The past month was very busy with harvesting and canning the garden goodness, but looking back on what I've also knit and read in that time frame, well, I'm amazed! I do think the earlier darkness in the evenings as well as the horrible spells of heat and humidity (after a point, I refused to do any canning if the indoor temperature was going to be hitting the upper 80s due to the high humidity and relentless sunshine outside and lack of air conditioning inside) played a large part in all the knitting and reading.
I was able finish my Polka Dot Party socks near the end of August. I still don't like the heels, and the socks came out a little bit less stretchy than I find comfortable, but overall I do like them. They were a good first attempt at fair isle/color work in a sock, and I learned a lot. I will definitely make another pair sometime in the future, but go up a needle size and substitute in a different heel next time. I guess I just prefer a gusset heel.
I have to confess that I took a short break from the polka dot socks just before working the heel on sock #2. . . that dreaded heel ;0). I whipped up another UP dish cloth to send back to college with DD2 before settling in to tackle the sock's heel. The dish cloth was a quick project that gave me some instant gratification.
UP dish cloth
And then, as soon as the second sock of the polka dot socks was off the needles, I began my next sock project: a pair of UP socks (pattern, as well as the dish cloth pattern, found in the Knit The UP! book I bought at Sew Irresistible in Houghton this past April). The main color is the limited edition Knit Picks Sock Lab from this Spring, which just so happened to be in Michigan Tech's colors, and I used an off white for the contrast (as the UP is snow covered almost the majority of the year.)
This pattern is super easy. I whipped off the first sock in less than a week! I love it, and I know DD2 will love it.
hot off the needles, unblocked
What I didn't expect was that DS2 would stop in over the holiday weekend and see the sock in progress. Apparently I should have ordered two skeins of the Sock Lab yarn, as it is now unavailable in that exact color combo. From the look on his face, it was quite obvious that DS2 would like a pair of socks in honor of his alma mater as well.
Would any readers happen to have purchased that yarn and be willing to sell me a skein in the black/gold colorway???
Meanwhile, with all that knitting and canning going on, I still managed to read several books. All of which I enjoyed and would highly recommend, especially The Sea Keepers Daughters. That one was not one I though I'd actually finish as I worked my way through the first couple of chapters and wasn't really 'feeling' the story. Yet, it soon picked up and ended up being one of those can't-put-it-down kinds of books for me.
No comments:
Post a Comment