knitting school dropout

my first ever sock is lonely no more:

pattern: elfine's socks by anna bell
yarn: fleece artist merino sock in "moss"
needle: addi turbo lace us1 for magic loop
time to knit: a ridiculous 6 months
thoughts: hooray! i love them.
sock #1 was my first ever sock. although i thoroughly enjoyed knitting it, a whole new world had opened up to me, and i found myself casting on for several other socks instead. socktoberfest was what finally inspired me to finish them up. after all, i was already half-way there.

this is a great pattern and a really good introduction to knitting toe-up with short-row heels. had i weighed my yarn into 2 equal balls ahead of time i would have known that i had enough yarn left to add an extra repeat to each leg. oh well, lesson learned. in the end i did 4 repeats on the foot and 4 on the leg.

now, back to my bubble pullover...

Posted by melissa at 02:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (16)

in my last entry, i mentioned that i've been casting on like crazy for new projects. i'll spare you the teeny-tiny beginnings of sweaters. i've started 2 new ones, but 2 of the other projects were suitable for carrying around and knitting in meetings, so they've seen more progress.

i started and finished a pair of mitered mittens from elizabeth zimmermann's knitter's almanac

this is a great, and very simple, pattern. i made mine extra long to keep my wrists warm when the winter winds blow up my sleeves. i used 1.5 balls of noro silk garden, but probably would have only needed 1 for standard length mittens. i knit these using magic loop, on size us5 addi turbos. they took only a few days to make.

i also started the mate to my my first ever sock, which i made in april. i forgot how much i loved this pattern! i cannot wait to wear them.

one thing i'm finding out, is that my figure 8 cast on, which i use for most socks, is pretty inconsistent. they're tight, they're loose, the have a lump in the corner. i guess i don't care all that much, because they'll be hidden in a shoe, but i guess i'm just finding it tricky to get just right. practice will make perfect, i suppose.

well, i'm off to hang out with my mom for the day, then tomorrow, i'm taking a trip to rhinebeck, just for the day (saturday). i won't be wearing any recognizable knitwear, as the weather report is sounding pretty warm. i will however be sporting my most favorite boots, seen in the photo of my first sock. maybe i'll be the only 32-yr old wearing pigtails, since i desperately need a haircut.

ugh, i'm running late as usual. see you!

p.s. check out elizabeth's senior thesis project here, and help a knitter out

Posted by melissa at 10:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (14)

i have no idea where the last few weeks have gone.
i have 569 unread feeds in my bloglines, so i'm sure i'm totally missing out on all the greatest knits/crafty things ever. i'm daring myself to read most of them tomorrow.

i finished one of the str toe-up monkey socks (left). i also started and finished a completely unrelated sock:

the sock on the right is a pattern i've made up. i'm not sure if i like it yet. i was trying out different stitch patterns and none of them were what i really wanted, so i just kind of messed with one until it no longer resembled the original and wrote it down. somehow, over the last few days, it became an entire sock. i even wrote down a pattern. now i'm thinking that i no longer like the purl gutters in the center and at the sides. i'm thinking about just changing them to knit stitches in the second sock and calling it a step above stockinette. about the yarn, it's fleece artist sea wool and I AM IN LOVE WITH IT. it's silky and gorgeous and i don't know why i've had 2 skeins sitting in my stash so long and never tried it. love it.

my bubble pullover has seen a little more progress since this photo was taken. the body is complete and has almost one whole sleeve.

alright, i need to get ready to go out and have some over-priced cocktails with one of my best friends. i've been anti-social for too long.

in a few days i'll be back with reports on the 4 other projects i started last week. really.

Posted by melissa at 07:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (13)