Stahman's Shawls and Scarves. The Icarus is in a beautiful cobalt blue Fiddlesticks Knitting Zephyr Wool-Silk. The Fenna shawl is Lorna's Laces Shepherd worsted in the Jeans colorway. I am really enjoying both these shawls, although the Icarus does take a lot of concentration. I can only work on it for small periods of time. I will post pictures when I have more to show.

Happy New Year! Be safe out there.

More content later, I promise.

Greetings

Merry Christmas everyone!

More Socks 3

I'm calling these Mermaid socks, because the colors remind me of mermaid scales. This is a new sock yarn for me. It is J. Knits superwash sock yarn in the Columbus colorway. It's 75% superwash wool and 25% nylon. Needles are US 2 bamboo. I really like the way these are working up so far. The yarn is very soft and easy to knit.

More Socks 2

Here is the progress on the Trekking XXL socks. One down, one to go.

More Socks 1

These socks are for Sarah. They are Koigu yarn. I forget the colorway though. This the first time I have worked with Koigu. I like the tightness of the twist and how smooth the fabric is. I am using US 2 Clover bamboo needles.

Frustrated

I have been trying to knit something other than socks. However, things have not been going well. I have a pattern I like, but I cannot get the gauge to come out right. I knit a swatch and think I have it, but when I actually start knitting the object, the gauge is too tight. Arg! I have started this thing twice already. I don't know if I like it enough to try again. I think I'll go do laundry and knit on a sock. Socks are good, right?

Christmas Socks

It's been a slow week for me. I have started several knitting projects, but have ripped them all out as they just were not doing what I wanted, or were not fun. I have lots of more ideas though.

One thing I did get done this week was my Christmas socks. I decided I needed red socks for Christmas. Why not?

These are made out of Mountain Colors Bearfoot yarn in the Ruby River colorway on a US 2 needle. They are my usual Ann Norling pattern with these modifications. I cast on 72 stitches instead of my usual 64 and did a double decrease four times ten rows apart in the cuff. The pattern is a 4 by 2 rib. The toe is from Nancy Bush's Knitting on the Road Conwy sock (no Kitchener stitch). I'm happy with the way they turned out, and they fit very nicely.

Finished Ruana

So here is the Santa Fe ruana finished. Top photo is the ruana blocking. Middle photo is front. Bottom photo is detail of back. I wore it yesterday and today. I like it, but I wish it had more to the back. It does get a little drafty back there. And the front is heavier than the back, so it pulls forward quite a bit. It does keep my shoulders nice and warm though.

Shetland Shawl

Above is unblocked Shetland shawl. One big lumpy mess.
Shawl blocking.
Edge of shawl blocking.
Shetland Shawl blocked.
Close up of shawl after blocking.

As you can see, I finally finished the Shetland Shawl. This is from Wrap Style. The yarn is a mohair/acrylic blend. It was knit on US 6 needles. I added 2 more pattern repeat rows than called for in the book.

Am I happy with the result? Mostly. It is still fairly small. Of course, I am a tall person, so it might be great on a smaller person.

Would I make this shawl again? Yes. However, I would use a different yarn that showed off the pattern better, I would use a solid color and I would use a yarn that was all wool so it blocked better. The pattern itself is pretty easy. It's one that you can establish a rhythm with.

Done

I finished Baby Eliot's sweater this weekend. This is for a friend of Sarah's who had a baby boy in October. The yarn is Rowan Cashsoft. It was wonderful to work with. Now I want to make something out of this yarn for me.

I also finished the Shetland shawl over the weekend, but it is a lumpy, bumpy mess right now. It needs to be severely blocked. I will try to get to that today.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Quiz

For all those people who asked about the American accent quiz yesterday, the web site is:
www.gotoquiz.com/what_american_accent_do_you_have

Have fun!

Quiz

What American accent do you have? Your Result: Philadelphia Your accent is as Philadelphian as a cheesesteak! If you're not from Philadelphia, then you're from someplace near there like south Jersey, Baltimore, or Wilmington. if you've ever journeyed to some far off place where people don't know that Philly has an accent, someone may have thought you talked a little weird even though they didn't have a clue what accent it was they heard.
The Midland
The South
The Inland North
The Northeast
Boston
The West
North Central
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

I was surprised by this, although I shouldn't be. I was born and lived in the Philadelphia area until I was 7. However, I have lived in the south for over 45 years. I thought my yankee accent had been softened. I guess not.

Here are socks I made for my mother. I actually finished them in October, but I just now posted a picture, because I did not want to show them until my mother had gotten them. These are made with Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn in the teal colorway. They have four cables that go down the front, and the leg has decreases to make the socks fit better. After I had worried and worried about the color, design and fit, everything was fine, so in the end I am happy with the results and so is my mother.

Progress, Sort of

Above is the shetland shawl as of today. I have worked all the repeats the pattern calls for in the body, but I'm not sure that it is as big as I would like. I know it is hard for you to tell the size from my photo. I'm thinking I will do two more repeats in the pattern on the body of the shawl. I know I have enough yarn. The questions I have for you out there in blog land are these. Will this shawl block out like the pattern calls for if the yarn I'm using is 40% acrylic? I did not realize the synthetic content until just the other day when I reread the label on the ball of yarn. Is there any point in going on if it won't block out correctly?
On a happier note, here is the baby sweater I am making for Eliot. I have finished the body and have started on the sleeves. It is working up really nicely.

I am also making progress on the Trekking socks and the red Mountain Colors socks, but pictures would be boring at this point.

Knitting Hell

Last night I was in knitting hell. I had been working on the shetland shawl most of the afternoon, and after dinner I realized I had made a mistake. At first, I tried to correct the mistake from where I was in the shawl, but that only made it worse. What to do? Tink! And tink some more. For those of you not familiar with knitting slang, 'tinking' is when you undo your knitting one stitch at a time as opposed to just ripping rows out. Have you ever tried to undo mohair yarn? It sticks together like burrs on your socks. Unknitting mohair is just the pits. And how much did I have to unknit? Four rows of approximately 150 stitches each. It was hell, I tell you, HELL! I seriously considered trashing the whole project, but every time I looked at what I had, I really liked the pattern and the yarn together when there were no mistakes. So...I tinked and tinked and tinked. I finally got to the mistake and fixed it. Today I have been able to go forward, and I'm glad I took the time to fix the error.

I also have a correction. In a previous post I told you the shetland shawl was in the Scarf Style book. It is not. It is in the Wrap Style book. I apologize for the incorrect information.

Last Gasp

In a last minute attempt to celebrate Socktober Fest, I cast on these socks in between 'trick or treaters' on Tuesday night. Now those of you who know me well will be saying, " But, but, Sallie, they are RED!" Yes, I know they are red, not blue or purple or teal or turquoise or any of those colors that I usually gravitate to. They don't even have any of my usual color palette in them, but it's OK. I like them. They are for Christmas. I decided I needed red socks for the holiday season. I have been eyeing this skein of Mountain Colors Ruby River yarn for several months now, so I just took the plunge and bought it.

I am trying out a new pair of DPNs also. These are Bryspun Bry-Flex needles, size US2 (2.75mm). My opinion so far, meh. They are OK, but not great. They are very flexible, which does seem a little easier on my hands, however the points are not wonderful. They would not be good for lace work. They are working fine for the simple knit and purl socks I am making, but knitting two stitches together takes some work. In the future, I think I will stick with my Clover bamboo DPNs.

Shetland Shawl closeup

Shetland Shawl closeup
Originally uploaded by Tsali B.

I promise the colors are not this neon.

What's on the needles 2

Shetland Shawl 1
Originally uploaded by Tsali B.

This the shetland shawl from the Scarf Style book. You really can't see the pattern very well yet, because 1) the yarn is mohair, and 2) it will need to be severely blocked. It is pretty though. The picture does not do it justice. The colors are not really that flourescent.

What's on the needles

Baby Jacket
Originally uploaded by Tsali B.

Here is the beginnings of a Baby Albert sweater from Sally Melville's Knit Stitch book. It's for one of Sarah's friends who had a little boy last week. The yarn is Rowan Cashsoft.

How Deep Was It?

We had buckets and buckets of rain last week. Thursday was really wet. Friday we were supposed to have the soil testing done on the lot for the house. This is what we found. Lots of water in the middle of the lot. There is an old logging road that cuts through the middle of the lot (just about where we want to put the house), and it does not drain well. Something we will have to deal with. Needless to say, the soil testing did not happen. We're hoping things will dry out enough this week so the testing can get done.

More Socktoberfest

Another sock. This one is made from Trekking XXL color 109. I love the colors and how they fade from one to the next. This is my regular 2x2 rib sock Ann Norling pattern.

Cleared Lot

Here is one view of the lot now that the brush has been removed. This is a clearing in the middle of the lot where an old logging road used to go.

Land cleared

We finally got the brush cleared off the lot on Friday. Now we can get the soil tests done. It looks pretty good with most of the undergrowth gone. It's much easier to walk now, and we can see much better which trees are good and which trees need to go. I was trying to add a picture, but blogger seems to be having some problems. I will make another attempt later.

Stripey Goodness

Here is my latest contribution to Socktoberfest. I love these socks! They are the perfect socks for blue jeans as you can see by the picture. I even got the stripes to line up fairly well. They are knit out of Trekking XXL on size 2 bamboo DPNs. I forget what colorway this is, and I can't find the wrapper. Any way, they're great, fun socks!

Sock Stuff

In celebration of Socktoberfest, I give you socks. These are the alternating rib socks that I finished a little while ago. They are made from Brown Sheep Wildfoot yarn on size 2 needles. I also tried to upload a picture of the Conwy socks that I just finished, but I am having problems with the website, so I will try again later.

Edit: The Conwy socks are now showing up. Weird. Anyway, they are made from Mountain Colors Bearfoot in the Steelhead colorway. They are wonderfully soft. I think Mountain Colors is my favorite sock yarn.

House Stuff

Here is a picture of what the lot looks like right now. We are still waiting to hear back from the guy who is supposed to clear all the brush away. Hopefully, we will hear from him soon.

Things

Up to now this has been primarily a knitting blog. Things are going to change. There will still be knitting, but there will be other things, too. Mainly, at this point, house stuff. We are going to build a house. Yes, I know it's insane, but we're going to do it anyway. We are getting ready to get our lot cleared of underbrush so we can see what trees are actually there and need to be saved or not. We met with a guy who draws up house plans yesterday. He is going to take my plan (yes, I drew a house) and make it into blueprints. We have been looking at brick, flooring, appliances, windows, roofing materials, and all sorts of other things. It is truly mind boggling. I sure hope this all works out.

Another FO

I finished the alternating rib socks today. Yea! I have also finished one of the Conwy socks and started the other one. I find that if I start the second sock immediately after finishing the first, I am less likely to have second sock syndrome. Besides, what can you do with one sock?

OK, I was going to post pictures of finished socks, but blogger seems to be having difficulties uploading my files. Maybe later.

OK, here are some pictures of what is going on here. These are the alternating rib socks I have been working on. Not too exciting, but easy to work on and very portable. They are Brown Sheep Wildfoot yarn.

Next up are the Conwy socks that I showed you a post or two ago. Here's how they are progressing. I love these socks. I love the pattern (althought I don't like knitting it), I love the yarn. Look at the back of this sock. It even has decreases to make it fit. I have never done decreases in a sock before. I like the way it shapes to the ankle better.
Here is the front of the Conwy sock. The colors are pooling, but I like it.
And last, but not least, a finished object! Here is Sean's scarf. This is Baby Alpaca Grande, and yes, it is as soft as it looks. Wonderful yarn.
So that is all the knitting news here.

Civic Duty

Today I did my civic duty. I went to jury duty downtown. I had put it off twice, so I really needed to go and get it over with. So I took the park and ride. It was nice not to have to drive and try to find a place to park. I got there early (7:30), so had to wait for a while. I took knitting, what else? I also had a book, but I decided to work on the alternating ribbing sock. I got lots done on it. I did not get picked for a jury, thank goodness, and they let us go at 11:00. So, civic duty done for a while.

Observations: I was the only person there knitting. I guess I should not be surprised, but with so many people there I thought surely I would see someone else knitting. Nope. I saw lots of books, but no knitting or any other hand crafts for that matter. Oh well, I'm glad I brought something to keep my hands occupied.

What's New

Socks....yes, I always have a pair going. Right now, I have TWO pair going. What can I say? I was really, really tempted by the Conwy pattern in Nancy Bush's Knitting on the Road. Plus, I had this wonderful Mountain Colors Bearfoot yarn in the steelhead colorway that was just begging to be knit. So I started them even though I still have to finish the alternating rib socks I'm working on.

I have finished the ruana except for braiding all the fringe. On that I have been procrastinating. I will get it finished and post a picture. It turned out very well. Now all I have to do is wait for the weather to get cool enough to wear it.

I am still working on Sean's scarf in Baby Alpaca Grande, too. It makes a nice change from sock yarn.