Good 'N Evil

I got this gorgeous yarn off Ebay.

Good: The colour is Folly, and it's the most divine sage-y green. Rowan 4 ply soft... my favourite

Evil: I'm not supposed to be stashing yarn, so what the heck was I doing, searching for yarn on ebay?

The worm turns

Has the worm turned? probably.. the slightly modified Gentleman's Plain Winter socks are done... they were on the hubbler's feet, faster than the speed of light. Inspite of my pleas, please let me photograph them before you wear them, he put them on.

At least I know, they fit... and he posed with them on.

While I was able to get him to lift his trouser legs, I could not persuade him to take off his shoes.

The shoes are dusty because he was out working in the garden and just came in for a quick break.

May Goals

The April Goals.

1. Finish the Arctic Diamond Lace stole.

Done and I think that it's gorgeous. Well, that's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.

2. Finsh Sylph.

Not done but it is close. The body is complete, just needs a bit of a block. The sleeves need to be seamed and ruffled. There are also the eye-hook closures to do add.

3. Finish the Leaf Lace Socks.

Done. Easy-peasy and lovely pattern from the wonderful Susan. It's also error-free.

4. Finish 1 other project from the WIP list

Not done. None of the projects motivated me.. but I did managed to frog one. These socks were cast-on in 2004, and were intended for my grandmother. I was working on them in the hospital when she was ill. I stuck them in a bag and put them away when she passed away... and I hadn't looked at them for over 3 years. I know that I will never finish them.

5. Start and finish a baby thing

Not done and not started, I am feeling a major lack of inspiration here.

6. Cast on new sock project

Done and finished it, inspite of running out of yarn and being rescued by Rowanette Caroline. These are the Fancy Silk Socks for a child of 5 or 6 from Nancy Bush's Vintage Socks.

7. Cast on new lace project.

Not done. I did manage to skein the yarn. t was a crazy month and far too distracted to focus on a more challenging project.

I did manage to start these and nearly finish them. I have to re-do the toes as the hubbler wanted a bit more (4-5 rows) length on the foot. So I've ripped back the toes. I love CTH because I've managed an 8 inch leg and still had enough to finish the foot for a UK men's size 10.5 without going with contrasting heel and toes. I'll probably have less than 5 meters left though

The May goals
1. Finish Sylph
2. Finish the adapted Gentlemen's Plain Winter socks
3. Start and Finish another pair of socks
4. Finish 1 item from the WIP list. I want to stay under 20 wips...even if it means that I'll have to do quite a bit of ripping this month.
5. start and finish 1 baby sweater. There are actually 2 new babies that I should had made things for. One arrived in Nov and the other in Feb. Both are boys and it's always difficult to find interesting patterns for boys
6. Start a new sweater for me. I'm thinking of Joy from Kim Hargreaves or Ripple from th e Nectar collection.
7. Start an interesting lace project.

oh and I also signed up for this
The winner of the most socks in 2007, managed 42 pairs. It's amazing, but even if I managed half of that, there would not be an appreciable dent in my sock stash... but it'll be fun trying :-)

Nice 'n easy

I started these socks as my commuting project and have been steadily working on them. It's based on the Gentleman's Plain Winter Socks from Nancy Bush's Vintage Socks. The yarn is Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Tropical Storm... a stash, well marinated in the stash.

I've always been a fan of the Cherry Tree Hill Yarns. I love the high twist, softness and smoothness of the merino. Since I'm knitting them for the hubbler (yes, I was surprised that he selected this skein from my stash because, well, there is a bit of purple in it), I've taken to not cutting the yarn until the second sock sock is done, so in the event of running low on yarn, I've hedged my bets and can do a contrasting toe.

The heel is a slight variation on the tradition heel stitch. The stitch that is slipped, is twisted. You end up with a very firm heel.

More interesting is how the mood (poolong) of the yarn is is dramatically changed just by sts. The foot section here is on 68 sts on 2,5mm

The leg section is 72 sts.

I have to admit to preferring the narrower striping on the foot.... hard to belive how big a difference 4 sts make