green.ketzle.net: knitting

i am back in the habit of knitting a little every day, even if it is only for fifteen minutes or so. nothing complicated as yet, but lots of little things moving right along. there are a few new series of meetings i will have to attend through the end of the year, so i am actually making some small progress on the blankie as well, though i don't have a picture at the moment. the first strip is done and i've started the next. pictures when i can -- the camera is only working when it feels like it, which is highly annoying, especially as we are vacationing again in october and will want documentation of same.

the tide pool socks are done! i need a better picture of this. i am actually trying to show them side by side so you can see that the brilliant turquoise suddenly disappeared on the second sock, replaced by a soft gray. also nice, but i miss the bright splash. they've been worn and washed and worn again so i count them as a success! this week is the first in a long time where my feet have been cold, so all these socks will be getting good use. i need to find the yarn and needles and cast on the second green sock -- i'd almost forgotten about making the second one.

and of course, with the finishing of person-sized socks, i knit the final pair of american girl sized socks. you can see the disappearing blue even in these mini versions. all three dolls will have toasty toes for the winter, though sophie has yet to decide if i need to knit three more pairs -- so that each girl will have a pair of knee socks and a pair of shorter socks. spoiled rotten they are, the four of them...

new mindless fluffy knitting! for those times when i am waiting in line or at the airport or whatever. it already has a new home, so as soon as it is done, it will fly away there. and i shall cast on another mindless fluffy. they always seem to be claimed, no matter how fluffy or how colorful.

this was the first knitting repair of the season, though it won't be the last. sophie's poncho used to have an acrylic i-cord edging but she snagged it on several things and it was unravelling so i picked it off and knit on a wool blend border. all the other yarns have some wool in them so it was nice to get that one bit of acrylic off. this does roll a bit -- should have used a bigger needle -- but i have yet to wash and block so i think we will be okay.

a bigger picture, just because i still like the crazy purpleness of the thing. and it is so warm! sophie likes it better than her coats, which makes me all warm and happy inside.

leftovers. not enough for anything of use, so now there shall be shawls for the american girls! i has a kerchief i wasn't wearing that will work for one, and this will be for two. poor three, once again she will have to wait until i run across some more yarn that will work. right now, all i have is sock yarn and dish towel cotton at hand. if i dig, i have plenty of candidates, but i am not so much in the mood for digging right now.

dish towel cotton? did someone say dish towel cotton? a monteagle bag, curently holding two watermelons, with room for more. it is most excellent but was rather acrobatic in the knitting. i need to dwell on whether i want to make more. on the one hand, nice presents. on the other, all that wrapping and twisting kinda got on my nerves...

10 september 2008 better late than never

summer of socks officially ended september 1, but, as summer does not end until september 22, i am still all over the whole sock thing.

i finished the first of the asparagus socks. as i am using claudia handpaints, and it runs rather smaller than many independent sock yarns in terms of yardage, the socks are a little shorter than usual for me. but i like it very much and it is not so short as to be an anklet, so all is good. i'll be casting on for the second one as soon as i free up the needles again.

and why are the needles suddenly occupied? i am knitting this pair of socks! the first is being knit from an unravelled hat and as it has less yardage than the leftover ball, i am knitting the two almost at once so i can see if i will need to borrow some for the one from the other. if not, i'll have a nice little ball of yarn leftover from which i can make the final pair of american girl socks. that would be very nice indeed. i knit this sock to the point of gusset increases, then knit the second to the same place and i am now moving back and forth between the two. sock one has a heel, and i think i will keep going at it today, in the hopes of exhausting the first ball of yarn and making the decision whether or not to bind off, or steal yarn from sock two's ball. the pattern is one of wendy's -- seaweed socks -- and it is probably my favorite sock pattern to date. it just flies off my fingers.

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