Monday, March 14, 2011

Finally done! 2011 FO #4: New Start Shawl

Last year when I left one job and headed down a new pathway in my life, I started a new shawl.  It's only taken me nine months (!!!) but it's finally done:


As per usual, Lucy helped out as best she could during the blocking process.  



Finishing this shawl did cause me to evaluate the last nine months.  I certainly have not achieved everything I wanted - my work, though interesting, is infrequent, leading to weeks where I am crazy busy intersected by days watching repeats of Friends and Sex and the City.  I have lost weight, but not as much as I wanted.  Overall, even though I have some way to go, I am certain that I am on the correct path and heading in the right direction. Yay me.


Enough navel-gazing - here's the vital statistics:

Yarn: Patonyle, three full skeins in black.  This sock yarn is terrible for socks, but perfect for a lovely, soft, drapey shawl.  Go figure.
Notes/modifications: Knitted the size large exactly as written.  The pattern was clear, easy to understand, and completely stress free.  A very nice project.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

2011 FO #3: Scraptastic Needlefood Socks

It has now been autumn for two days, and in that two days it has been cold, windy, wet and wintry.  Last time I checked there was supposed to be a season between summer and winter rather than a precipitous drop in the temperature?  So I thought it was fitting to show the socks that I knitted to warm my tootsies in the recent Summer That Wasn't.


 I started these socks last year as a way to use up some small amounts of Needlefood hanging about my stash.  I love this yarn but I keep on giving the socks that I make out of it away! I used the 20g of Plumberry Ambrosia for the heel and toe and then did two-row stripes using 27g of Meet me in the Frozen Food and Red Hot Chocolate.   In the interests of creating a spectacular-looking sock without any jarring colour-shifts I started the colour change on the foot of the sole and then, after I turned the heel, shifted the colour change to the inside of the calf - one on the left and the other on the right.  However, the two different colourways blend so perfectly that I needn't have bothered - it looks like the body of the sock is made from one colourway.

The sock itself is pretty straightforward - CO 20 stitches with Judy's Magic Cast On. Increase to 64 stitches.  I knit for about 4cm after the toe finished.  Then two-row stripes, a short-row heel, 2x1 ribbing and then Jenny's Surprisingly Stretch Bind-Off.

I have used a variation of this two-row pattern a few times lately.  I might write it up, just for the experience.  If all things go as plan, I will need lots of writing experience rather soon! (more on that later...once difficult decisions made and plans confirmed)

Really, there's not much more I can say about these socks, except that a summer which requires you to knit socks to keep your toes warm is a really shitty summer.  Shame on you, Summer 2010-11, for being so darn cold!