Basketcase finished

I just finished the first Basketcase sock. I really like the stretch of this pattern. Now all I need to do is get the second one done but I'm leaving for vacation tomorrow morning and taking my 18 month old grand-daughter along so working on anything with a definite pattern is out. I've put in two different patterned yarns that I can either do in straight stitch or with a simple fancy rib so I can sit my sock down without having to worry about where I was.

Best of Intentions

I always have the best of intentions with my projects. I start them with all the faith in the world that I will stick with them and see them through to completion. Somehow that never happens. I started this tablecloth in the summer of 2000 for my dining room table. Somewhere along the way, it got shoved into a tote bag and forgotten until a co-worker asked me to help her decipher a pattern at work. I got thinking, Hmmm, I have a tablecloth started somewhere in my craft mess. So I dug it out this morning and am going to take a stab at getting a bit more done. No illusions it will be finished anytime soon because it is supposed to be 75" round when done and is at 43" right now.




I've switched to 10 hour shifts at work now which means I get a long break in the afternoons so instead of sitting and eating junk food which is what we usually do, I decided that I would take some socks to work on. I dug through my stash and found this really ugly Bernat Sox yarn that I can think of no reason for buying. Must have been one of those moments I have where I have to have every color of yarn! It's called Hot Tamale and the picture isn't showing bad color, it really is that bad. It's orange, pink, green and turquoise with the colors oozing into each other at the changes so there are spots of olive green and murky brown. I think I'll gift these to someone but for sure no one will steal them off my table in the lunchroom!




So while digging for the above ugly yarn I decided that the plastic tote with the sock yarn in it was too full and a jumbled mess. This morning I dumped it out and sorted it into matching pairs as well as sorting by acrylics and wools. The left are the nice wool yarns and the right is my assortment of Bernat Sox acrylics that I use for making socks for those I know won't look after wool socks. As far as I've heard, this yarn is now discontinued but from the looks of it I should be alright for awhile yet!

My needles are here!

I'm off work today and it was great to go out to the mailbox to find that my new needles had arrived. I ordered a set of Inox 6" needles in size 2mm awhile ago from Judy at theKnitter and just loved them so I ordered another 2 sets that came today. Now I can get all those socks I have on long needles onto the short ones and it will be soooooo much better! Ok, so it doesn't take much to excite me but I really hate trying to work with the long needles now.

Basketcase

I started these socks this week from the Sockknitters Intermediate SAM list. The pattern is called Basketcase and is going really well so far. I decided to use Kroy yarn instead of what was called for since I normally use 56 sts for a sockweight yarn anyway. The sock really has a lot of stretch so it should stay up well and the pattern is easy to follow. I actually have followed it to the letter so far, even doing the square heel which I hadn't done before.  

Turtle Track

I finished one of my Turtle Track socks. I absolutely love this yarn. It is the perfect balance of cotton and wool. To find out more about this sock read on down to a few posts ago! 

Inside/Outside Sock

I finished the first sock of the Inside/Outside Socks from the SOTM kit for June from theKnitter designed by Nancy Walsh. I changed it a bit (like always) because I didn't want to do the wraps on the garter stitch short row heel or the garter stitch toe that the pattern called for. The sock is made with Fortissima Cotton which is 75% cotton and 25% polyamid so the offset rib pattern gives it some extra stretch that a cotton sock needs. Now all I need to do is get the second sock done without getting sidetracked!