FO Report: Lemon Ice Socks

Happy Birthday to me! Yes, I am posting this on my birthday. This year marks 35 years on this earth. I'm very excited about my birthday. Not that there is much planned, but I'm always a bit happier and cheerful on my birthday, as well as I should be. :-)

A pair of socks has made its way off my needles, yay! Lemon Ice socks which were gifted by Kathy in my coffee swap package. The sockotta sock yarn did not sit long and immediately launched itself onto my needles.

A very simple sock, a k3, p2 rib. I used 60 sts on the first sock and realized it was too wide. 55 sts on the second one and it's a perfect fit. The socks are quite comfortable and cozy. Not much to say about these socks. The yarn was easy to work with. Not exactly my favorite, but definitely nothing wrong with it.



Project Specifications:
Sockotta sock yarn
Needle size: US 2 (2.75 mm) dpns
Started: mid-July 07
Finished: August 07
Mods: none really.

And because Beth asked so nicely, a couple photos of the finished DFS modeled by me.





Have a great day! I sure intend to. Oh and while you're at it, please wish my grrl,
Michelle, a Happy One year Anniversary!!

FO: Diamond Fantasy Shawl

I posted some pictures a couple of weeks ago about the blocking of my finished Diamond Fantasy Shawl. Sorry it took so long. I thought I would get some pictures with me modeling it, but my photographer hasn't been around lately (too much working late) to get a good picture, but I was also too lazy to get out the tripod, so what you see is what you get, sorry.

Because I only had 500 yards of yarn, I planned to knit the scarf version, which I knit an extra repeat of the pattern. The I-cord edging uses up a lot of yarn, so I'm glad I stopped at one additional repeat.



This is a pattern that I would normally not knit, just looking at it, it's not the type of lace I was drawn to. However, I liked the idea of using some of those huge skeins of sock yarn as something other than socks. The pattern was a bit challenging, but in the end totally worth it for me. When I took the "scarf" off of the needles, it was indeed a scarf. Once I blocked it though, it really grew quite substantially. It's a good sized shoulder scarf/shawl now and I really like it.



Pattern:
Diamond Fantasy Scarf/Shawl by Sivia Harding
Yarn: Hello Yarn fingering sock yarn(wool/nylon blend) in color Staggering
Started: Mid-March '07 (during Spring Break)
Completed: July 29, 2007
Modifications: just knit an additional repeat of pattern to use more yarn and make a bigger shawl.

I also finished up the Lacy Rib Tank. I'll eventually get some pics of it up. I'm not pleased with this one at all. It's just ok. It might not get a lot of wear, we'll see. I wore it once and was less than impressed.

P.S. It might be a little bit before the next blog post. I was going through the blog blahs for the last little bit, but now my laptop has a virus and I'll be backing up stuff and doing a "destructive recovery" so says the HP support rep. So it's all fun and smiles at Chez WWK.

P.P.S. Thanks to those lovelies who have already sent me birthday cards, it really brightened up my day yesterday.

Shh, Pay No Attention to Me . . .

Just blocking here. . .
Finally, a Diamond Fantasy Scarf/Shawl almost done. The beauty that is blocking.


A little closer now:



Look at those pretty diamonds and that point!*swoon*

Vacation Knitting

While I was on vacation, it wasn't all hanging out with the Neph and acquiring yarn. There was some knitting happening too, just not as much as I expected, but that's ok too. It was my vacation.

First up is the almost finished Ballet Camisole. In the picture, you see that it is awaiting a 3 needle bindoff. However, that has occurred and it's been shipped off to my favorite crocheter to give it a single crochet edge around the neckline and armholes. This was a fun knit and I learned short rows, bonus! The pattern didn't call for it, but Lise on Ravelry told me the only thing she would change would be to add short rows and thus I decided it was time for me to get over it and add them to this project.

After much searching online for various tutorials, it wasn't as hard as I thought! Yay!



Second, the Cafe Curtain socks are coming along, but they are not quite as fun to knit as other patterns. It is a beautiful pattern, but either I'm not into it as much as say Monkey or Thuja or I don't know. I like it and think that I want to finish it, but with the Summer of Socksalready started, this sock will be put down for awhile, to focus on new socks. Not that my goal for SOS is any huge number, but I'm not too motivated by this one right now.



Lastly, DFS looks even bigger than this right now. I'm on the last repeat of the shawl. I'm following the scarf pattern as I have 500 yds and the shawl version calls for 750 yards. I've decided to add one repeat to the pattern to see where I am yardage-wise. Right now, it looks good to add one additional repeat, but I haven't decided if I will go beyond that. I know another person that recently made this said the edging used up a lot of yarn and I really would rather not repeat running out of yarn on a shawl (Seraphim anyone?).



The Opal socks are still being knit on, but I'm a bit disappointed with them right now. It turns out I knitted the second sock on the wrong size needles, so the fabric is a bit looser than I prefer. I thought of ripping it out, but I do have one finished sock. However, I did a lot of wrong things on this pair of socks and I'd like for them to just be finished. I made the cuff much longer than I usually like, so now it's so long, calf shaping should have been added. Basically it's either rip and redo or finish what I've got. I'm with option B at this point, simply because while these socks are not perfect, they can be used as work socks. Because I always get cold and in the summer/spring, early fall, wearing either mules, clogs or open-toed shoes, my feet get cold. Nothing like wool socks to keep those toesies warm! Plodding along, I will get these finished, just because I'm sick of them. And then I can cast on for my Sockapalooza pal's sock. I really do need to get started on them.

That's all for now.

WIP It Real Good

Hey knitfriends,
Life has not been too busy, but haven't really felt much like blogging. Not that life hasn't been busy, but no busier than normal, really.

I thought I'd mention all the projects that are on my needles, some of which haven't even made it to the blog yet. It felt nice to get rid of a couple of projects off the needles, but I still have more I'd like to see off. I feel like Jeni. She has a "Free The Needles" project, where she must finish projects on the needles before getting started with new projects.

First off, the Monkey socks, using Austermann Step. I love knitting with this yarn b/c it is so moisturizing, but I just finished the heel flap and am now on the decreases for the sock. I just feel like I'm knitting and knitting and getting nowhere, but that's not really the fault of the sock, b/c I've also been knitting here and there on the Opal "to go" socks in my car and those suckers will never end. I hope to finish these socks in the next 2 weeks, so I can be done with them.



Next up is a project that the blog hasn't even seen, it is my start to the Diamond Fantasy Shawl. I'm using some of the Hello Yarn I purchased earlier in the year in the color Staggering. I love how the pattern is working with this pattern. I haven't had much of a chance to work on it, although I cast on during my Spring Break mid-March. But as school is winding down, the classwork is not all done, so I haven't been able to sit down and concentrate on this one like I've wanted to for a few weeks. Hopefully soon it will get some love.



The Classic Elite Top-down Raglan Cardi is getting some attention again. I finally picked up the stitches to start working on sleeve #1. I wish it was done, but I've been working a lot on it. The sleeve is now at the elbow, so we're in the homestretch. I did think alot about the length of the cardi and if I needed to knit it longer. It's actually at a good length now, but I was thinking of a sweater I have at work and it's much longer. I compared the two sweaters and the "work" sweater is at least 5 1/2 inches longer. I don't think I want the top-down cardi to be that long. The work sweater is all about comfort and warmth as I freeze alot at work. The orange cardi won't be for work and I generally don't like them this long. After I finish the sleeves, I'll see if I want to make it longer. If I do, it would be maybe 2 inches longer. I think I have enough yarn to do this and that may happen. I'll keep you posted.




The last two projects are some baby raglan sweaters. Actually at this point, all pieces have been knitted and I'm in the process of sewing them up. Please remind me the next time I think about doing this pattern again how much I hate all the seaming. It's just way too much work for one little sweater. Top-down or bottom-up in the round from now on for baby knitting.




The last project that's being worked on is the Chevron Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I decided to spare you another picture. It's just getting longer, although I am getting bored with knitting it. I will definitely be stopping at the end of the skeins I'm using. I'm at about 50 inches now. I think once I reach my height in inches (64"), if I'm not out of yarn, I'll be stopping then. I really don't like terribly long scarves either.

Well, that's it for me today. Hopefully you'll see another post this week. Things may be scarce on the blogging front between now and May 5th, which is the end of my semester.