Monday, November 10, 2008

One sock done, Stash, More Holiday Projects and Babbling

Here is the first completed Monkey sock:

I decided to make these for my Mom for the holidays, and I followed Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's guidelines for foot length (as stated in her book Knitting Rules!) but they seem too long for my Mom's size 6 feet. I tried them on and I'm not sure if it's because of the stretch that the lace pattern gives the sock, but my size 9 1/2 foot fit it pretty comfortably. I'm going to have her try it on at Thanksgiving and I might have to rip out a repeat or two and redo the toe to make it fit well.

I like this pattern, but because the yarn I used didn't have a lot of stretch the cuff is a bit tight around my calves (I'm a big girl though so my Mom should be fine with them). I used the Twisted German cast-on for stretchiness, but if I made a pair of these for me in similar yarn, I'd probably cast on more stitches for the cuff and then work a couple of decreases before the lace started.

More Stash Aquisition to share (it's all from The Loopy Ewe):

Rach picked this skein out in "Lovely" from Chewy Spaghetti's Spaghetti II line. It'll be socks for her at some point:


This is the colorway "Verdigris" from Araucania's Ranco Multy (just cause it's pretty):

This is also from Araucania. The yarn line is Ranco Semi-Solid and the colorway is "Mauve."
These will be socks, but I'm still deciding who'll get them (no, they are not for me).

It's comletely overcast here [we had really wet sloppy snow last night (blech) and we have a winter storm warning in effect until Tuesday night...yay Western NY weather!] so I had to use flash in some of the pictures. The color of the mauve is closer to the second picture, but it was so unclear that I included both a flash and non-flash picture.



This is Zen String's Lotus Toes yarn in "Concrete Jungle." It is going to be my Dad's holiday socks, and I had to get so much extra for his size 12 feet (I got 2 skeins, that's 970 yards!), that I'll probably have enough left over to make myself some ankle socks from it...I hope!

I'm planning on casting on the Dad socks today so I can have one Mom sock done and one Dad sock done at Thanksgiving for fitting. Then I can make adjustments and make the 2 second socks between Thanksgiving and the winter holidays.

Of course using the excuse of needing to check the fit of the socks might be an elaborate disguise for Second Sock Syndrome, but I'm doin' it anyway!

I also found out on Saturday that we're going to North Carolina for my Birthday and Thanksgiving this year to visit my Sister, my Grandpa and his Girlfriend. ::HAPPY DANCE!!!:: The reason for this last minute descision is because my Grandpa was going to sell his car (due to some medical complications his eyesight no longer allows him to drive). My parents know my car is held together with sealing wax and chewing gum so they offered to buy it from him for my Birthday, but he decided to give it to me himself for my Birthday!!!!! ::100,000,000 hugs to my Best Buddy (that's what I've called my Grandpa since I was little)::

I am very excited as my car has no heat/defrost (or AC), the driver's side window doesn't work, the Anti-Lock Brakes are messed up so sometimes my car doesn't feel like stopping, the O2 sensor is shot so the service engine light is always on (which is really fun come inspection time), it has a gas leak, body rust and has had almost everything on it replaced once (minus the engine and the body). Yeaaahhhhh, I can still drive it, but it's a problematic vehicle. My Grandpa's car is by no means new (it's a '98) but he's taken great care of it and it's in immacualte condition. I am very excited!!!

Of course I am even more excited to see everyone and have Thanksgiving together!!! Rach is coming down too!! Have I mentioned that my family in general, and especially my parents are awesome and adopted Rachel as a "daughter-in-law" before we had even been dating a year? We've been together nearly 5 years now and we share holiday custody between her Mom and my family. This isn't Rach's year to spend Thanksgiving with us, since she spent it with us last year, but her Mom was pretty understanding. Thanksgiving always gets a little extra tricky because I want to spend my Birthday with her and it's the 25th, so it falls around or sometimes on Thanksgiving itself.

Anyway, babbling about my personal life aside, because we are going down in 2 weeks (yipe!!!!), my Mom suggested we bring them down their holiday presents early to save shipping costs. They can't open them early, but that still means I have to finish them...quick!

I hadn't thought what to get my Grandpa's Girlfriend yet. So, yesterday I decided that I'm going to make her the Andean Treasure Shawl (it's actually a stole). The pattern is a free PDF from Knit Picks that also has instructions for a scarf and a throw in the same lace pattern (if anyone is looking for a last minute gift idea, you should check it out!). It's a super-easy (but pretty) lace pattern done in sport weight, so it should go pretty fast. I ordered the yarn and needles yesterday, hopefully they ship soon. I'm making it in the yarn and colorway shown in the pattern and I got a pair of the Options Interchangable Harmony Wood Circular Needles to knit it on.

I know I'm probably going to be using the 14 hour drive down to North Carolina to work on it, so I figured circs would be easier with less chances of dropped stitches and dropped needles for that matter! I'm always dropping my DPN's and then freaking out hunting for them. I'm going to have to block the stole at my Grandpa's house, but I'm sure he won't mind. Of course if it's sitting wrapped up for a month will it stayed blocked?

Yikes, what a long post today, I've got to get off the computer and get knitting!!!

1 comment:

  1. The socks came out great! Your mom will love the. My daughter is making a pair of jaywalkers for me and I can't wait to get them. I love all yarns by Araucania. They have great colorways.

    ReplyDelete