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A few years ago I made a long denim coat. I rarely wore it because it felt so heavy on my shoulders. Last year, I cut off the bottom half and refashioned the top part into a short jacket. This is the bottom half I rediscovered last night while organizing my yarns. I picked up some stitches around the waist and turned it into an apron skirt.
Greenish Knee Socks for the Nervous Knitter
(That would be me, nervous not about the knitting but about life outside of knitting)
Pattern notes:
Yarn: Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock, Camouflage color (215 yds, 2 oz); 1 skein for each sock (with not a lot left over).
Needles: 4 dpn size 2 (for cuff and leg), 5 dpn size 1 (for heel and foot)
Gauge: 7 1/2 sts and 11 rows = 1” with size 2 needle.
To fit a foot that wears a size 8 1/2 shoe. Alter the length from heel to toe for a different size foot. Though if you’re going to make it longer you will need more yarn.
Basic Pattern:
Cast on with size 2 needle 64 sts. Work 2” of 2x2 rib (about 22 rows).
Work St st until pieces measures 14 1/2” from cast on edge (about 138 rows in St st).
Change to size 1 needle to work heel and foot. Work short row heel on 32 sts on needles 1 and 2 for left sock and needles 3 and 4 for right sock.
Work 7” of St st from the heel (about 85 rows). Then, work the short row toe on 32 sts with same needles as heel sts.
Graft (32) toe sts to top of (32) foot sts.
Weave in ends, put on socks and party.
These fancy socks sat on my desk for the last nine or so months, patiently waiting for me to complete the second sock. Finally, I got around to it. It took a while getting back in the swing of a pattern that has been put down for so long; and the yarn had issues. Some critters had chewed bits from the working skein so I had to do quite a bit of splicing. But in the end, all is well. What a relief and the good news, they fit really well, much better than I suspected. The pattern is Petticoat Socks in the book Weekend Knitting. My feet thank me!
I bought this book, Knitted Tams by Mary Rowe, earlier this year from Interweave Press; but have yet to put it to good use. It is full of thorough directions on designing your own stranded colorwork tams, something I have longed to do for years but never got around to it. I've never joined a knit a long before as well, so seems like a good time to get into action. Uh, actually, there will be no action on that front until after the New Year but in the spirit of the knit a long I thought I would post what projects I have in mind. There are a couple of amazing sweaters that I’m dreaming of too but I don’t know if I have the time to commit to something huge; on the other hand does it matter how long a project takes? I usually like to knit something as quickly as possible otherwise I loose steam and move on to other projects. I have a couple of UFO’s in the workbasket. Sadly, languishing with just a few missing details. Hmmm, there are only two of those, not too bad for a mad knitter! Anyway, what is quick in the world of knitting? I would say two weeks and that usually entails a couple of sleepless nights and missed meals. It is doubtful that a sweater from Poetry in Stitches could be worked up in two weeks.
Well, I’ll start small with a tam; a beautiful circle of radiating colors.
While at my mom's house for thanksgiving I took a few pictures in her backyard. Her place never lets me down, it is always alive with color and her every growing collection of pottery.
Picnic at Bedford Hills, 1918
Family Portrait #2, 1933
Top hat and heart are the tender and bittersweet handwork of a love never known. Quilt made for Squire Baldwine signed "Old Maid", 1850 Yonkers, New York; from The Quilt Engagement Calendar Treasury.
Peruvian pilgrim. From (un) Fashion.
Felix has grown out of his high chair, so Johnny cut off the legs and upholstered it. The upholstery part is a little wacky, inspired by a late night burst of energy. When Felix woke up he was afraid of the chair and tried to pry the black cushion off. Then he threw all his toys on it hoping he could "fix" it. I saw him trying to work the cushion off with his alligator and so I decided to take a picture of the alligator and the chair in the hopes that Felix would see the chair as special. And it worked. He loves it.
I've been doing loads and loads of knitting. So I wouldn't feel so isolated and nutty with all the counting and pattern writing and rewriting, I placed the great knitting thinker EZ next to me at my desk. Good company!
self portrait taken in my bathroom. usually, i ignore "him" but sometimes i can't avoid the ghoulish stare. the mural was painted by my boyfriend before felix and i moved in. felix likes the babies. recently I was looking at photos from my old apartment and feeling nostalgic for the feeling of a place all mine. i guess this picture represents compromise. i'm not being dramatic, life is good; but lets face it this bathroom is pretty extreme.
I can hardly believe we went to a place where flowers like this grow. We had a great trip, a true vacation. Felix is just old enough to appreciate travel. He did good and delighted in saying "I wanna go Hawaii". Even though we kept reminding him we were in Hawaii, he seemed to think that Hawaii was a form of travel and not a destination.
This afternoon I feel fuzzy and tired and want to stay indoors away from the freeways that dominate my neighborhood. Still, it is nice to be home (kind of). I kept imagining myself living in Hawaii and wondering if I would still knit. The humidity did not inspire me to pick up my needles. I brought a cotton yarn project but only worked on it once when I woke up at 4 in the morning excited to be where I was but needing to pass the time till it was decent to wake up the guys.
It seemed like a good day to start bringing out the knits from their hiding places and wash out all the summer dust;
and to get ready for our holiday!
