Time Flies!

Gosh, I am not really sure where the last 3 weeks went but I have been sneaking in some knitting. I've been on a kick to finish up a few projects that have been lingering and not surprisingly they've all been socks!

The first pair is the Waving Lace socks by Evelyn Clark. The pattern is in the Favorite Socks book published by Interweave Press. I used Claudia Handpainted sock yarn and the color is called "Last Night's Wine". These were a lesson in "trust the pattern" for me. The pattern called for a gauge of 9 stitches per inch in stockinette and this pattern is very clearly lace. I usually look for 7.5-8 stitches/inch for a 64 stitch sock so I went up in needle size. I underestimated how much give the lace would have and I am a little worried that they will feel sloppy on my feet. I loved the pattern though, so I'm going to knit these again using gauge!
This next pair is The Purple Rose of Loopy by Wendy Johnson. This was the consolation kit for those who did not get into The Loopy Ewe's sock club for 2009. I used the yarn in the kit which was Handmaiden's Casbah. I loved everything about this yarn! And the little bit of cashmere in it makes it so soft. I've worn and washed them a couple times and they seem to just get softer! These were also the first pair of toe up socks that I've made that I am happy with the fit.
This last pair is Shur'tugal by Alice Yu. I used Miss Babs Yummy sock & baby yarn and the color is Verdigris. I made these as a birthday gift for Justin's girlfriend. A funny thing happened while I was making these socks. I pretty much zoomed right through sock #1, but when I got to sock #2 I kept making a mistake on the instep in the gusset decrease area of the sock. I kept reading my knitting wrong and was knitting the wrong rows of the pattern repeat. I ripped it back twice to fix it before I finally got it right. I get to the point where I think the foot is about the right length, but I wasn't in the same place on the pattern. After some head scratching I realized the mistake I made, and ripped out twice, I also made on sock #1 but didn't notice! Ugh! So I was off by 6 rows! And I needed to end in the middle of the pattern repeat on row 5 because there is a toe pattern that builds off row 5. So I did a little fudging to make it all work out and nobody will know except all of you! Shhh!!!! Don't tell Sammi :-)
I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Stitches East part 2

This is the shopping portion of my trip to Stitches East. There was so much to see and touch, and so many samples displayed that it would have been very easy to get carried away and buy 2 of everything. I tried to only buy fiber that is not available in my local shops and I did pretty well at that.

This is all the sock yarn that I bought. Clockwise starting at the top left corner is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Cookie's Deep Dark Secret, Fleece Artist Trail Sock in Woodland, Handmaiden Casbah in Blackberry, String Theory Caper Sock in Black Cherry and then another skein in Navy, and finally Socks That Rock LW in Strange Brew. I seemed to be attracted to the sock yarns that have some cashmere in them!
I also bought some Superwash Merino from Tess' Designer Yarns in Steel Blue Grey. I love this yarn! It is incredibly soft and has a wonderful drape. I bought all that she had in this color at the show. It's a total of 1140+/- yds in worsted weight. I want to make a light weight cardigan with it and I'm hoping that you guys will be able to help me. I know I have enough for a February Lady Sweater, but I'd like to consider other options. Knittinggolfer suggested this Knitting Pure and Simple Cardi #241. Please share your ideas, I'd love to hear them!!!
This is just a close up of the color. Depending on the light it's almost black or a rich grey or steely blue. It's so pretty and I love how it's different every time I look at it :-) In fact, all of her colors were beautiful in person. And her shop is just a little over an hour's drive from where I live! I suspect I'l be visiting sometime in the future.