New Socks!

Here's one of TWO new projects cast on since I reported on my UFO backlog. I have overcome my guilt about that--thanks for your support.

These are my Trekalong socks, and they were sort of re-designed by committee last night at Stitch n Bitch. They started out life as Dalarnas, from Nancy Bush's Knitting on the Road, because I was too chicken to attempt a more complex pattern, but now they're Conwys, from the same book. I love them. Thanks to everyone who advised me so well. I think I have to tink back a couple of rows, then I'm ready to start the pattern! 

Success? Only the Washing Machine Knows For Sure.

Here's the "final version". In quotes because, although it's all over but the feltin', who knows how that will come out.

This version was worked on a much larger needle, straight stockingette and closed at the bottom with a three-needle bind-off.


Here's hoping it fits! 

If At First You Don't Succeed...

Rip it out and try something else, right?

Here's Try #1 of the DH's Nintendo DS cozy. This is the workings of the unfinished drawstring version, cast on to fit around the thing loosely and draw closed via a chain of single crochet.

Nothing wrong with it, but the DH really wanted a kind of a sleeve with no closing mechanism. I wasn't sorry to rip the thing out, although it looked nice. I am a fearless frogger. 

Where I Didn't Go On My Summer Vacation

Missed the train to Hogwart's, and couldn't even get a good shot of the platform!

We happened upon this on our first morning in England as we transfered trains in King's Cross Station. I'd heard about it--from Teri, of course--but it had kind of slipped my mind until we were hurrying to meet our train on platform 10. How cool is that?

The Aliens Have Taken Over My Knitting!

And I'm drowning in UFOs! Or maybe they're really WIPs...Time will tell, grrls and boys.

Here's the list, in reverse date order and omitting all the things I ripped all the way out:

1) Novelty yarn scarf, cast on May 4. Well, so much for that idea.
2) Nintendo DS cozy, cast on around a week before that. DH's DS is still naked...
3) Mommy Socks, end of April.
4) Susan's Branching Out scarf, mid-April. I think.
5) Black wool hat, c/o on Margene's birthday. A future donation to the shelter here. I'm quite ashamed I haven't finished this one.
6) Baby bolero sweater, c/o in I think February. I have almost a year to finish the thing as I wisely selected the year-old size for my newborn niece. But still, all I have to do is the arms and the trim.

I suppose it isn't that bad, now that I see it in print. And they're really Works In Progress, not UFOs.

Time will tell.

You Knit WHAT?

Yes, I am using novelty yarn. I’m not really the scrappy/furry/squiggly yarn type, but on Thursday I was struck with an idea: I would get some yarn matching my travel wardrobe and make up a fun (funny?) scarf on the plane. So far, this is the result:

I can’t say what the novelty yarn is—the ball band is 4000 miles away. I wound it up with some Brooks Farm Duet, and I’m knitting it on my Denise 15s. Whenever I double strand anything, I always wind it into one ball. I’m thinking that the Brooks Farm is actually too dark, but at the time I cooked up this scheme, I thought it would match my jeans better and sort of ground the bright teal scrappy looking novelty yarn.

So what do you think? Will I look like an idiot? I’m finishing the thing, but I might give it away instead of wearing it.

In other news, Cambridge is beautiful and the family and I are having a grand time!

It's Sure Not Knitting

Here's a sample of what my DH and I did this Sunday while the other grrls were off having tea. We made holes in our cieling, removed the old ugly light fixtures, and replaced them with these sexy four inch cans. Thanks to my DH's mad skills, they not only work but are also properly grounded and screwed into studs! And I got to use power tools! We've been working on the kitchen for a while, removing wallpaper (well, most of it) and taking the pine paneling off the cieling. The polka dots you see are remnants of glue which used to hold paneling on the cieling. Soon (well, sooner or later) all will be patched, sanded, textured, trimmed out, and painted white. Neat, eh?

But not as fun as knitting...