Catching Up

I've been a bit behind with everything recently, and haven't had much free time to post or respond to emails. I'm trying to catch up this weekend, but you're due for some new photos! This sock was knit from the last of the yarn I dyed, and I like it a lot.

The eye-of-partridge heel works so well with the variegation. I love the way the colors blend. I'm much happier with these socks than I was with the dragon socks. I think because the value of the color stayed fairly constant, the barberpole pooling didn't bother me as much. This yarn was fun to knit because it kept on changing colors. Note to self: next time I dye sock yarn, I need to make sure I get more saturated colors throughout the skein.

Oh, and the pattern? A simple 66 stitch sock with a 2x1 ribbed cuff.

This is the project that has been on my needles for the longest. You just saw a smidge of it when I swatched. It's Starsky, in Patons Classic Merino. I have many modifications for this, to modify for gauge & size, and it's not something I can knit anytime. I need to have focus. I'm almost finished with the banana-leaf cable, though, so look for it sometime in the future. (Note: I did not say the near future....)

In addition to these, I'm also in the middle of the Flower Basket Shawl and the Lace Ribbon Scarf. Oh, and I have a couple of quilting projects going, too. Not to mention extra work that has been picking up. Hopefully I'll be more responsive in the near future!

A Project Fit For Spring

Remember this yarn? The crazy colors that would have made a splendid pair of socks, but are a bit too bright for something laceweight? I think it's actually looking pretty good. Thanks to Knitty, I found the perfect simple, yet interesting, pattern that shows off the color and mutes it just a bit.

Here is the Lace Ribbon Scarf. It's cruising along and I've made a lot of progress. It's been a hectic week, so it's amazing I have knit a single stitch, but I'm almost halfway through with it! I'm telling myself that the overwhelming green color is what is going to stand out when I'm wearing the scarf, and no one will notice the variety of colors from a distance.

Another new project:

I need to dye more yarn. I've knit up the yarn I dyed in January amazingly quickly. Here is the Flower Basket Shawl by Evelyn Clark. The yarn is Zephyr 2/18, which I purchased for my veil. I dyed it a lovely peach color and it's going to be beautiful.

Scaly Socks

I've also finished my Dragon Socks. These were a pain, but I like the result!

Specs:

Yarn: Knit Picks Bare Sock -- hand-dyed by me (I'm still working on pooling-prevention)

Pattern: Dragon Socks (a variation on Undulating Rib Socks in Favorite Socks)

Needles: Size 1s

For a complete list of issues I had with these socks, see this post. They were a beast to finish, although really the pattern went quickly. I guess I was just distracted!

Time to Start Over:

I have been distracted from knitting recently by my sewing machine. I've pulled it out and set it up, and as Grumperina remarked, it is quite a feat for those of us who live in apartments! Because of this, I've been neglected my knitting needles in favor of my quilt blocks.

I'm happy to say that it looks like the coast is clear for some more knitting! The fabric that came in was perfect, and I was able to finish my flying geese top.

My goal for this project was to be a nice scrap quilt -- not necessarily a perfect work of art. I was playing with colors and values as I combined a whole bunch of different 5" squares of fabric I would not necessarily have bought myself! I also don't have a 1/4" foot on my machine, so I end up eyeing the seam allowance most of the time. I'm usually really accurate and don't have problems, except this time my strips of geese ended up being off a tad. I stuck the ginger sashing in between and that solved the problem! I wanted the flock to be flying randomly, instead of in unison! (We'll think that, anyway, won't we?)

This picture shows most of the quilt -- only one strip of geese is missing from the right side, and then the sashing and border. I did manage to get a better picture of the whole thing, but as my photo set-up (the quilt on the bed, me standing next to it holding out my hand randomly to take pictures) left a lot to be desired it came out too blurry for me to post. You get the idea from this. The method of photography also gives the picture the warped look. I will attest to the fact that the sashing is all at right angles!

I absolutely love the fabric I used for the sashing -- the ginger and the yellow. Originally I was planning on using the ginger as the outer border and the yellow as the inner, but when I saw the nice contrast the ginger provided, I changed my mind.

Surprisingly, the hardest thing about this quilt was making sure it stayed small. I kept on having grand plans to increase the border, and then had to revise each of them when I realized I was coming close to exceeding the size of my batting (45" x 60"). I want to really quilt this one (by machine) and it needed to be a manageable size. Also, that's the size of the batting on my shelf! I succeeded, just barely, and also have enough backing for this. All the parts are purchased, and I'm excited about finishing!

And today after I finished the last seam, I finished off two other knitted projects, too!