There's a little knitting going on here.

I'm not normally a "show your works in progress" kinda girl, but I figure after the big whine-fest that I had last week, I should post something a little more positive. (Thanks for all the great advice, by the way!)

So, here's a shot is the first of my second pair of socks. It's made out of Colinette Jitterbug in Jay. It's short yardage (and I'm still learning socks), so I decided to just use the pattern on the inside label so that I didn't run out of yarn. It's just a simple pattern, but I've been warned that there was an error in the heel. I kinda avoided this entirely by just doing the same heel as I did on my first sock because I got confused by something in the directions, and I didn't have stitch markers with me at the time I was ready to turn the heel. I'm almost ready for the toe! Yay!

On Saturday, I picked up my Dream in Color Tulip Sweater kit from my LYS. I was so excited to cast on for this thing! It knits up really fast. Several of my girlfriends are pregnant, and one in particular is an especially good friend of mine, so I'm making this one as her "In Case It's a Girl" present. If she has a boy, it's going into the closet for someone extra special. It's too cute just to give to any ole pregnant lady.

It's kinda funny because The Boyfriend keeps looking at it and telling me that it's too small for a real baby. It's sized for 6-9 months & I'm gauge. I think he just thinks that babies come out weighing 30 pounds or something. I really can't tell you the last time that he actually spent time with a real baby, so his view is a little skewed.

I really like this pattern a lot. I'm tempted to put my name on the waiting list for another kit, but I think I'm going to pass for now. There's too many other cool patterns that I want to make first.

First pair of socks - Check!

So, I survived my final exam, although I still think someone needs to re-think the exam schedule. Ours was Friday night at 6PM, but some poor schmucks were in there at 9AM taking an exam on Saturday morning. That's just not right.

My camera got returned from Sony with a "sorry, we can't fix it" note attached. I'm a little bummed. But then it hit me! I'd just steal The Boyfriend's for the time being. He'll never know!

I finished these socks a few weeks ago, but I didn't want to torture anyone with the camera phone pictures anymore, so I waited to post them.

I used a simple pattern that I picked up at my LYS. It has just a little bit of ribbing at the top, and the rest is just stockinette. I learned that I do beautiful k2tog's, but I really suck at ssk's. On one side of my heels, the stitches are so pretty, and the other side is more than a bit wonky.

I'm knitting another pair of socks now, and it's getting a bit better, but still leaves a lot to be desired. Maybe it's just one of those things that gets better with practice?



In Summary:
Pattern: Beginner Lightweight Socks, $4
Yarn: Trekking XXL in blues/teal, $14
Needles: Size 2 double points













On another note --- I heart Sarah. As I was sitting at home yesterday cramming for my Business Enterprises exam, the UPS man comes knocking on my door and delivers me a birthday present.




I was so excited! It was definitely the boost I needed during the day. (For the record, nothing is worse that sitting 3 feet away from a giant pile of yarn that you can't touch and having to read about the fiduciary duties that directors owe shareholders. Blah!)

Anyway, the books were so cool! I haven't gotten a chance to really sit down and look at them in detail, but Dominknitrix has a lot of instructions for techniques that I haven't tried yet. I'm really excited to sit down and learn some new stuff! Also, Naughty Needles has some really fun patterns in it. (I'm sure The Boyfriend will be excited!) I'm so excited to sit down with these books this weekend and pour through the pages!

Jumping on the Sock Bandwagon.

I cast on for my first sock this weekend. I've seen so many gorgeous patterns online lately that I just couldn't resist. Plus, it seems like the best colorways are in sock yarns! You don't believe me? I present you evidence here and here.

For my first sock endeavor, I decided on the Beginner's Lightweight Socks. I got the pattern at my LYS this weekend, and waited 0.3 seconds between getting home and casting on for them.

I'm using Trekking XXL in blues/teal and size 2 needles. So far, so good. I'm used to using bigger needles (size 6 is usually the smallest I go), so doing this feels almost like knitting with toothpicks. I picked a darker color hoping that it might hide some of my mistakes a bit better. That has the potential of being really faulty logic, but that's a discovery for another day.

(And no! That knitting is not being photographed on the desk I use at my internship. Not at all! Because knitting while I should be working is bad. Bad, I say!)