One month down ... 11 more to go ...

I can't believe that its February already! I would ask where January went ... but I know where it went!! We moved into our new house with a few days left in December and then a week or two after found a buyer for my mom's mobile home that we were renting for the last few years. So we spent January cleaning it up and moving the rest of our stuff out frantically because there was a buyer and we had to get everything out (well we really should have had it out within a month anyway, but time disappears before you know it).


Now that that issue is finally behind us we can move (no pun intended) on with our lives in our new house and finish unpacking everything!!


I am planning on participating in the Year in a Blanket group on Ravelry, but have yet to complete my January square because of the moving. I think I have decided that I will knit the blanket in Berroco Comfort Worsted Weight because its machine washable, affordable and comes in a wide range of colors (its soft and squishy too). Now I just have to decide on the colors. I found a great dishcloth pattern of a house that I wanted to do for January to symbolize our purchasing our first home.


My Vinnland socks are coming along nicely and I figured out how to work with the two skeins of yarn and not get them tangled on the cables of the needles while I am doing two socks at a time on two circulars.

This is a picture of a scarf I have had on the needles for far too long and it has since at least tripled in length. I decided that I wanted a hat ... most likely for next winter since its now February, LOL! But wanted something to go with my winter coat and this scarf. The pattern calls for a different yarn and I substituted Ultra Alpaca from Berocco. The pattern suggests a length of 70" for this scarf ... I am only 5'2" so that's really not necessary for me. I am on the 2nd of 3 balls of yarn, at this point I am going to pause knitting the scarf (its been on the needles for over a year anyway, LOL!) and I am going to make a hat out of the 3rd ball of yarn, then finish the scarf and incorporate whatever is left over from the hat into the end of the scarf. This way I use up all the yarn and my hat and scarf will match.



I ordered some yarn from Knit Picks and The Loopy Ewe recently, will post photos soon ... didn't I say I wasn't buying any yarn since we bought the house?!?! Did I mention that I have no self discipline too?!?! Hey, at least I have a good excuse ... I work part-time (in addition to full time) and have for a year now so that we could buy the house, so I think I deserve little rewards now and then!

Pattern: All Used Up

All Used Up

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Materials: Left over sock yarn, MC (main color) approximately 40-60g; CC (contrasting color) approximately 15-25g.

Needles: Size US 2 (2.75mm)

Notions: Stitch Marker, Darning Needle

Size: Women’s Medium (shoe size 7-9)

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This pattern is written for one long circular needle, but can be used with any method. This is a great way to use up those ½ skeins of yarn left over after you make a pair of socks! If you are using self-striping yarn, check ahead of time to make sure that the color changes will match up at the end (one skein may have more yardage left over than the other and you may find that the second sock doesn’t have enough to match the first). If you check ahead you can find out which skein is shorter and determine the length of the leg by that one.

Pattern

With CC cast on 12 stitches to each needle using Judy’s Magic Cast On.

Knit one round.

Rnd 1: K1, LRinc, K to last stitch, LLinc, K1.
Rnd 2: Knit

LRinc is a right leaning increase. Lift the right side of the stitch below the next stitch on the left hand needle; place it on the left needle and knit into its front leg. LLinc is a left leaning increase. Lift the left side of the stitch two stitches below the last one on the right needle; place it on the left needle and knit through its back leg.

Complete these two rounds until there are 32 stitches on each needle for a total of 64 stitches.

Switch to MC and start working pattern stitch on instep needle only.

Pattern Stitch

Rnd 1: Knit
Rnd 2: *P2, K4, repeat from * to last two stitches, P2.

Continue knitting these two rounds until sock measures 2” less than desired foot length. End with Rnd 2.

Switch to CC and begin heel. This is a short row heel working on half the total stitches while the instep stitches remain resting on the cable.

Heel

Knit across heel stitches to last stitch, do not knit the last stitch. Turn work, slip the first stitch on the left hand needle and purl back, leaving the last stitch unworked. Turn work, slip the first stitch and knit across to the last two stitches, leave these two stitches unworked. Continue knitting one less stitch across each row in this manner until 10 working stitches are left.

Turn work, slip the first stitch and knit across 8 stitches, knit the next two stitches together, then pick up one leg of the stitch in the gap between the stitches you just knit together and the next ones on the needle and knit through it creating one stitch to compensate for the decrease. Turn work, slip the first stitch and purl across 8 stitches, purl the next two stitches together, then pick up one leg of the stitch in the gap between the stitches you just purled together and the next ones on the needle and purl through it creating one stitch to compensate for the decrease. Continue in this manner until you are back to 32 stitches and all stitches have been worked. If you are short by one, create one at the end of the last row in the same manner as before.

Switch to MC and begin leg.

Leg

Rnd 1: Knit
Rnd 2: K1, P1, K4, *P2, K4, repeat from * to last 2 stitches, P1, K1. Repeat this pattern twice around the leg. The start of the round should be after the end of the heel and should match up with the start of the instep stitches.

Repeat these two rounds until the leg is the desired length or you run out of yarn.

Switch to CC and knit one round.

Cuff

Work in K2, P2 ribbing for 1” to 1 ½”. Bind off using EZ’s Easy Sew Bind off.

Weave in all ends and enjoy!



Techniques

Judy’s Magic Cast On

Cat Bordhi’s Toe Increases Video

Priscilla Wild’s No Muss No Fuss Short Row Heel (Video) or Lifestyle Socks Pattern

EZ’s Easy Sew Bind Off or Video

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Pattern by Angela Trun. Not to be sold or re-distributed for monetary gain. Permission for personal use only. 1/29/09 http://angcraftcorner.blogspot.com/

To knit ... oh what to knit

Oh what to knit I said to myself the other day. So I grabbed my binder of patterns and picked out Vinnland. This one was in my binder for a long time .. and oh joy, the yarn already waiting patiently in my stash. An even greater joy (since we just moved about a month ago) this particular yarn was right on top of the plastic tub when I went looking for it ... fate?!?! I would say so!



So I cast on for Vinnland. I modified a bit by using Judy's Magic Cast On for the toe, and I made two toes, then I transferred them onto two needles so that I could knit both socks at the same time, and be oh so happy when they are completed at the same time :o)

We are finally done getting all of our stuff from the place we used to live in. My mother owns it and we were renting it for the last few years, there's a buyer so we have to get everything out by this week. Its amazing how much *stuff* you can accumulate over the years. Now its all haphazardly piled in our new house with no particular place to go at the moment, LOL! We'll have to weed through it all and find homes for it, hopefully sooner rather than later. At least here we have a huge basement and attic ... so no lack of storage space!