I'm back--better late than never, RIGHT?

Hey all, last week I was holed up in downtown Chicago as I had to work two days in the city.  I live 50 (!) miles away and the expressways I would have to traverse are BOTH under construction.  Needless to say, I imposed on my friend Rena (Hi Rena!) to let me stay in her apartment near Navy Pier.  Fun!  Anyway, I don't have any new pictures of the progress I made on my socks (a LOT) but here is a picture of the yarn that I will be using to knit Snowflakes in Cedarwoods by Anne Hanson:

That is Perchance to Knit in Violets and Ice that I purchased from The Loopy Ewe.  I ADORE this yarn (using it currently for Icarus in Harlot's Peacock)-not only is it gorgeously dyed, you get a crystal stitch marker with each skein of yarn!  And how can you go wrong with silk and merino?  Anyway, I still need to finish my Bee Fields before I start the Snowflakes shawl!  Can you tell I like Anne's patterns?  

Next week I should have some sock pictures and HOPEFULLY a finished Icarus in for my mom in time for Mom's Day.  Wish me luck!

Socks Socks Socks! (and stocking)

Ok, so I am a day late on the blogging (and I am watching American Idol, too!)  But I had to post some socks that I just FINISHED!  Here are Hedgerow Socks by Jane Cochran (made from Dream in Color Smooshy, Strange Harvest):

and here is a detail shot of the stitch pattern:

The only change I made was to make a flat toe instead of round and to shorten the heel a bit (I have teeny feet).  All in all a wonderful knit that I will do again.

I also got some Misti Alpaca sock yarn from Fiddlehead Yarns in Kenosha, WI (love Mindy's shop!)

Which I have already started the Oak Ribbed Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks:

This is the one of the best sock yarns I have knitted up and I have tried a lot of sock yarns!  Love the way the colors just stripe randomly!

And, I think I am the only sock knitter that hasn't knitted a jaywalker...but here is my rendition in Cherry Tree Hill Supersock, Birches:

And for my niece, I am knitting up a Judy's Colors stocking.  Leg all done, just need to do the heel and foot:

All in all, train riding has upped my knitting time and I LOVE IT!  I also love that I have a set time to arrive and leave work--not as much working later because I can (and to avoid traffic).  Anyway, I need to knit some more.  Next week I will post my latest sweater project (tangled yoke) and what I want my next big project to be.  I'll be back!

Lots of knitting, blogging, not so much

OK, OK I know I haven't been blogging that much...but I have done some knitting:

Here is a are a couple of hats from the Knitters Book of Yarn.

This one was made of Cascade 220 and fits an adult:

This one is made of Koigu and fits a baby/toddler:

This is my latest project, Scandinavian Cardigan from Cottage Creations.  Here is my Ravelry link.

Front:

Yoke Detail:

Grograin Ribbon detail, reinforcing button band and buttonholes:

Sleeve Detail (I added it myself!):

The yarn is Cascade Pastaza (50% llama, 50% wool) about 6.5 skeins of the brown, less than one each of the colors (ice blue, heather blue and heather green).  I still have enough to knit a hat to match and maybe some mittens!  I LOVED this sweater!  I bought the yarn on March 8, 2008 and finished April 6, 2008.  Knit in the round with my first steek EVER (sewing it on the machine was nerve wracking, but I got it done OK.  Cutting it was EEK scary!  But it all worked out.  I did the sleeves and body from a provisional cast on (so very easy to add the sleeve detail) and E Zimmerman's mitered button band.  And for the bottom I just added some garter stitch without reducing the number of stitches, but did go down from a size 8 needle to a size 6.  For the sleeves, I forgot to switch to the smaller needle size, but I liked how it flared out JUST FINE (ok, I did consider ripping out and replacing but my friends convinced me that it looked good).  The beauty of it is I can still do that if I want!  All in all a GREAT knit.

I also finished a feather and fan scarf from Noro Sock yarn; am working on socks (Hedgerow and Jaywalkers--I think I am the last sock knitter to knit jaywalkers!), a Christmas stocking for my niece, a shawl for my mom (supposed to have been a Christmas gift--bad me), and I just started the Tangled Yoke cardigan.  I will post more pictures when I get a chance to take them and download to my computer.  

Hopefully that won't take me two months to do!  I need a blog schedule...for now, I think I will blog at least once a week on Mondays (seem to be a good day).  If I can keep that up, I will try to add another day.  But for now, baby steps!