Finally Finished Objects!!

Last Saturday I finished my very first pair of two-at-a-time, toe-up Magic Loop socks. And I LOVE them. I was still working on a pair of top-down socks on DPNs and had to nudge myself a bit to put the Magic Loop down to work on them. :-) I have to say that I actually do enjoy working on double point needles, though. There's something a bit nostalgic about it. However there are several reasons for me to use Magic Loop instead:

1. I do a lot of knitting in doctors' waiting rooms these days. It's nice to know that if I drop something, a double point needle isn't going to roll under a chair and get lost. With Magic Loop that issue is completely eliminated. The only thing I might drop is a stitch. *L*
2. It's really easy to stop and start....handy if you get called from the waiting room to the examining room in the middle of a round.
3. It's a real conversation starter. I always get comments like "I used to knit, but I've never seen that kind of knitting before. What is it?" Really fun, and I've met a lot of wonderful people this way.

Last night I finished up my latest pair of top-down socks on DPNs. They're truly truly WILD. I need to make myself some sock blockers. I don't block my socks, but I'd like to have a set of blockers to make my socks easy to photograph. So far I've been taking pictures of them on my feet, but I'd really rather have blockers. I found a tutorial online on a way to make a set from an old placemat. I guess that should be my next "project".

Ah well, back to work. I wish the work day disappeared as quickly as lunch breaks. *L*

Socks Are Addictive

Here's what I just finished for my friend's grandson:


The hat, not the Raggedy Andy. *LOL* It's the "Simple Baby Hat" by Alison Williams, available for FREE at Ravelry. *here comes a shameless Ravelry plug* If you're a knitter and you've not joined Ravelry, you should. They have lots of wonderful helpful folks in groups who share just about any interest you might have. Not only that, but there are TONS of patterns. Back to the hat. My friend's grandson is growing so quickly that I wanted to find something I could knit up in a hurry. Since he'll outgrow it in no time at all, I didn't want to spend weeks on it, y'know? So, using Ravelry's helpful pattern search engine, I found this nifty little pattern and knitted it up last night.

The proud grandma isn't sure the hat is big enough, so I told her that's no problem. I'll just knit up another one in a slightly larger size tonight.

Now, let's see....what do I have on the needles currently?

1. Mom's cushion cover. The boucle she chose makes me knit a few rows on the cover, then I grab up a sock or something else I'm knitting from more comforting yarn. The fabric formed from the boucle looks lovely....all soft and plushy. But it's devilish to work with. If we're choosing yarn for another project in the future, I'm going to steer her away from boucle, for sure!
2. Socks 101 - fourth pair. I've had this pair of socks on DPNs forever! I'm not sure when I started them. I keep them at the office to work on during lunch breaks, so it's taking a loooong time to finish them. I'm fairly sick of looking at them, so I might take them home this weekend and finish them just so I can move onto something else. I'm about 3 inches down the leg of the second sock, so it shouldn't take long to polish them off and get them out of my hair.
3. My first pair of two-at-a-time, toe-up Magic Loop socks. There's nothing fancy about these....just vanilla colored k3p1 ribbed socks. But, OH, how I've enjoyed working on them. These socks gave me not only my first experience with Magic Loop, but my first experience with toe-up socks and knitting socks two at a time as well. Such fun! I call these my "waiting room" socks. I've been spending a lot of time in doctors' waiting rooms lately, and these socks are so simple that I can work on them without having to watch a pattern. Perfect for the waiting room!
4. Wendy D. Johnson's Diagonal Lace Socks. I found these in her wonderful book, Socks from the Toe Up, but just learned that you can find the pattern online free. Just click HERE. You're welcome. I have a small error in them, just as I was finishing the first set of the lace pattern. I keep debating over whether or not to go back and fix it. The more I think about it, the more I think I'm going to have to. It'll bug me if I don't. I'm knitting them from Knit Picks' yummy Stroll Tweed sock yarn in Ash. These are my "I'm tired...I need something to help me relax" socks. It's a simple pattern, and it makes me happy to watch the diagonal lace form in my hands. I'm a person of simple pleasures.

I think that's it. I guess that's enough, don't you? *LOL* Okay, lunch break's over, so I'd better get back to it.

Vacations Zip Right Along

I've been on vacation this week, but have hardly been able to knit at all, dang it! I managed to get some knitting done while waiting to have some medical tests run Tuesday, and while waiting to have my car serviced Wednesday. But not much. *sigh* I've deliberately planned to do NOTHING Saturday and hope to spend all day with my audiobook and my knitting!

I have to tell you , though, that between diagnostic tests Tuesday I had time to run into the only local yarn shop in my hometown and found it to be just delightful. I've had wonderful luck so far buying yarn on the internet, but it's a wonderful treat to be able to FEEL the yarn before buying it. I didn't have much time to shop, but assured the owner (a very nice lady) that I'd certainly be back!

Okay, I'm off now to fix myself a bite of breakfast and knit just a few rows on my newest pair of socks before heading out to enjoy my last weekday of vacation. *sniffle, sob*

Oh Goodie, Goodie, Goodie!!

Yesterday I received a shipment from KnitPicks that included Wendy D. Johnson's wonderful book Socks from the Toe Up. I can hardly wait to start knitting from it! I need to finish up the simple ribbed socks I'm working on, but I'll probably go ahead and cast on a pair from the book. After all, it's September and I'll need socks soon. (Okay, that's my excuse...*LOL*)

I also ordered some sock yarn....addicted, you know. My excuse here is that they had their Stroll Tweed Sock Yarn ON SALE. And I need some new gray socks to go with a beautiful gray sweater that Mom and Dad gave me. And one of the colors ON SALE was "Ash". So I needed it, right? RIGHT?

I also ordered a couple of balls of their Stroll Multi Sock Yarn in "Turtle"....ON SALE...LAST CHANCE...and I have a new pair of green slacks that they will look just great with. And it was only $2.99 a ball. So I needed it, too. Really. I did.

I also ordered some natural bare marino wool because I want to try something I've never tried before.....KoolAid dyeing!! This will either be a lot of fun or one huge mess. *LOL*

Fun, fun, fun! And as I say often, knitting is cheaper than therapy.

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday afternoon. My appointment was at 1:55, but the doctor was delayed by an emergency surgery. When I arrived, folks who had 11:45 appointments hadn't been seen yet. Did I panic? Nope. I just whipped out my little knitting bag with my Magic Loop socks and entertained myself and various other patients for the next couple of hours. *LOL* I didn't get to see the doctor until about 4:30, but I told myself, "Hey, more knitting time." I was tired when I finally left the doctor's office, but not upset at all. Therapy, I'm tellin' ya.

And now I have the next week off from work. Ahhhhhhhhhh. Nothing special planned, only a few things to take care of. I'm hoping for a couple of cozy afternoons in the recliner with MeggieDog and a lap full of knitting. :-)

Progress, Finally

This week I've made more progress, thank goodness. I've worked more on my 2-at-a-time socks, and absolutely LOVE working in Magic Loop. As you can see in this photo, I've worked the heel (which was much, much easier than I'd feared it might be) and am now working my way up the leg. From time to time I stop working on the socks and knit a few more rows on Mom's cushion cover. This is a holiday weekend (hooray!) so I hope to put in some serious knitting time. I also have checked a new audiobook out of the library and have it my Zune, ready and waiting!

I also made time this week to knit a pair of socks for my friend's new grandson from the leftovers I had after knitting a pair of socks for myself. They actually turned out really cute! The neat thing about knitting baby socks is that it doesn't take long. I think people who are knitting socks for the first time might want to consider knitting baby socks first to learn the basics. Less time and yarn involved in the learning process this way. Of course, unless you know someone with a baby, it might be a little pointless. Who am I kidding? Knitting socks is NEVER pointless. Addicted, you see. *LOL*

Well, household drudgery awaits me, so I'll close for now. Have to get the vacuuming done so I can knit without guilt. *LOL* Have a safe holiday weekend, everyone!