Frog or Finish Friday-More Socks

I started these during my sock craze of 2008. Since they are both the same pattern, I decided to try to make a decision about them together. The are self-patterning Berroco sock yarn and I have to say I hate the pattern. These were really popular at the time and I had seen other socks knit in it and thought it looked good. The problem may be the toe up sock pattern that I chose.

Since I have no idea what pattern I used, these had but only one fate. It’s a shame considering the blue pair had the second sock half done.

I had a lot of fun sending these socks to Froggy heaven. I think they will become socks again at some point in the future. I think I would want these as anything else.



How are you knitters/crocheters out there doing with your unfinished projects?

Frog or Finish Friday-Blue Waves Socks

These socks were cast on in August of 2008. Looking at them now, I have to say that I am not happy with them.




I do like the lacy wave pattern of the cuff but I am not a fan of the top of the sock. I wish I had done a regular ribbed start. Also, the cuff is too short in general. I have learned over through the years that if my cuff is not long enough, my socks will end up in my shoes about 10 minutes after I start walking. DRIVES ME CRAZY!



And I’m not a fan of the heel that I chose for this sock. My recent darning practice tells me it won’t be long before a hole sprouts at the back of my foot. A reinforced heel is a must.

All this to say, this sock has been frogged and its yarn is in wait to become something new. I think I will definitely make them into socks. I just need to choose an appropriate pattern and construction.

Frog or Finish Friday-Socks

When cleaning out my stash, I came face to face with my pile of unfinished knitting projects. Some of these have been on the needles for years. As part of my journey towards a simple life, I’m going to tackle each of them and determine once and for all if I will frog the current project or finish it. My goal is to tackle them a couple of weeks at a time so I can figure out what their next life will be (if they are frogged).

So, first up is a toe up sock that I started in February of 2008. I bought the yarn from a local dyer and I’m happy to say she no longer sells this. She changed her yarn base shortly after I bought this.



This is a very pretty yarn when skeined and it feels good to the touch, but I was not happy about the look of the yarn when knitting the sock. That was one of the reasons I never finished this sock. I think this yarn would be happier as a piece that can show off the striping nature of the yarn better. Also, I have no idea what pattern I was using to knit these.



So, I decided to frog it. I also decided to go ahead and wind this into a new ball as well as wind the remaining skein into a ball. During the process of ripping out the sock, the toe broke off. I took this is a one-off and decided to keep going. When re-balling the yarn, it broke yet again. I decided to stop for fear that I would end up with a ton of yarn pieces floating around. The yarn was not this fragile when originally knit and it has been protected from bugs so I’m not sure why it has become so fragile. This completely alters any plans I had for the yarn. If I’m going to have to spice constantly while trying to knit this up, I won’t get a good striping effect as desired.



So, I’m open to suggestions. I’m tempted to trash the ball that is falling apart, but I don’t want to be unnecessarily wasteful. What does this yarn want to be?

Sick Day Part 2

The last load of laundry is in the washer and the socks are done!!!!! yay!

Now, it’s time to work on those lists. I do feel rather productive.

I still can’t talk and my fiancé is taking this as his chance. His time is coming though. Just wait till my voice comes back…

just wait!

Sick Day

For the past few years, my allergies/sinuses bother me enough that I sneeze and cough to the point of loosing my voice. This happens once or twice a year, but this time is different. This is the first time this year I’ve lost my voice and unlike any time before, I have lost it COMPLETELY! Usually, I’m just very hoarse and I can still have a squeaky conversation. Right now, one word and I am at the point of choking. I took the day off so I would not be tempted to talk and I have asked everyone not to call me.

But, I’m determined to be at least a little productive while I’m home. My list for today…

        ❑        Finish the socks! I just have the toe on sock #2 to go.

        ❑        Make my 2012 focus list! I’ve got a lot going on next year…wedding, husband, new business?

        ❑        Laundry

        ❑        Packing Plan

        ❑        Assignment Reflections--when I walk away from this assignment, I want to leave something behind

So, just to show how serious I am…

The laundry and the sock are making progress!

Just In Time

I’m playing with Fire so I’m not being productive right now. But I did work on the socks a little today. I’ll be ready to decrease for the toes soon.

The Thanksgiving break has begun for me. Yay…more tomorrow.

Knitting Update

I’m making progress. I’m a little tired so I won’t finish this tonight…maybe tomorrow.

I’m very happy that this went so quickly. The final Harry Potter movie and a marathon of the older ones got me through. Still watching Harry tonight.

November Knitting Project

My grandmother got her shrug in the mail yesterday and she loves it. So, now that I’ve got one crochet project off the hook, I feel the need to get at least one knitting project off the needles. In looking at my Ravelry account, it seems I only have two knitting projects in progress (we’ll ignore the seven that I have put in time out--hibernation for all you Ravelry users)--A fair aisle blanket and a pair of socks. Needles to say I’m going to go for the socks.

I have had these socks on the needles since July 2010, over a year! When I first learned how to knit socks, I went crazy with it, with the goal of having enough socks that I could wear nothing but hand knit socks. Well, that’s a good goal until you become burned out and your existing socks sprout holes. Darning is a separate project that I need to tackle. But, back to these socks.

The pattern is Crosshatch Lace by Charlene Schurch from More Sensational Knitted Socks. The yarn is Lion Brand Sock-Ease in the Rock Candy colorway. I’ll try to get better pictures to show off the color when I finish them. I originally stopped working on these when I kept messing up the start to the second sock. It’s not a difficult pattern, but apparently my brain was in a difficult place. Let’s see if I have better luck this time.

Still More...

This one is plain muslin on the reverse side. I didn’t have enough of this fabric or any coordinating fabric to put on the back. This was much simpler to make and since my brain was working much better than before, I was able to put it together rather quickly with no re-work.

​

And...back to the knitting. This socks are done!!! YAY!

More of The Same

My hands hurt like crazy but I am making pretty good progress. I’ve gotten to the sleeve section of the bog jacket and I’m working my way down the foot of the sock. That’s good for a few days of work.

​

My alarm is set for the first time this week. I’ve loved having these lazy, wake-when-you-want-to days but I do have things that must get done before I head back to work at the end of the month. My schedule is full of errands tomorrow and the more I get done, the more time I’ll have to continue on with my knitting.

Halfway There

I started these socks some time ago, but I had to put them away the last few weeks. I picked it up again last night and finished the toe of sock #1. I will start sock #2 tonight. I was afraid these wouldn’t stay up on my foot but I wore the one sock around the house last night for awhile and it didn’t come off. On the next pair, I will add a couple more stitches to relieve the stress at the join point at the top of the foot. When the pair is done, I’ll reinforce that area with some of the leftover yarn. Because these socks don’t use a lot of yarn, I have to figure out what to do with all the yarn I will have left over in this skein.

Still Knitting

​
Since I won’t be able to join you all for WWKIP day, I am posting my current project to encourage you all to sit out tomorrow and knit. I’m going to try and get some public knitting done, but it’s going to be a crazy weekend for me. I’m continuing on with my little footie sock. I keep sliding it on my foot to really make sure it fits because it looks so tiny, but I won’t be able to tell if it will truly stay on my foot until it’s finished. I’m afraid it will slide off of my foot while wearing it, but I’m hopeful.

I was cleaning some of my windows today and once again, I was wishing I had more knitted or crocheted washcloths as they are my window washing tool of choice so I’ll get back to some of my cotton crafting this weekend.

I’ll be heading to Maryland for a client meeting next week but I doubt I’ll be able to do any knitting while on the trip. I just may stick to reading this go round. And writing of course. I’m still ramping up on my writing time.

Getting Ready For the Road

This weekend I spent some time putting some projects together. I will soon be on the road for a week and a half and want to take some knitting along with me. I bagged up several projects and I as I start packing, I'll decide which go on the trip with me. Setting things out and getting them organized definitely makes me more excited about starting new projects. I've been tempted all day with the cleaning and laundry to just sit down and start one of them. I've held it off and I'll reward myself when I sit down to watch Brothers and Sisters later.

I did start the weekend off with some finishing. I finally bought buttons for my Calorimetries and I finished the socks I was working on. I can't wait to wear them. I also put the tabs on the knitted Swiffer covers so they are ready for use. I'm really excited about making projects that are fully functional that allowed me stress relief when making them. I also finished the skirt I was sewing for my sister. My Bernina is still in the shop but I was able to get it finished in class. As soon as I get it ironed, I will take and post pictures.

This has been a really tough couple of weeks for me but I know that in light of everything that could be, I am truly blessed. A young family member of mine is having a really tough time and it's caused me to reflect on myself quite a bit. I've also been reflecting on the possibility of the people you depend on to be your greatest support turning into your greatest enemies. There's a fine line we all walk and the internal choices we make daily are the only things keeping us on the right side of the line.

Which side are you walking right now?

I Had Such Plans

When I left work this evening, I just knew I was going to get a lot done before bed time. Shortly after getting home and putting dinner in the oven to cook, the power went out. And it didn't come back on until more than 4 hours later. So here I am, after midnight, cooking the dinner I should have had hours ago. (I'll have it for lunch tomorrow)

As the house grew darker and darker with the setting sun, I had only one thing to keep me company....my new toy, the kindle. I was able to download today's New York Times which I read by the light of a candle.

Because it downloads wirelessly, no electricity is needed to read for hours in a power outage (provided it's charged and you have a light source). I downloaded free first chapters of a few other books and for now I am in love with my little kindle. I'll post more about it in the coming days as I learn all the ins and outs.



In other news, I finished the socks! I just need to weave in the ends and they are good to go!

The Frenchy Sock

My latest knitting. I hope to be done by the end of the week so i can wear them next week.

Noro Socks Done

One project down, many more to go.

















And four more pair of Noro socks to go as this is just the first of five skeins that I won from Knitch during the Yarn Harlot event.

On to the next.

Finishing Those Projects

I've got lots of projects I am trying to finish up before I start back working. First are the socks that are on my needles. The pair of the moment are the spiral noro socks. I'm really excited that I'm almost finished with these. I can't wait to wash them.


















I've broken a lot of jewelry and I need to get some fixed. I've also decided to make some new ones. I've got them beaded. I just need to loop, wrap and hang on hooks.











I'm using fused plastic bags as lining in some new projects. More on those later.










My week is just about half over. I need to get all of these loose ends tied up.

Knitting, Sewing and Kindergarten

Storm weather is rolling in so I am going to try to get this done before the DSL start acting funny. DirecTV is already flickering.

First, an update on my knitting. It's been awhile since I've done a project update. I'm still working on socks (of course!!). I have two that I'm actively working on right now, the Noro spiral socks and the Hourglass socks in Collinette Jitterbug. The Hourglass socks are giving me problems. For some reason I keep losing my stitch count and have to tink back and start over. I've done this 3 times now and it's getting irritating. I'm excited to be getting the 2nd sock of the Noro set done. The first sock turned out better than I thought and it fits better than I thought it would. I can't wait to see how they feel when they are washed.

It's pouring outside now but the rain smells delightful. I've got all my windows up so I can get a good breeze through the house.

I've been on an entrelac kick. I was talking to a friend on the phone and we both mentioned wanting to learn entrelac. I looked around on the e-net and found a couple of tutorials and decided to use some washcloth yarn to try it out. It turned out great. I did two washcloths in the tan and white and then couldn't stop there. I did another washcloth using the cotton leftovers I've had laying around the house. But that wasn't enough. I've had some Shaeffer yarn laying around waiting to become a wrap but after seeing the entrelac washcloths, it decided it wanted to be a Lady Eleanor Stole. I've listened to it and gave in and the results so far are beautiful.



AmandaH and I are still working on our sew-a-long. Both of us are a little behind on our goals but we've both made some progress. I had two bags on my agenda and I did finish one of them but the unfinished one is a gift for a friend so you would think I would have gotten that one done first. You would think!

My greatest accomplishment though is the pin cushion that I made. You step on only so many straight pins before you find a place to put them.





Tomorrow is the last day of school for most of the kids in our county and I volunteered to help out a kindergarten teacher I know finish up with her end of year activities. I always love hanging out with her kids. They are so honest and cute at that age and they love having visitors. It's so nice. When you walk into the room, there are always two or three that run up and hug you. And they love to tell you what's going on in their lives. And despite the fact that they are little people, they do have fascinating lives. And I will be writing more about them in the near future.

Consider volunteering at your local schools. The little ones love having people come read to them.

Rain has stopped although I don't think this is the end of the stormy weather. I'm off to drink a cup of tea and finish my sewing and knitting.

Sock Madness

As promised, here are the pictures of my socks in progress.

The Koigu Socks (second sock almost done)...









The Dana socks (sadly I haven't made much progress on these just yet)...









I've gotten really ambitious and doing two socks at once; from different skeins since I didn't want to separate the Berocco Sox into two balls...


I'm enjoying the sock knitting and I can't wait to have several pairs to choose from!