FO: Rib and Cable Socks

Here they are in all their glory.

Rib and Cable Socks, Interweave Knits, Fall 2005.
Yarn: Mountain Colors Bearfoot
Needles: Sz 2 DPNs

This was my first attempt at cables. Partway through the second sock I tried cabling without a cable needle. It was a little tricky trying to pick up the teeny weeny loops from this somewhat splitty yarn, but I think it was a little faster than using a needle. I can see it being a huge time advantage when using thicker yarn.

Now I'm working on my Not Cashmere Sweater from Weekend Knitting. I've completed the two center panels and am starting to add the arms for the front. To do that, you pick up stitches from the center panel, then cast on stitches at the beginning of the next several rows. A little weird, but definitely interesting.

Progress Report and Giving Blood

I find it hard to believe that I have JUST ONE project on the needles right now!

I finished up the Rib and Cable socks on Monday (pictures to come when I am feeling motivated) and had nothing on the needles for a few hours. I felt really uneasy. I remedied my anxiety by casting on for my Not Really Cashmere Sweater from Weekend Knitting. I'm using Cascade 128 in a brownish color with blue flecks. The construction of this sweater is unusual, so I better take pics along the way.

Next in line: Baby Uggs for a February baby girl currently known as “Project Little B,” the daughter of two PhD scientists. I originally was going to make another suede hat, but thought these little booties would be cuter for a girl.

I frogged my little Midwest Moonlight scarf again. It just wasn’t working for me in that yarn. I might try Branching Out with this yarn instead.

I gave blood last Thursday. I always get a little uneasy going to donate because it seems that everyone who works there is one extreme or the other: really friendly or really crabby. I always hope it's not a Really Cranky Person taking my blood. Well, it turned out to be the best donation ever. All of the workers were completely friendly. The woman who was taking my blood was chatting about Christmas shopping and making gifts. "When I was your age I would go home every night after work and knit." I nearly jumped out of my chair, needle in arm, and jumped for joy. We talked knitting the rest of the time.

The Secret is Out

My downstream Holiday SP, Erica, now knows who I am. I revealed myself by sending her one of my Christmas cards. Hi Erica! It was hard for me to keep a secret for a whole month. I wonder if I'm even capable of doing a regular 3 month SP round. Anyway, check out her cool site: knitplayground!

Meanwhile, I still have no clue who my upstream pal is. When am I going to find out who you are???

I got together with some coworkers one Sunday afternoon and made 45 of these cards. I don't usually stamp my Christmas cards, but I figured if there was spiked hot chocolate and other people involved, I could handle it. Now I just need to get going on sending them out. Who wants to make or send cards when there's knitting to be done?

This is the Reverse Bloom Flowerpetal Washcloth from Weekend Knitting. There were TOO MANY ends to weave in, but all in all, it was a fun project. (It's done now, but I'm too lazy to take a new picture.) I even enjoyed knitting with the cotton chenille. I'll be giving this to my cousin along with some butterfly bath fizzers.

Ben's Baby Hat

This is yet another Umbilical Cord Hat. I finished this earlier this year, but only delivered it to the expectant mom in November at her shower. It's good to keep these on hand.
Ben was born on November 30th. It will probably be awhile before his little head will fit into this hat!

The yellow yarn is Bernat Cotton Tots and the variegated yarn is Plymouth (?) something or other that cost about 4 times as much per yard. I'll be sticking to the Cotton Tots from now on because I noticed no difference in the two yarns.

The baby shower was quite crowded. I was seated in the dining room with my back to the living room. At one point I turned around and saw something quite fantastic. Someone was knitting! I kept turning around to see if I could figure out what she was working on without looking like I was completely staring. She knitted furiously throughout lunch, pausing only to take a bite of food now and then, and I think it took her the entire gift opening time to weave in the ends. She presented the mom-to-be with the most adorable hat with ducks on it. Talk about last minute gift!

Finally at the end of the shower people had cleared out enough so that I was able to make my way over to her and we talked knitting for awhile. She's been knitting for three years. Unfortunately she was from out of town, so I will likely never see her again. I'd love to make that same hat some day. It was SO CUTE! But way above my skills for right now.

This is the little snowman cross stitch I worked on over Thanksgiving weekend while I was away from my knitting. I'll take it in to get framed after the holiday rush is over.

Camis? Shrugs.

I’m going to a holiday party tonight and have another one in two weeks. Thursday after work I went shopping to find a sweater to wear with one of my two black skirts. I went to nearly every store in the mall followed by Kohl’s. Two hours of excessively frustrating shopping for NOTHING. I saw about a zillion camisoles and two zillion shrugs. It’s cold where I live, plus I don’t have the bod to be able to fill out a cami properly, so I refused to try any on. And please don’t suggest I cover up a cami with a shrug to keep warm, because I have never seen anyone over the age of 20 wear one of those things in real life. Note to self: Knit a nice sweater for next year’s festivities. I found a nice sweater last night, but ended up spending too much on it. I don't like shopping for anything but yarn!

Here’s something to keep me warm:
Basic Cable from SnB Nation

Lamb’s Pride Worsted in almond blossom

I lengthened the hat in order to fit my rather large head.

I really enjoyed knitting this. It was almost magical how the decreasing in pattern worked. I’m loving cables.

I cast on for Rib and Cable Sock #2 on Thursday, which will hopefully join its partner RCS #1, shown here, by the end of the month.

Happy Weekend!