Yes, I'm still knitting

It's been a distracting summer but I have managed a little knitting. Nothing finished! Nothing photographed! The most active works in progress are:

• a version of this bag using Berroco Remix in charcoal, rust, and a warm gray
• a pair of simple toe-up socks in WhimzyPinzy's sock yarn

More socks, more yarn

Having finished my previous sock project, I have started another. I'm telling myself that this productivity, combined with my recent progress on my sweater, means that my purchases at my local yarn shop's Sunday sale were merely replacement yarn. This is inaccurate, given that I bought enough yarn for three sweaters.

Further sock progress

Saturday before last I started my day with a physical therapy appointment. That gave me time to start a new pair of socks while my feet were in the whirlpool. Using WhimzyPinzy's Cotton Sock Yarn,   Judy's Magic Caston and  Wendy Barnard's excellent basic sock instructions from her book Socks from the Toe Up, I had achieved the desired toe cuppage by the time I left the office. A few hours later, after a lovely afternoon with some fellow knitters, I had reached the heel. Now sock #1 is all but finished, in spite of a few anxious heel-turning moments. (The yarn is lovely but prefers not to be  re-knit!) At this rate I should have a pair of new socks by the end of the month, just in time for the next month's subscription yarn from WP. We will not mention the number of skeins I already have.

Sock progress

Travel followed by a cold: those are my excuses for no knitting news here, and not nearly enough knitting either. Oh, and the fact that it's Spring out there!
However, I can now report that I have turned the heel and started the ankle of my second sock of a pair using Wendy Johnson's Diagonal Lace pattern and Whimzy Pinzy's hand dyed wool free sock yarn in shades of (mostly) green.
More knitting later.

Ravelympics

I joined some knitting pals in Ravelry's Ravelympic challenge of completing one or more projects during the Olympics, with the following success:

Competing simultaneously in the Hat Halfpipe and also the Stash Compulsory Dance, I have turned yarn purchased at least 18 months ago into a hat:

And in the WIPs (Works in Progress) Dancing I have finally completed a languishing pair of socks:

 

More knitting, more yarn

September left me with a bunch of unfinished knitting, but I needed a fun, portable project, so I started some toe-up socks using the Watermelon Sangria yarn I got earlier in the summer (see 7/3/entry):



I am making each foot before starting either heel.

New Projects

I'm still not quite done with those socks (need to perfect my toe-weaving technique on something heavier than sock yarn) but I have 2 more projects underway.
I'm using the Farmhouse Yarns Bonnie's Bamboo that I bought at Heavenly Socks last month to make a narrower version of Veronik Avery's Lace Ribbons Scarf:





It's coming along well, thanks to the encouragement of my Ravelry friends.

My other new project is a new pair of socks:





in Crystal Palace's Panda Cotton from Unique One, using a free CP pattern: Mehehune Cobblestones

Almost done

Here is my sock progress:

The color in the photo is a little off--too pink. The last bit is what I'm dreading: weaving the second toe. The first one is wearable but not something I'd want to show off! I'm getting the point of toe-up sock knitting!

Catching up

I've been slow to take photos and some how I got correspondingly behind on blogging as well.
My latest knitting update is that I've started Anna Bell's Cherry, a short-sleeved cardigan. The pattern calls for Jo Sharp Soho Summer DK Cotton, which means I can actually use the original yarn, and it was on sale! The color I have is called Rockpool, a deep green.
In sock news, I'm struggling along on my second sock using the Berocco Comfort Sock yarn. I like using bamboo or wooden sock needles but was disappointed that one wooden needle broke.

Sox!

The first 3 photos show the Ridged top down pattern from More Sensational Knitted Socks, knitted in Kollage Luscious. Turning the heel was a wonderful revelation of my own three dimensionality in concrete detail. However, the cotton yarn and not-so-stretchy pattern left me with a slightly slack fit around the ankle.










This last photo shows my first toe-up sock in progress. It's based on another pattern in More Sensational Knitted Socks, knitted in Cascade Fixation. The stretchy yarn and the use of Heel Stitch on the flap combine to give the heel and ankle a better fit,