Finished Projects – Page 7 – The Knitting Doctor

Real Finished Project Post To Follow, BUT!

They are DONE DONE DONE!

It’s About Time-AKA Tequila Sunrise

I actually finished something today. I am so freaking excited that I can’t wait for it to dry for a proper photo shoot. I’ll add one later once it’s unpinned, but here it is.

The pattern name is Morning Glory, and I called it Froot Loops for a long time, since that was the yarn color name. However, this is a dead ringer for a Tequila Sunrise, so that’s what I will call it from now on.

7/7/14: Finally added the finished photo to this post.

Project Details:

Pattern: Morning Glory, by Anne Hanson, AKA Tequila Sunrise
Yarn: Brooks Farm Harmony, color Froot Loops. This is a discontinued yarn, so there will never be another one exactly like this. This is a two ply DK weight, with one ply a 50-50 wool-silk blend, and the 2nd ply is mohair. It has a great shine.
Needles: 4.5mm Holz & Stein ebony circulars
Started: May 5th, 2009. I know, this should be quite embarrassing.
Finished: Today, 4/25/14
For: Me!

What I Learned: Knit Companion makes things go much faster. OK, I guess I already knew that. The charts for these aren’t terribly difficult, but especially in that big middle section, the pattern repeat shifts all over the place on every single row. Using stitch markers in between repeats was impossible. I used a marker on each end to mark the borders, but otherwise just went commando. This languished in the UFO pile until I finally put the charts into KC, then I sailed right along.

I was a bit concerned about the grafting bit. This is knit from each end in two halves then grafted together in the middle. It’s actually just like a humongous sock, once you get started. Here are a couple of photos.

Getting ready:

And in progress:

I have about 240 yards of the yarn left, so there might be mitts in my future. I was going to knit another pattern repeat on each half, but it’s plenty long enough already, and I just needed this to be DONE. I promised I was going to finish something before I knit with that pretty Ruby Slipper mohair lace. Remember that stuff?

I need to do a swatch, but I think it is going to become this:

The pattern is Cathedral, by Birgit Freyer. I’ll report back when the swatch is done.

Last but not least, here’s your Eagles/Tequila Sunrise fix.
http://youtu.be/3Sy5Tdksuwo

Alexandra

AKA, I actually finished something.

Project Details:

Pattern: Alexandra, by Dee O’Keefe
Yarn: My own handspun. The fiber is merino/silk/firestar, Abby’s Batts. There was about 600 yards of it, I still have a bit left.
Needles: 3.25mm Chiaogoo Lace circulars
Started: January 5 this year
Finished: February 17 this year
For: Me!

What I Learned: My handspun isn’t bad to knit with! This was spun back in 2009, and I wasn’t a very experienced spinner. It is mostly fingering weight, and there were only a few places where I had to splice out a bit that was too weird to knit with. It blocked nicely.

I also learned that it needn’t take me 4 years to finish something. This is likely the only thing I’ll finish during the Olympics, but I still have hopes that one day I’ll finish Evenstar. Here’s what it looks like today. As usual, click on the photos to embiggen.

For those of you keeping track, I started this in 2010. It’s a huge circular shawl, with an attached knitted on border (knitted perpendicularly to the main shawl body). I have 34 repeats left. Each repeat is 20 rows and has 50 beads knitted in. The edging is dead simple, but of course I have to pay attention because of the beads.

In other news, I fell off that no-shopping sheep this past weekend. I sort of knew it would happen. There was a big fiber festival in town (Madrona). My friend Dorothy came to visit and we took a couple of classes, which were fabulous. We also shopped. I probably would have held out if it weren’t for the Toots LeBlanc booth. They had some of their lovely lace weight jacob/alpaca/mohair blend, which can be hard to find. And it was HALF OFF people. Tell me you wouldn’t have done the same. There might have been a few other things that fell off the shelf and landed in my shopping bag. Then I slipped and on the way to the floor, my credit card went through the card reader. It was totally an accident. I’m not taking photos of any of it to show you.

So now we’re back to square one. It’s now THREE days since I last bought yarn. I made it to 125 days last time. Let’s see how long I hold out this time.

22 Little Clouds, Finished!

Well, this one’s been finished for awhile, I just never got around to getting a photo of it. Here you go.

All pinned out!

And done!

Project Details:

Pattern: 22 Little Clouds
Needles: Chiaogoo circulars, size 3.75
Yarn: Classic Elite Inca Alpaca, deep olive brown, 4 skeins. From Deep Stash, Bin #1. I used almost all of it
For: Me.
What I Learned: I’m discovering the joy of small projects. Instant gratification! I started this on December 8th and finished on the 13th. It’s actually a few more than 22 clouds around the edge, since I made it a bit bigger to use up as much yarn as possible. This is a terrifically easy pattern, perfect for knitting in a meeting where you are supposed to be paying attention. It would be good TV knitting. I’ll wear this one a lot.

Green Jeans Sweater

Another one off the needles!

Project Details:

Pattern: Corduroy, by Lisa Lloyd, from her book A Fine Fleece
Yarn: Araucania Nature Wool Solids
Needles: 4.00 mm
Started: May 1, 2012
Finished: December 1, 2013
For: Me!
Modifications: Not a thing, other than some creative row counting on the sleeve decreases. They are mostly the same length, so it’s all good. (They really are, though you couldn’t tell by that photo. That’s me, slouching in defiance of that charm school I apparently never went to.)
What I Learned: It takes me forever to knit a sweater. Ok, ok, I already knew that.

I really like this one. I still think a drop shoulder sleeve isn’t the most flattering for most people, but boy is this comfortable. I was a bit iffy on the yarn variegation, but once it was done I like it. I predict that this will get a lot of wear, especially since we’re hitting record freezing temperatures in the Pacific NW.

So what do you do if it’s blasted freezing where you live?? Well, if you’re apparently an idiot, you plan a medical conference for a week in December to somewhere even colder. We leave tomorrow for Boston, where this time of year can be a little dicey as far as weather. Although the forecast for Boston actually looks warmer than here for this coming week. We’ll see. I’m packing that sweater.

Just Do It

Or,

Finished Project!

Pattern: Pretty Thing, by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
Started: March 13, 2013
Finished: November 14, 2013
Yarn: Great Yarns! Pure Elegance. The color is burgundy marl. This was a total impulse purchase at Madrona last February. I was shopping with Sally from Knit Companion and Dorothy from Missouri Star. We saw this gorgeous mink yarn and each grabbed a skein. We decided on the spot to knit Pretty Things with it. Sally also cobbled together a pattern for fingerless mitts, and I should have enough yarn left to do a pair.
Needles: Um, I apparently didn’t write it down, and I can’t find the needles right now.
For: Me!
Modifications: None
What I Learned: I don’t like knitting with a short 16 inch circular. This yarn has absolutely no memory, so I was a bit skeptical about using double points with it. I tried using two circulars, and ended up going back to the one needle.
I love the pattern, it is very well written. I wouldn’t use this yarn for anything that gets much wear and tear. It’s softer than soft, very drapey, no “boing”, and pulls apart if you tug at it. It’s gorgeous around your neck as a little bit of luxury though.

I promised that I would pull something out of Box #1 to start once I finished this. Stay tuned!

Let’s Catch Up, Shall We?

Oh dear. Not again. I’m apparently hopeless at keeping this thing current. How about I just post a few more photos of our June trip to Montana? Some of them even have to do with knitting.

The car, ready to go. We’re light packers, what can I say? After we got all loaded up it dawned on us that we needed to pick up my sister Diane and her husband at the airport in Kalispell on the last leg of the trip out to our cabin. We hoped they were traveling light.

First stop, Spokane, at the historic Davenport Hotel.

Mr. Davenport interrupted his newspaper reading for a sock knitting lesson.

Our cabin on the river in Montana.

The family!

View across the river to Glacier National Park. It really sucked to have to look at that all week.

Polebridge Mercantile, a hopping place out in the middle of nowhere.

A nice little knitting spot.

Our Red Bus tour of Glacier.

There’s just nothing to say about that. We took about a million photos, and every view was spectacular. It’s just difficult to capture the magnificence of the park in photos.

I did find a few yarn shops along the way.

Some tough competition.

Just a little snow.

More crappy views.

Finished socks, just in time for Father’s Day.

I don’t really need to do a Finished Project post, do I? Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock yarn, color name A River Runs Through It. For John, same old pattern. I did a bit of modification around the ankle, doing the gusset decreases every third row for awhile so he can get them over his instep. I usually do my socks on 72 stitches, I did these on 76 stitches and they fit him perfectly.

Flute playing in a roadside campground! I don’t think I’ve mentioned it here, but I started taking flute lessons back in March. I used to play a million years ago, then it sort of fell by the wayside over the years. I bought a new flute in February, then found the Community Music Program at the University of Puget Sound here in Tacoma. I take a private lesson once a week, and yes, I did practice on the trip. I had to be a bit creative on the road trip back since playing in a hotel room probably would annoy people. We stopped at this campground which was totally deserted, and I practiced until the mosquitoes threatened to cart me off.

Enough for now. I’ll leave you with a photo of Lewey.

He wishes he could have gone along.

Baycation!

Or,

Hawai’i!

And that pretty much says it, right? I only have crummy phone photos for you, and not many of those. Yes, I brought the “real” camera, and yes, I’ve taken lots of “real” photos. I just forgot to bring that little extra piece that lets me upload photos from the camera to the iPad. So you get a few phone photos instead.

We’re on the Big Island, which I’ve never been to before. I think it might be my favorite of all the islands. We’re staying “upcountry” on the hillside overlooking Kailua-Kona, with a terrific view of the bay, well out of the traffic of the main town. The cottage that we’re in is part of a small coffee farm, and we have noisy chickens and tweety birds instead of city sounds. We don’t have air conditioning, but it’s been quite pleasant without it. We have wall to wall sliding glass doors along the ocean side, and it’s been nice enough to sleep with the doors open at night, and it’s been cool enough that we’ve needed blankets. And wool socks at night.

Here are a few photos.

Yes, I found a yarn shop. I only bought one thing. The shop had a surprisingly large inventory, with a great selection, but my vacation yarn buying goal is to try to buy stuff I can’t get at home. Here’s what I found.

It’s from local alpacas, hand spun, natural colored. There are 400 yards of it, I might try dyeing it with some of my natural dye stuff that I have at home.

Being upcountry in the tropics, you might guess that there is a bit of wild life here. Our hosts warned us about mongoose, and the rare wild boar that wanders in. Last night’s fauna was a gecko that we found in one of the kitchen cabinets.

Last but not least, a Finished Project! This was one of my January goals.

I’m not going to do a whole Project Details thing with these. The yarn is Frolicking Feet, from Done Roving. The color is Pot o’ Gold. I used size 0 Pony Pearl double points.

I’ve already started another pair but that’s for a different post. Blogging from the road on an iPad sounds lovely, but the WordPress dashboard interface with the iPad browser is less than ideal. That’s it for today, we’re off on another adventure!

True Blood Faery Ring

FINALLY! This one is done done done. Excuse me if I must post a gazillion photos, I’m so freaking happy this is finished.

I’ve never made a tassel before! I used a piece of cardboard to wind the yarn around, using these instructions.

I used the sweater yarn to crochet a tight single chain for the button loops, then just tied them into the button band from the back side.

Project Details:

Pattern: Tuilich Faery Ring, by Mary Scott Huff
Started: 11/2/2009. Yes, this was in a very long time out.
Finished: Today! 1/3/13! First finished project of the year!
Yarn: Black Water Abbey worsted weight. The color name is Haw, though in real life it is a True Blood Red.
Needles: Knit Picks Zephyr, size 6 & 7.
For: Me!
Modifications: Well. I pretty much knit the pattern as written up to the hood and sleeves, then just winged it from there, since the pattern was never completed in the Tuilich sizes. I used the sleeve pattern from the largest size in the Faery Ring pattern, and just made up the hood. The hood instructions for the smaller set of sizes called for a bigger hood for each size, which is just ridiculous. Your head doesn’t get a whole lot bigger as the rest of you expands. I just picked up what looked like the right number of stitches around the neck, then increased until it was wide enough, decreased a bit, then grafted the top when it was tall enough.
What I learned: I love cables. And I love this yarn. I have another sweater quantity of it in the stash in a warm caramel toffee color that will turn into a sweater someday. The yarn feels a bit stringy and harsh initially, but softens up, and shows cables marvelously. I also adore these buttons. They were made by a goldsmith named Carolyn Kent, her website is Minnowcreek Studio.

Alrighty then. Now that that one is done, here are my New Years resolutions, such as they are:

Read more. See my reading blog page for details
Knit from stash. John and I have been going through our credit card expenditures to set up a 2013 budget. Let’s just say that the amount of money I spent on yarn last year is quite embarrassing. I’m not ruling out the occasional yarn purchase, especially if it’s in the category of vacation purchases, but I’ve got plenty of yarn around here and I’m going to try to use some of it.
Blog more. I’m going to go back to doing monthly updates and goals.
Spin more. And get back into dyeing fiber and yarn.

That’s pretty much it.

Here are the January goals:

Finish the body of my Green Jeans sweater
Finish the pair of socks on the needles (Pot ‘o Gold socks)

In the cooking category, here are the photos of our New Years BEPs (black eyed peas). You didn’t think we’d forget them, did you?

Onward!

ABC!

Which stands for “Another Bloody Cathedral”, or “Another Bloody Castle”. We’re now 16 days into our vacation, with three more full days of the cruise left, then we’re staying in Budapest another couple of days, then home. I can’t possibly do a blog post for each stop on the cruise, since I just had to dump a nearly full 8 GB photo card off my camera so we can finish the trip. That’s way too many photos to show you all. So here are the highlights. Get yourself a beverage before you start…

Cologne, or Koln. Magnificent cathedral. Of all the ABCs we’ve seen, it’s my favorite. Gothic excess out the wazoo.

It wouldn’t fit in one photo, so you get two.

We had a glass blowing demo on board one morning. He was a comedian as well as a glass artist.

Cruising through the Rhine Gorge. Lots of ABCs here.

That was taken at the Residenz Palace in Wurzburg. I’m not showing you a photo of the Palace, it looks just like a humongous castle and a church combined.

Teddy Bear shop in Rothenburg:

I found a new friend for Sweetpea. He doesn’t have a name yet, his ear tag says Fynn, but I think he needs a German name, don’t you? Any suggestions?

I had a birthday, and shared it with about 140 or so new friends!

This was in Bamberg. I wanted a photo of the guys in front, but pretended to shoot the monument.

Nuremberg. What can I say? This was one of the most sobering places I’ve ever been. That’s Hitler’s rally grounds, never completed. What he was planning to build there would have been terrifying.

That’s of course the courtroom where the Nuremberg trials were held.

On a cheerier note, sunrise off our “balcony”.

ABC. This one is in Regensburg, or RRRRrrrrrrreghghensburgggg, as Jan, our cruise director pronounces it. This has probably been one of my favorite of the cities we’ve seen so far. This may have had something to do with it.

John continues to be amazed at my ability to find yarn. I was like one of those people who won a contest and could take home everything I could pick up in five minutesl

Do you want to see a closeup of what I found? I thought so. Here’s Sweetpea and not-Fynn to show you.

Doesn’t Sweetpea look happy? She might have found her true love. I should ask her, she probably knows his name.

Next up was Salzburg. It was a lovely city, and I could show you lots of photos of castles, old buildings, and churches. Here’s a different one:

That’s a bridge in the city over the river Inn, which runs into the Danube. The tradition in the city is for lovers to pledge their commitment to each other by placing a lock on the bridge with their names or initials on it. I asked the guide if they have to take it away if things don’t work out, which sounded like a reasonable question to me. She didn’t have an answer.

Last, but not least, finished socks! I’m not doing the whole “Finished Project” thing. I started these eons ago (February 29th, according to Ravelry). The yarn is Unique Sheep Tinsel Toes, color Primary Ink, same old pattern, size 2 mm Ivore needles.

It’s cocktail hour, so I need to go find a glass of wine. We’re finally on the beautiful Danube river, we head to Vienna tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Ravellenic Gold!

Yes, I’ve actually finished something. More on that later. It will probably be the ONLY thing I finish for the Ravellenic Games, though. It got a bit nutty at work the past two weeks, with two partners out unexpectedly, so mostly I’ve just worked. But there are a lot of good parts to that. I get paid to work extra, which means I get a little less of the stink eye when the ~~Yarn Truck~~ UPS Man comes to the door.

OK, ok. I’ll show you the shopping first. I need more yarn like I need bedbugs.

I showed you the lace stuff a few posts ago. What came this week is Peace Fleece. I couldn’t help it, a bunch of their colors were on sale. They still are, if you are in need of stash enhancement.

Who knows what that will be. The color is Violet Vyehchyeerom (Russian for “evening” per the PF site). There is enough for a nice winter sweater. My other PF sweater is getting a bit beat up, since I wear it a lot.

Now on to the finish line. The Lacy Baktus is done done done.

It’s hard to tell much from that. It was a big foggy this morning when I took the photo, so it’s an inside photo with flash, and I’m too lazy to photoshop it. I’ll try to get an outside modeling shot later.

Project Details:

Yarn: My own handspun! The fiber is a 50/50 merino-bombyx blend, color name Aubergine. Here was the original fiber, from Anna at Corgi Hill Farm, to give you a better idea of the color.

Pattern: Lacy Baktus

Needles: 4 1/2 mm plastic straights, from my huge collection of plastic straight needles. I love them to pieces. Here’s a photo. I also have a set of the Knit picks Harmony 14 inch straights.

Started: July 27 2012

Finished: August 9 2012

For: Me!

What I learned: Knitting with my own handspun is an extra big kick!

What’s next around here? I have one more Ravellenic project, a tea cosy, that is just not going to get finished by tomorrow evening. I have a bunch of WIPS that need some serious work. Most importantly, we’re headed to Hawaii tomorrow! We try to plan a summer week-long vacation with John’s kids and grandkids every other year, and this year we have 3 condo units on Oahu for plenty of knitting and reading time. I’m taking sock knitting, and that Evenstar Shawl, and that’s it. We’ll have internet access there, so I’ll try to show photos.

Knit on! I’m off on Baycation*, as one of the grandsons calls it!

* Just as a reminder, the stash is very well guarded by a bunch of attack dogs minded by our house sitter, so don’t even THINK about it!

Leaping Lizards!

We get an extra day today! Make the most of it, I say.

Here’s the wrap up on Wintergrass. It was a terrific festival. The theme this year was international bluegrass, and there were groups from the Czech Republic, Italy, Sweden, Japan, and Switzerland. We saw all of the non-US groups except for the Swiss group, and they were all good. Väsen, the group from Sweden, has been to Wintergrass a couple of times before, and they are always a hit. Despite the fierce competition from many other fine bands, they were also my favorite group of the weekend. Here are their photos.

That instrument is a nyckelharpa. They play Swedish folk music, sort of. You really have to listen to it. Here you go!

There were lots of other great things going on. Here are just some photos…

Ok, I have to comment on that one. That’s a young lady we met in the restaurant at breakfast one morning. The instrument is a stumpf fiddle, made at home with a variety of pots, pans, a toilet plunger, and a wooden car horn. She even played it for us.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIuDWA1t1fc&feature=youtu.be

That’s not her in the video, obviously.

There was some spinning! I didn’t spin during the performances, since I think it’s a bit distracting, but did during the breaks. I also did some knitting during the music.

And those are done done done!

Project Details:

Yarn: Pink Carrot Creations, color is Carrot Top. I bought this in Ketchikan when we were on our Alaskan cruise.

Pattern: same damn pattern as always

Needles: size 1, sterling silver needles from Celtic Swan.

Started: Oh who knows. Probably in November, since that’s when I finished the last pair.

Finished: Today!

For: Me

There you go! I really need to kick it into gear and finish more socks. My sock collection is starting to show its age, so I need some new ones. Bluegrass festivals are terrific for sock knitting!

And here are the new socks:

The yarn is Tinsel Toes, from Unique Sheep, in Primary Ink. For the record, I’m using Ivore needles in 2.00. I snapped one of them this morning while doing the picot hem, which irritates me to no end. These are my favorite needles, a little hard to come by. I can’t find them in the US anymore, though I have a website in Australia that still sells them, albeit with exorbitant shipping costs. I have a couple extra from another set, so I’m good to go for now, and there might be a spare set or two on the way just for insurance. I’ve had these a long time, and this is the first time I’ve ever broken one. Most people hate these because they are very long, and very flexible, but I adore them.

Last but not least, we’re on our way out of town again. It’s about time for some warm and sun, since we’ve put up with months of cold, damp, rainy, windy, dark, gloomy, and tree-killing weather. We’re headed for Puerto Vallarta tomorrow! We’ll have internet access there, hopefully, so I should be able to update!

I’m off to pack!

Christmas Mittens

John & I both got new mittens this month. I started mine from some leftover Knit Picks City Tweed wool that I had used for a baby blanket, and he liked them so much that I made a pair for him. Here they are.

Project Details:

Yarn: Knit Picks City Tweed HW, in Brocade and Snowshoe, left over from my grandnephew Jacoby’s baby blanket.

Pattern: These are roughly Ann Budd’s Basic Mittens in her Handy Book of Patterns.

Modifications: The pattern as written has you start the thumb gusset increases immediately after finishing the cuff. I knit a little more than an inch plain before starting the increases. I think they fit better. She also has you do the thumb gusset, put the stitches on hold, finish the hand, then cast on just one extra stitch to bridge the gap on the thumb stitches. I cast on a couple more, since I think it makes for less holes at the corners to have to hide.

Needles: Ivore double points, 4.00 mm.

Started/Finished: I started mine on November 5th, finished a couple of weeks later. I started John’s last week, finished them today. I could really do a pair of these in a couple days if I wasn’t such a dawdler.

For: His & Her sweethearts!

What I Learned: Well, they’re just mittens. John’s are a little big, and I would do the cuffs on a size smaller needle next time. This yarn isn’t very springy, due to the alpaca, I suppose, and is extremely soft, so I wouldn’t use it for anything that I wanted to keep for a long time, or that I wanted to hold its shape and not pill. I’ve only worn mine a few times and they already have a major fuzzy halo. A sweater out of this might not be my first choice. It was a great way to use up leftovers, though, and now we both have new mittens!

I hope everybody’s holiday was a smashing success!

Not Crabby!

I figured that I better get off my butt and put up a new post, since my crabbiness really has gone completely away. I hope to God I never get sick with anything serious, or everyone that knows me is going to suffer. I’m pretty sure I had a mild case of the flu a few weeks ago. I did get my influenza vaccine, but it had only been a week before, so I think I was only mildly affected, but still got it. It’s all gone, I finished the socks, and I’m happy happy happy. Not crabby crabby crabby.

So just to do this properly, let’s make this an October wrap up, shall we? If I wait much longer, it will be sort of a moot point. And I do have some November goals to post.

Here’s what I listed as goals for October.

Finish the red socks.

Finish at least one sleeve of the True Blood Faery Sweater. See photo below.

I’m spinning up some lovely merino/tencel stuff. I have it about half done and want to finish it.

Finished Project:

Project: Socks! The pattern is the usual, the one over in the right side bar. It’s the same one I always do. You’d think I’d have learned to do it right, and faster, by now.

Yarn: Lisa Souza sock yarn, color Little Devil. This is some very nice stuff. I was going to go buy some more, then was reminded that I have yarn in the stash for 196 more pairs of socks, not including the new ones I started after I finished these.

Needles: Ivore, 2.25 mm

Started: February of this year.

Finished: last week

For: Me

What I learned: Try on those socks before you finish off the toes.

OK, November goals. This is simple, I really only have one goal. That is if you don’t count making Thanksgiving dinner for 11 people while working 6 out of the 7 days of that week. I love challenges. At least it won’t be like the year (hopefully) that we had about 12 people for turkey day, and the oven door fell off in the middle of cooking. I’m not kidding about that. I have a relatively new oven, so while I won’t rule out other minor disasters, it should be a good day.

Back to my one goal. Here it is.

Yup. I’m participating in the Nano insanity again this year. It’s a little unnerving, I actually sort of have a plot this year. Who knows what kind of trouble that might get me into. Generally I just go by the seat of my pants, which can lead to some very weird scenes. It’s 50,000 words or bust by the end of the month. So far I’m on schedule, at 9000 words so far.

That’s it, my only goal is to finish a 50,000 word novel. Anything else, including knitting, spinning, and reading, will be gravy.

Here’s one more photo for you. When I turned away from the computer just now, here is what I saw.

Lots of napping going on around here. Not me, I’m back to my writing. If you have any favorite words for me to put in the novel, leave them in the comments. I might need them.

September Wrap Up

Well, I survived my week back at work after a lovely vacation. The first day back was a little dicey, since the jet lag was still kicking my butt, but getting back in the routine of work and home helped. I’m pretty sure that staying busy and having something to do helps, rather than just sitting in my jammies thinking about how tired I am. I think that’s why I didn’t have much trouble when we got to the UK; our friends in Manchester had planned a very busy two days for us while we were with them, and our brains got on local time pretty quickly. More on that later. Let’s get the fiber stuff out of the way first, shall we?

First, what were those September goals?

Finish the baby thing.

Finish those red socks.

Read books.

Enjoy the vacation.

And how did I do? I didn’t finish the red socks, but came close. Here they are as of today.

I just realized that it probably would have been helpful to take that photo on a different color background. Oh well.

Since I’ve been knitting these freaking socks for months, I’ll forgive you if you’ve forgotten the details. This is Lisa Souza Sock! yarn, in the color Little Devil. I’m having a devil of a time convincing my husband that these are really for me. For some reason, the man that likes every color, as long as it’s blue, loves these. We’ll see. I do love him, after all, so I might at least share them.

How about those non-knitting goals? Enjoy the vacation?? Check. Read books? Check. I decided to re-read Pride & Prejudice after we visited the estate where this version was filmed, and as usual enjoyed reading it very much. The other book I’m reading is the second in George R.R. Martin’s Ice & Fire series. It’s over a thousand pages, and I’m somewhere in the 800 page region at the moment. I also read several guide books while away, and part of a book of Scotland history.

Now, about that baby blanket. It is finished. Here it is:

Project Details:

Yarn: Cotton Ease, the vintage colors, in Electric Eye Searing Baby Blue, edging in white.

Pattern: Tweed Baby Blanket, by Jared Flood. This is the third of these I’ve made. Of course the original was in tasteful lovely wool, I used eye searing acrylic cotton, which has the distinct advantage of being machine washable.

For: The latest addition to my extended family, a grandnephew named Jace. Here’s his photo:

Yes, he is adorable. He deserves a baby blanket, don’t you think? I’m thinking he’s still young enough to use it, even if he was born in June.

Needles: 5mm circulars.

Started: Oh good grief. Too long ago. Sometime back in May, according to Ravelry.

Finished: about 10 days ago, in Scotland.

Modifications: I used eye searing cotton acrylic instead of heirloom quality wool. I also made it bigger, by one full repeat of the feather and fan edging.

What I Learned: I am sick to death of garter stitch. This pattern starts out swimmingly, with just a few stitches on the needles. You knit that big center square as a diamond, and for about twenty rows it looks like you are making terrific progress, then it just gets bigger, and bigger, and more bigger. Then, Hooray! You start decreasing, but it’s still all garter stitch till you get to the edging part. I have no plans to knit another one of these anytime in the near future.

I did learn something of a knitting nature. The final edge is an I-cord bind off, and it calls for a double point needle one size larger than the main needle you use. Of course, I didn’t have one with me, and do you think I could find a yarn shop to buy a needle? I just charged ahead and finished it with the 5mm size. The edge would scallop much more nicely if done with the larger needle, but this just needed to get done, and I’m not doing it over. It’s fine as is.

OK, October goals:

Finish the red socks.

Finish at least one sleeve of the True Blood Faery Sweater. See photo below.

I’m spinning up some lovely merino/tencel stuff. I have it about half done and want to finish it.