First Socks Finished

I finished knitting my first pair of socks ever!!! I am so, so proud. And I totally loved it. I guess I’m a real sock knitter now (especially since I spent $79 on 6 hanks of scrumptious sock yarn from The Loopy Ewe today!).

They’re not perfect. Some stitches aren’t quite right…

and the self-striping didn’t quite match up…

but they fit great! (even though the second one is a tiny, tiny bit smaller than the first)

Oh, and they’re super comfy

Pattern: Silver’s Sock Class

Yarn: Trekking XXL in color 134, sock/fingering weight, about 3/4 of the skein, and I think the whole skein was about $15

Needles: 4 Crystal Palace bamboo DPNs, US size 2 (2.75mm)

Time to knit: Started the first sock at the end of July 2006 and finished June 11, 2007, and I started the second sock June 12, 2007 and finished June 18, 2007. Total time about 10.5 months, but the second sock was only 6 days!

Places knitted: In the Salt Lake airport, on the runway on the plane in the Des Moines airport, in the Chicago airport while I was spending the night, in Kentucky, in my apartment in Salt Lake, in my apartment in Atlanta, at work in Atlanta, at Chastain Park with the kids in Atlanta… and probably some more places, but this is all I remember

I can’t wait to get my new sock yarn in the mail and start on some new socks. It should come Wednesday or so. I’ve got plans for some lace socks for Mom and some knee socks for my sister for Christmas gifts… figured I should get started early since I’m so excited! Until then, I have the Saturday Market Bag to work on.

Knitting Again

I’ve been keeping myself busy with knitting since Paul has been in Dallas, school is between quarters, and the people I was nannying for moved.

First, I finished my first sock ever on Monday:

Then, I cast on for the next sock on Tuesday (it’s not blurry in real life):

I’m using this yarn for the socks. It’s Trekking XXL in color 134. I loved it when I bought it (nearly a year ago!), but that love grew when I saw a completed sock in it.

Aside from socks, I finished the One Row Handspun Scarf from the Yarn Harlot, except mine is totally not from handspun yarn. And I might have done the knit in the back stitch wrong. But that’s okay because I still like it!

Pattern: One Row Handspun Scarf
Yarn: Red Heart’s TLC Essentials in Island, 100% acrylic (soft, washable, and cheap!), worsted weight, 1.25 skeins or so, cost was probably less than $5 but I don’t remember exactly
Needles: Knitpicks Options (I used circular but obviously didn’t knit in the round), US 8
Size: Scarf length is about 62″, give or take, and the width is about 4″
Time to knit: Started this in October 2006, finished June 12, 2007. Yeah it took forever but in my defense, during that time, I was a full time student, had either a part time or full time job, planned a wedding, got married, and moved across the country.
Places knitted: In the car before work in Utah, during class (like Family Economics) at the U, in my apartment in Salt Lake, in my apartment in Atlanta, at Chastain Park with the kids at work in Atlanta… and probably a few other places

And finally, I cast on for the Saturday Market Bag last night, with a variation I found on the web that I like better. I couldn’t figure out how to get the lace to work right at first as I’ve never knit lace before, but I finally got it on the third try. I’ve done two of the lace repeats (so hardly nothing) but it’s looking good so far! I don’t really like the huge needles as they get in my way, but I do like how the big lacy pattern looks.

That’s it for now! I hope to finish the second sock soon, and make more progress on the market bag. If I don’t get them done soon, school will start again and I’ll have significantly less time.