Sept. roundup

September, or, as I like to call it, the month of socks, is now completely over. Completing little items has made it look like I've done more knitting this month.

I've made 6 pairs of socks and 1 hat.

Okay, it looked like more until I wrote it down in black and white. Maybe it's not more than usual, maybe it's just the same amount.

I've also done 4 triangles on the Curve of Pursuit afghan. While it's not a finished item, the end is in sight. Look for the CoP to be on October's list of finished items (Even if I have to lug it around everywhere in order to accomplish that).

More socks!

It's all socks, all the time.

At least it's felt like that for the past week. So much so that I've managed to make 4 more pairs!

Here's the thin socks, plain vanilla on size 1s (and the stripes match!):



Once I finished those, I combined the sock yarn with a vintage Red Heart Worsted Wool yarn in a bright blue for this pair. (28 sts on sz 5s)



Then, I found 4 skeins of Uruguak DK yarn that was leftover from a sweater. It's a blend of merino, alpaka, and silk and super squishy.

I combined it with a brow/black twist sock yarn for the first pair.



32 sts, sz 5 dpns, 34 rows foot length.



And then, these yarns were combined for the second pair.



32 sts, sz 5 dpns, 36 rows foot length.



There is enough DK yarn to make another pair (maybe a smaller pair), but my UFOs are calling me...

(Although, I must admit that I'm pretty good about ignoring them...)

A Hat is done

I told my son that I would make him a hat (because I'm pretty sure that I've made a hat or two by now that have turned out well.) It's to go with his soccer uniform on cold days while warming up. (I'm pretty sure there are cold days in the future, although the past ones have either been in the 90s or raining.)

So, I looked for a lettering chart. And got stuck. I printed out 3 charts to try one or the other. He saw what I was doing, and we decided that he would graph the letters himself. And he did.

I told him that the lettering looks just like his writing (Which is rather un-readable so he took this as an insult.) I just meant that it was uniquely his (and it didn't follow the standard sizing that I was used to.)

Anyway, he graphed 2 versions, a big and a little and I knit a swatch of both. He chose the big.

This is the pattern that I worked from. (It's a wonder I could remember what to do where, with the letters 2 spaces closer and the checkerboard all different. But, being too lazy to rewrite it, I used this and once I established the first row it was easy to follow.)




(DD thought I did too much math for a hat, but I assured her that every step was necessary.)

Here's the hat (and the son):



"Hey, do you want your number on there too?"

"Sure!"



Now we're just waiting around for the cold weather...

United

Last night we went to a DC United game, the professional soccer team that plays out of Washington DC at RFK Stadium. DS#2 had the opportunity to play on the field in a short scrimmage with his team.

Here he is playing, the tall one in the middle (right to the right of the lady scratching her head):



It was only for about 10 minutes, but it was a great experience just to be able to kick the ball on a professional soccer field. (I'm sure it was just a way to get fans out to the game, and it worked. Four of us came from our household. There were four games going on at a time, which makes 8 teams, and they did at least 2 sets, which was 16 teams, plus lots of parents and family.) Then, we stayed and watched the game.

This is my knitting project at the start of the evening. (One of my kids actually asked me, "Did you really bring knitting to a soccer game?" What's wrong with him, doesn't he know me by now, anyway? When do I go to a sporting event and NOT take my knitting?)



(Sorry, if I had taken the time to put my reading glasses on and look at the picture I would've noticed how blurry it was. Well, hopefully I would notice, anyway.)

We sat right behind the players bench.




The stadium filled up more by game time, and across the field was a drum corp that played the drums the whole entire time. It was fun to hear them in the background (but we were happy we weren't sitting on that side.) There were also giant flags that people waved every time there was a good play.



At the end of the evening, the United lost 3-1, and I had a longer sock (with an equally blurry picture.)

Can this lady finish ANYTHING besides socks?

No, apparently not.

I've knitted a couple of rows on a couple of UFOs this past week, but they're nowhere near done. (The afghan? With the ever-growing triangles? It's getting to be a real pain. The triangles just don't want to get done. And I only have 3 and a bit to go. Plus, a big border, but I don't want to think about that right now...)

All I've been finishing is socks. (We've started the fall sports season and really, an afghan isn't very portable, is it?)

Here's the first pair made from Red Heart Heart and Sole in the Rustica colorway.



60 sts, sz 1 dpns, yoyo heel, 9.5" long. These seem to be boy colors; that is, except for the stripe of fushia. It's not a big stripe, but it still seems a bit out of place.


Then, I took the leftover sock yarn and combined it with a sport wt. rust color and got these:



32 sts, sz. 5 dpns, 7.5" long. I ran out of Heart and sole for the feet, so had to substitute a leftover Trekking sock yarn. (No, I didn't yet break into my new stuff.)


It's pretty cool the way they match each other, isn't it?





In 3 days time I attended a field hockey game and 2 soccer games, so here's my next pair:



Did the cuff at home, leg at 1st soccer game, heel that night, foot the next morning at the other game, and toe at night. (It rained the whole way through the game, but with a waterproof knitting bag and with DD#2 holding the umbrella, I was still able to knit.)

Another field hockey game today, another sock to knit. They go together well.

I might've bought some yarn...

In August I ordered yarn.

(This is like last week when I told my DH, "I bought a skein of yarn today."

He says, "Yeah? So what's new?")

As I was saying, I ordered yarn from two different far away places and they both came on the same day.

First, I bought this yarn from eBay. This is one of the listings that starts at 99 cents with free shipping from China. I didn't get it for 99 cents, but at $2.25, it still seemed like a deal.



It's very pretty and I might try bidding on some more in the future.

Next, I put in a big order from Astrid's Dutch Obsessions that's located in the Netherlands. When it's coming from that far away, I figure I need to make a big order to make it worthwhile. (That's my story and I'm sticking to it.)

First, I got a selection of Trekking XXL sock yarn. (Apparently I was in a grey mood.)



Plus, here's some Charisa sock yarn.



Then, I was running low on roving so I got several braids.



And then, I thought I'd try out these batts to see how they spin.



So far, I've managed to not cast on for anything new...well, from these yarns, anyway.

Jo-jo heel

Here's a preview of week5, socks5. I'm trying out a new heel that I heard being talked about on one of the lists. It's called the yo-yo or jo-jo heel. Over on Tessknits, it's described well, and renamed as the Double-stitch Short Row heel.

It gives a nice, tight heel with no holes or stupid double wraps.
(Wow, I actually wrote "hools" instead of "holes". Sad but true.)



I liked knitting it alot--much better than a regular short row heel.

This is actually second sock. And it's past the heel so it'll be done soon.




60 sts, sz 1 dpns, plain vanilla sock except for the Jo-jo heel.

The directions are not in my head well enough, though. I think I'll do the next pair using the same heel just so it can become more natural to me.


Lucy says, "What's for dinner?"

Pursuing the Curve

In the last month, I actually did work on something besides socks. I've been knitting on my Curve of Pursuit afghan. Soon it will be cold weather and time to pull out an afghan and snuggle up. And if I want the afghan to be this one, I'd better get cracking.

When last you saw the afghan, it looked like this:



Ten triangle layers had been completed and the eleventh was just started.

Now it looks like this:




Eleven triangles have been completed, with one more to go. And then the border. And then done and ready for snuggling. (Lucy is getting a head start. Why is it that if I actually want a picture of her, I can't get it, but if I don't really care (and vacuum the couch to get rid of the dog fur), then she's all for being the star?)(Yes, I did just do a set of () inside a set of (). As long as I have equal number of left ones and right ones, then that should be okay. Right?)

Since the end is is sight, I've been thinking about throw pillows. Last winter I bought a couple on clearance that clearly don't match, but were way cheaper than a plain pillow form so I couldn't pass them up.

Now, I've been looking for fabric to cover them up. And I found this:



It's a swatch that I ordered from Spoonflower and it just arrived today. If you don't know anything about Spoonflower, it's this great site where you can design your own fabric. I haven't done any of that yet, but I've done plenty of looking around. I first heard about it from Kathleen Taylor's blog where she's designed several fabrics and has been playing with them. (She made color-your-own outfits for 18" dolls, among other things.)


Every week there is a themed contest and it's fun to look through the designs and vote for my favorites. Last Thursday they had a free swatch day...hence my swatch. Here's the fabric that I ordered. I'm thinking something like this. Or maybe something else. There's so many choices!