Summer of Love

OK, so it's nowhere near summer. But when it comes, I have the socks!



Pattern: Summer of Love Lace, from August 2007 Rockin' Sock Club
Needles: Size 1.5 Knitpicks circulars
Yarn: Socks that Rock Lightweight, Flower Power colorway
Started: March 8, 2008
Finished: March 30, 2008

I am most impressed with the fact that at 11 am on March 29, all I had for sock #2 was the cuff. The rest of it was knit in less than 48 hours.

Here and there

So, we got about 12 inches of snow Friday night/Saturday morning :( Driving home from work on Friday was horrible, then had to shovel 9 inches, and then in the morning had to shovel 3 more, plus the mess from the plow. About 3 hours total shoveling...ick! Messed up my swim mileage again too....I should be around 140 miles, but instead am at about 109. Sigh. Now a lot of the snow is melted, and tomorrow it's supposed to be about 55, so most of it should be gone after that.

I got my new STR on Saturday (cover your eyes if you don't want spoilers!):

It's beautiful. Of course, I am still on last August's sock, so who knows when I will get to play with this. I am actually hoping to finish August sometime this week though and then start on October, so all hope is not lost.

I did, last night, start some socks for my Grandma:

This is Seduction Socks, by Ann Budd. I sort of hate them. So. Ugly. I have seen nice ones, but the pattern does NOT work with this yarn. These are going to be frogged, as much as I hate frogging. Am going to try Twinkleberry instead. We'll see how that one goes.

Cliche

Yes, I am doing the thing everyone's doing, or to be more accurate, that everyone did awhile ago.

This is the beginning of a Clapotis.

I want a wrap, and I want it done faster than a lace one. I'd like to have it done by the 28th, if at all possible. I have symphony tickets, and I always get cold after intermission.

I am about halfway through the increasing section. I haven't been able to spend as much time as I'd like, due to a) being very tired, b) baking, and c) taking 3 hours to find my size 8 needles. Oh, it's in Great Adirondack Sierra, 100% alpaca. I bought this a year ago I think, at a store in Cleveland that has since gone out of business. I have 600 yards and think I should be able to make it. My gauge is a little loose so I'm hoping that helps (or perhaps I'm just delusional).

I also finished the first of the Summer of Love Lace socks this morning.

I'm not sure when I'll cast on for the second, I may wait until Clapotis is done...on the other hand, I really need a portable project, so it would behoove me to get some sort of sock on the needles ASAP.

The Evil Yarn Store (not, as you may think, evil because it makes me spend money, but because everyone who works there seems to be mean) had a sale this weekend and since we happened to be in the area yesterday, Kelly and I stopped in.

Are you surprised? Purple and black/gray? Of course not. It's Lorna's Laces Lion and Lamb, 50% silk, 50% wool. Black Purl colorway. Stupid expensive, but at least I got 20% off.

Webby

The Web Socks are done!



Pattern: Web Socks by Erica Alexander (Interweave Knits, Winter 2005)
Yarn: Louet Gems Fingering in Eggplant
Needles: Size 2 Knitpicks circulars (for the leg) and Size 1 Knitpicks circulars (for the foot)
Started: December 30, 2007
Finished: March 15, 2008

Can't wait to wear these! I love the way the yarn knits up.

New

Well, you'd think I'd be finishing off those Web Socks, but you'd be wrong. :)


This is the cuff from the Summer of Love Lace socks, which were the August 2007 Rockin' Sock Club kit. I am going to get through these club kits and get caught up, if it kills me. After steam blocking the cuff, I couldn't resist doing more:


I'm now working on the heel flap already (because these socks are so short). But it's late, so I think the flap will be as far as I get tonight.

I also made some double-decker brownies tonight.

Brownie on bottom...


Chocolate chip cookie on top.


Yum!


And for your viewing pleasure, my Siamese girl Tindomerel has decided to have a rare moment of cooperation with her poor photographer :)

Woo-Hoo!

Next FO - Solstice Slip socks!



I actually finished these Thursday night but didn't get a chance to photograph/post them yet.

Pattern: The Solstice Slip by JC Briar (June 2007 Rockin' Sock Club pattern)
Needles: Size 1 Knitpicks circulars
Yarn: Socks that Rock Lightweight in Firebird colorway
Started: Dec 30, 2007
Finished: March 6, 2008

I totally would not have picked these colors but I do love the socks. And I have some outfits that will go with the colors, so it's all good :)

I hate finishing work, la la la

So it's done.



I started working on the finishing around 10 am, and finished at 9 pm. Yikes. There were ten thousand million ends to weave in. (OK, 62, but isn't that close?)

Pattern: A Cardigan For Arwen by Kate Gilbert (Winter 2006 Interweave Knits)
Needles: Size 8 US Clover Bamboo Straights (Size 7 for the hems), plus cable needle
Yarn: Knitpicks Wool of the Andes in Amethyst Heather

Started: Dec 31, 2007
Finished: March 2, 2008

FINALLY, a completed project for 2008 :)

We've got to stop meeting like this

"Like this" being extremely infrequently.

The snow I mentioned a few weeks ago has kept coming, so that's been part of it. Also, the Arwen sweater has been horribly frustrating. I did a horrific cable mis-cross (and by horrific I mean that I couldn't stand to look at it) and had to tink back 12 rows, because I'm not comfortable ripping such complex cabling. After I fixed that, I seemed to make a mistake every other cable row, so I'd knit 4 rows, tink 3, knit 4, tink 3, and so on. This continued until I finally made myself stop working on it when I was stressed about work. That means it was primarily getting picked up on the weekends, and only every once in awhile during the week.

But I now present the completed right front of the cardigan:


And both fronts together!


I've already grafted together the top of the hood since I took the photos. Now for lots and lots of evil seaming (sleeves, back of hood, fronts to back, hood to back). I'm hoping I can get the seaming done by sometime tomorrow so I can block it and wear it on Tuesday.

Normally getting that done would be no problem, but I'm also sick. Started Tuesday with a bit of a cough, continued Wednesday, was much worse on Thursday, but by yesterday I was feeling much better and just had a residual cough. (Taking a vacation day from work - preplanned - probably didn't hurt.) But then today I've been feeling awful since I got up. I did go to the gym, which wasn't the best move, and then have been just relaxing and knitting, eating tea and soup, since I got home. It hasn't helped...I've actually been feeling worse and worse as the day has gone on. So I think I'll be going to bed for the night fairly soon, and keep my fingers crossed that I feel a ton better in the morning.

(P.S. The Solstice Slip socks are progressing as well, and I expect to have FO photos within a few days of finishing the sweater.)