The thing about Boo socks

Is that she likes them and they don't take very long to make. Thankfully.

Pattern: Riverside architecture by Cat Bordhi
Yarn: Regia Jacquard that I found at Oxfam for 99 p
Needles: US 1/2.00 mm
Gauge: 8 sts/12 rows per inch
Start/finish: 8 Nov - 24 Nov 2009
Comments: This was my first working of this particular architecture from New Pathways, and it was pretty straightforward. I did a whirlpool toe, eye of partridge heel, and garter rib for the leg. Wove in the ends last night and she asked to put them on with her purple fleece jammies.

Unfortunately she then went to stand on the highly patterned rug we have in the living room, but so be it. You can get the idea.

Feels a bit like a cheat using these for the Sock a Month, but you gotta do what you gotta do. It's been a busy one!

Where have I been?

Ummmm...I wish I had a good excuse, but I'm not even up to the halfway point in the Nano writing fail exersize, and I certainly haven't been doing much spinning or knitting...there has been cooking, however, but I eat most of that before I get pictures taken.

The Christmas list is under revision yet again.

Person A - mittens from my birthday present from my MIL (and no, it's not her). There are not started, nor is yarn chosen. Move along here, there's nothing to see.
Person B - cowl and maybe a hat from same yarn. Cowl done, hat, not so much.
Person C - hat or some manly fingerless mitts. He could carry off fingerless mitts that are, alas, not started.
Person D - ?????? Fuck.
Person E - handspun mittens. One finished, one started but I had to spin some more yarn. And knit on tiny needles. Hmmmm...this is the TV knitting except that I am out of yarn and haven't soaked/thwacked the newest yarn, plied last night. Sigh.
Person F - hat and matching mittens. Done! Blocked even. Hooray!
Person G - felted clogs. Not started. I've got yarn somewheres though. Might could go and dig it out while my new handspun is drying tonight...
Person H - Albatross. Which is done, but not blocked. That could be another project for tonight, hunh?
Person I - mittens, which are done, but there's another project to go out with them in the mail that won't be done for a while.

So, nine people, not counting the ones I live with, who are in line for knitted goodness. And I have 4.5 done (if I count the Albatross as done when really, it isn't). I suspect this is my Puritan, self-flagellating ancestry making itself known in a modern fashion, but I can't be the only one that does this, right?

Right?

Shut up crickets, you're too loud.

FO: Cold Comfort Scarf

Last week I spent a couple of days at home suffering from a horrific, child-induced cold. On the first day I had to take Boo to the doctor's office on the way to school, and by the time I'd dropped her off back at nursery, Stash had opened. Since I walked by on my way home and had some time to kill, I went in. I browsed about until the lovely proprietor asked me if I was looking for anything in particular. When I said "Something to make my cold feel better" she immediately said "Alpaca. Bulky alpaca." And there I was, in front of a bunch of shelves of this.

It's been a long time since I've knit which chunky yarn, and boy was I happy to find that, at the end of about three hours, I had a new scarf.

Pattern: Chunky ribs & ruffles scarf, by Nancy Kleiber, a free download on the Misti Alpaca website.
Yarn: one skein of the above Misti ALpaca Chunky, 108 yds/100 gr skein, colorway 2030
Needles: US 13/9.00 mm
Gauge: pshaw!
Comments: This pattern was perfect mindless knitting for a head cold. After blocking, it's about 60 inches long and 4 inches wide (+/- an inch or so at each end). Nice and cuddly, and long enough to wrap around my neck and tie in the front. It nicely fills in the bare space at my neck when I've got my coat on.

Ehem.

You'd think, given the other project I've taken on this month, that very little would be getting done in the knitting department.

However, knitting makes very good procrastination/distraction from writing bad fiction (really, really bad fiction), so here's some of the things in the works:

A quick pair of socks for Boo using my 99 pence Oxfam yarn. It's been a long time since I did any really self-striping socks, and they're kind of fun.

Why write a novel when you can write a knitting pattern? Indeed...this is Version 2.0 of these mitts, which I'd really like to have done and published by the beginning of December. They'd make really good Christmas presents! This version is in Blue Sky Alpacas alpaca/silk. Yum.

And speaking of Christmas,

Back and,

palm of the Snail Mittens. I am adoring everything about these except for the fact that I'm having to knit them on size 000 (or 00 - I'm not sure) needles to get gauge. Ooof!

So, what's on your needles for the holidays?

FO: Eunice

Pattern: Eunice, by Cookie A, from Sock Innovation
Yarn: Spindlefrog Sock yarn, 75% superwash merino/25% nylon, 425 meters/100 gr, colorway "Bronte"
Needles: US 1/2.25 mm, magic looped (!)
Gauge: Hunh? Close enough...the pattern is written for women's medium, but with the lace it stretches enough to fit my 9.5" circumference, size 41 feet.
Start/finish: 12 Oct - 31 Oct 2009 (just in time for SAM!)
Comments/mods: Once again, a screamingly fast pattern from Cookie A. The yarn was some I picked up in September at Stash - their Yarn of the Month selection - and I love how the colorway works with the pattern. Since the colors are mostly quite similar (dark green, black, grey) the lighter bits make a nice accent instead of muddying the pattern.

There is a bit of pooling on the soles, but it's not noticeable on the top of the foot, so big deal. The yarn was lovely to work with - a bit on the thinner side of fingering/sock weight (similar to Trekking XXL), but nice and soft, and the dyeing is lovely. I hope it holds up well!

I did change the toe, yet again, since I don't like the steady decrease rate that Cookie uses. Instead I decreased 4 stitches every third round 4 times, every second round 4 times and then every round 4 times. Same number of decreases called for in the pattern, just distributed slightly differently. Other then that, I didn't make any modifications but if I knit these socks again, I will do more repeats on the leg to make them a bit longer. I have a ton of yarn left, even after knitting them long enough for my feet, and while I don't typically like long socks, these are a bit short even for me. I must also mention that I'm now two for two on patterns with errata from this book. I hope that's not true for the whole thing, but I will be sure to double check before I start Installment #3. Which is looking like it will be in December, since this month is not conducive to an entire pair of adult socks.