Nothing but knittin' this week

I've managed to do quite a bit of knitting this week.  I'm past the heel and ready for the leg on the second dark sock, and I found two skeins of Regia Cotton in the nether regions of my stash to restart the two-at-once last Sunday.  Toe-up this time, just because it's what I'm used to.

I'm not entirely fond of this cotton yarn (very splitty!), but I'm loving the process.  I want to work on quilts tomorrow, so I'm hoping to make it through the heels on the grey tonight, leaving nothing but legs to work on during the coming week.

Must get a pedicure!

Progress

Last week felt frigid here for early November, and I managed to come down with a nasty upper respiratory and sinus infection that doesn't want to go away.  This week is better with temps in the high 60s, but it's been a rough week with the time change.

I've made a little progress on the one sock thanks to some mindless ribbing on the leg while watching TV.  A little bit to go on the cuff and I'm ready to start the next.  It cracks me up how distorted these can look when the ribbing isn't expanded.  Must ask Santa for some sock blockers.

The two-at-once didn't fare as well.  I love the process, but they were too tight when I tried one on Grant last week.  Hopefully this weekend I'll have a couple of hours to invest in starting again.  It's not nearly the mindless process (yet) as one at a time.

I also managed to make it to the post office with a couple of toddler quilts and an old round robin UFO that didn't move me anymore for Gloria.

Is anyone else shocked at how little fits in a Flat Rate Priority Mail box these days?

Socks!

It's been many months since I last knit on anything but I was inspired to play along with  Judy's November Sock KAL.

The blue Sockotta cotton/wool socks were started before the 2010 Olympics but, sadly, I dropped a stitch and didn't notice it until the sock was bound off and they got pushed aside for a more patient day. I fixed and finished it last weekend so I could start the ones in the center with my currently preferred toe-up, one-at-a-time.  I needed something to fall back on if I got too frustrated with the new method.   The center sock is a wool/nylon OnLine yarn that, thankfully, is getting softer as I knit. 

The green and black toddler socks on the right are from stashed Essential yarn from Knitpicks a few years ago when it came in 462-yard skeins.  Sunday I buckled down and forced myself to learn two socks-at-once in daylight hours.  Early in the summer I bought the books recommended by Mary and read them a lot, but hadn't tried the method.  

It really defeats the purpose of knitting two at once to make them different colors, I guess you're thinking?   I didn't have two identical skeins of any yarn, so I decided to use different colors of the same yarn.  As it turns out, it's hell on the eyes to knit black /dark yarn, so teaming it with the green works better for tracking where I am.  Another reason for using two colors was to track Sock 1 and Sock 2... I thought.  It took a bit to realize Sock 1 changes with each portion of the round.  Before that realization, there were quite a few gymnastic effects and frustrating moments when trying to knit the black 'Sock 1' first each time.  

I'll have to work on these during lunch hours if I hope to make any significant progress during the month.  My nights are mostly filled with what little quiltmaking happens in my life right now.

Back again!

Right after my last post and all my virus issues, the display went out on my 6 y/o laptop and I was without a computer for about 5 weeks while looking for the perfect economic solution (free).   The first week was really rough (think DTs!), but I eventually came around and managed to live a life with only my work computer and lunchtime to tide me over.   The good thing is I managed to get a lot of stuff done in my downtime.

Here are a couple of quilts I finished and sent off to Gloria in Utah to quilt and donate for her project.  I'll have better pictures from her once they are quilted.  A couple of  toddler quilts are on their way as well.

Grant helped me peel/core/slice apples again this year.  This tool is the greatest invention.

Oliver turned 2!  My little cuddlebug sweetheart.

Who cares about cake; give me the icing!

Super Mario and Luigi went trick-or-treating.  I made their hats by piecing fabric to cover cheap home store paint caps.  Marker on muslin glued to the front for the letters.