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.

Winter Doldrums

I seem to be in a bit of a knitting funk recently, or maybe I'm experiencing some form of ADD. I could also still be burned out from Christmas knitting. Whatever it is I have not been doing very much with my knitting recently. Normally, I faithfully knit away at one project, sometimes two, and progress is fairly quick. Currently I have three that I've been switching between with the result being that I don't seem to be getting much of anything done.

This picture illustrates my current experience fairly well. It was taken around New Years. I have only done a few inches since it was taken, a very sad progress rate indeed.

The other two projects are a sweater and a pair of mittens. They are going equally slowly, and I am feeling equally un-enthused about all of them. These are all fairly old projects that I am trudging through since I'm not sure what else to cast on for. Hopefully, when the spring patterns come up I'll feel more inspired and excited about my knitting, but for now at least I seem to have the winter blahs.

A Quick Break from Studying...

As far as I can tell environmental law is even more confusing than tax, but since I think I've sorted out how the Clean Water Act works and I just can't stand the thought of reading the word "superfund" one more time I'm taking a quick break to present these socks, my one and only knit Christmas gift this year.

Knitting so many gifts last year was a pain. So this year I decided to limit it to one gift that I really wanted to make. Plain black socks were not the most exciting knit ever, but I think the recipient might get more use of these than if I had used a more fun color or pattern.

But also... I tired spinning! After spending a significant amount of time watching videos on youtube I was able to make my very first hand spun yarn. It's been washed and dried since this picture was taking, but is still waiting for me to wind it up and, of course, make something with it.

Here At Last!

Everytime I look at the Ravelry page for my pattern it makes me happy, and when I see that someone has actually queued it I do a little happy dance. So far three people have queued it, which makes me immensely happy. I'm hoping to write more patterns in the future. I have a bunch of ideas I just need the time and the yarn to actually put all this stuff together.

Knitting-wise I sadly have no pictures of my current project, a pair of up-town boot socks for myself using what is probably my favorite budget sock yarn, Plymouth's Happy Feet. But I do have pictures of a lovely package I received the other day.

These are Three Irish Girls Adorn Sock in Georgia Peach and Carrick. I ordered this way back in August and was afraid for the longest time that my order was lost. Several emails later I discovered that everyone else was just ordering from Three Irish Girls at the same time and everything got backlogged. It was a long wait but I'm in love the Georgia Peach colorway, its so pretty! And well I just had to buy it since I was born in Georgia. The yarn itself is squishy and lovely and I desperately want to cuddle it whenever I see it. Also the gals at Three Irish Girls threw in a coupon for free shipping and a sweater stone so I'm pretty pleased despite the wait.

Once I'm done with my current socks and my Christmas knitting, I'm considering making the Knotty or Knice socks with the Georgia Peach. The Carrick has no particular fate yet, but I'm just pleased its finally here.

The Better Baby Booties

At last here's the pattern for baby booties I made for a charity auction. These are a seaming and grafting free bootie that are very easy and quick to make. They require only fairly basic skills like decreasing, knitting in the round, and picking up stitches so knitters of almost any skill level can make them. Enjoy and happy knitting!


Materials

1 skien Blue Sky Cotton, or other worsted weight yarn

(Note: This pattern does not use an entire skien and is a good project for using up odd bits of yarn.)

Set of 5 Size 3 DPNs

Gauge

4.5 sts = 1 in

Gauge is not critical as this pattern can be easily adjusted to fit a smaller or larger foot.

Directions

Sole

• Cast on 9 sts. Knit these 9 sts in stockinette stitch for 29 rows slipping the first st of each row. Piece should measure about 4 inches (Note: If you would like a smaller or larger bootie simply change the length of the sole and adjust the number of stitches you pick up in the next step.)

Instep

• Using a new needle pick up and knit 15 stitches along the long edge of the sole. This is now needle 2

• Using another needle pick up and knit 9 stitches along short edge. This is now needle 3

• Using another needle pick up and knit 15 stitches along the other long edge. This is now needle 4. There should be 48 sts total

• Knit all sts in the round until piece measures 1" from edge where stitches were picked up.

Welt

• Knit the 9 sts of needle 1. Purl back across the same 9 sts.

• Row 1: k2tog using the first stitches on needle 1 and 4, k7, ssk using last stitch of needle 1 and first stitch of needle 2

• Row 2: purl

• Repeat rows 1 and 2 until only 32 sts remain

Cuff

• Resume knitting remaining sts in the round in 1X1 rib until ribbing measures 2 inches.

• Loosely bind off and weave in ends.