Undulating Rib Socks

We had a really nice Christmas this year, I hope you all did too!

I have started a new sock project. It is the undualting rib socks by Ann Budd from the book Favorite Socks.

I am using Opal Cotton yarn and size 1 needles.

I just cast these on yesterday, the pattern is pretty easy to memorize and seems to be knitting up quick.

Socks and Quilts

Here is a picture of my most recent sock. I am calling it the Yellowstone sock because I worked on it while on my trip to Yellowstone. The pattern is the Lichen Ribbed sock from the Nancy Bush book, Knitting Vintage Socks. I am using Tofutsie sock yarn on 2.25mm needles.

This is the second time I have made this pattern and I really like the way it turns out, although I am not that crazy about the pearl 3 together that needs to be done on the toes. The toe feels great when it is done, but that is a hard stitch to do! The heel is called the welsh heel and is pretty easy to do and fits and looks good.

On a quilting front I have been working on the Washington Medallion quilt. I absolutely love this quilt! The pattern is by Sue Garman and it is being offered as a block of the month from Homestead Hearth in 2 different color ways. I have chosen to do it mine in chocolates and pinks. Now people who know me well are probably wondering how it's going for me with others choosing my fabrics. I know I am a bit persnickety and opinionated about such things, but I have to say I have only had to make a few substitutions so far.

Here it is with the checkerboard row being planned. I really hated that the pattern had us strip piece (YUCK!!) I should have followed my own instincts here, but tried to be a good pattern follower. For me, not only is it less accurate to strip piece, but it also far too uniform looking for my tastes. I have spent more time ripping apart my strip sets to fix fabric placements than it would have taken me to just cut squares and create 4 patches. OH well, it is almost done and I think that the finished round will look good.

I have also been busy working on my Charleston Harbor quilt, my Cabbage Rose blocks and my Foxtail sweater, so I should have more pictures to come, as well as pictures of our trip to Yellowstone.

Update time

Hi all!! I have my last class tonight and then I am officially finished with school - YEAH!!!!
I have managed to get a little sewing in lately. I have finished 2 more of my Mother Earth blocks, several more Charleston harbor blocks and started on my Washington Medallion quilt. I have included pictures of the Mother Earth blocks.

I changed the layout for the block on top. I think it was originally intended to be an anvil, but I wanted a star instead, so I made it into a star.
I will have more pictures to come as soon as I unpack my camera. We moved last month and most of my life is still in boxes in the garage, so hopefully since I am done with school, I might actually have time to unpack now.

Well, that's it for now. I promise more pictures will be coming soon. Also, my friend Mary sent some instructions for linking posts together on my blog, so I will be playing with that soon too.

Charleston Harbor Update

I am working on another block of the month quilt and just got caught up with the rounds today. I am home from work with a head cold so spent a little time puttering in my sewing room between naps.



I did not care for the what the pattern called for as the next round so I made up my own, go figure huh? Where I have hour glass blocks and a checkerboard border, the pattern called for a chain block (double 4 patch) and flying geese. It reminded me of a picket fence, so I changed it up.






Here is a close up of my revised round. As I worked on this I have come up with new ideas for the rest of the quilt too. I always think of patterns as merely suggestions to how the quilt could be made and not stead fast rules.

Chocolat Progress

Well, I finally got the churn dash round added to this and now I am not sure if I want to add the next round. While it is true that I am quite sick to death of this project, I also feel like I do not want this any wider.

Another round will put this close to the floor. Maybe I should leave it for a bit and I might feel differently, but right now I feel done.

Mother Earth Slideshow

These are the blocks from the Cabbage Rose block of the month. Several of us in my quilt group are working on this, and when we saw the wonderful fabrics, my friend Jane thought the best name for this quilt was Mother Earth, which has stuck with me. I have made a few fabric switches along the way, but overall I have been very happy with what have received. If I can figure out how to keep this on the front page, I will keep adding my blocks as they are finished.

More Foxtail Progress

I know what you're thinking, it is probably the same thing that I am thinking, "what is this blob of curled up mess?" Well it supposed to be the bottom of my sweater. It is 272 stitches and it is going to take me a very long time to get finished. This is a week's progress.

I really like the way it is coming out so far, so I will continue to plug away on it.

Now this is another mess. It is an adorable little sweater vest for a baby boy, but look at the neck as compared to the arm hole. Aren't newborn heads about the size of a grapefruit? Well this neck wouldn't fit a lemon. Once I saw that this was not turning right, I looked it up on Ravelry and yes, many people had the same problem. Some tore it all out and made the opening bigger, I am not feeling that motivated, plus the little recipient was born on Wednesday, so I do not have the luxury of time here. The most common remedy seems to be to leave one should seam open and add buttons, so that is my plan. So, I only have to rib the arm holes and sew up the side seams, sounds easy enough, but remember I am really a sock knitter and we don't do things like sew seams :)

After reading my friend Mary's blog I learned that there are places on the web where you can get backgrounds for your blog, so I went out and got this one, what do you think? I like it.

More Later

Foxtail progess

This is my newest project. It is the Foxtail sweater from the Tapestry book by Rowan. I am using the Tapestry yarn in color 177.

So far I have completed the top sleeve section. Once I unroll the edges, the fit seems to be pretty good.

Here is a close up of the stitches. The yarn is a little splitty and has thin areas followed by very fluffy sections, but overall I like the feel and the stripes it produces. It took 4 balls to complete the this top section and so far none of the balls have had any knots, which is my pet peeve.

A friend of mine is expecting a baby early this month, so I should really set this project aside and get back to the little sweater vest I started knitting.

I went out and finally got my hair cut today, you can't really see it very well in the above picture, but I think it will be a good "do" for me.

More later!

Lunch with good friends

The First Friday Quilt group gathered for our 2nd annual Christmas lunch and fabric swap. We met at Paradise Bakery and then went to the quilt shop to see how much damage we could do during their after Christmas sale. It was a great day. Clock wise around the table we have Aleta, Judy, Zac, Kathy, Jane, Mary, Me and Sue.

Kathy C was snapping the above picture, so here she is with Aleta and Judy.

a special thanks to Mary, I grabbed these pictures from her blog.

Finally Posting

I know it has been a LONG time since my last post, but I have actually finished knitting a few things and even made a quilt this year.

This is a sweater I made for a friend of mine at work, her baby's name is Azrielle.

Our neighbors had a sweet new baby girl this fall and this one was made for her.

I didn't get a picture of her wearing it, but Zac's Mr Monkey makes a good model.

These were both made using DreamBaby DK by plymouth. It is a very soft yarn and can be machine washed and dried, great for baby things and busy moms.

Here is Nathan's quilt.

The pattern was called gumball, we call this one the blob of blue quilt. Nathan loves it, although he is not that crazy about posing for pictures :)

My Pink Conwy Socks

OK, I know that it has been a long time since I have updated this blog, but it has taken me almost 5 months to finally finish these socks. The pattern is Conwy from Nancy Bush's book, Knitting on the Road. It is a beautful pattern, but not the quickest to knit.

I used Tofutsie sock yarn and size 1 bamboo needles. My cast on was 72

Completed Horcrux

Finished these up over the memorial day weekend. The came out a little snug, but otherwise I really like the pattern.

Horcrux Progress

I cast on for these last night, this pattern is great. It is called Horcrux socks and it is the pattern of the month on the Six Sox list

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Six_Sox_Knitalong/
This is the yarn pictured below. I have had a couple of people ask about it. It is called griffindor 2nd year and I got it from
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=52610
I am about half way through the heel flap, hope to be able to get the gusset done tonight.

Hiking Socks

These are hiking/camping socks for Nathan. I was shocked to discover that my 11 year old son has bigger feet than me, geesh he is growing up way to fast. These should keep his feet good warm this summer while we are camping at the Grand Canyon.

Here are the details. Yarn is Lion Brand Magic Stripes, Needles are size 2 Brittany Birch and I cast on 56 stitches, ribbed for about 2 inches and then just a plain old stockinette stitch the rest of the way.

I was not that wild about the yarn. I bought it a few years ago when it first came out and everyone was very excited over it. It's fine for a pair of socks that are probably going to take some abuse, but it is not yarn I would purchase again. I think I have another ball or 2 in my stash and they are now designated as "boys camping" socks.

I think that my next project is going to be the Horcrux socks from the Six Sox group. I got this fabulous yarn just for them.

Spring is here

Well I was finally able to find some darn batteries for my camera. Of course, I had to pilfer them from the TV remote.

Why is it there are always enough batteries for the kids' game junk and never any for Mom, hmmmm...

OK enough whinning :)

These are my Spring Petticoat socks. They were made using Opal petticoat, as always the Opal was wonderful to work with. The pattern is called Sixth Sense and was the pattern of the month last year with the Six_Sox_Knitalong. I used size bamboo needles.

This pattern called for a garter stitch short row heel, which I really enjoyed working.

It also has a garter stitch toe, which is just adorable and looks perfect with the heel.

Currently on my needles is a plain jane stockinette sock using Lion Brand Magic stripes.

Gentleman's Fancy

I am in love with another yarn. Trekking XXL, this was wonderful to work with and the colors are fabulous. I started these 2 weeks ago and finished them up today. The pattern is from the Nancy Bush book, Knitting Vintage Socks. I used 2.25mm bamboo needles. I cast on 72 stitches, and the socks are a bit loose, but not so much that I have to give them up :)

Now to deiced what to knit next................My sock yarn stash is growing by leaps and bounds, which I will not feel guilty about. I just purchased some Opal Smoke from a gal that was detashing and am trying to think up the perfect pattern to use.

I also have some Lornas Laces that have been sitting in the yarn cupboard for far too long. Decisions, Decisions, Decisions.

Tofutsies

I picked up this new yarn by SWTC and so far I am really liking it. I am using a pattern from the Nancy Bush book, Knitting Vintage Socks. It is called the Lichen ribbed sock. The needles are size 1 crystal palace bamboo. This is first time that I have used Welsh heel, it worked up very nicely. The pattern also uses a Star Toe, which I don't think I have done before, so that will be fun too. I really think I am ready to try new techniques in my sock knitting, so this has been a great project so far. I noticed that the patterning on the yarn is a little different with each section of sock. The stripes are kind of diagonal on the leg, the colors seemed to me to pool around the heel and the foot is just straight stripes. I hope my other sock does the same thing.

I am really itching to start some new socks out of a brown trekking yarn that I snatched out of my Mom's stash. The color matches a pair of slacks that I have perfectly and would look great to wear to work, so these may be put on the back burner for a bit.