Two Socks

And.....done.

My socks, made from Mallika 100% superwash Merino, by Yarn Ahoy. I know there are lots of shadows here...the front room has great sun in the morning, but it's often a bit intense and of course at a low angle, and this is the result. I'd tell you that I'll do better next time, but knowing my photographic skills, I'd say that this is about as good as it gets. Unless I start taking pics on the back deck again, and there is *no* way that's happening until at least March. Maybe April, even.


There was, however, another shadow, off to the left,

which had nothing at all to do with the socks, except that there was a slow determination, little by little,

inch by inch,

to ruin the shot.

It's okay.

She's just trying to get in on some of that solar heating action. Who can blame her, seeing as it's 11 degrees F today (-11 C)? There's enough sun for all of us.

One Sock

Well, one and an eighth, maybe. I've been spending the last few weeks only knitting my Berry Sunburst Socks and so have been sparing you all the umpteenth pic of these socks knit up once again :). *But*, I've finally moved on to these, in beautiful Mallika sock yarn from Yarn Ahoy:

No, I'm not knitting on circs, just holding the toe stitches til I can see if I've judged my yardage allowance for each sock correctly. As beautiful as this yarn was in the skein (as you can see for yourself in the link above), it is even more gorgeous knit up! It's been a pleasure to work with...the yarn is 100% superwash Merino in a DK weight, thick and soft, and it runs so smoothly between my fingers. I'm knitting on 3's so it's also a quick knit, quite a treat for me lately! The socks above are for a customer, and I'm again using the WEBS sock calculator pattern because my customer liked the Berry Sunburst Socks knit that way.

I must confess, however, that while ordering the Mallika I just couldn't resist ordering some Yarn Ahoy goodies I'd been eyeing for myself:

Sweet! The colorway above is This Way and That (which Yarn Ahoy seems to be out of right now), and below is Berry Beautiful. Also 100% superwash Merino, these are fingering weight skeins and something about the feel of the strand makes me wonder if I should add a nylon reinforcement yarn to the heel and toe of any socks I make with the yarn. We will see. Those socks, unfortunately, are not even on the radar right now. What's next after my Mallika sock order is the Isabella for my partner, hopefully to wear by spring, the Moderne Log Cabin Blanket from Mason Dixon Knitting for the summer, and some yarn company knitting as well. Here's what I received from Schaefer Yarns for the last bit of knitting I did for them!

You can't tell here, because as hard as I tried I kept cutting off the tags in the pic, but the name of this yarn is Susan. It is 100% mercerized pima cotton, in the colorway Catherine the Great. It is probably the prettiest cotton I've ever seen. I'm mulling over possibilities for it now. This was kind of an impulse pick for me, and while I love the yarn, I do wish I'd had a project in mind before I'd chosen. I'm thinking cardigan for my two year old, but then again she rarely wears cardigans, and my efforts may go to waste. I once made a cardigan for myself in a pink ribbon cotton (ah yes, I hear my friends gasping in shock at the thought of *me* wearing pink!), and I loved it, but the question is, will she?

I think I'll wander around Ravelry to see what others have made. Any suggestions? Total yardage is 1410. Please leave a comment and let me know the great ideas you would have for this yarn!

Sock Blocking

Look at what I made!


Well, I actually *did* make the socks, and I'm really happy with them, but this is what I was referring to:




I made sock blockers! I made them from wire hangers, using the directions given in Debbie Stoller's Stitch 'N Bitch Nation (p. 139). They aren't perfect, and after I took the pic I ended up having to clip a part of each sock to the hanger to secure it, but still I think they are quite clever!


Next up, socks for my daughter made out of this rockin' yarn given to me by a fellow SnB'er (thanks, Sami!). I can't wait to start knitting...maybe tonight!

Here's a closer pic of the swatch I made. These socks are going to be so cute!

Also in line is yet another Isabella, this time with short sleeves and in a muted green, I think, at the request of my partner. I'm also seriously considering knitting the Moderne Log Cabin Blanket from Mason Dixon Knitting (pp. 77-79), in the actual costly Silky Wool that the pattern calls for. I just might do it, although both I and my budget are hearing that Swish Superwash from Knitpicks calling us, *very* loudly.

Knitting, for a change

Yes, I thought I might add some knitting related news to my knitting blog. Not much, though...sciatica won the battle most of last week, but I am doing much better now and have started back on...

...my socks. Up to (down to, I guess) the heel flap on the second one. I'm happy with them, no worries, they seem to be chugging along just fine...but take a look at the pic above, and the one below:

Same socks, same camera, same room, same time of day...but shot from a different angle they almost look like two different colorways. Weird. For the record, I like the second view better, so I guess I'll always have to look at them from that angle, no?

Now, this, this is something:

My very first roving purchase ever! Well, not counting the boring gray roving that came with my spindle. These colors are outrageous! I took my kids to a local yarn sale, picked out the blue, and while the clerk was weighing it I thought a pound of blue might be a bit much, so asked for half a pound and told the kids to pick the second color. And they picked the green! Fun colors, fun together too.

So, this means I actually will *have* to pick up that spindle again soon (because I am not one to waste money) and try to get good enough at spinning so that I don't actually trash this roving when I touch it.

Speaking of green, a certain son of mine has been asking me to post a pic of a finished project of his. It is, of course.....

a frog! What else?? A rather dapper one at that. He's so proud of this, his first ever latch hook project. Me too! I do wonder if knitting is in his future...

Progress!

That demonic face of George Bush (really, is there any other kind?) that I see at the top of my blog at each visit is really weirding me out, so I worked fast to get these pics in order for a new post :).


First of all, no new spinning to show. I just couldn't manage the three projects at once, as was proven by my coffee mishap at SnB :/. My guess is that I'll jump over to it from time to time, but that most of my energies will be focused on knitting projects. But you never know.


So, on to my socks. Or sock. One down, one to go:




The colors are a bit more washed out in this pic than in real life. Like I said, I'm no photographer...I did a better job with the previous pic of this sock (scroll down)....anyway, I'll work on it :).

Next, the Isabella! Finished and *worn* before the first snow, yay! I actually rushed to finish it last week to engage in the native geeky (dorky? hmmm, seems more dorky, I think) custom of wearing a hand knit item to see the Yarn Harlot. I thought I'd be kind of embarrassed, but I was really proud. Yep, dorky would just about say it all :).


The front:

The back:

And a close-up of the leaf motif. It's still kind of hard to see, but at least you can see it more clearly here than in the above pics:

Pretty, huh? I am pleased with the way the whole thing came out, but I think it's just kind of magical how the lace that you're knitting kind of stretches as you're working and forms the leaf shapes. Neat.

That's it. I was so burnt out from my non-stop knitting exploits of last week that I felt like I couldn't do anything at all on Saturday and only started back on sock #2 Sunday. After the sock, maybe some more out of Tofutsies yarn (scroll to #732 and #793) that is waiting for me. I was so stoked to make Tofutsies socks when I bought the yarn in May, and then I got all distracted by those frog socks and my tank. The time is now!