There was a reason ...

why I bought this Regia Silk yarn, besides the fact it was on sale! It will be perfect for the Campanula socks that I decided I couldn't wait to knit. And promptly joined the KAL

A lovely light rose, that should look very nice in lace. Which means another start! Hopefully this weekend. And this is not going to be a bus project! Luckily the alpaca socks are knitting up super quick.

And here's another pink that I couldn't resist:

May have to try this cotton/nylon blend as well for the Campanula socks. It's quite shiny. Hard to tell from the picture. Very shiny, in fact. So all my friends can start wondering what has come over me to choose these pinks, so far from my usual colour palette. Maybe the woolly fibers are finally affecting my brain.

So, I'm looking forward to a long weekend and some serious knitting!

Only a matter of time ...

until I strayed from the staight and narrow (knitting one pair of socks) to starting another. Last weekend I realized it's only six weeks until my good friend and neighbour will leave to join her husband in North Africa and since I'm really slow at finishing a complete pair, I'll probably need all that time to finish a present for her. So I decided to start her socks, using a lovely alpaca blend in greens and purples that I got at the HWSDA conference in June. This yarn is from Alpaca Plus here in Alberta and is so nice to work with. The pattern I chose is Daisies by marie flyfly.

So here is the first sock just ready to start the heel flap:


This picture is a bit dark. It's really working up quickly and it's such an easy lace pattern that I've had no problem knitting on the bus.

And just to keep the Fleece Artist pair in mind, pictures of the finished sock and the one in progress (just ready to turn the heel)

First sock

Well, finally!
I spent some time at lunch today to finish the first sock, following the Techknitting Kitchener stitch directions. Not bad. Not bad , at all. Maybe a smidge short, but I'm very pleased. Pictures have to wait for a camera. The second sock is already under way and hopefully won't take quite so long.

Tempus fugit ...

and then some! I can't believe how the time has passed and I haven't updated this!

My Fleece Artist sock has come along slowly. Had an issue with picking up the gusset stitches, so it sat for a week. Started the second one though, since it was easier to take on the bus. But, then I went back to the first and have it ready to graft the toe. Yay!!! No pictures until later this week, but it looks good to me. My camera USB cable has gone missing so downloading pictures is complicated.

A friend and I went to Shuttleworks just south of Calgary on Sat. Ooooohh ... lots of good stuff! Got some Brown Sheep Wildfoote sock yarn, one skein each Jungle and Desert Grass to match the single skeins I got on sale in Cochrane a couple of weeks ago. Luckily matched the dye lot of the Jungle, but not the Desert Grass. It's close enough that I'll just do a sock from each skein. I'm much too lazy to do alternate stipes. Maybe a nice lacy pattern will work. Yesterday I got the Campanula for a Cure pattern from MezzoDiva after making a donation to her fundraising for breast cancer. Check it out. Nice!

It's been really, really hot here so I'm seriously thinking cotton for the next pair of socks.

Late

The Socks of Summer 2007 KAL officially started June 21, but I'm just getting myself organized to post. I've started a sock which I have been diligently knitting on the bus, going from a bit of ribbing to the beginning of the heel flap this week.


This is a Fleece Artist merino kit that I picked up at the Hand Weavers, Spinners & Dyers of Alberta Conference in Red Deer June 16. A yummy red that I couldn't resist. Raspberry, I think. Balled it up right away, did a swatch and started knitting on the recommended 2.5 mm needles, only to discover I didn't like the loose knit, so ripped and started again last weekend on 2 mm. So now it counts for the KAL! But not sure if it will fit me.


Really like the bamboo needles. They're nice and flexible. I can easily dig out a tight stitch. They do seem a bit dangerous, though, when you're riding a rocky bus and wondering if you'll be impaled. And they don't make a sound when you drop them, either. Drat! Did that once and had to hunt on the exremely grubby floor.

Nice red yarn!

So the goals this summer are:

• find a combination of yarn, needles and pattern for a sock that will fit me
• try the toe up sock
• try two circulars
• make a dent in the sock yarn stash I've accumulated this spring
  

This is new!

I never thought that I would start a blog, but this morning I saw the 2007 Summer Socks site and rushed in to set this up so I can join the KAL (or should that just be a plain SAL??) Recently, I've returned to knitting, which I did avidly until discovering cross-stitch 17 years ago. And what has caught my fancy but socks. Right now I'm in the middle of two different ones, technically experimenting with pattern and yarn, but since I'm a process knitter as well as a process stitcher, there may well be more on the needles than on the feet!