Ahhh...Love at First Step*

*clicking the title of this post will take you to my Ravelry Project Page with the full details about this project and a few more photos...

This yarn started out its life as another pair of socks altogether, but after some frustration with modifying that pattern to be knit toe up with a short row heel, I went digging around Ravelry for a replacement pattern. Cables? Toe Up? Easy to memorize repeats? Yes please !

Boyfriend Socks by Alice Bell
Yarn by Tess Designer Yarns, Super Sock & Baby yarn
Needles - US 1 1/2 (2.5mm) mostly; US 0 for the ankle and heel section

The knitting on these started in October, and ended in March...interesting that their twisty-turny meandering pattern matches quite well my knitting life - and life in general - over that same time period. I worried over EVERY thing each time I picked these up. Would they end up too small? (nope!) Could I deal with a certain amount of pooling? (no problem!) Can I live with the holes in my first short row heel? (of course! a badge of honor!). But once I bound off with some great instruction from this video, the worry slipped away. I LUV them!

Hand knits belong in the great outdoors

Mods:
~I skipped the cabling pattern on the back of the leg and knit plain stockinette there instead. I wanted these to be longer, and thought this would be a good way to maximize yarn usage.

This yarn is wonderful! Really springy and the color is so rich. It doesn't split, and the slight variegation still allows the cables to show up well. I would make this pattern again, and I will definitely use this yarn again (ahem...I have 2 more skeins in the stash, so...).

Oh, and I MUST give a shout out to all you Toe Up Sock Knitters - this technique is brilliant! I knit until there were only inches of yarn left to use. I feel so resourceful and non-wasteful and satisfied. Sigh. Already looking forward to my next pair

I Am This Close to a Pair of Socks

Bracelet by 579 Jewelry

Yarn by Tess Designer Yarns (Ravelry link)

May I Present: Baby Cables & Beads

It never fails. Any time I decide to stop hopping all aound in the WIP basket and just settle in to focus on one knit project, it actually gets done! (Shhhh...I'm having a revelation over here, resist the urge to giggle). I was really craving a finished project lately, and I had some extra motivation from Nicole & Jenny to get it done before the end of the month so I could get an entry in their October sock knitting contest. Well, I'm a believer - project monogamy works people...

Yarn - Koigu KPPPM Color #400
Pattern - Baby Cable Rib Stitch from Sensational Knitted Socks
Needles - Knit Picks US 2 (2.75mm); Knit 2 at a time on 2 circulars
CO 9/9/07; Closed the toes on 10/24/07

I must state now that in the interest of blogging, I am doing these socks a severe disservice by putting them on my size (mumble mumble mumble) feet because they are not in fact for me. The are for one of the sweetest moms I know; a mom that did me the biggest favor by giving birth to this darling girl. If that's not worth a pair of handknit socks, well then I don't know what is!

I really wish I could take credit for this black background in the shots, but it's just something my digicam decided to do! I dig it.

The most obvious modification is that I didn't continue the Baby Cable Rib Pattern down the foot. I realized right around the heel flap section that cables eat up alot of yarn (you don't say??!) and that I would surely run out of yarn before getting to the end of these. I made a good decision as it turns out because I finished with only enough yarn scraps to prove something had been made.

I'm now a committed member of the Koigu fan club. This yarn gave me no trouble at all, and I'm pretty confident that it will hold up well to wear.

I'm not the only crafty chick around here as you know. This weekend we took some inspiration from miss Sarah and made ourselves some beaded bracelets...

Never a dull moment with these two, and I don't mind that a bit.

Still Knitting (and a promo!)

Thanks to all of you that have sent your good wishes for my blogiversary - your visits and support do make all the difference!

You know how I feel about supporting our own, right? And by "our own" I mean those that put their hands/hearts/minds to all things creative. Today's post is to show some of that support for a friend of mine (full disclosure, I also wanted to show you some photo proof that I'm still actually knitting). Allow me to introduce you to Sarah's Etsy shop - 579 Jewelry

I love the color combination in these - she really has an eye for such things. Light as a feather too - bonus!

She's offering up some beautiful goodies, for you and for your knitting! Sarah has an excellent eye for design and she's quite good at putting together great materials to make something beautiful. Turns out that her talents go beyond just knitting!

Head on over to the shop - all jewelry is on $5, $7, or $9 - and that INCLUDES shipping. Yeah...you won't be sorry you went.

As for me? I've got socks to finish before my UFO list grows legs and kicks me in the...

Koigu KPPPM in Color 400Baby Cable Rib Pattern from this great book

Keep On Keepin' On

Just back from a week in New Jersey - my regular monthly face time visit at HQ. "Hi! How are you? Fantastic!! Glad to hear it. Please keep sending the paychecks. Thanks!" It usually goes something like that, with a lot of other fun stuff in between.

Highlights on this trip include a night out in New York city; a belly busting dinner at a Brazilian BBQ restaurant; four hours of club dancing (yes, mommies can still do that once or twice a year); seeing My Kelli again after a long while; and knit night with KR, Maureen and Deborah. Meeting Deborah in person was an extra special treat because not only is she a talented blogger, knitter and supermom, she is someone I just knew I would love hanging out with, and I did! She's got some great stories too, so I look forward to the next time we get to take over the Barnes & Noble cafe.

Bookstore Knit Night with Deborah
With all the hub-bub of the week, I actually managed to do some finishing. Harry Potter #7 is now under my belt. Mau described it best - "Epic". It's been a long time since a book made me cry (in 3 places!) and laugh, and feel full at the end. It was just enough. I admire Ms. Rowling immensely for finishing out this series in such an excellent manner. If you haven't made it through this one yet - I advise you to hang on through the first half, because the second half is well worth the details in the beginning.

I also finished these


Yarn: Lane Cervinia Forever Jacquard
Pattern: Simple Stockinette, CO 64sts for size 8; slip stitch heelNeedles: KnitPicks Size 1 (2.5mm)Techniques: 2 circ & magic loop methods
In other news - I'm nearing the finish line on the Clapotis. Let's hope the pattern finishes before my yarn does, yikes! You can see the difference in dye lots in this shot, but I think that will be somewhat less obvious when I have it on. I look forward to having this with me on those plane rides to Jersey this fall.





Many, many thanks to all of you who chimed in at the last Round Table discussion. More topics to come, so invite a friend over to contribute. I'm headed to Fort Worth, TX Monday morning, so I'm off to dig for my next travel project. I've got the itch for another raglan pullover, or maybe another pair of socks. It seems I'm never short on options, just sadly short on time.

Have a great weekend!

Finishing

That's the theme around these parts lately and I'm loving it! Don't tell my boss though, he might think it refers to the work projects I have in queue and we all know how that could affect my knitting productivity.

In August 2006, I met my knit buddy Cindy and she gave me this beautiful Sangria sock yarn that she had dyed herself. Now, this was at a time when I didn't even know that people had such talents with fiber, so I was especially grateful and really impressed. She has probably been looking forward to this FO about as much as I have, so I'm proud to present, my Sangria socks - finally a pair!

yarn: Sangria from Cherry Blossom Fibers
source: Cindy

pattern: Garter Ribs, a 4-stitch pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks

This pattern is a breeze. Just really a K2 P2 rib row followed by a straight knit row. But it makes the ribbing look just a little different, subtle, but cool. I also really liked the slight change up on the gussett for these. On both sides of the heel flap, you knit a 3-st garter border. I like to think this will work wonders for reinforcing that area. That Charlene Schurch knows some neat little tricks I tell ya!

Look ma! No pooling!

needles: Size 1 1/2 (2.5mm) dpsn and circulars - I used ALL the knit in the round techniques to get these done.

A bonus: Thanks to these socks, I met my goal for the June KAL over at stashalong. For those of you who haven't tried socks yet, let me join the chorus and say that there is NOTHING quite the same as a pair of handknit socks. I tried them on last night, and when I took them off, my feet missed them immediately. If you find just the right pattern, heel shaping and fit for you, you won't be sorry.

We're on vacation until Monday, so lots of knit time in the car. I believe my next adventure will be a winter pullover for one my girls to wear on a trip we have planned to Canada.

What's on your pointy sticks? Has the finishing fairy been to visit you too? If so, treat yourself to some swag by entering Amanda's Contest!