WiP Wednesday!

Hi there! Last week, I didn’t have anything decent to show you. I was between socks in the pair-in-progress and hadn’t touched my Swirl. But there has been progress in the last week. Yay, progress!

I finally picked up my Swirl again.


I’m on my 30th welt and increasing along for the sleeves. It’s good to be chugging along on this again. After seeing my friend Dianne’s finished Swirl, I now want my own sweater finished post-haste.

But it’s a little … gigantic … to work on just anywhere. So socks are always the answer!


First sock finished. Second sock well on its way. I love STR-M. It makes for a very fast pair of socks and it’s just wonderful to work with.

And, in the biggest news around here, I’ve been weaving!


The bit of fabric that is disappearing over the front beam is the third placemat of the set, then the hems and the start of the fourth and final placemat. At the top of the shot, you can see the knots tying the warp to the back beam, so the end is near.

The minute this warp is finished, I’ll take the front and back beam and all eight harnesses off the loom, tie down things that might move, and I’ll try to shoehorn the loom into the front room. Please cross your fingers that plan works. Because if it doesn’t, then I’ll have to almost completely dismantle the loom to get it in there. And while it’s good to know your loom that well, it would kind of really suck to have to do that.

In other news, my primary freelance gig kind of went up in smoke a few weeks ago, but a former employer has brought be back on staff to do some feature writing for them. If you’re interested, I’ll be posting links to the stuff I’m writing HERE, on my work blog.

Sun Devil Socks

Welcome to the FO (“finished object”) post for my 2011 Softball Socks. The 2011 NCAA Champions were the Arizona State Sun Devils. I really enjoyed the student-athlete I spoke with for my ASU feature story, and a good friend of mine was taking her swan song with the Sun Devils before heading back to her hometown (gee, I don’t know anyone else who has done that!)


Once again, trying to knit outside in Oklahoma in June is a nearly impossible task. It’s hot. Very hot. And humid. So I got started during the WCWS, but didn’t really hit my stride on these socks until a few days later. On the floor at TNNA.


Toe pic!
The first sock of this pair was knit almost exclusively while walking around the marketplace at TNNA in Columbus. We did a lot of walking around and a plain vanilla sock was just the ticket.


New Pathways heel, as per usual
The first sock was finished on June 13, just over a week after it was cast on. The leg on that first sock is a bit tight. All of my 3.0mm needles have taken a walk, so I didn’t have them handy to keep my sock leg on the loose side. Oops.


Turtle Daddy sock blockers!

Once I finally got to the leg of the second sock, I focused on keeping things nice and loose. The second sock is perfect. I’m still reserving the right to rip and re-knit that first leg, but I think it’s fine aside from a bit of extra work to put the sock on.


Another success for both New Pathways and Socks that Rock Mediumweight. Win!

Softball Socks 2011

Pattern: Riverbed Master by Cat Bordhi, New Pathways for Sock Knitters
Yarn: Socks that Rock Mediumweight
Colorway: Boobie 2
Needles: US 2/2.75mm (2-16” HiyaHiyas)
Started: 5 June 2011
Finished: 7 September 2011
Mods: None!

WiP Wednesday

My previous pair of socks finished up at the end of last week. Everything you see below is on a semi-commission pair of socks (for a friend of the family) and it has been zipping right along. I think I started to focus on this on Friday night.



Do they look super long and super narrow? They are. But so are the recipient’s feet, so it’s OK. For reference, this is a 7” midfoot measurement and a 48-stitch sock.

I’m still neglecting my swirl. But I’m in git ‘er done mode on stuff around the house and things on my must-finish list. So I’m working on that. If I can get a few things finished around here, I’ll give you a full tour of the newly-renovated house!

Sunset: 13 September 2011

Last night of the year at VBP. I didn't think we were going to have a sunset at all, but we got a little bit of color.






And a few seconds later, the sun disappeared behind a cloud. Then I climbed in my car and came back to Pittsburgh. Until we meet again in 2012...

Sunset: 12 September 2011

WiP Wednesday

I must admit that I haven’t been doing a whole lot of knitting. The knitting that has actually been happening has been socks, and after a couple hours, my wrist starts to hurt, so I put it down and do something else.

I need to pick up my Swirl again. Maybe using a US 8/5mm needle instead of a 2.75mm sock needle will help with the problem? Meanwhile…


My primary socks-in-progress are about half an inch away from finished. There is a decent chance that I’ll have to rip and re-knit the leg of the first sock, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. Possibly tonight at Hurricane Knitters.

Last Thursday night, we had a packed store with lots of people who needed help and since I was working alone, things got crazy in a hurry. When Sairy (who was visiting from New Jersey. YAY!) and I left the store to go to dinner, I couldn’t find the above socks. After dinner, we stopped at the store again so I could take a quick second look. No dice.

It turned out that somehow my GoKnit bag had hopped onto a shelf with yarn in the sale section of the store? Yes, that is how crazy things got that night. And since I had a bunch of friends headed for my house on Friday night and I knew margaritas would be involved, I obviously had to start another pair of plain vanilla socks:


More Socks that Rock Mediumweight. I need to take a look at stitch counts and see if Holidazed will work for these bad boys, since the recipient has insanely narrow feet. They are a semi-commission pair for a family friend.

You may have noticed that these socks are attached to some ChiaoGoo red lace needles. Obviously, I’m early in the sock knitting process, but so far I’d give them an A+.

And now, it’s off to cross a few more things off of my list. Yes, I’m planning on a final “house tour” soon, but I’m not quite ready to show things off yet. Gotta get that 30” loom through the 29” door for its new house first!