Finished Pair of Socks #10

Saturday evening I was able to finish my 10th pair of knitted socks for the year. These are a Christmas gift. It's nice to have several gifts complete 2 months before the big day. I'll ignore the fact that I have a couple sweaters to knit still.

I started both socks with the outside end of the skein but ended up with stripes going in opposite directions. Makes them even funkier, I guess. I think the new owner will love them.

Heels ended up different too.

With all this sock knitting happening, my container of sock yarn scraps has started to overflow. So I did the only thing I could do...

... I started a pair of Frankensocks. As you can see I didn't have much yarn left of the last two pairs I finished. I'll be using the same yarn for the cuffs, heels and toes of both socks. That yarn is leftover from the third pair of socks I ever knit almost 5 years ago and still wear.

I also made some progress on the Cusp socks. I finished the heel and started the foot. I kept messing up the one row and had to redo it several times which slowed me down. Above is the back.

And here is the front. 

Just a few days left in Socktober. I'm going to try and stay focused on socks for the rest of the week but I've been really tempted to cast on some new projects - like a sweater for myself - that would use bigger needles.

Knits in Progress

I don't think I'll be posting a Friday finish tomorrow so I thought I'd share the progress I've been making on several projects. All of these are gifts for Christmas. 

Knit a lot of the Cusp socks. I am loving how they are knitting up. Pattern seems complicated but really isn't and is very addictive. I might have to make myself a pair of these some day. Above is the back of the sock.

Here is the front. Few more rounds to go before I start the heel.

Started the second sock yesterday. Plain socks knit up so fast. 

Christmas sweater for my youngest. Couple inches to knit before I split the front and back. I'm glad that it is using up some yarn from my stash. It's another pattern that looks more difficult than it actually is since only one colour is used every two rows. The placement of the knit and purl stitches give it the textured look.

And my one crocheted project is the Tardis afghan. Past the half way point but still have a lot to do. Still not sure who this will be given to but it's going to end up pretty big. Of course I took a picture of the backside but they are very similar.

Socktober Progress

In last Friday's post, I mentioned I had yarn for the next two pair of socks needing to be knit for Christmas gifts sitting beside me. Floyd didn't nap, but I was able to get started on both pairs. Here's the progress I made.

Friday evening, the beginning of the first sock came with me to my daughter's cross-country running meet.

I knit some more at home Friday night and this is what the sock looked like at my son's soccer game Saturday morning.

We watched the Back to the Future trilogy this weekend and by Monday morning I was 2 inches from the toe. 

I have to mention the needles I am using for these socks. I have always used the "cheap" metal dpn's bought at JoAnn's or Michael's but when I was at JoAnn's last week with my parents, I saw some wooden needles on sale and bought them. They are from the Deborah Norville collection by Premier Yarns. They are 6 inches, my other needles are 7 but what a difference. I am so happy I bought the wooden ones. The stitches don't slide and I love that the needles don't get stuck on my sleeve. I am very happy with them. I have some Clover bamboo needles which I also like, but these are a nice, cheaper, wood option.

Finished the first sock last night while watching the Canadian election results (bye-bye Harper).

Love the stripes. Doubt the second one will match up but that's okay.

The second pair I started are a little trickier but have been fun to knit. Pattern is Cusp by Cookie A. I also bought a smaller pair of the wooden needles. These are 2.75mm, while the needles for the striped socks are 3.25mm.

I see lots of knitting in my future this week. Last week my husband was home sick 3 days with a cold and now Floyd and I are battling it. Lots of sitting on the couch and watching tv happening here. 

Finished Pair of Socks #9 and a hat

It's been pretty quiet on the blog, hasn't it? Not many excuses,  I didn't really have much to blog about. I've been making progress on several projects and I've been able to finish 2. My 9th pair of socks for the year were finished this morning and are now with all the other finished Christmas presents waiting to go to their new home in a couple months. I also finished a hat that I couldn't resist.

Here are the socks. Kroy sock yarn. Stripes didn't even come close to matching up and I like it. As nice as it was that the stripes lined up last time, I don't think I have a preference either way. I have yarn beside me for the next two pair of socks to be knitted for gifts. I'll probably cast on both this afternoon if Floyd cooperates and has a nap (he's skipped his nap 2 days this week). 

I wasn't sure about this yarn when it was in a skein but I love how they turned out.

Jen's latest book, Sock-Yarn Accessories arrived here a few weeks ago and I've been wanting to cast something on from it. I finally decided on the Forest Walk hat. I've been wanting a light hat that can be worn when I need just a little bit of warmth. All my other hats are thick and very warm. This hat is light enough that I wore it for several hours inside after I finished knitting it. I still need to block it so there might be more pictures of it later. The only change I made was to do 2 instead of 3 repeats of the lace pattern.

I love leaves and any pattern with them is hard for me to resist. 

Trying to decide what I want to knit next out of the book. I'm thinking Dundee scarf. I've also decided I need a Knit Like Crazy knitting queue and an everything else knitting queue. I just love Jen's patterns so much and how they are written. And I know she's friendly and is great responding to any questions or concerns a knitter has about one of her patterns. She also released a new ebook this month. She'll be adding patterns to it until December (there are currently 2) but if you buy it now, it's cheaper - the price goes up $1 every time she adds a pattern. (I'm not paid to promote Jen's patterns, I just enjoy them a lot and recommend them. Especially anyone new to knitting lace.)

Finished Pair of Socks #8 and Socktober

It's been a few months, but I finally finished another pair of knitted socks. This is the 8th of 12 pairs I hope to knit this year. 

Somehow the stripes lined up without me trying. Love it.

Leg stripes match but the heels don't.

I used the short row heel that I usually use with toe-up socks. Much quicker than doing my usual top-down heel. 

Started pair #9. The weather has been so nice that we're able to spend time outside without getting overheated. Boys had fun in the sandbox yesterday after school while I knit a few rounds.

The sock this morning, a few stripes later. 

As of right now, I have 4 pairs of socks on my Christmas to-make list. Pair #9 is meant to be a gift and above is the rest of the yarn meant to become pairs of socks for family this Christmas. Think I can get all 4 knitted this month for Socktober? I'm aiming for 3. 2 pairs will be plain. Socks knit with the red and purple yarns will have a pattern. At least that's the plan. Which pattern I'll use is still being decided. Lace? Cables? Who knows.

Do you have a favourite sock pattern?

What I read in September

I kind of lost my reading mojo this month so the books read list is short. Some of my reading mojo left due to editing my novel and my brain didn't want to read and edit different novels. However, it feels like my mojo may be coming back, if only to read graphic novels. 

Surfacing by Margaret Atwood

A reread. One of the many favorite novels I had planned to reread for my birthday month but it's the only one I read. It's less than 200 pages but took me almost 3 weeks to read - with no reading mojo, I really had to force myself to read. This might be the first Atwood novel I read. I think my sister had read it for a university course than gave it to me to read when I was in high school. I can still remember sitting in the school library reading it. It's still great and a little weird. You never know the name of the main character. The novel is about a woman who returns to her childhood home with three friends to try and find her missing father. The home is a rustic cabin on an island. Truths about her past come out and she kind of losses her mind. I still highly recommend it and glad I reread it. I had forgotten enough of the details to make it really interesting to read.

I hope to reread one favourite novel a month and share them here.

Charm by Sarah Pinborough

This is part of a trilogy and is a retelling of the Cinderella story. I had thought this book would make a good selection for our mother-daughter book club but there was too much sex stuff in it. Overall, it was okay. I had another book from the trilogy home from the library, started it and decided I had better things to do and returned it. It was a nice change but it just wasn't my thing. I like the idea of playing with fairytales and changing them up a bit but I didn't love this retelling. Someone else might, just a warning about the sexual content.

Fables: Legends in Exile - Graphic Novel

Keeping with the fairy tale theme, this is the first in a series of graphic novels about fairy tales and the characters being forced to live in our world but wanting to be back in theirs. Some characters are able to blend in, others obviously aren't and live on a "farm" in the country. Some characters were able to pay witches and are made to look human. The Big Bad Wolf is now Bigby, a detective. Snow White is the deputy mayor and basically runs everything. A great, quick read that I really enjoyed. Recommended by my husband to me, and I'd recommend it to you.

Fables: Animal Farm - Graphic Novel

This is the second in the Fables series. Another great, quick read. This one took place on the "farm" where all the fairy tale characters live that couldn't fit into society, think giants, three little pigs, the three bears, etc... Several of them revolt, planning to invade and eventually take back their fairytale lands from the "Adversary" who kicked them out. I don't know much about the Adversary yet and I'm looking forward to learning more. I won't spoil the ending by telling you what happens during the revolt but it's good. 

One thing I really like about the Fables series so far is the strong women. Snow White is in charge in the City. Her sister, Rose Red, becomes a strong character by the end of the second book. And Goldilocks is leader of the revolt (who knew she'd do that). It's nice to see female characters in a graphic novel who aren't toppling over with cleavage. They also have brains and aren't afraid to use them. 

So, what have you been reading? 

A Few Finishes

Life got busy around here. I'm now vice-president of the PTO at my son's school and there's been other school meetings/ commitments that have been eating my time and energy. My brain has been so cloudy and scattered the past week that I haven't been able to focus on the blog, editing, or reading. It's been a long, frustrating week. Yesterday I started to feel like I'm coming out of the fog and feel more like myself. I got a little editing done and even read a bit - a graphic novel, but it counts. Here's what I've been knitting over the past week.

I knit a Gothic Lace scarf for my friends birthday. We had our birthday dinner last Friday so I needed it finished by Wednesday so I could block it on Thursday. I think I ended up finishing it Thursday morning and had it blocked before lunch. Above is a picture of the lace before blocking.

And after. The yarn is Aran weight and is very warm and soft.

Here is the whole scarf before being blocked. 

And after. I still had a little yarn leftover and could have done a couple more repeats but it was getting pretty long. This is the yarn's true colour.

Here it is wrapped around. Very tempted to keep it.

Knotted. I think it's a great length (my husband thought it was too long) and my friend loved it.

I also gave her this Vispo cowl which I showed pictures of in a previous post, here. This is a more detailed picture.

I also finished the pink one for my SIL's birthday next month. 

Comparing the two. Pink unblocked, red blocked. Both are made with Cascade 220 Superwash.

You can see the difference when worn as well. The blocked one is more "relaxed" around my neck.

Unblocked, the cowl sits up more. I kind of like it this way but I will be blocking it to help with the rolled edges.

I finished the first sock and only have the toe left on the second. Really love the stripes.

And this guy loves pumpkins so one night I made him one. This is his face when I told him to smile.

Yeah, it's adorable. Pattern can be found for free, here.