Happy New Year to all!

I finished up 2009 by knitting up a pair of socks done in Briggs & Little Durasport, a blend of 80% wool & 20% nylon. The colour is a most beautiful shade of a dark green & an ivory colour for contrasting toes, heels, & some stripes.

I started these socks with the intention of doing them the Queen Kahuna way (Crazy Toes & Heels fame) then changed to a pattern from 'Folk Socks' by Nancy Bush then to inspiration from 'Simple Socks' by Priscilla A. Gibson-Roberts.

This means I did them toe up with the cast on by Mary Ann Beattie (aka Queen Kahuna), did the increases (incorrectly) then as I was knitting up the foot I was side tracked by 'Simple Socks' (which I was reading while I was knitting) before I did the heel.

'Simple Socks' is a book I got in 2009, I think, and since it was still early in my sock knitting learning curve when I got it, I put it away to concentrate on 'Crazy Toes & Heels' by Mary Ann Beattie.

Anyway, the idea of trying a short row heel interested me & I thought I would give it a try on these. So I did & the first one wasn't so great, so I tried again on the second sock (because I do 2 at a time) & it really pleased me. So then I went back to the first sock, took out the heel & did it over. This time it was good. I like this method - even if just for a change, but I wanted to learn something new.

I don't like doing things the same way all of the time - I need variety in everything. I started with Knit Picks circulars in 2.25mm & when I got to the heel I did one on circs & the other with dpn's.

As I was knitting, I was also reading the socknitter's list where someone introduced me to the 'Fibronacci sequence'. This is a method of planning pleasing stripes. Since I had planned on putting a stripe of ivory near the top of the cuff, I decided to include Fibonacci sequence stripes.

I'm going to wear them today!!!

I finished the Tailored Sweater

I tried an I-chord trim all around the neck & front edge on this sweater and it was just a no-go even with adjustments I made. I had tried increases at the beginning of the V-neck and decreases at the back of the neck & it was just a disappointing failure.

So I took the edging off again & just did a garter stitch border. I did 2 increases on different rows at the V-neck on both sides & 3 decreases on the first row of real knitting in the back of the neck. This seems to have worked.

All that remains to be done is blocking. I don't think I can skip this step because it looks a bit 'bunchy' on each side of the front near the shoulders.

This will be a nice cozy sweater to throw on during the long Canadian winter coming soon.

The yarn is Patons SWS, a soy/wool mix. It is a feltable wool, so handwash & lay flat to dry only. I knit this with Knitpicks.com 'Zephr' interchangeable needles, size 5.5mm using Tuulia Salmela's 'Tailored Sweater Method'. It is available at: http://tuulia.blogspot.com/2009/03/tailored-sweater.html . The pattern on the sweater is a basket weave done in three separate bands & feels very squishy.

New Socks for ?? It's a surprise...

This was a new yarn I spotted last week at my local Mary Maxim & it was very reasonably priced - so it came home with me & I knew right then that it was destined for my daughter's upcoming July birthday. Before that point I wasn't sure what I would do for her Bday.

The socks were knit on 2 circular Addi 2.5mm turbo needles using Crazy Toes & Heels top down method. I might have done one other pair this way, but I don't recall. My DD has very slender feet, so she likes my home made socks when I make them for her.

The yarn is Serenity Sock Weight by Premier Yarns. Deborah Norville Collection. The colour in the photograph is a bit off. The darker blue is a mid denim blue, turquoise blue & there is a sparkle of white that doesn't show up at all. Just the colour combination that I would love for myself.

This yarn is 50% merino superwash wool, 25% bamboo, 25% nylon.

I started these on the 23rd June. Today is the 30th. That the quickest I have finished anything in quite awhile. So I am quite pleased.

Warren's Quoddy Blue V Neck Cardie

Here it is finished. I got a 22'' zipper & sewed it in by hand today. It looks really very nice on Warren & I am sure he will appreciate it next winter when I try & keep the price of heating this place under control with the thermostat set at 68. It is 100% wool & I expect it to live up to its warm reputation.