Knitting Pictures

Today I finally got around to taking pictures of my Sockamania socks for May and my KAL for mid May. Here they are.

The socks will be gifted to a friend, who I know will treat them with love. The cloth has already been used by the princess and is currently in the laundry (with all the other cloths I've made).

Since it was 100 F today, it will be quite a long while before I can wear any of my wool socks, so I'm really planning to focus on making "croc socks" out of Fixation. It knits up nicely, and since we like to wear them as shortie socks, they don't take too long. I make them in a plain stockinette, so I can work on them anywhere (and since they're small, they don't add any heat). The perfect summer knit.

Lotsa Socks

I finished ds3's socks. He happened to be with me when I went to the LYS to buy yarn (on sale!) and found this Day-Glo green yarn and wanted socks. Luckily it was Cascade Fixation (super easy to knit with) and it was on sale.

Afterthought heels have been on my to-do list, and this seemed like the perfect time to try. His feet are smaller than dh's and so I got to the heel part pretty quickly. I followed the directions from this site, and after a leap of faith, I went ahead and put in the stitch to take out.

Knitting socks without having to worry about a heel is NICE. You just get to the point where you will, at some future date to be determined, put in a heel and then just keep going. The only trouble with this is that it would be very easy to miscalculate how high to make a cuff (or how long to make the foot if you knit cuff down).

I finished the sock and bound off the stitches. Then it was time to deal with the heel. I picked up the stitches above and below the "holding" stitches and then started pulling out that pesky yarn. It was a lot easier than I expected, and viola, there was a lovely circular opening in the back of the sock right where a heel was waiting to be born.

Then it was just a matter of doing some very easy decreases, and that pesky Kitchener stitch, and I was done! There are a few more yarn ends to weave in when doing a heel this way, but it's a lot of fun.

I'm even doing my Sockamania sock with an afterthought heel. When I learn a new technique I like to use it a few times. That way I can feel confident with something new before I make any final decisions. So far, I think this one's a keeper.

Chicken Socks

The Sockamania socks this month were called Bluebell. I wasn't going to knit them because they involve color work, and I have this fear......

Anyway, they are finished, they are beautiful, and they are photographed. Even the inside of the socks turned out to be nice - see!

The princess is now healthy. Somehow my kids manage to almost always just have one sick day, then they are better the next day. It's wonderful what a healthy immune system can do for a person. I'll just say that we need to go get new pillows because they are the only things I can't wash. Any more information would be too disgusting to get into.

Ed was really upset by the sickness of the princess. He spent most of the day checking on her. Usually he would jump up on her bed and pester her, but he seemed to know that she wasn't feeling well and just sniffed at her. He also got quite out of sorts because he didn't have the usual routine around the house. It's pretty pathetic when we have to worry about the dog's emotional well being too, but such is life.

The boys are all practicing for their guitar recital. It is so nice to be able to hear something beside Iron Man and Smoke on the Water. Right now ds3 is trying to play both the melody and harmony for Ode to Joy. What a treat for my ears!! He wants to play The Star Spangled Banner for his recital piece and is digging through the cd pile to find the patriotic songs cd I bought a few years ago. If he can't find it, there's always itunes.

DS2 is currently reading The Scarlet Letter, and I'm supposed to be reading it with him so that we can discuss it. He's on chapter 10 and I haven't started. At what point do I just admit that I didn't read it and just take the test?

New Socks and a new cloth

I finally finished DS1's birthday socks. He was the one who originally requested socks (Christmas '07), requiring me to learn to knit socks. The first pair didn't fit quite as well as I would have liked, so I decided to make him some birthday socks.

Since he's a UT alum, I wanted to knit him some Longhorn socks. I found some wonderful burnt orange sock yarn and ordered it - forgetting that he would never in a million years want to line dry socks. Soooooo, I lucked out and found some Cascade Fixation yarn in burnt orange! DH loves the socks that he has in this yarn, and they're supposed to be machine dry, so I gave it a go.

I got the bright idea to put a "UT" on the sock. Unfortunately, the Fixation yarn is so nubby that the details don't really show. I'll show him where it is, and point out the UT, but since it's so subtle, he'll probably never see it again. At least he'll have some mom-knit burnt orange socks that he can throw in the dryer.

I also finished the mid April cloth for the Monthly Dishcloth group. It wasn't supposed to be finished yet, but it's a repeating pattern, and I just got carried away. Actually, I got lost on where I was on the lines for today, and just kept going. It's a pretty pattern, and dd has claimed it.

Knitting Hurrah's

First, here is the picture of the April dishcloth. I used a camel color that I had two partial skeins of, and kept my fingers crossed that I wouldn't run out (I had just a teeny bit leftover!). I don't mind doing bobbles, but they don't really work for us since we use the cloths as napkins.

Next, whoo hoo, I won the yarn from Anni for the Sockamania sock group for March. Now I just have to figure out which of her wonderful yarns to pick! I'm so excited :o)

Also, I wasn't going to knit the Sockamania socks this month. They're Fair Isle and I was totally unsure of my ability to knit them. Here's a picture - aren't they beautiful? Also, due to the nature of fair isle, the socks end up being double thickness, and since it's hardly ever cold enough here to warrant thick socks, I didn't think I'd ever wear them.

Well, along comes Anni to save the day - she said that we could do the socks with only the top color work. I can do regular socks on the foot part and do the fancy part on the leg. That would make them wearable!! Now I just need to find two sock yarn colors that will work. Oh no, that means a trip to the yarn store! Although, I just saw a posting on SAM5 where someone used Bernat baby yarn. I have some baby yarn leftover from the fishy afghan that might just work. The problem is that baby yarn probably won't wear well at all. I'll be up near the LYS this afternoon - I'll have to give it some thought.

DS1 is getting socks for his 24th birthday. I found Cascade Fixation yarn in burnt orange at the LYS, and it was 30% off - so that was the yarn I chose. I knit dh's socks in Fixation and it's soft, stretchy and really easy to work with. Since I liked it so much for dh, and since it was on sale, I got burnt orange for ds1, dayglo yellow for ds3, and dark blue for dh. I'm ready to turn the heel on ds1's second sock and will only end up using 2 skeins. So, ds4, who's also a Longhorn fan, might just get some burnt orange socks. I haven't made my little ones socks yet because they tend to run around outside in their socks - but their feet aren't as big as dh's so I may give it a go.

Finished Knitting for Today

First, my Simply Cable socks from Sockamania's March pattern. They're wonderful, but won't be worn again for many months due to the heat!

Next is the illusion cloth from the Monthly Dishcloth KAL.

When you look at it straight on, it just looks like stripes...

But when you tip it, a picture magically appears! See the bunny?

Socs for Crocs

Some socs for crocs,
Some socs for crocs,
My honey wanted socs for crocs.

Did he want them for his crocs?
Why yes, they should be for his crocs.

Did he want them for the cold?
Did he want them for the snow?

He did not want them for the cold,
he did not want them for the snow.

Did he want them out of wool?
Did he want them to look cool?

Not in the cold,
not in the snow,
not out of wool,
just to look cool.

The Day Before Valentines

I finished my new Sockamania socks and finally took a picture, so I wore them today. I love the pattern and the yarn is yummy. Still need to work on my photography skills (or find better feet to model).

Knitting posted today

I finished my Monthly Dishcloth KAL. It's a box of Valentines Candy!

Pretty cloth, lousy picture.

And I finished my November socks from Sockamania. These things have been hanging over my head since November! I had the worst time with them. The pattern is easy to remember, but I somehow got my world all twisted up when it came to the heel of the first sock. By the time I'd finally finished the first one, I needed a break. Then when I went to finally work on the second one, I realized that I really like doing a different heel, and actually toyed with the idea of frogging the first one AGAIN! I didn't, and just kept going, trying to get them to match when I didn't really remember what I'd done for the heel in the first pair. They are a beautiful turquoise blue (but look more green in the picture).

Never too cold to knit!

It's cold and drizzly here, but great weather for knitting. We were supposed to go to tennis lessons, but you can't play tennis in the yuck. The boys were willing to go, but the mom was not; so here we sit.

Can I just say that if I hear "Smoke on the Water" one more time I'm going to cry! DS3 fancies himself a rock star in the making, but only plays the first 12 notes of the song - over, and over, and over..... Maybe it's not menopause that's making me loopy?

Finished my January Sockamania pattern this morning. It has a dropped stitch pattern, and I was worried that I wouldn't be able to do it, but it turned out wonderfully. That tiny bit of pinkish yarn is all that was left when I was finished. Talk about cutting it close! Now I've got to finish my Sockamania Ripple sock (did one, not the other) and I won't have any socks in the works. Not to worry, my February Sockamania pattern will be here soon.

My Blue Socks

I started these socks while driving back from WDW in October. I only got one done because it was yucky and raining and I wanted to watch the road (no - I wasn't driving, just wanted to be a supportive wife). This is the only non-pink/purple yarn that I had. I really like the color and as soon as I've knit up the sock yarn in my stash, I'm going to buy more non pink/purple yarn.

Now that I've learned how to add pictures, I'm learning how to add a link. Not bad for an old lady :o)