Works-in-progress Wednesday

Let's just pretend that I didn't miss Wednesday, shall we?

The only thing I've worked on over the last few weeks is the second Midnight sock. Honestly, I'm surprised that I've been able to knit as much as I have lately (which isn't a lot, but still, I'm dealing with a newborn and a toddler here). All done with the heel flap and ready to turn the heel:


I love the way these socks are turning out and I'm sure that I will love wearing them (which is good, because I just discovered that two pairs of my store-boughten socks have holes in them and need to be thrown out). The pattern is the Lichen Ribbed Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks. It has a Welsh heel which has been very interesting to work, but I'm not sure how well it will wear; it seems thin somehow. Perhaps that's because the seam stitch is continued all the way through the heel.

I had grand plans to knit socks for sister M, who is here visiting this week. I finally decided to scrap the kid mohair socks and start over, so I ordered some Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport. I got fifteen stitches cast on the other night while I was waiting for a prescription (they were very, very quick) and that's as far as I've gotten. She is leaving tomorrow night. Sorry, M. The poor girl even lives in Chicago, where she needs wool socks right now.

For those of you who use a smaller size needle on just the bottom of the foot to lengthen the life of the sock, when do you switch needles? When you start the heel flap? I've been thinking about trying that.

The Wee Tiny Sock Swap!

Emily is hosting a Wee Tiny Sock Swap! Go sign up!

I got legs!

The lovely Becky of Leggy Creations sent me a wonderful pair of sock blockers! For those of my friends and relatives who don't knit, after you wash your socks you put them onto these things like this:


It sort of "molds" them into a nice socky shape so that they come out looking all beautiful and sock-like instead of a crumpled-up wad of yarn.
I love them and I use them all the time. Thank you so much, Becky!

And the winner is...

Congratulations, Sue! E-mail me (MitoRocks at juno dot com) your address and I will get it in the mail. (And I was wrong. Four people read my blog.)

Free yarn!

So to celebrate my return to blogging (at least I'm optimistic - S has started sleeping for slightly longer stretches and we are settling into some semblance of a routine), I decided to give away some sock yarn. (My husband doesn't believe that I will actually get rid of yarn.) From my stash I have chosen a skein of Steinbach Wolle Aktiv Color. I haven't actually knit with this yarn, but in the skein it feels similar to Opal to me. It is color #6, variegated shades of denim blue. It's just a touch darker than the photo.

So you want it? Just leave me a comment by Friday night and I'll draw a name. You'll have a good chance, seeing that about three people read my blog... :-)

My first post in two months!

Every 10-year-old's dream toy.

I'm panicking!!!

Yesterday my day was brightened by the fact that I got a package in the mail from Emily; look, she even wrapped it!

She was right about this being one of the most insanely complex games ever. We haven't had a chance to play it yet - what with the new baby and all - but I read through part of the rules and started getting Very Confused so I decided to give my brain a break. Though I won't rule out sleep deprivation as a possible cause of the confusion.

Thank you so much, Emily, we love board games and I can't wait to play this!

Christmas knitting revealed

For my husband: a surprise pair of socks. This is my own pattern, knit from Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in chocolate.

I love this yarn; it's soft and squooshy and I love the variegation. I think that someday I may try to make myself a sweater out of this stuff. The other great thing is that this pair of socks only took one skein (I literally had about a yard left, including all the little ends), so I get to use the second skein to make myself a pair.

I also made a pair of tufted mittens for my sister M. Unfortunately I was rushing to wrap and mail them so I forgot to take a proper picture. Both M and Bob were very pleased with their gifts and I was very pleased with their reactions.

Works-in-progress Wednesday

Yes, I'm late, but I just didn't feel like posting on Wednesday. I've had false labor twice, on Sunday and Wednesday, and it is so exciting to think that you are finally going to get to meet the baby and then so depressing when they tell you that you're crazy and send you home. Okay, well, maybe they don't use that word exactly. But you know they're thinking it.

At any rate, here is the new work-in-progress:

This is the Fleece Artist merino in Midnight that I got on sale from Simply Sock Yarn. I love this stuff and I now know why so many people rave about it. It's soft, feels like it'll hold up well, and the colors are just gorgeous. The pattern is Lichen Ribbed Socks, another one from Knitting Vintage Socks.

I'm not going to post a picture of the Blueberry Pink Lemonade socks because a) they're packed for the hospital and it would just be a hassle and b) they're not that much longer than they were last time I posted. I did finish all the calf decreases, though, so now I can work on them without thinking (until I get to the heel flap).

Oh my goodness!

I won! I never win anything. Emily of Yarn Miracle held a "What's So Great About Christmas Sweepstakes" and she drew my name out of the hat. I will soon be the proud owner of the "Shear Panic" board game. We'll have to have some friends over for a game night; it's been too long since we've done that anyway.

Thank you so much, Emily!