Wednesday, September 28, 2016

WIP Wednesday - Catching up again!

Haven't done a WIP Wednesday post in awhile, so it's about time :)

Despite a bit of a delay, I managed to finish my September socks in time for me to gift them to Liz when I visted her last weekend. She'd asked for long socks to keep her calves warm in winter-time. I didn't quite make them knee-length, but definitely longer than any other socks I've knit so far. They were knit toe-up with a heel-flap. That's the first time I've succesfully performed a toe-up heel-flap, but it went perfectly! No clue what's gone wrong the other times, but this is heaps easier than a heel-flap top-down (no pesky stitches to pick up! ;) )
The pattern is Kyma by Tammy Bailey which is a really satisfying pattern to knit, and definitely something I'll knit again.

Since the beginning of September, I've happily cast on three new things and am swatching for a fourth. Obviously I needed something new after all the finishing of Stashdash ;)

First cast on is a pair of socks. I needed some easy travel-knitting and socks tend to be my go-to in that regard.
I never got very far though (and might even frog them - not quite sure I like how the yarn and pattern work together), as Liz commissioned a Feather-and-Fan scarf in some beautiful yarn we found at the craft fair. I cast that on the same evening, and it's coming along nicely :-)
Slightly boring to knit, unfortunately, but it's turning out so lovely I don't mind much. In fact, I'm even contemplating making a similar one for myself, as it's so nice and wide, it might turn into a shawl rather than a scarf.

Finally I've joined the Polygon craze and found the perfect yarn for it at the craft fair. I've only knit one hexagon so far, but I think I'm going to have a lot of fun with this one :)

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

WIP Wednesday - Catching up!

I've been on vacation for the past few weeks, so have a LOT of knitting to show off this week... mostly socks though. They tend to make the best travel-knitting.

I finished the Striped Beach Sweater three or four weeks ago. It's been blocked and just needs ends woven in and the buttons sewn in. I'm still thinking which colour buttons to use, as I have 3 different contenders (all red, all blue, one each of red, green, blue and black - am leaning towards the latter). Doesn't matter too much just yet - looks like Nora won't be able to wear it until NEXT winter at the earliest.

I knit and frogged a complete sock. Awhile back, I bought the "New Directions in Sock Knitting" book, and wanted to knit my way through that. I found some yarn I thought would work nicely for the "Vanishing Point" socks and cast on for that just prior to my last WIP post. Despite a really fiddly start, and a lot of purling, I really liked the way it was turning out... until we got to the grafting. Grafting takes FOREVER, and here I had about 130 stitches to graft! Ah well, I made the best of it, but when I ran out of yarn 30 stitches before the end, I decided to try on the sock before adding more yarn for the rest.
I'm glad I did. The sock makes for a fun knit, because the construction's so unusual, but when push came to shove, I didn't care much for neither the look nor the fit of the sock itself.

So I frogged it! And immediately reused the yarn for a much simpler sock pattern, which shows off the yarn nicely and is coming along much faster
.

While on vacation I finished two pairs of socks (the Rose City Rollers and a pair of plain vanilla) and started a third (the Kyrma). It's coming along nicely, but I've lengthened the leg significantly so is taking a lot longer than usual. That's fine - I just have to finish by September 23rd, as they're meant as a gift for a friend of mine :)

Once I've finished those socks I'll have no more obligation knitting for awhile, so I want to cast on something new... perhaps one of the sweaters I've been meaning to knit for myself for awhile :)