Stitching States And Socks

It was another busy week with school and other commitments, but I still have found a little time in the evenings to work on my crafty pursuits. My Hylestad socks are finally done, for one.

Hylestad socks in Plucky Knitter Primo Fingering's En Garde and Baah! La Jolla's La Perla

Truth be told, I had finished them a week or two ago, but only finally sat down and wove in the ends. We've been watching Man In The High Castle and it is too interesting to weave ends to.

I've also be knitting away at my Rose By Any Other Name socks. I was hoping to have them done in time to wear for Valentine's Day, but in the last week the temperature has gone up significantly and now it is too hot to wear hand knit socks. I'll try to get them done anyways, just in case it decided to cool down.

Vanilla Socks in Canon Hand Dye's Rose By Any Other Name

Then there are the socks I cast on while we were in Hawaii. Or rather, I cast them on while we were in the airport to leave Hawaii. Still counts as Hawaii socks, right?

Groovy socks in White Birch Fiber Art's Wile Thai Ryder

There was also a night this last week where I was overcome with the need to work on my USA quilt. First I was just going to stitch a bit of Oregon. Then I was just going to stitch the California coast. But before I knew it, it was past midnight and I had finished all of Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico. I got to move the hoop and now I only have the gulf states and a bit of the east coast left.

The quilt is still far from being done, but at least a major potion will be complete.

Has anyone else found solace in their projects this week? Are there any projects that you've felt compelled to work on?

One Tree Short Of A Forest

I have some good knitting news and some bad knitting news. Let's start with the good. I finished my Joyeux Noel socks early for next Christmas! Ok... so I didn't finish in time for this past Christmas, but that's ok. They came out great and now I get to look forward to wearing them during the next holiday season.

Stray Cat Socks in Joyeux Noel and a special-ordered contrasting brown

The bad news... well... I made a big boo boo. It might be hard to see in the picture, but last night as I was doing the decreases for the second sock to go from 72 to 64 stitches, I couldn't get the stitch count to come out right. Finally I counted out my stitches... and I already had 64 stitches. I turned a little grey. There are 9 repeats of the tree pattern on the first sock; there are only 8 on the second one. Sigh. I held off ripping until today.

It's probably better not to rip when you are angry

Of course with no knitting to work on, I cheered myself up with casting on something new. I've been meaning to knit my skein of Canon Hand Dyes in "A Rose By Any Other Name" for a while now. Every time I get to it Valentine's Day has passed and I lose my motivation. Not this year though! Maybe with enough of a head start I'll be able to wear these puppies in time for the pinkest holiday of the year.

What kinds of things have you all had to rip out lately? Has anyone else been one tree short of a forest?

Three For Me

I've been a selfish crafter recently. All my knits are for me! I started knitting the Hylestad pattern. I only had to rip once to switch from a grey to a white. The grey didn't give me the contrast I needed. Luckily I still have a pile of whites to choose from after the whole Sheep May Safely Graze debacle.

My Joyeux Noel socks are coming along great too. Have I mentioned recently how much I love Stray Cat Socks' yarn? Yes? Well, I'll say it again. It is vibrant and wonderful to knit with.

This week I also cast on the most anticipated knit of this year, my Arrowhead Cardigan. I've been talking about this one for ages. So much so that Connor started asking when I was going to cast on. It is an oversized cardigan (the smallest size is 49.5 inches/ 126cm) that I am resizing to be a more reasonable size. Rather than have a cardigan that has 14 inches/ 36cm of ease, I'm going for 6 inches/ 15cm of ease. After talking to my friend Carol, who is an excellent tailor, I'm also adding side vents to help me move more freely. I was really inspired by Rachel's version of the cardigan, so I also am also going to add closures to mine. I really hope I can be wearing it by Christmas, but I've never knit a sweater so fast. We shall see.

I'm also proud to show off what should have been the last of this year's gift weaves. Of course now I've thought of more people who need to be covered in wool, so I might make a few more. 

But back to the gifts at hand. These scarves are made out of yarn I've been hoarding for 5 years now. It took me all this time to find a way to show off the yarn in a way to convey the subtle color changes in the ocean around Big Sur. I even had to learn a new-to-me skill! Weaving. The warp is the beautiful yarn from Anna Gratton, but I ended up using yarn from Lost City Knits for the weft. 

Is anyone else making gifts this year? Wha kinds of things are you making?