Evidence of life

Wow! Didn't mean to miss an entire month there. I still have to blog about our trip to London back in June, and more recently I've actually knit some stuff. But today is filled with the misery that comes from having a small dog barf on your bed at 4:30AM and a mostly unsuccessful attempt to finish sleeping on the sofa (with him, of course).

I will try to catch up more, soon.

Shown below: a pair of baby socks I just finished, from Kate Atherley's free pattern. Used Patton's Kroy sock yarn and size 1 needles.

FO: Socks for a little boy

Actually, he now demands to be called a "medium boy".

Anyway, it was too hot to knit at the beach, so I worked on a pair of socks. I did the cast-on, heel, and toe while my mum did the boring (easy) bits in between.

Yarn: Felici Sport in "Dapple" from KnitPicks
Needles: #1 (as always, I did the "Two Circs" method using a pair of 16" wooden tipped needles)
Pattern: followed the basic sock pattern in "Sensational Knitted Socks", at 56 stitches. For variety, we did these cuff-to-toe. We didn't stress out about making them match, so these are technically fraternal twins instead of identical twin socks.

FO: socks for Theo

My mom and I always co-knit a pair of socks when the family goes on vacation. I do the "twiddly bits" (heels, toes, and bind-off) while she knits the boring stretches in between.

Details here (Rav link). The yarn is S. R. Kerzer On Your Toes 4-Ply with Aloe Vera in the "Weekend Print" colorway.

These were meant to fit my 7-year-old but I forgot how loosely my mother knits... this comfortably fit a woman with size 7 feet! However, my son loves the colors, so I've packed these away until his feet get a bit bigger.

FO: amigurami starfish

This was a great week for finishing things: I polished off a pair of mittens (still waiting to block and dry them), the first of a pair of Longitudinal socks

and this lovely little starfish:

Starfish knit from scraps of Cascade 220 Superwash on #2 needles. Pattern is by Hansi Singh, from Amigurami Knits.

One sock done

I was supposed to make a pair of socks for our neighbor's son's birthday, but Real Life got in the way and I ended up frantically binding off the first sock just before the party. I wrote a nice note in the card explaining that the second sock was OTN and would arrive shortly, but the card got separated from the present. I'm told that there was much laughter and confusion about the presentation of one sock before my husband was able to break in and explain.

So here, have a crappy low-light picture of one blue sock:



It was knit on #2 needles out of Bamboo and Ewe that I got at our local Jo-Ann Fabric. Amazingly enough, this sock used up less than half the ball of yarn, so I can get a pair out of one skein. Awesome!

FO: orange socks

Details: a made-up pattern for a six-year-old
Knit toe-up until I had just under half the skein (by weight) on the sock
Includes an Eye of Partridge heel and a heel flap
Yarn: Heart and Sole, in "Tequila Sunrise", 1 skein
Needles: size 2 wooden, two 16" needles from Knitpicks

Comments: the knitting itself was quite easy. The yarn was disappointing... some underdyed spots and one long run of white (totally undyed) at the top of the right sock. Fortunately, my son declares that he still loves them. Now they go into a bag with some lavender until the cold weather comes back.

FO: knee-socks!

Size: child age 7
Yarn: Knitpick's Felici Sport, 2 skeins
Colour: Garden Gate (sadly, discontinued)
Pattern: basically just the sock pattern that lives in my head, although I did use some help from More Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch. Since I knit these socks toe-up, I used up basically every inch of yarn in both skeins.

I actually knit these back in June, but didn't get a chance to photograph them properly until today.