WIP Wednesday - Halfway through the D-SPAKAL!

I have both knitting and spinning this week! I don't post all my spinning projects, as a lot of it is still getting the hang of things, but this one project I'm rather proud of, so I figured it deserved a mention :)
Almost 100g and 360 meters done of a single-ply yarn! The fiber is corrigale - I have no clue about the weight of the yarn though. The first skeins are probably aran or at least worsted. The latter ones might be sport or fingering! I haven't determined WPI yet (wraps per inch) which might be useful ;) I've spun it up for the D-SPAKAL hosted by Kristin Voolenvine of the YarnGasm podcast (Drop-Spin And Knit A-Long). Still have to figure out which shawl to knit though. I have about 5 different ones I'm wavering between.
But just look at this! That is the first and the last skein I spun! Just goes to show what an amazing difference practise makes.

My vanilla socks are still coming along nicely. I didn't go quite as crazy with the second one, so I'm still working on that one. Have another three stripes to go and then the ribbing. It's perfect commute-knitting though - I get about 2 stripes done each day, so should finish this week... which is great - can't wait to wear them :)

I'm almost done with my Monochromatic $5 in Paris. I had a friend over yesterday and we spent most of the evening talking and knitting, so I got a LOT done there. Finally got to try it on this morning, and while it fits nicely (as it should! considering I based it on one of my favourite sweaters), I'm not entirely sure about the colours :-/ May just be the lighting of the bathroom, but I don't know... ah well, I'll finish it up and then take it from there.

Finally I've worked a bit more on my puzzle blanket, and have sewn up several more pieces :)
I'm just over half-way now, but am actually running out of scrap yarn! Had not seen that coming! So I may have to put it on hiatus for awhile.

Year of Projects - Overdue Update

It's amazing how big a difference the right yarn makes! I've been working on the "Snakes on a Plane" socks for a couple of months by now, and just can't keep the interest long enough to get some real progress going. I think I'm about 1/3 of the way through sock 2 and have been knitting on it for 3 weeks or so.

Then yesterday I discovered I had enough left-over yarn of two skeins to make some striped socks which I really, really, really wanted to cast on right away. I decided to go with some plain vanilla socks (though with the vanilla bean variation just to spice them up a bit) and did them toe-up in order to ensure that I'd have enough yarn.

3 hours later I could take this photo. That's right, 3 hours of knitting on these socks got me as far as 3 weeks on "Socks on a Plane". Go figure!
And since yesterday was a lazy Sunday, and I had nothing better to do with my time than sit and knit while watching TV, I was able to cast off that same night! First time EVER I've managed to knit an adult sized fingering weight sock in a day!
The yarn is Candy Skein's Yummy Fingering (green) and Posh Yarn's Pamela Sock (brown). Complete adore both yarns!

It's weird - I've always thought I didn't like self-striping yarn, but I love these "manually striped" (or whatever...) socks, so I may just stand corrected...

Saturday was another lazy day - I didn't feel like knitting any of my ongoing projects (this was before I cast on the above socks), but found an interesting pattern for a mini neckwarmer that seemed appropriate. Turned out to be a really quick knit, and I like the result.
Next time I think I may make it slightly bigger though... and definitely use softer yarn. This has a tad too high nylon content to be all that soft. But it's not scratchy, so I'll take it (and it did make me realize I wanted to use the rest for socks ;) )

I've also been working on my $5 in Paris and discovered I did NOT take sufficient notes last time - not even listing the needles I used! So part of knitting it this second time is deconstructing the old one (not literally!) and taking copious notes as I go. It's coming along nicely though :)

Finally I finished the baby cardigan last weekend, and it's been blocking ever since - slow going in winter time. It turned out rather big though! The original pattern said this was a 3-6mo size... that got changed to 6-9mo along the way, and I think the end result is closer to 12-18mo! But that's what test-knitting is for, because I did get gauge, and the measurements are spot on. Ah well - it'll be a birthday present instead of a baptism present I guess ;) Still need to sew on buttons and weave in ends, but I'm calling it done for all intents and purposes.

Progress
July Sock (Braided Swirl Socks)
Stashbuster #1 (Dragonfly Elfe)
August Sock (Vanilla Socks)
September Sock (My Little Cup of Tea)
October Sock (Sunset Scales)
Stashbuster #2 (Little Pole)
November Sock (Spring Forward)
December Sock (Newborn tube socks)
Stashbuster #3 (Bubblegum Elfe)
Stashbuster #4 ($5 in Paris)
(Stashbuster #5)
(Stashbuster #6)