Knit On!

The day started with a warm turn. So the blankie sized projects stayed in their project bags. But look see!

I was able to work on my socks. And I have one finished and the second sock cast on! Even the ends are woven in. These are the Gold Digger socks in the color Cactus Flower by MadelineTosh sock yarn. I hope the second one goes as fast. It took just one month, with lots of other projects, since the chart work was too hard to do in the evenings.

This was the first time I ever used a lifeline on the toes of socks. I was doing my usual toe, because my foot is wider and less pointy then the original. I wanted to be sure I didn't make it too short so put in the lifeline in case I had to rip back. But all was good.

I also spent some time in the wool room. A short time back I wanted to start another shawl project. I found some country blue baby loop mohair that had been marinating in the stash for a few years. I heard it say that it wanted to be a Faroese shawl, so I was ready to turn it into a big yarn cake so I could get started knitting.

However, after getting it on the swift, and struggling in the heat and humidity to adjust the swift and start winding, there was not an end to be found. Even after I cut the yarn that was holding the skein together, (in only one place) there was no end attached to it as usual.

After struggling for several minutes to find at least one end, I finally gave up, as the wool room was turning into a steam room. Or so it felt, in my frustration.

Today, while it was somewhat cooler, I tried again. With no luck finding an end again, after several minutes I finally surrendered. I broke the yarn and started winding by hand. The hand winding was necessary because in searching and poking the skein, as well as the struggle to get it on the swift, the lovely mohair was a bit tangled.

This is going to take a while, untangling as I wind. Maybe by the time it is all wound up, I will be able stand to have a lap full of mohair again.

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And That's a Wrap

Literally. My second Hitchhiker shawl is off the needles and even got worn to Mass this evening.

Sorry for the lousy picture. I tried to take one in front of my mirror in the wool room. But I was dying of heat there. So finally I let Gertrude model it for me.

The yarn is a rayon with metallic fingering weight. Very slinky and drapey. It has a very different feel from the one I made last winter out of sport weight wool. But my Tapestry Hitchhiker is a winner.

And while I didn't exactly play yarn chicken, I could not have gotten another repeat of the eight pattern rows.

But with a finished project off the needles, I reviewed my WIPs. It is a bit too hot to finish the Baby Hap for the Purple Princess yet, plus it needs the chart nearby. I can work on Little Peanut's Ten Stitch Blankie, and I have several pairs of complicated socks in the works.

But I do need a truly brainless and portable project. So....yup, I cast on another pair of simple socks.

The yarn is a merino bamboo blend called Squish by Yarn Hollow, in a color called (I think) Rel rel, in shades of brown, purple and red. Simple recipe sock, although I may try the Fleegle Heel again, done magic loop method. Good brainless knitting.

Now I better go update my Ravelry project page.

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Life Goes On

A lot has been going on, since my last posting. As I grieved, I also looked ahead. The knitting continued and the Best Bud's Baby's sweater is done and awaiting packaging. Or it will when I weave in the rest of the ends.

I also finished the first wee sock. Isn't it adorable. I am also almost to the heel flap on the second. That ribbing does go slow. And of course, small dog included for scale.

Last week was the local 4H fair. I was able to attend Wednesday evening and all day Thursday. I made friends with an little cutie.

And we watched the next day while his big brother's Jersey cow won Supreme Dairy Cow over a massive Holstein. Yea!

Then when I got home Friday, suddenly my movie watching ran into a hitch.

Yikes! Especially when you realize the blurry three quarters of the screen is constantly rolling. Television shopping is in my near, very near future.

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Twinkle Toes--Really!

With the completion of my Leftover Pi shawl (or afghan/throw), I have been browsing the WIPS.  (Works in progress to the non-knitting reader.)
I certainly have a good selection to choose from.  After a conversation at Knit Nite last week about a gansey class offered at a local yarn shop, I dug out the lonely blue gansey cardigan in the unfinished pile.  I worked a row, after finding my place.  That may need to be mostly "at home" knitting, since the charts are needed for both sides.
My Duchess of Cambridge featherweight cardigan, also blue, is another, less intense option.  I do want to finish it this winter.
For the time though, I picked up the dove gray sock.  This is the first of the pair.  I would like to cast on the second today or tomorrow.  But first I want to try a different toe treatment.  I am going to make a short-row toe and use either a 3-needle bind off on top of the instep.  Or a similar Greek bind off.  I found the instructions in "The Sock Knitter's Handbook".   I like the look, and no grafting!
I'll keep you informed as to how that works out.
Oh, I forgot to mention that while the color is more yellow than in real life, the picture does show the twinkle of a strand of real silver.