Last minute

I leave tomorrow morning for Colorado, and I am so excited. I get to see a couple of friends that I don’t see regularly (you know, that whole “they live in Colorado” thing), I get to see mountains (seriously, the flatness of Florida is underwhelming), and I have an opportunity to meet new people, which is always good.

And of course, I’ll have new backdrops for photos of knitted goods. BUT FIRST! Already finished and photographed goods. 😀

Kate’s Scarf, commissioned by my friend Kate. She had lost a scarf in similar colors and asked if a new one could be made, and of course I said yes. The yarn is five different colors of Knit Picks Wool of the Andes: Williamsburg, Powder, Blue Ink, Arctic Pool Heather, and Winter Night. Not pictured in that order, I’m fairly sure. I only used one skein of each, and I’m tempted to make myself one.

I cast-on 300 chain stitches (or so, I tend to lose count), and then three rows of dc in each colorway. It has a nice drape to it, and it should be warm without being too heavy. Final dimensions were somewhere around 7′ long and 6″ wide. (Also, wow, my hair looks really reddish in that picture.)

I also finished my Alice Cullen socks. These socks should really not take anyone as long as they took me. The pattern is super fast and intuitive and when I finally got around to the heel flap of the second sock, it literally took me three evenings of maybe an hour or an hour and a half of work to finish the sock.

I kind of think it’s an unexpected marriage of yarn and pattern, but I really love it. I’m tempted to make another pair in a solid color so that the pattern can really stand out.

And of course, I started on new projects almost immediately.

(Apologies for the darkness of the photo.) That’s the beginning of my Staggering Monkey socks. Actually I should say that that’s the first beginning. I had read in various places that the Monkey pattern tends to come out a bit on the snug/tight side. Armed with that knowledge and the fact that I typically knit loose, I thought “If I knit using the recommended needle size, my loose tension and a tight pattern should, in theory, counteract one another.” Either other people are really tight knitters or I knit really loosely, because they were coming out too big. So rather than knit on the recommended 2.75mm needles, I went down to my 2.5mm needles and they seem to be fitting much better.

I also cast on for a February Lady Sweater as part of a knit-a-long with a couple of friends. I swatched (what!), got gauge, and then cast on. I made it about 8 rows in before I realized I had to rip back on the sock and have been preoccupied with that. Woops.

I also cast on for another pair of socks, in an attempt to design my own. I’m really enjoying the way the sock is turning out so far, but I don’t have any pictures to show for it.

Now to pack for the trip. I know I’m taking both pairs of socks, and probably enough yarn to crochet one of the squares for my mom’s blanket, but do I take the sweater with me? You know, along with the book I’m reading (Alice in Wonderland) and possibly a magazine or two.

I should probably start with figuring out what clothes I’m taking, huh?