Lickety Split FO

One pair off the needles means another pair on (not counting the TTL Mystery socks, of course). I wanted to start a pair of socks that I could easily work on during staff meetings and while riding in the car across town to soccer games & soccer practice. Little did I know that my car project would take such a hold of me that I would work on them outside of riding in the car...

Presenting:

Van Dyke Socks by Wendy D. Johnson

Yarn: STR Mediumweight
Colorway: River Rocked
Needles: Knit Picks 2.75mm
Size: 52 stitches - 5 repeats on the foot before gusset increases, 6 pattern repeats on the leg

Neato-Bandito trick: Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-Off. It is slick & makes a nice stretchy cuff, perfect for toe-up socks! You can find the how-to in the Fall issue of Knitty.

Cast on: Sunday afternoon, October 11, 2009
Finished: Saturday afternoon, October 17, 2009

These were such a blast to knit. I was inspired after reading the Rockin' Sock Club forum on Ravelry & saw another knitter had used her Sept. yarn for a pair of socks other than the intended pattern. I felt like I had been given permission to deviate from the club shipment. I loved the yarn - such pretty fall colors!, but the pattern did not interest me that much. So - I followed her lead & knit the Van Dyke socks - a pattern from "Socks From the Toe-Up" by Wendy D. Johnson of Wendy Knits! Fantastic, fun, quick pattern. It certainly didn't hurt that the yarn was a heavier weight than what I've been knitting with lately & that every other row of the 10 row repeat was a knit row.

True, instant gratification knitting. Now to find another project that will be easy to work on while in the car....

Happy Knitting! Ciao~

It's Go Time!

The Babies & Bears Sweater KAL has officially begun. I know - crazy to think about a sweater project when holiday knitting should be forefront in my mind, but that's just how I roll, I guess. Also - my BKFF & I thought we'd make this a nice and loooooooong KAL (through Feb) so that folks can get the holiday knitting completed without having to stress over the KAL progress. Since I haven't really started any holiday knitting, I figured I'd start right away.

Here's what I have so far:

Not too much - cuff #1 is done (who knew 2" was so big?) & 2 sets of increases of the sleeve are done. The construction is interesting as the sweater is knit from the cuff to the middle of the back & front, repeated for the other side & then the backs are grafted together. Pure knitting genius, I say. Right now the knitting is fairly straight forward & brainless - good t.v. knitting for sure!

Meanwhile I'm plugging away on the TTL Mystery sock as well as sock #2 of some instant gratification knitting.

More later - it was an in-service day today, so I'm actually home at a reasonable time. Kids & hubby aren't home yet, so perfect quiet atmosphere for some quality knitting time.

~Ciao

Socktober is for Socks!

Nothing like a witty name for the month of October to get me inspired to finish languishing pairs of socks!


Details:

Pattern: Shur'tugal

Yarn: BMFA Socks That Rock Lightweight

Colorway: Star Sapphire

Size: Medium (64 stitch count)

Needle: Knit Picks 2.25mm

Cast On: March 28, 2009
Cast Off: October 11, 2009

These were started for the Socks That Rawk Ravelry group's Q2 KAL. I finished the 1st sock in a reasonable amount of time (for me) & then let it sit, and sit, and sit. Fortunately I left it on my dresser so I'd have to look at its lonely face every day. Finally I'd had enough & in my flurry of finishing of late, decided to finally knit up its mate once and for all.

So glad I did - this is a great pattern & the socks fit fine. I really love how the pattern flows into the heel:


Expect a couple more pairs over the coming months. I've finished clue #2 for the TTL Mystery Sock KAL and cast-on a pair using a pattern from Wendy Knits' Socks From the Toe Up book.

Happy Knitting & Happy Fall!

Ciao~

FO: Hey Teach!.... Again...

Few patterns harness my knitting mojo and make me want to make it more than once. Monkey Socks, Leyburn socks, the Danish Ear Flap Cap are the ones that spring to mind. And now - Hey, Teach! Joins the list. Last year I jumped on the bandwagon & knit Hey, Teach only to underestimate my size & the finished project was too small. So - I ordered the same yarn & set out to knit it again - a size larger - for me. And finally - I have achieved my quest.



Details:

Pattern: Hey, Teach! (knitty - Summer 2008)

Yarn: Knit Picks Shine, Worsted

Needles: KPO US 8

Mods: Nothing except the three-needle bind-off.

Lots of finishing around here. Another project is on its way to FO status. I think that gives me the green light to cast on a new project.


This is some Malabrigo sock yarn, remnants from the Jeanne Shawl that I'm going to use for the 2009 Mystery Sock KAL designed by Kirsten Kapur of Through The Loops. Come along & Join us!

~Ciao