FOs and Shifting Focus

At last I have pretty new FOs to post!  My uptown boot socks are a success, especially because I learned how to cable without an extra needle.  I had not intended to do this at first, but after one row of trying to use a cable needle I realized that method was just too slow and cumbersome for a pattern with so many tiny little cables. I did mess up on the cable pattern. I didn't actually read the whole thing before starting (oops!) so I cabled to the back on Row 7 instead of two the front like you're suppose to.  Of course I didn't realize this until I had finished one sock, and didn't seem worth the effort of frogging when the results are still very pretty!

I used Plymouth Happy Feet, the same yarn I used for my Froot Loop socks.  I still love this yarn.  Its squishy, colorful, easy to knit with, and cheap.  My Froot Loop socks have gotten a little fuzzy, but have otherwise held up well and I wear them all the time. I expect I will get tons of use of these pretty cablely socks too.  

I strayed a little bit from knitting recently and made a skirt.  I've been spending a lot of time recently looking around at sewing patterns and fabric and decided that I should test out my rusty sewing skills and the pretty sewing machine my parents gave me last year with a simple project.  I suspect that this is at least partially a result of me imposing a yarn buying moratorium on myself to save money and use up stash.  Rather than actually saving money, however, I've just shifted the focus of my shopping from yarn to fabric.  Oh well, at least I have a pretty new skirt.   

I used Vogue 8606 because I liked the wide waist band on the skirt and pants.  The pattern is also nice because it only used one yard of fabric.  The fabric is a suede I picked up from Joann's.  I'm really pleased with how it turned out.  I wore it out Friday and I thought it looked great my black boots and purple cardigan, a la above. The fit is good, though there seems to be a bit of extra fabric in the front.  I'm considering making a khaki one for the spring and summer so perhaps next time I'll add some little darts in front.

Don't let anyone tell you...

...that the needle arts are for sissies.  See those little reddish dots below?  That's blood.  I pricked myself while hand stitching down the yoke of a skirt to the zipper.  I actually had no idea I was bleeding until I noticed those strange little dots.  Hardcore, I know.

More on the skirt as well as a finished pair of socks coming soon!

Progress

So I stopped my whining and did some knitting instead, and now my second uptown boot sock has a heel! In addition to having a heel, the gusset has been finished since I took this picture. I'm just a few inched and a toe away from having a new pair of socks. This will place me only one pair of socks away from my goal of having a pair of hand knit sock for everyday of the week.

It helps that in one of my classes the professor doesn't want us to take notes, weird but true. I see this as a perfect excuse to knit during class, and he doesn't seem like the kind of professor who would mind anyway.

For those for you familiar: yes I did take this picture in the law school library. Sometimes I knit there too. I can only take so much case law after all.