Treading Water

I haven't really posted for the past month or so because I've essentially been working on keeping my head above water. So many things happen in the summer and everyone wants to do everything at once. Not to mention I haven't had a headache free day in almost three weeks.

I have been knitting and spinning so I've got a few photos to show. I'm now on Ravelry too, so I'm enjoying adding projects and stash to there. I've been taking photos of the yarn as it comes into the house.

My first Baby Surprise knit from Needful Yarns' Cotton Joy. Lovely yarn, I'd work with it again in a second. I'm happy with the end result and the mom-to-be loved it too. I heard she had to keep an eye on it the day I dropped it off because people in her office wanted to steal it.

This is one of the few garter stitch Cotton Fleece squares I'm knitting for a co-worker's baby blanket. I'm safe because I don't think she even know I have a blog. I knit them during movies or TV shows that I actually want to watch.

I can't remember if I posted this, but this is the heel of my first Mermaid Sock, which is now finished. I'm currently working on the mate to it.

Mom's Christmas socks got finished, I meant to get a photo of her wearing them but didn't.

I got bored today with my projects and decided that I was going to cast on for a tea cozy that I've been meaning to knit for over a year. It's a simple Bernat pattern made from Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted in Child's Play. Not photos yet, because I need to buy new Lithium batteries for my camera.

The funny thing here is that I had just made a pot of green tea and the tea is getting cold because I got distracted knitting a tea cozy. Oy.

I also ended up hitting Gaspereau Valley Fibres yesterday and enabling a friend. I bought her her first needles (5mm Brittanies) and she bought some beautiful wool, mohair and silk Fleece Artist to work with. I'm going to get her knitting a scarf to start.

I came home with Cotton Fleece in Robin's Egg Blue for a Rusted Root, and some more sea wool and what I think is a new Fleece Artsit yarn called Somoko. It's merino, kid, nylon and silk.

Cotton Fleece = beautiful. I don't have a problem knitting with cotton. Maybe it's because my first projects were all done in cotton.

The Somoko. It's not even on the Fleece Artist site yet. This yarn goes from greens to bright pinks to subtle purples. Want another look?

The sea wool is bright and happy and I love it. It's too bad I had to choose because I was willing to give a good home to almost all the Fleece Artist sock yarn there.

The next project to get cast on my wooden sock dpns will be Lucy Neatby's Crenellated Toe-Up Socks. I'll be using Art Yarns sock yarn.

Now, in the immortal words of Porky Pig, "That's all folks!"

The Horror

That is a photo of the terrifying damage done to Mr. Loopy's Sweet Georgia socks, after the third wearing. His feet, combined with his work boots ate them. I don't think these are fixable.

But they're not being thrown away. The other sock isn't quite as bad as this. It only has a tiny hole.

See the fuzz on the heels - that's not the camera not focusing properly. That is superwash wool fulling/felting. To me, this is just... unbelievable. Has anyone else seen superwash wool full before?

Mom's Christmas 2006 socks are coming along okay. I'm done the heel on the first sock and starting to just cruise along the foot. Here's a photo of the finished pair of (too small) socks.

And here's a photo of the sock in progress.

Most of my socks are knit using the two circular needle method, however, because I'm itching to start a second pair of socks, I'm thinking about starting a pair on my birch dpns, with either Trekking, my handspun or a marled rainbow yarn I got from Have A Yarn in Mahone Bay last fall.

Mr. Loopy's (dead) socks & sock redesign

I finished the Sweet Georgia socks for Mr. Loopy a couple of weeks ago. However, he wore them three times and put holes in the heels. Not tiny, fixable holes. We're talking holes that have obliterated the majority of the sock. I don't have pictures yet, as I have been feeling under the weather and when the sun has been shining, I've been at work. Soon though. I can't believe the damage.

I'm working on replacement socks for Mom's 2006 Christmas socks - making them bigger so they'll actually fit. I'm using the Clementine's Baltic Socks pattern, and have added an extra 14 stitches to the stockingette side panels. I've measured and measured again, so I'm pretty sure they'll fit this time. It was my own fault I wasn't paying attention to the size. I'm lucky that I may not have to rip back the first pair - I think I have enough of the original yarn to make a second pair, but if I have to cannibalize the first pair of socks, so be it. :)