Sock Club Update: First Socks Finished

I can't believe I never updated my first socks progress. I finished them a month ago!

I'm super in love with them. They're kind of loud and kid primary colors and I don't care. They're socks!

I pulled a second sock club the first of October, but I haven't made much progress on them.

They have a complicated chart that I am having trouble working through for some reason. I really love the finished product, but it doesn't seem to be quite enough motivation. I'm about halfway done with the first sock's cuff. Oops. I'm going to pull another sock at the beginning of November and hope that it's simple enough to get through in a month. I'll also continue to work on the in progress socks, and eventuallllllllly finish them.

Quilting!

I have been meaning to try to make a quilt, and I've finally decided to give it a whirl. I've got some fabric, a pattern, and I've cut out the squares I will need. I'm hoping to finish it by the end of the month, but we'll see.

September Washcloths

I have gotten out of the habit of blogging after the move, oops. In any case, here are some washcloths. Maybe I will have a real post sometime soon. I've been working on some bigger things, and I'm going to want to show them off when I'm done!

First Sock Club Pick!

I have picked out my first sock club bag. It was exciting! Although I did learn that my bags didn't stay closed very well. I might have to look into something that will keep them closed while also being reusable.

I swear I didn't peek though. I closed my eyes and hovered my hand around, circling over them until I dove down and picked....

A nice self striping yarn and the Vanilla Latte Socks pattern. It's a basic sock, but with a little twist. I'll be casting on soon and hopefully I can get these socks done before the end of the month!

Move Finished

I am finished moving, and more than halfway unpacked, yay! We had trouble with getting internet hooked up to the new apartment, but everything is finally working the way it is supposed to. I have done a lot of crafting in lieu of browsing the interwebs.

I am taking part in a sock club in which you pick patterns and yarn from stash that pair up, then place the matched pattern/yarn in a bag and pull one out randomly whenever (I'm going to try for a bag a month, this might be ambitious). I have set up 16 bags, one bag a month starting September and going through the end of 2014. I'm not going to beat myself up if I don't do one every month, but I'm currently really looking forward to it.

In anticipation, I finished up the pair of socks I had on the needles.

When I finished the socks, I didn't really want to work on any of the projects I had in progress, so I whipped out a quick, interestingly constructed scarf. Since it didn't take long, I figured out a hat to match.

While reconnecting with hometown friends, I saw a big sign proclaiming "YARN" and I couldn't resist a visit. I discovered two sock yarns I've never tried before but heard a lot about (TOFUtsies and Cascade Heritage). I got one variegated and one solid and they'll be going into sock club bags for a nice surprise someday. I also picked up 2 skeins of worsted weight in a new brand (Dark Horse Yarn's Fantasy) for hats at my fiance's insistence.

It's a mosaic pattern (unblocked in this picture, forgive it's slightly squinched stitches!) in purple and teal to celebrate the return of the Charlotte Hornets. I almost certainly have enough to do a second colorwork hat with reversed main/contrast colors. He's picked a second pattern out, and it's in the works.

After all that worsted/aran weight yarn I went searching for something else in my next project and stumbled upon a test knit for ... A pair of socks! I know I'm supposed to start the sock club in just a few short weeks, but I couldn't resist volunteering. I think they're coming out wonderfully, and I'm kind of in love with the designer's published designs (I have no affiliation with the designer beyond testing a pattern for free). I might let myself rearrange a bag or two to accommodate a new sock pattern purchase.

Half Square Triangles

I am really excited about a new project I've been working on. I'm quite enamored of half square triangle quilts, but I wanted something squishy and knit instead. SO. I pulled out some yarn and made some swatches, and finally came up with a construction method I was happy with. I've picked out some lovely colors for the real blanket, and I'm getting started!

When they're halfway done, they look a little like bunting. Especially when I do them two at a time! I was too lazy to get the other two colors out, so I did another two before finishing them all up, and this is what they look like when done.

Please excuse the strings, I'm too excited about the knitting part to have sewn in any ends yet. I haven't decided exactly what pattern to put them in yet, but I kinda like these little diamonds.

Or perhaps I can go with a pretty little chevron styling? I just noticed that the leftmost white square is reversed, oops!

So far I have 10 to play around with. I'm making a baby blanket size, so I'll need a total of 144. Looks like I I have some work ahead of me!

Barbara Walker Treasury Project

Over the past two months I've been making my way through a set of 9 dishcloths from Barbara Walker stitch patterns. I got to choose how many to cast on, and how long to knit. I also got to choose the edging myself. I have come up with 9 super neat washcloths!

The yellow and black one is specifically for Chatham, since I had to make it quite large for the pattern to show up. My favorite is the green and pink one, surprisingly. It's kind of difficult to look at, but something about the colors and the cute little pattern makes me love it.

Several of the patterns would make interesting borders or patterns within a larger project. A few are absolutely great for dishcloths. One (the purple and white one) is particularly NOT suited for a washcloth and I'm not sure what to do with it.

Somewhat related, I made a wee little scrubby to go with all of the dishcloths, and I think I might have to make some more. Perhaps in an orange...

...So it would be a goldfish!