good-bye September

How quickly did it fly by for you? It feels like I was only just anticipating Autumn's arrival, and once I can officially wipe my dry-erase calendar of September, I will be basking in the cool fall air.

This week a bug has bit me. It was the deadly FinishYourUFOs bug. Thus:




I think I blogged before that the reason I wanted to learn to knit was so that I could knit Christmas stockings. My great-grandmother had knit everyone in her family Christmas stockings very similar to these. In fact, as soon as my mother would announce the birth of my siblings, we'd soon receive a hand-knit stocking for the babe.

When I married, my husband very solemnly hung a tube sock next to my well-loved hand-knit Christmas sock. I nearly fell over in shock. Although my stocking was a great decoration, he said, one of the best things about his family's regular-old-sock tradition was when he'd hang up a bigger sock every year of his childhood. Couldn't we consider his tradition, he'd asked. Umm... I don't think so!

A few days later, the tube sock was replaced by a "temporary" fleece stocking, then a still "temporary" tapestry-like stocking (it's now five years old). I began to wonder when I'd learn to knit. It wasn't until 2003 that I took a knitting class at our community college, and of course, I began my search for the stocking pattern. The search ended in a little knit shop in Colorado in 2004. Finally, a similar pattern to the stocking I had at home! This pattern was actually part of a kit, sold with enough Lamb's Pride for one sock, and is from Yarn-Craft Supplies in Wisconsin.

2005 came and went with nary a stocking stitch. After my last child was born, though, I began knitting on the stockings in earnest. Spring of 2006 is the official start date of these four stockings. Today is the finished date. Only 18 months later. How sad is that? I'll be overjoyed this Christmas season, though. And every one thereafter. And hopefully my children will want me to knit stockings for their families, too, remembering how they hung their stockings at home so long ago.

I really need to finish my Louisa Harding sweater, too. I have to seam the sides and the set-in sleeves. I'm a bit intimidated, since I've never set in sleeves before. $100 in yarn may end up an expensive lesson in how not to seam. Oh well, though...

The last project I have to share with you is my newly begun Hedgerow Sock. I'm loving the pattern, since it's easy to memorize and I could knit it while watching Grey's Anatomy premiere and catching up on anything I've DVR'd in the week.



Have a great first week of October!

our first rainy day

... and I've got a completed pair of Embossed Autumn Leaves with which to celebrate.

knittin' my bit

one can get so much done when one is sick.

pattern: Embossed Leaves from Interweave Knits Favorite Socks
yarn: The Plucky Knitter 100% merino in Pumpkin Latte
needles: size 4 dpn for twisted rib cuff and size 3 dpn for body of sock

Charade Parade

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's an FO to share!



I finished these Charades last night. As I had mentioned before, I had intended to start an undulating rib sock but instead the Yarn Pirate called out, "No! More Charades!" As fun as the pattern is, I'm over it, and moving on to (drum roll please):



yes, Embossed Leaves. Will these be done in time to welcome the first day of Autumn, September 23? We shall see! The gorgeous yarn is from The Plucky Knitter: 100% merino fingering. I already had to frog the first 16-round pattern repeat. I had made the cuff in size 4 needles, then wanted to change to size 3. I realized that I had switched out only two of the four needles once I had completed the first repeat.

I'm also anxious to begin Garter Rib socks with my Zuluknitty:

mission completed

ta-da! Not only am I sending out a second blog post this week, I'm also sending out the Fingerless Gloves I knit up for Sarah! phew! I finished these in four (?) days, which is record time for me, considering I've got three kids under 7 years of age. It was so much fun to have a project that I knew I must get off the needles. I've set deadlines for myself before, but really, I've never held fast to them. They'll be out in tomorrow's mail, and I'll be left with the many other projects that have been languishing since Sunday.

WIPs: kid [and] gloves

How time flies! Two years ago, I had just delivered our little baby boy. Today, he's running around, climbing on the entertainment center and speaking in sentences! To think that I worried he'd develop more slowly in comparison to his sisters. He's moving at lightning speed, and probably just to keep up with those big sisters of his.

Since he IS a little daredevil, and because he's been running around after bath time with his hooded towel over his head and calling it a cape, I thought I'd knit him one. It's not unusual for me to think that one of my kids would love a particular knitted item, I knit it and then he or she hates it and refuses to wear the thing. This Greatest American Hero cape from New Knits on the Block is no different. Gavin loved it until I put the grosgrain ribbon closure around the neck. Now he will humor me by wearing the cape for literally three seconds and then he lifts his head and looks to the ceiling and groans "take it off".



So in this badly composed picture, he is throwing a fit. But he's wearing it. And that's what counts.

My other pet project is the fingerless gloves by Wendy of Knit and Tonic and I'm knitting them for Sarah at the Plucky Knitter. Sarah was looking for knitting volunteers; poor thing spends so much time dyeing yarn she's got no time to knit! She sent me a skein of her 100% merino wool in this gorgeous tonal plum colorway, I'll knit the gloves, send them back, and she'll have a project to show off her fantastic work at a LYS's fall open house. Thankfully, you don't have to go to her LYS to get The Plucky Knitter yarns. They're all over at Sarah's etsy shop. Go get some -- it's ALL beyond-words-beautiful! My two favorite base yarns are the above-mentioned merino and the merino-cashmere blend.



Not much else has been happening here. I visited a somewhat "L" LYS today. It was my first time at Knit This, Purl That. I loved that the gal working there sat on the couch and hung with my kidlets while I shopped around -- she seemed genuine and my daughters ate that up. Why can't all LYS be so welcoming to children?? I'm positive that the mom-customers would spend more money since they have more time to shop. I, in fact, had only gone in to search out the Lantern Moon Sox Stix and came out with two skeins of Lorna's Laces along with my needles. The colorway is somewhere I have always wanted to go: Tuscany.



Thanks to a Friend for giving me a kick in the rear to post. It may have been another week before I'd gotten over here!