Don't Call It a Conversion...

The socks are done, and now I see the light about why sock knitting is so addictive for some folks! The look and fit is great, and now I simply never want to be without hand-knitted wool stockings swaddling my feet!

Thank goodness for Elann and KnitPicks, so that there is affordable sock yarn out there. Otherwise, this has the potential to turn into a rather expensive habit...

Semester Done

Well, as of yesterday, my semester is complete! I am glad that it's over. 2 of the classes went very well, the other one not so. It's not worth it for me to get overly perturbed about it though. At the worst, I will just take the class again with a different professor.

In other news, I've been scratching my itch to learn how to knit socks 2 at a time on 2 circular needles. It's fun and I think I've finally found the cure for my Second Sock Syndrome! The alpaca/silk yarn for the Rambling Leaves Shawl arrived and I am looking forward to getting that started. I am exercising some self-control in not casting on for that until I get some other stuff finished first.

My next dream projects are to make myself some convertible mittens/gloves and a Lopi sweater. I love the Icelandic designs (I have a bit of an Iceland fetish anyway) and I like that they're done in bulky yarn so they knit up fast. I am just trying to decide which one to make. Should it be this one? (my favorite so far)



Or this one?



More complicated:



Monochromatic:



Or if I decide to go for texture rather than colorwork:



I am taking votes and suggestions about this in the comments.

Fawkes v2.0

The second version of the hat pattern that I created is done! I am very happy with the way that the shaping turned out as well as the new colorway and choice of yarn. The only thing that I might try differently next time is to go down a size on the needles to tighten up the gauge a bit.

Here's a photo:

Ravelry Yay!

My invitation for Ravelry arrived a couple of days ago, and let me tell you, it's as cool as the hype has made it out to be. It's really neat to be able to show off your projects and to find inspiration for other stuff to make. The user groups and forums are pretty cool as well. My username on there is also wanderingpup in case you would like to check out my project notebook.

Thanksgiving went fine. We got to see the immediate family in Tennessee as well as a bunch of extended family on my Dad's side in Kentucky on the way back. I am already very much looking forward to the Christmas plans for Carolina.

The photo that I promised of the finished Shedir is here:



Also, I just had to share this pic of the most appropriate post-Thanksgiving church sign that I've ever seen!

Really Antsy

Well, the Shedir is done. I only did three repeats of the Saxon braid and it's plenty big enough as is. I can only imagine the kind of ginormous heads that the original pattern would fit! Photos will be up soon.

The next projects are to go back to working on the chullo (a nice portable project for the Thanksgiving weekend), more work on the blue throw in Lion Brand Homespun, and to play around with Fawkes v2.0 (in Noro Silk Garden 84!)

Referring to the title of this post, I see that now there are a mere 950 people ahead of me in line for Ravelry invites!

Fawkes and Shedir

Well, the first version of the flame chevron hat pattern that I mentioned before is done. I decided to name the pattern Fawkes, continuing along the fiery theme. Here's how it looks:



I generally like how it turned out, but there are a couple of things that I'm planning to change. I want to find a darker red/purple yarn to make it in, for one thing. I'm willing to take suggestions on that! I'd also like to make it slightly larger and maybe adjust the cap shaping. I've already figured out how I'll change the repeats for a larger version. Here's how the hat looks being worn:



I plan to write up the pattern, but I think that I will wait until my Ravelry invite arrives to actually post it. (Only 4003 3713 2908 people ahead of me in line!) In the meantime, I have cast on for Shedir, done in Nashua Handknits Cilantro color 014. This is for a friend who is battling breast cancer right now. As lovely as the pattern is, I wish there were no need for it...

Wavy Gravy!

Here's the finished product for the Wavy Gravy hat that I mentioned in my previous post. Who knew Teddy was such a fashion plate?



Better shot to see how the colors are gorgeous and slowly change from one round to the next.