Progress and some craziness

Prana Socks

Now that the birthday’s I was knitting for have come and gone, I can share what I made for the girls. The first birthday gift was a pair of Flutterby socks by Cat Bordhi. They used her new sweet tomato heel. I like how the heel was made and will probably use it again in the future. Sorry I did not get a picture before I gifted them, but they were made of a lime green yarn that you can see here. The second birthday gift was a pair of Prana socks from the Knitter’s Book of Socks. I enjoyed knitting these and since they had no heels or toes the knitting went faster than normal. 

 

The lovely silk and merino Blackened Mithril vest.

 I have made some progress on the Blackened Mithril vest. The pattern calls for beading but I could not find any beads that I liked so I am just knitting it plain. The yarn is Knit Picks Gloss fingering weight in Black. Knitting with the silk and merino mix is lovely. I have to stop occasionally to pet the vest. I am nearing the part of the pattern where it makes its first deviation from straightforward. However, the vest itself is lovely to knit. It is a challenge and because of the complexity of the charts, it is a home project. I learned this the hard way. I unexpectedly was able to go to a football game and thankfully had brought my knitting bag along. However, the only thing I had with me was the Mithril vest and it is not conductive to sitting in the bleachers with a big binder holding the pattern. I had to settle for knitting on the sock I keep in my purse. Live and learn.

Today ,I am borrowing a segment from the Knitmore Girls. My knitting attacked me. Actually I did not pay attention to the chart and therefore made several mistakes. I was able to use a couple of double point needles (DPNs) to drop down and fix the problems in just the affected areas. The fix is unnoticeable and is much easier than ripping out a couple rows and then trying to pick up the stitches hoping and praying that you will not lose any. 

My bit of craziness.

And now for some craziness. As if I did not have enough going on this year with planning my furlough, ministry here and the year of knitting selfishly, I decided to cast on something extra. Here it is, the EZ 100th Anniversary CampingHalf-circle shawl. Yes, this is my bit of craziness in the midst of all the normality. I have named it Crazy for casting this on. It is made from Lorna’sLaces Shepherd sock multi in the Devon colorway. I have had these two skeins of yarn for almost 6 years. I just could not find a sock that it wanted to be. Therefore, I finally pulled them out and said this year I will make something with these. Voila, the half-circle shawl idea was born. I wanted to wear these next to my face and since I am planning my furlough wardrobe to revolve around peach and teal, this would satisfy both. I have no set schedule for when this will be done so you may see it for a while or I just may surprise myself and whip through it. 

This last week has taught me that a bit of craziness now and then is a good thing. To be thankful for double points that can fix mistakes in the middle of knitting without ripping back. To have two projects on hand, one of them simple. I also learned that masking tape makes a good chart marker when you use it in combination with plastic sheet protectors. So having learned a lot in the last week, I admonish you to keep knitting and learning.