Finished project and some in the works

I'll start off with the finished project. These socks have been in the works since the beginning of the year. Obviously, they got put down sometime in January and never picked up again. I had the last bit of toe to knit on the second sock. So in about an hour I got another FO for my 2007 list. Woohoo!

As much as I like them, I don't think they are me. I wanted to try the yarn (Sassy Stripes in color 'Jellybean') and it was nice to work with but all in all the finished pair just isn't me. So, they'll be going up for sale. So if anyone is interested before they get posted to Etsy, give me a holler. They'll go up for $15 plus shipping (about $3.00). They are easy care, throw in the washer and dryer.

I've also started a couple of projects. The first is a pair of socks for a Christmas gift for my brother. I know....Christmas knitting in June! But, it's better then hurrying to knit before December 25...this way I can plan and get things just right for gifts.

I really decided to make these after I visited my LYS and picked up some interesting new (new for me anyway) yarn. It's sock yarn made with wool and bamboo fiber. The bamboo acts as the nylon so there is no need for any man made materials. So far the yarn is very nice to work with and is knitting up just like the nylon kind. It will be interesting to see how they wear after they have been washed a couple times.

Next up is a 'Squatty Sidekick' bag I saw in the new Knitting Daily free patterns section. This will be a felted bag when finished...something I haven't really experimented with yet. I am receiving the Knitting Daily newsletters and when I saw this little bag two of the balls in my stash lept into my head. So, naturally, I had to give it a whirl.

The yarn in question is Soy Stripes from Pattons (I think). It's supposed to felt really well (at least there was a nice looking swatch in the store at the time). I purchased this last fall for a specific gift and never got the gift made. Hopefully this will come out well...well enough for another gift this year. I'll post the final felted bag when completed.

That's all for now. Sorry for the long delay (and longer then norm post). I was busy last weekend and this past weekend I was in Maine visiting my Dad for Father's Day. Dad's come before blogs :).

Knit in public!

Mark your calendars for this years Worldwide Knit in Public Day! It's this coming Saturday June 9th. I'm definitely going this year. If you are in the Boston area, it's being held:

...from 12:00pm to 4:00pm at Copley Plaza in front of the library (if rain, go into the food court at Copley).

Find out where it is near you by clicking on the appropriate link in the sidebar of this website.

Another Shawl FO

I've finished my second One Skein shawl. Same pattern as the last but I used different yarn. This one is made using one skein (~400 yrds.) of hand dyed sock yarn from a local yarn shop. This one came out better then my first as I am more used to knitting with the large (LARGE) needles. It takes a bit of practice to keep your stitches even while knitting with such fine yarn on large needles. Much different then the way I usually knit. The above picture is taken with the unblocked shawl draped across the back of my knitting chair. The line that goes diagonally through the image is the center of the back of the shawl.

Since I've received several emails about where I got the pattern, how many strands I used and so on...I'll list the specs of these shawls below:

Yarn: 1 skein (~400 yards) of DK weight hand dyed sock yarn. As I mentioned above, I got mine at a local yarn shop but it's easy enough to find.
Color: The yarn was dyed a 1/2 and 1/2 purple and grey color. I wasn't sure how the 1/2 and 1/2 would look knitted, but I'm really happy with the result.
Needles: size 15 US, Denise Interchangeable Needles
Pattern: "The Secret of the One-Skein Shawl" - found on the Knitter's Review site. It's more a "formula" for a basic triangle shawl rather then a pattern.
Notes and Changes: I used one strand of yarn throughout the pattern. Since my yarn had a different gauge then the pattern used, I worked the plain stockinette portion for about 84 stitches on either side of the center stitch instead of the 64 it calls for. Mine came out about the same size as the one in the pattern.

A couple more pics for you...