I taught two beginning sock knitting classes this fall.  I’m not sure what I was thinking when I agreed to that because I’ve been crazy busy with work and projects at home.  But, agree I did.  So, when it came time to pick out some yarn for the sock I was going to work on, I decided on a nice sport weight because the knitting would go faster for me as I tried to keep up or stay ahead of the class.  My original thought was to see if TA wanted the socks, but after finishing the first one it became clear that they just didn’t float his boat.  Now what?

I still had one more series of classes to teach and one more sock that needed to be knit.  It seemed wasteful to start another pair of socks when I had one perfectly good sock finished, so I sat down and tried to figure out what to do with what I had.  It turns out that my dad has the same size feet as my hubby - roughly, and he mentioned once or twice last year that he’d like a pair of hand knit socks.  Bingo.  Dad could get the Manly Socks for Christmas and I’d kill two birds with one stone.  I’d have a sock to knit for my class and a finished Christmas present when I was done.  Don’t you like how I planned that?  Yeah, I sure was thinking…

These socks are from a pattern I made up for my class.  It’s quite a bit like the Yarn Harlot’s basic sock pattern except on these particular socks I used fewer stitches, larger needles, and added a cable between the long ribbing and the stockinette stitch.  Yep, just like her pattern.

The yarn is Sundara Yarn Sport Merino in “Manly” that Sundara dyed for me eons ago.  I used about 1 1/2 skeins and have enough left to do something with - I just have to figure out what that something might be.  These socks are knit on US #3 dpns with 56 stitches.  I decided on a hiking sock-esque amount of ribbing in the hopes it would provide a bit more “grip” on the legs, but didn’t want to do an entirely ribbed sock.  The cables are your basic 4 stitch cable and twist to the left on one sock and the right on the other.  Why not, right?

Anyway, I have one Christmas present knitted.  Now to wrap them and stop thinking about them.  I have some slippers to knit for my grandmother this weekend and then my handmade gifts are done.  Before the last minute - can you believe it?

If you’re celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow, have a wonderful day, and don’t forget to save room for dessert (it’s all about the dessert for me!).

I seem to have real issues being committed to this blog.  The thing is, I want to be committed.  I want a great blog.  I want to be connected to all of my great blog friends.  So, what’s the problem?  Maybe it’s because I haven’t felt like I had a lot of crafty stuff to share, or maybe I’m just lazy.  Whatever the reasons (or excuses), I’m going to try again to be dedicated to this blog and to all of you.

Despite the layoff this summer, I am employed again at the university - in a slightly different role, but still fundraising.  I have a new office and new co-workers, but all in all, things are good.  It’s been a few months and I’m starting to settle in and get my feet back under me.  About two weeks after I started my new job, I found out I had kidney stones … in both kidneys.  I had to have two surgeries - they were both outpatient (they blasted the little suckers with shock waves), but it still required two bouts of general anesthesia.  Not fun.  It took me quite awhile to feel “normal,” but I think I’m there.  I have to change my diet a bit - avoid those foods that are high in oxalates (or at least consume them in moderation) and much to my dismay, black tea is one of the things I’ve chosen to eliminate.  I’m trying to find some herbal teas that I like and I’ve been drinking a little bit of coffee (disguised in a lot of milk and sugar).  Does anyone else think it’s strange that coffee is ok and tea isn’t?  I’m also trying to drink the recommended 12 glasses of water a day.  Do you have any idea how hard it is to drink that much water?  It’s a major commitment - I promise you that.

I managed to do a lot of crafting this summer - mostly quilting.  I made a queen size quilt for my guest room and gained a lot of confidence through the process.  I painted the guest room a dark slate blue and the bedding I had just didn’t work.  I’d had that particular bedding since college, and quite frankly it was time for a change anyway.  The pattern I chose was the Mixtape Quilt by Elizabeth Hartman.  It’s a great pattern, but the fabric requirement and the cutting directions for the sashing fabric for the queen size were incorrect.  It didn’t turn out to be a big deal, but I just had to seam the pieces to make it work.  Now that it’s quilted though, you really can’t tell.

I used a lot of asian-inspired fabrics which make the finished product kind of modern, but I think the white sashing makes it just traditional enough to fit into my house, plus it really helps brighten up the room.  I chose a greenish-yellow floral backing fabric and I picked it mostly because it’s some of that extra-wide backing fabric, so I didn’t have to seam it.  I’m lazy, but I think it works with the green colors in the blocks.

Now I need to get some nice sheets, a white bedskirt (finding a 21″ drop is a huge pain - any suggestions you have would really be appreciated), and some pillow shams.  I think I’ll use some of the scraps I have left over to make a couple of accent pillows to try to tie things together.  Re-decorating a room sure is expensive!

In the quilting arena, I’ve also made a cute lap quilt using some really funky Christmas prints - it’s at the quilter’s right now, but more on that to come.  I’m signed up for a paper piecing class this weekend - I’m going to learn how to paper piece and get a great Christmas tree skirt out of the deal (well, if all goes well it will be great, although it could just as easily be a bloody disaster).  I’ll let you know how it goes and since I’m trying to get back into this blogging business, I’ll take my camera and try to get some in-progress shots.

I’ve been teaching a few knitting classes (socks and hats mostly) and have a great sock in progress.

That reminds me, I’m not going to have enough yarn and I need to see if kpixie has any left (or even something close).  I e-mailed kpixie to see if might on the off chance have a single skein hanging out in their inventory, but I doubt I could be that lucky.  It seems like this always happens to me when I have the perfect yarn and a great pattern.

Ah well, if worse comes to worse the toes will be something wild and crazy.  It won’t be the end of the world.  If I have to go with a different color, what color do you think I should use for the toes?

The weather here has been warm - “unseasonably warm” they say.  While it’s been fabulous to be able to go outside with a light jacket and no hat or mittens, the reality is that it won’t last.  The weather people, in all their infinite wisdom, say we should expect snow next week.  I hope they’re wrong, but they’re probably right.  We don’t really have spring in Wyoming.  We have winter and summer - not spring and only a couple of weeks of fall.  Anyway, despite knowing that it won’t last, the warm weather has made me think about the yard and gardening and all of the grand plans I have that I never really get around to.  I think I’ll make a list this year and see what we can actually get accomplished over the next few months.  Raised beds are on the top of my list, but we’ll see what kind of buy-in I can get on that idea.

I took your wise advice and have been working on Butterfly.  I set the armhole steaks and am in the process of decreasing for the armholes.  I find that I have to pay really close attention with the decreases so I don’t forget to do them, so it’s been slow going, but the end is in sight.  In addition to finishing Butterfly, I started a basic sock - mindless stockinette stitch is a nice balance to the headache-inducing Butterfly.

This is Trekking Pro Natura (their 75% superwash wool, 25% bamboo) and 2.25mm dpns with 64 stitches (ala Yarn Harlot)(that picture makes it look like there are ladders, but in person it doesn’t seem that there are - hmmm).

Last weekend I made The Best Chocolate Sheet Cake. Ever!  It is so good, and so easy.  You should make it tonight.  You’re loved ones will thank you.  Trust me.

It is so moist and rich and delicious.  I love everything about it.  I’ve also heard that it makes great cupcakes, so I’m going to have to try that soon.

I finally finished my most recent sock project - Francie (ravelry link).

This is a great sock pattern.  I love that it’s just a basic k2, p2 ribbing, but the arch shaping and the design on the legs makes it a lot of fun and kept me entertained when I actually dedicated myself to working on it!

The yarn is Brooks Farm sock yarn - a merino/silk blend - that I bought at Estes Park.  The yarn is a bit splitty, but I didn’t have any trouble when I used the Knit Picks dpns.  Despite how long these socks lingered, I really do like them and am happy to have a new pair of socks for myself.  Next up is Selbu Modern (ravelry), which I started on a few days ago.  Pictures are coming.  Have a great weekend.

Poor Francie (ravelry) has been hanging around the knitting basket since … June!  Yikes, that’s just sick and wrong.  I love the pattern and the yarn is good (kinda splitty, but more on that later).  I finished the first sock in record time and got right to work on the second.  I knit through the leg and then abandoned the poor thing for reasons that have long since faded from my memory.  I took the sock with me when I flew to Vegas last weekend because … it’s a sock and I was travelling.  I know you understand.  Due to some lovely weather delays (someone needs to tell the people in Las Vegas that a 25 mph wind does not constitute a valid reason for high wind delays - 50 mph, maybe), I got some quality time with Francie and made some progress.  The worst thing about stopping in the middle of a project is figuring out exactly where you were when you stopped.  Luckily I was still working on the heel flap, which makes for easy counting and place finding.  I felt so good about my progress and that I was working on one of the projects that has been in my WIP basket for months, that I’ve been knitting on Francie every day.

I finished the gusset and have started the arch shaping, which I believe I mentioned before is fabulous!  My goal is to finish this sock this weekend so I can start a new project (ravelry).  I was surfing around yesterday on So Much Yarn, So Little Time and saw this and then this.  It was love at first sight.  I had to go to the yarn store last night and buy yarn - that’s how excited I am.  I’m trying to keep myself motivated to finish the lingering projects by alternating between something in my WIP basket and something new.  The socks were old, the hat is new.  See how that works?  Also on the to-knit list is a much needed yoga bag (ravelry), but the hat is reported to be a pretty quick knit so the yoga bag should be coming soon too.  I’m not sure I’m going to able to wait for the yoga bag (hauling your yoga mat to 6 classes a week without a bag is kind of a huge pain in the you know what) so I might have to do it before I finish the Seeded Cables Cardigan (ravelry), but whatever.

On another note, I’m looking for a good knitting/haul-all-of-my-crap-to-work bag and stumbled on the Swift Knitting Bag.  It’s reported to be very organized and functional, but it’s hard to know from the information online.  Do you have one or know anyone who has one?  What do you think?  Any other suggestions are always appreciated.  Have a wonderful Friday and a great and productive weekend, even if your version of that is laying on the couch with your favorite movie and your knitting.