Threaded, 12 Legs, and Scales

I have three new patterns! Two completed test knitting last week and the other one is a completed mystery knit. Threaded and 12 Legs are both cuff down socks. I had a lot of fun with the cables on these socks. Threaded has a cable that threads in and out of other cables. 12 Legs has something that looks like a mutant spider. I think that I'm in a green phase since I managed to pick green for both of these socks. 12 Legs was originally knit as a toe-up sock in red several years ago. I was never happy with the way that pattern that way and switched it around to a cuff down pattern.

Scales is the name of my August 2011 mystery sock for the Solid Socks group on ravelry. This pattern was released as four separate clues during August. Most of the knitters seem to see the hearts instead of scales, but I kept my name. The August theme was water and I tried to go along with that.

Scales is also a cuff down pattern with cables. All of my patterns have detailed descriptions for how to cable without a cable needle. It's not set in stone and I really don't mind if someone uses a cable needle. I just want to have that there just in case anyone would like to try it. I don't have descriptions for how to do the cables with a cable needle because I've never knit them that way. I don't feel confident in putting it in there if I don't actually use that method.

I still have a lot of other projects too. This is a stack of wash clothes for our Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes. I had a lot of fun making them and I got to use up some of my neglected cotton yarn stash.

I'm also sewing again! I miss sewing. I like how a project can be completed in less than a day. I've been sewing hats for our shoe boxes too. I made four and then decided to make one for myself. My hat is the green one with flowers. I've wanted a hat for a while now, but haven't been able to find one that I really like. This green hat was my test run for interfacing and fit.

I have new sewing and knitting projects in the works. I also have a stack of projects that needs to be photographed. Busy, busy!

Harvest

It feels like harvest time. We have a constant stream of tomatoes coming into our kitchen from my daughter's garden. She's also brought in green bell peppers, pumpkins, green beans, and okra. Her sunflowers are huge! That ladder is about 8 feet tall.

I finished my Camp Loopy project #2. I knit Miss Sophie's Hands using Studio June's Eight Bells yarn in the Blue Suede Shoes color. I'm still not very happy with the fingers. They feel a tiny bit bagggy and I should have knit those with a smaller needle. I finished two other pair of socks for the cabled sock, mittens, or gloves challenge.

Now, I'm working on project #3. I'm using Bugga yarn in Common Emerald Moth to knit a Gnarled Oakwoods shawl. I've had this pattern for a while, but have been hesitant to knit it because of the grafting. I have no idea why. I've knit other large shawls that required grafting in the center.

For this shawl, I'm knitting both halves at the same time on one circular needle. It's sort of like knitting two socks at once from both ends of one ball of yarn. Since Bugga has a slight variation to it, I'm knitting both halves from both ends of the same ball of yarn. I hope that the slight variation between different balls of yarn will just look like shading that turns out equally on both ends of the shawl.

This is my 12 Legs sock pattern. It was originally knit toe-up a few years ago. I've changed it to cuff down. I want a good variety of cuff-down vs. toe-up patterns. This sock was knit with Dream in Color's Everlasting sock in Bitter. I really like the feel of this yarn.

I just put a call out for test knitters for this sock and for my Threaded pattern on ravelry. Both of these socks were knit with green yarn and both are cuff down. I need to find other colors to knit with. ;-)

I'm enjoying our last day before school starts. I'll be spending it knitting and pattern writing.

Summer's end

A phrase commonly heard at this time of year..."where did summer go?" Summer's almost at the end and the school year is about to begin. I've installed software on my daughter's laptop. My son's lessons are organized on the shelf and ready to go. This summer has been filled with camping, house renovation, and reorganization. In between, I'm still knitting and working on patterns. Test knitting for two of my patterns ended a few days ago.

This is my Technical sock. I named it after what my husband calls difficult sections of mountain biking trails. This pattern throws everything at you--cables, lace, and twisted stitches. Some might think that would be a bit much for one sock, but I think it works in this case. This pattern is toe-up and has a patterned heel flap.

I used Lorna's Laces new Solemate sock yarn. This yarn has pretty cool heat regulating fibers in it. It's a blend of merino, nylon, and Outlast. It's the Outlast part that does the climate control thing. I thought lace would be a good fit for this yarn. Between the temperature regulating and the lace, these should make good warm weather socks.

This is my Not Connected sock pattern. I came up with the idea for this pattern right after I designed my Everything's Connected pattern. I wanted a similar look, but with the stitch pattern occurring in staggered columns. Then I threw in some lace on every row within those cells. Not Connect is also a toe-up pattern with a ribbed heel flap.

I have a mystery sock in the Solid Socks group on ravelry. We're up to clue #2 and there's still time to join the fun. This pattern, like my other mystery knits, will remain free. This sock is knit cuff down and is cabled.

I'm working on another cuff down pattern. I hope to get a good mix of cuff down vs. toe-up sock patterns in my store. I initially knit this pattern years ago toe-up. Writing the math for the toe-up version was getting complicated and that's why I switched this one to cuff down.

After that, I'll be working on project #3 for Camp Loopy. I'll be using Bugga to knit a shawl. I thought I had decided which shawl, but I've changed my mind. Again... Cast-on isn't until August 15th. I have plenty of time to change my mind and hopefully settle on a pattern.

i.d.w.i.w

That's a phrase I hear from my sister a lot. She doesn't abbreviate that, but I didn't want to put the whole thing up there. It's "I do what I want." That's what I did with these shawls. The Loopy Ewe set up the challenge to knit a shawl using two colors. I've never knit a shawl in more than one color before last month. Now, I'm knitting them all the time. ;-)

These are tentatively called s.a.w. shawls. That stands for stripe at will. I had a basic idea for a triangular shawl, but I didn't want the stripes all over or in a regular pattern. This first shawl was knit with madelinetosh tosh sock in two colors from past Loopy Ewe sock clubs. They work well together, but the single green stripes got lost in the brown. This shawl had a mixture of single contrasting stripes and the larger blocks of contrasting color.

The next shawl, I wanted a lot more contrast. I used Wollmeise 100% in Himbeere and Blue Curacao. Since there is so much contrast, I decided to stick with the single contrasting stripes. I didn't want the shawl to read as only stripes, so I spaced out the stripes a lot more. This shawl turned out huge and I still had leftovers.

And because I worked on these while on a road trip and a camping trip, I had to take along more yarn "just in case." It turns out that I did have time to finish another shawl while on the trip.This shawl was knit with some interesting yarns. The orange is from Gaia's Colours and is 100% soy. I like the look of this yarn, but it does have an odd smell. The brownish yarn is also from Gaia's Colours and is a merino/bamboo sock blend. There was much less yardage in the orange yarn than any of the others. When it was getting close to running out, I worked the stripes across the whole bottom of the shawl and then finished it off with just the brown yarn.

I really like the shape of these shawls. I do plan on writing out the pattern to these. I think it might end more like a formula with instructions on how to do the different types of stripes and how to go about changing colors. These are fun and I wonder what they would look like if I added some lace into it? Hmmmm. I might have to start another one.