Some catching up to do!

For the last few posts, I've been promising that I would post some photos of my finished Amaya sweater, and today I'm finally doing it! See:

A finished sweater! It really was very easy knitting. If I could change anything (which is not going to happen), I would probably have gone down a needle size (or maybe even two), as the finished sweater really grew after washing. I even put it in the dryer in the hopes of shrinking it some, but I think it's just in the nature of the bamboo rayon be slinky. And heavy. Anyway, it's cute enough, and I'll just have to make sure I wear a little something underneath it since the fabric is a little sheer to wear unlayered.

I've also finished my Frankenanklet, made from sock yarn leftovers. Three of the yarns are ones I purchased at Sock Summit in the hopes of making something for myself and the fourth was from a skein I bought in Ft. Wayne. These socks were pretty simple knitting, even if they were done two-at-a-time on size 0 needles. I knit them toe-up until I ran out of yarn, then added the next yarn and the next until I had a pair of anklets. It was pure accident that a color change happened at the heel flap - I couldn't have planned it, but I'm glad it worked out that way. I may do this again with yarn scraps, but the next ones will probably have more color changes, as most of the leftovers I have now are shorter lengths. But what would I name them, now that I've used Frankenanklet? I'll have to think on that one.

I've also made a little more progress on my Columbines needlepoint. There's just a little more of the background left to finish and then I can move on to the border! I actually had to run out to the needlepoint shop to pick up one more skein of the background color - I was so close to finishing! I'm just grateful that the new skein is in the same dye lot. Whew!

Well, that's it for today, I think. Next time, I can tell you about my current knitting WIPs and maybe I'll have more progress on the needlepoint. Until then, Friends!

Back on track!

The knitting was so much better this week! Once I got the Rick socks back on the needles (a two-hour process, btw), the gusset decreases went really quickly. It seemed like it took almost no effort at all. It might have had something to do with my having done this once already, but whatever, I'll take completed gussets over incomplete gussets anytime. I've also made pretty good progress on the feet. I'm not sure how that happened, but for me, it seems like once I can get going on the feet of the socks, my needles fly. Anyway, I've only got about three inches left on these socks before I can call them finished. I'm SO looking forward to these socks being done!

I also made a little more progress on the Columbines needlepoint, slow and steady with the background. What's nice about it is that I don't have to concentrate all that hard on it, so it's a good break from the attention that the Rick socks require. I'm getting pretty close to halfway through the field, and more and more I'm liking how it's coming along.

So that's all I have for tonight, I hope next time I'll be able to say that the Rick socks are finished and that I've moved on to my next project. I think I'm feeling like taking a little break from socks. I'm pretty sure I need a break from socks. Until next time, Friends!

Home stretch? Not so much.

So, this week I thought I'd made some progress on the Rick socks, turning the heels and completing the gusset decreases. I'm not sure why I blew off the top-of-foot charts, though, but I did. What I got was a twisted foot to each of the socks that had no chance of being wearable. Of course, I couldn't really tell until I got the gussets decreased and had both tops on one needle and the soles on the other. Once I could see how twisted the socks were, I started ripping. A whole week's worth of knitting. So frustrating! I guess I'll just have to consider it another lesson in humility. Read the chart. Follow the chart. Trust the chart.

In better news, I've gotten a little farther along with the columbines needlepoint that I set aside for the Christmas knitting. I'm very pleased with how the background color is looking against the flowers. I'm so glad I chose a color with enough contrast. Now it's just slow and steady to get it done. With the 18 mesh canvas I'm working on here, that's 324 stitches per square inch. It's a lot of stitches!

Well, that's all for today, Friends. Let's hope for a little success.

Beginning to think about holiday knitting

October has barely begun, the trees are just starting to turn, and I'm realizing that there's something like 2-1/2 months until Christmas. And I'm panicking a little. You see, I had the ridiculous idea that it would be nice if I knit up some cute little owls as stocking stuffers for my nieces and nephews. I'm using the Big, Snowy Owl pattern from the Purl Bee, but I'm doing it in fingering-weight yarn. I don't think it will take too long to finish each owl, but however long it takes, I hope to finish 24 of them in time for Christmas.

I've also been making progress with the Scylla socks for my husband. This has been a nice, simple knit, perfect for my morning commute. I started the gussets this afternoon, so at this pace, I hope to finish these socks by the middle of next week or so. Once the yarn for my father-in-law's socks arrives, I'll get going on those.

The Columbines needlepoint is coming along nicely. I've finished all the foreground stitching and just have the miles of background stitches and the border stitching to do. There's no hurry on this project, so if I have to, I can set it aside. It's been a nice change of pace from all the knitting I've been doing, but I'm definitely a better knitter than I am a needlepointer. Maybe after Christmas I can focus on getting better at needlepoint?

Anyway, that's all I have for tonight. Until next time, Friends.