iterum
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I finished The Historian some time back and found it a nice diversion at first, then it dragged a little, and then I suddenly found it was over and felt dissatisfied with how it ended. Oh well, I've moved on to Innocent Traitor which I picked up a while back and then forgot about. I've read many of AW's biographies about British royalty and enjoyed them all; the author's official website is here. This is my first experience with her historical fiction. I like it so far.
I've made it through Torchwood season 1, except for disc 7 specials. Love love LOVE the series! I'll try to watch this last disc within a week. Will have to hold off on Torchwood season 2, cuz we need to catch up on all the other Tivoed stuff. I've been watching this Dickens miniseries and am thrown off by seeing Martha and Gwen in their Dickensian roles. I had never read Little Dorrit before so I have no idea how true to the book this miniseries is.
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64 st 2.25 mm
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18Apr2009 post (4 photos)
I've been pushing some fiber around some sticks lately, this is my latest exercise. I'm using the red yarn you saw last time. Does this look familiar? It's my second attempt at this. You saw my first failed attempt (pink yarn) last month where the short row heel didn't fit well. This red yarn is slightly thinner than the pink yarn. The pink one was worked on 56 sts, this red one is 64 sts on 2.25 mm ndls. It is fitting very nicely around my foot, MUCH better than the pink attempt.
I'm trying out the underfoot heel flap with this one and it fits nice and snug. This is my 3rd time using the underfoot heel flap and I am liking it !
That white spec on the right side of the sock, directly above the "ri" of my watermark, is a small section of un-dyed yarn. I was hoping it would fall on the back side of the sock but there was no such luck.
After turning the heel and picking up stitches, I decided to work in some cables at the back of the heel while doing the gusset decrease. I had several ideas for what to do with the back side of the leg and went with a quick easy one that didn't require too much brain power to keep track of relative to the instep/front side pattern. It is entirely intentional that "pattern" rounds on the back side coincide with the "pattern" rounds on the front side ... that way I don't have to keep track of which side to work a "pattern" on every round. It works nicely the other way around too, the "plain" rounds are the same for both front & back. This isn't much to look at right now, and I'm not entirely sure I am liking how "stretched out" the cabling is coming out. But knitting on....
Gusset decrease completed plus a few more pattern repeats on the front side later and it is looking quite nice on the front side. It actually looks like a sock from this perspective. :-D
I'm not entirely happy with the cable choices for the backside of the sock. The XO looks squashed due to lateral stretching.
You can see how much stretching goes on back there when you look at the purl stitches. Still doesn't look very nice on the back side. It is supposed to be a column of little circles, which is surrounded by columns of XO on each side. Can you see it?
It's not easy to see it when the sock is on foot. So here's a flat view of the back side. It's definitely looks better unstretched and flat.
I guess now would be a good time to explain how these cable panels were chosen. It all started with this scarf which later spawned the matching mitts. This sock is my attempt to amalgamate the cable panels from both scarf & mitt. It's not quite working out the way I would like though. :-(
This is bag you see in the background of my photos. It's actually a kids garden tote I spied on a trip to the Big Bullseye Store. Isn't that cute? I love how the sides remain standing up. My big 100 gm ball of sock yarn sits nicely in there (along with the project itself). There are pockets along the outside which can hold little knitting knick knacks. I can keep the tote on the floor next to me, and easily pull for more yarn with the open-top/stand-up-sides design. (I have lots of "floppy" tote bags that are nicely sized for medium to large size projects, but their "floppy" nature can be frustrating). This little garden tote is perfect for the portable sock project. It doesn't hurt that it is cute an so springlike.
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A's Mitts
I've received photos of A wearing the mitts I made her. I wasn't sure how they would fit since I didn't have a 6 yr old or kindergartener handy for sizing purposes. I'm glad the mitts fit her. Her dad tells me that she loves them.
The purple mitt you see underneath A's mitts is the same one you saw here.
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Let's see, what else is going on in my neck of the burbs. I'm still working on the handle for the burgundy bag, you saw the fabric liner for the bag here. I am about halfway done with this strap and hope to finish it soon so I can give it (and the handles for the red bag and black bag) to V when we meet next Friday.
M & I colored Easter eggs yesterday. We started out with a dozen, lost 2 to cracking during the boiling process, and then this morning she dropped one on the floor. So now we have 9. The idea of coloring eggs seems more exciting than the act of doing it. M keeps asking "is it done yet?" type questions most of the time ... while the egg are boiling, while the coloring tablets are dissolving, while the eggs are immersed for their color bath, and while they are drying.
We picked up a cheapo cookie press and may get to try it out today or this weekend. I thought this would be easy & fun with M, without the mess of using a rolling pin. If this works out, I'll have to consider a stainless steel version. Oh, we also picked up sprinkles! I've never used sprinkles before. It's not rocket science, right? Just throw it on after the cookies come out of the oven? I made sure we got some in purple. :-)
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