It's going to get colder again...

...and I'll be ready. This has been a strange winter in these parts of Michigan.  Little snow and unusually warm temperatures.  Well, warm for these parts.  It's 45 degrees Fahrenheit today and the sun is shining.  But the weather forecasters call for temperatures in the 20s once more starting tomorrow.  So, I finally knit myself a hat.  It was knit with worsted weight Wool of the Andes and a discontinued brushed Alpaca, both from Knit Picks.  The pattern is called Gehry and can be found free of charge on Ravelry .

All I have to do now is knit a pair of mittens for myself.  No problem.

Knit on, merrily!

What else could anyone want?

 



It's all there:  a comfortable chair, my doggie and most of my circular knitting needles hanging from my lamp.  Oh, and there is the remote control!

The old doggie has had a tough time lately.  He scratched his right cornea and then there appeared a big red spot on his eye.  The blood vessels in his eye had apparently coagulated.  The vet gave him some salve and he is now on the mend, being his usual fidgety self and yapping and being demanding again.  Talk about being spoilt, the dog not me.

Still more socks

I think I've mentioned before that I am on a serious stash busting binge, particularly coned yarns.  I was able to knit two more pairs of socks from the cone of fingering weight Brown Sheep Nature Spun yarn and still have enough left for a pair of two-colored socks.  I can't even remember how long ago I purchased that particular cone of yarn. 

The first pair is called Moody Stockings from the Yahoo group Sock Knitters Anonymous.  The pattern was designed by Erica Lueder and can be found on Ravelry for free. The Nature Spun was perfect for stitch definition and, of course, since it is 100% wool it keeps the feet dry and warm.  What more could one ask for.

 



The pattern for the second pair came from Stephanie Van Der Linden and is called Escherwuerfel (Escher Cubes).  I've wanted to knit this pattern for a long time and finally decided to give it a try with the Nature Spun yarn.  The pair turned out much better than the photo suggests.  My aching back decided to scream "I want to sit down" and I decided to better listen to it.  The pattern can be found here .  While the pattern is in German, do not despair.  It is only a chart and an explanation of how the designer came up with it.  There are only two symbols in the chart -- one for the knit stitch which is represented by "0" and the purl stitch is represented by a "-".  I decided on 60 stitches since each repeat is 10 stitches long.
 

Same yarn as the first pair of socks, but taken on a different day.

Knit on, Merrily!

More Socks

Many sock knitters understand the phenomenon of collecting sock patterns.  There is always at least one more pattern that tickles our fancy and before we know it, we have collected more sock patterns than we can knit in a life time.  Particularly since we collect more as we knit from the list we already have.  I am trying to remedy this malady without much success.  Along with amassing patterns, we, of course, also amass yarn.  Recently, I found three balls of Brown Sheep Nature Spun, fingering weight, in oatmeal that came from a long ago bought cone of yarn. I assume I bought it at Paradise Fibers, but how many years ago is a mystery.  Also a mystery is what else I knit with this particular yarn.  This pattern comes from the German Yahoo group "Krea Socks" and was designed by Gudrun Neumann-Mack.  The design is called "Late Summer Blues." They were knit with 2.00 mm needles and were gifted to my in-house spinner, aka youngest daughter.  (I have to keep her happy so I can get more hand-spun yarn.)

Knit on Merrily.

Two pairs of quick socks

Even though I have been hardly blogging, I have been busy knitting socks.  Here are two pairs of rather plain socks. These were knit for my pretend nephew who actually could be my pretend grandson and a special request from him for his girl friend.  It is such a pleasure to knit for folks who really love hand knitted socks.   I am so proud of Nick.  He is an ex-Marine and a veteran of Falujah, Iraq where he was wounded.  Since coming home, he has finished undergraduate school and this is his last semester of graduate school.  He deserves all the socks I can knit him.

Knit with In-Line 6 ply Comic Color. Pattern is K3, P1.

Pattern is Jules by Kate Blackburn.  Yarn is OnLine Summer-Time color.

Knit on Merrily!

Glauberg Socks

According to Wikkipedia "The Glauberg is a Celtic oppidum in Germany consisting of a fortified settlement and several burial mounds, a princely seat of the late Hallstatt and early La Tène periods. Archaeological discoveries in the 1990s place the site among the most important early Celtic centres in Europe. It provides unprecedented evidence on Celtic burial, sculpture and monumental architecture." Monika Eckert, a German knitting designer, has based her latest sock design on the Glauberg.  It was a Knit-Along through her Ravelry Group Klabauter KALs. The socks were knit with a generic off-white sock yarn from WEBS on two 2.5 mm circular needles.  The two circs were a first for me.  I actually managed to knit the socks with them only ending up on one needle twice. 

 



 

Thank you, Moni, for another wonderful pattern.

 

Knit on Merrily!

Almost caught up...

...with the Afghan squares.  Here are the September ones:



 

I think the last pattern would make a nice sock pattern, using 4 or 6 ply and possibly self-striping yarn.

 

Knit on merrily!