Just In Time

Well, I finally finished my Halloween socks; not a minute too soon! My own design, they feature a jack-o-lantern on the heels. I used Kroy Socks in Westport Check and Orangina. On the first one, I did the face of the jack-o-lantern in duplicate stitch, but found that a little difficult. So the mate was done by stranding the yarn for the features. This was my first attempt with fair isle or intarsia knitting, so I am pleased with the results.

BTW, these are the Secret Socks mentioned way back on Sept. 15; took a little longer than expected to finish! I had them set aside for weeks waiting to do the duplicate stitch on the first one. I couldn't pick up the stitches on the heel flap until I had a face on my pumpkin, and I just couldn't seem to find a chance to sit down, remove all vision correction, and stitch with the heel flap four inches from my nose.

I'm really getting a kick out of these, and have lots of ideas for more! :)

WIPs

Now that it is October (even tho' the temps are in the 80's), it feels like the holidays will actually arrive, so I have been motivated to work on my SIL's prayer shawl:

Feel free to ignore the lens cap I left at the base of the mannequin.

I'm well into the third skein, and the shawl is about halfway done, so I figure 5 skeins ought to do it. I was playing around with the fringe a little; I think I will combine dyed and natural yarns. Looks like it will make a nice accent.

Here is my current walking project:

It is a brioche stitch scarf made of hand-dyed yarn. I like the affects you get with brioche stitch and variegated yarns. I'm almost done with one skein, and the scarf is only 14 inches long. I only dyed two skeins; looks like I need to do at least one more.

I have abandoned the fanny pack in favor of the small canvas tote you see in the pic; it hangs from my wrist in a most convenient fashion. And I'm actually looking forward to my walks, since they give me more knitting time!

I'm about to cast on for a vest for CIC; I'll have to knit fast in order to get it out in time to be included in the vest challenge (300 vests by 10/31). I plan to use a pattern of my own devising; will share when it is complete.

Kitchener Fest

I had to reinstall the operating system on a server today, which is always fun. Since there is a lot of waiting involved, I grabbed all the socks with toes waiting to be seamed, and started kitchenering. Helps to keep me calm while waiting for the server to do its thing, and freed up some needles so I can start more CIC socks. Like the mate for that grey one in the middle.

BTW, I finally made a short-row heel that I like. The orange & yellow socks on the left turned out just how I wanted (after several tries). I took pics and will post soon how I did it (after I get this stoopid server up & runnning again). Wish me luck.

I had no idea

You Are Machiavelli's Spawn

You're going to get what you want, and no one's going stand in your way. (Even if it's just knocking out your roomie to get the last ice cream sandwich!) People who slow you down, simply need to be taken out - by any means possible. You are the master of charming, wooing, manipulating, and intimidating.

How Machiavellian Are You?

I am oddly pleased. Sort of.

Successful experiment

Today I finally got around to trying out an idea I had a while back, combining (boring) expercise with (fun) knitting.

I try to go for walks on a regular basis, but I really hate walking when I don't have a destination. When I worked downtown, I usually picked a lunch place that was a nice distance away. But now that I work out of my home, the only thing within walking distance is more homes. Boooooooooring.

Today I grabbed a fanny pack, some 16" circs, and a ball of yarn, and headed out the door. I chose a route that wouldn't put me near much traffic, and a project that didn't require much attention (stocking hat). By the time I finished casting on (which I had to do twice, since I didn't give myself enough tail the first time), I had walked farther than I usually do, and it seemed like I had just left. Definitely an improvement over my usual experience!

OK, casting on while walking wasn't the easiest thing in the world, since the tail was rather long to start out. So, from now on, I'll do my casting on @ home. But knitting sure does make walking more tolerable! I wonder if the folks along my route will start to talk about the peripatetic knitter?