Socks, Baby Hats, Thorpes, and now Sock Blankie…

I’m knitting in batches.  A lot of something then moving on.

It started in the fall when I had to keep knitting to keep my sanity — 3 pairs of socks.  Then I moved on to baby hats — made what? Like 6 or 7?  Next up was mostly Thorpes with a Pixie hat thrown in.  I offered to knit them for all K’s friends for gifts to help her out.  Thorpes is the style of hat that is very popular this year, so I hope they are wearing them. But, if not, that is okay too.  Recently I was asked how I feel about giving away my knitting and if I worry about what happens to it when it leaves me.  I’ve been thinking on this quite a bit to figure out my answer.  If course, it is always nice when a hand knit items is appreciated and worn. That being said, I think I’m more of a process knitter than a product knitter so I don’t really obsess over it.  As long as I have the photos and the history, I’m good.  I don’t even wear all the knitting I keep for myself, so I don’t think I can get all that upset over it.

But you are waiting for the photos now, so I’ll be moving along.

J was very happy to model for me.  The only hat for her though is the light green beret that I made last year and finally got around to weaving in the ends.  Altogether I think I have made 8 Thorpes.  One for me, one for K, one for B, and 5 for K’s friends.  I have requests for 2 more that I need to start on soon before I’m completely out of the grove.  I used different yarns for the Thorpes mostly drawing on my stash.  I think they look best in handspun though.  I even used some of my Tour de Fleece yarns.

For example, Shaded Sapas

became this hat for K:

Since the holidays, I have been knitting on Sock Blankie.  He is almost done!  Just about 5 squares left and an edging.  What is up after that?  I have Stripey Cardigan to finish and yarn for Hemlock Ring (woot!).  I think my knitting  group is going to do Hemlock Ring as a KAL.  That will be fun and I’m really looking forward to it!  Oh, and I almost forgot. I have 6 skeins of Mountain Mohair to make into something for my sister.  I think probably a vest as it is not enough for a sweater, but any thoughts,  let me know, okay?

So, this is a pretty good start back into blogging right?  As always I hope not to go too long before the next post in which I hope to talk about Sock Blankie in more detail and my One Little Word for 2011.  Until then, take care and thanks for reading!

So today was the day that I decided to start listing things on Etsy again.  After the Fiber Event, I took a sort of break for a bit to catch up on things around my house.  Yesterday I started washing windows.  I washed 12 and then figured out that I have 27 left to wash.  Now, I have decided that it is time to take a break from doing things around my house and starting putting things up on Etsy again.   So in case anyone noticed my little Etsy leave, I’m back and please feel free to visit me over there.

A few weeks ago, I bought this cute little box bag on Etsy:

I haven’t used it yet, but it is really cute and I think it is going to be perfect for carrying around my sock projects. It is made by Jess from JessaLu Knits (and Spins). I really love little knitting bags and I think that you can never have too many!  My favorite thing about the bag is her signature bead work on the zipper pull.  Oh, and I also like the poke-a-dot fabric lining too.   Ok, I just went to her Etsy shop and now I see that she has a box bag in the exact fabric that would match my purse!   Oh my…. I better move along now, but really just one more quick plug — Jess is a very talented seamstress and very attentive to detail and these bags would make awesome handmade Christmas gifts.  Really — you don’t even need to be a knitter to have one of these – they would be great for travel or for carrying around your cross stitch (well, I think, I don’t know what you really need to carry around cross stitch as I don’t do cross stitch myself but I know many of you do). You can use them for toys or for tissues in your car.  And what about just for a lunch bag? They are washable and very pretty!

Also a few weeks ago, we had a Mad Knitter sock blank dyeing day in my basement and it was just mad fun!  I didn’t get to dye my own sock blank that day, but I loved watching everyone else choose their colors and their patterns.  I dyed mine a few days later and this is how it turned out (although the purples are really more purplely).  I don’t know when it is going to become socks, but I think it is going to be a lot of fun to knit. I’m actually having a hard time not pulling it apart and rolling it into balls. Snickerdoodle is really going to love me and my yarn isn’t he?

Well, this is a great segue way — going from sock blank to Sock Blankie!  Yes, I’ve been working on sock blankie and he is growing. Slowly but surely…

Such a great project to work on when you really just need to knit and need not to think too much.

Tomorrow, IHA and I are going to go buy all our kitten supplies and pick up Snickerdoodle and bring him home with us.  My mom thinks that it is so funny that the two of us are going together.  I think that it is really sweet that IHA wants to come with me.  When we were first married and bought our first house we went to the store together to find kittens and I think he is so sweet that after being married for 18 years, he still wants to get kittens with me. (I should scan in some of those photos from when our first cats were kittens and we both looked so young!)  Plus anyway, I need his help because I can’t decide on which kitten food and kitten litter to buy.  I just want to get the best so that everything will go smoothly, you know?

Have a great evening everyone!  I’m sure the next time I post it will be the start of my gratuitous kitten photo series!

2 Handspun Hats (meets summer knitting goal #4: I will knit some things with my hand spun yarn.)

Tango Hat:

Roving: BFL in Tango from The Painted Sheep
Yarn: Navajo 3 ply, 11 w.p.i.
Pattern: Improvised – child’s size hat

Blue Epona Hat:

Roving: Superwash merino 64 ct lambswool hand dyed in the color Blue Epona
Yarn: 2 ply, 9 w.p.i.
Pattern: Improvised – child’s size hat

1 Market Bag (meets summer knitting goal #3: I will knit one market bag.)

String Bag:

Ok, so actually this is crochet…

Pattern: String Bag by Lily
Yarn: Plymouth Yarn Linen Isle
Thoughts: I improvised the bottom to make it more “gussetted” but because I have a very difficult time telling where the ending of a crochet row is, the bag is slightly lopsided. Have also only successfully used it once at the grocery store. The baggers keep ignoring its existence.

1 Pair of Socks (meets summer knitting goal #1: Since I did sign up for Summer of Socks, I will knit one pair of socks from beginning to end.)

Spring Foward:

Pattern: Spring Foward by Linda Welch
Yarn: MadelineTosh Sock in Vermillion
Thoughts: Cool pattern, just very time consuming!

Some More Squares (meets summer knitting goal #2: will knit 20 more squares on my Sock Blankie.)

Sock Blankie:

Pattern: Sock Yarn Blanket by The Heathen Housewife
Yarn: Various
Thoughts: I currently have 35ish squares. I don’t know how many I knit this summer, but I did knit some. Now that the blankie is getting bigger and warmer to knit, it is good that the weather is getting cooler.

So what is new on my needles now, you wonder…

Back to School Cardi:

Pattern: Hey Teach by Hélène Rush
Yarn: Cotton Ease by Lion Brand
Thoughts: I have the back done and I’m almost done with the 2 front pieces. This is very fast knitting and the lace pattern is easy and intuitive. Surprisingly, I’m really enjoying this yarn. It is a cotton/acrylic blend so it is elastic and soft and it doesn’t hurt my fingers like 100% cotton.