Greetings from Branson, Missouri

I finally received payment for this piece, and look what the sweet woman sent me as a belated birthday present:




Knitting-themed greeting cards!
They're so adorable I'm going into sugar shock.

Pfft

I haven't been doing much knitting lately.

Horrifying, no?

I've been trying to get caught up with all the sewing projects that I've let fall to the wayside.

Here, for instance, is the apron I was commissioned to make in FEBRUARY.


In my defense, I haven't received the money for it yet, which is why it has lessened my motivation considerably.


I did do a bit of knitting to go along with the apron however (sneaky, hey?)
It's sort of a thanks-for-shopping-at-Angela's kind of thing.

The only other bit of knitting I've done (that hasn't immediately been ripped right back out again) are the socks I'm doing for my mother's Person of Interest.


They're just a simple 3x1 toe up in Fleece Artist's Sea Wool in Ivory.

You'll notice that I've started the second without totally finishing the first.

See, the yarn tag says there's enough for a woman's medium-large sock. Since I have no idea how far I'll get making a man's large sock, I figured I'd knit the feet of both, then knit back and forth a bit on each until all the yarn is done.

Tedious, but I'd rather that than having to rip out the socks.

Again.

Thank goodness for Birthday Money

How else would I be able to afford:


Three skeins of Fleece Artist Merino Wool.
Clockwise from the top: Cosmic Dawn, Mermaid and Rainforset



Three skeins of Fleece Artist Sea Wool.
From left to right: Brick, Fruit Punch and Ivory

Oh! And Connie gave me that bottle of Soak (a biodegradable, no rinse yarn wash).

Thanks Connie!

AG:II

So, I finished the Duets socks.


I think they turned out really well.

The yarn knit up really well, and there is a tonne of the pink etc yarn left over.

I'm also quite pleased that I had enough of the brown to do a fair-sized ribbed cuff at the top. That finishes it off rather nicely.

Oh! Oh! See my new (to me, anyhow) sock blockers?

My Aunt gave these to me for my birthday. She's got this enormous barn filled to the eaves with antiques and managed to dig these out when I mentioned my sock lurve.

They're not particularly of good quality (they're warped and cracked) and they're functionally useless to me (they're much smaller than my feet) but they do display the socks nicely, hmm?

Anyhow, all I've been knitting lately is socks.

I think it's time for a bigger project.

Husband's sweater, perhaps?

Happy Birthday to me

So, it was my birthday yesterday.

Not only did I spend all my birthday money (from Husband's mom and my Nan) on yarn, Husband bought me these two gorgeous books.



And he got them on sale.

I've taught him well.

Army Girl

All has been pretty quiet on the knitting front.

I finished up a few odd socks - very proud of myself - but while I still have a few more to do, I couldn't help but cast on my Duets Sock (in your basic toe-up pattern with 'Magic' Figure Eight Cast-On).

(I tried, really, but then I saw that everyone else was doing it, and I'm nothing if not a sheep)

I should have listened to my gut however, as The Universe insisted on bitch slapping me at every turn.

Problem: Sock too big.
Solution: Frog and use smaller needles.

Problem: Sock too small.
Solution: Frog and use bigger needles but fewer stitches.

Problem: Short row heel too shallow.
Solution: Rip out (completed) heel and rework wrapping several extra stitches.

FRUSTRATION.

Anyhow, I finally finished up the first of the two, leaving the cast off until I see if there's enough of the brown left to do a cuff.

Cute, yes?

Final Problem: I had planned on these socks for myself. The (pink/green/brown) colourway is very much 'me'. But I'm finding the DK yarn weight is a little too thick for my liking.

Final Solution: Mom will be getting these socks for Mother's Day and I will be pronounced World's Greatest Daughter.

I'm sick of these socks anyhow.

Adare Manor

So, I finished the Fleece Artist/Adare Manor sock.

I'm glad I didn't rip it out, as I'm not displeased with the final result.

I still think I'll either sell these or give them as a gift, but I no longer hate the sight of them.

Having said that, there are a few things I'd change:

• I'd use a solid colour for both the heel and the cuff (to show off the cables).
• I'd only do one pattern of the diamond (I like a shorter leg).
• I'd decrease the # of stitches down towards the ankle (I like a tighter ankle)
  
• I'd switch to a smaller needle (2.25mm) after doing the cuff (I've a big leg but a small foot).
  

I'm going to Hell...

...or Debtor's Prison.

I stopped off at Connie's to pick up a few things...and left with a few things more than a few things.

From right to left:

Duets in Army Girl
Yarn Pirate in Culture Club
Claudia Hand-painted in Navy Olive (for Lucy)
Zen Garden Cashmere in Flowering Crabapple

Connie threw in a couple samples of Soak (a no-rinse wool wash) and a sock blocker key chain.

It's a good thing the Stitch n Bitch isn't at her place, or I'd be bankrupt for sure.

ribbitt

I got quite a few knitting hours in this weekend.

Unfortunately, I'm not pleased with what I worked on.

It's strange: I love the yarn (who doesn't love Fleece Artist sock yarn?) and I enjoyed the pattern (Adare Manor - Celtic Knot-inspired) but I'm not fond of the combination of the two.

I mean, you can barely see the cute little cables that make up the cuff and the heel flap, and the pattern competes with, rather than compliments, the yarn.

Easy enough to fix for the next pair - use plain yarn on the cuff and heel - but the question is, do I finish THIS pair?

I'm torn. I don't want to have wasted all that time, but I'm really not happy with it.

::sigh::

Maybe I'll just give them to someone for Christmas.

drip

I love hand dyed yarn.

Beautiful and nearly one-of-a-kind, for sure, but it's the imprefections that I love the best.







Take a close look.

These socks were made for jaywalkin'

Still sick.

Thank goodness I don't have scarlet fever, or something like that.

They'd have to burn all my yarn.

A fate worse than death, to be sure.

Anyhow, I finished the first of the Spinning Bunny (Denim colourway) Jaywalker socks.
Have I mentioned how much I love working with this yarn?
Hmm? Have I?