I got mail!

These are my lovely new Dyakcraft Black Nickel interchangeable knitting needles! I think it might be time to start a new project!

Done!

Pineapple Socks!

Pattern is Pineapple Slice Socks by Wendy Gaal of Knitter's Brewing Company.

Yarn is Knitter's Brewing Company Sockaholic in the Buttery Nipple color way.  They have discontinued this particular yarn but have three new fingering weight yarns and they all come in this color way.

Embroidery a la Anna Zilboorg's new book Splendid Apparel.  

Teresa

Great Weekend

Gorgeous weather! October is my favorite time at the beach.

Another One

Getting ready for another big project.  I absolutely love this yarn - it's beautiful in these photos but even better in person.  Sadly, this indie dyer is out of business.  But her ex-partner is still around under the name Verdant Gryphon.

Teresa

Packing

Getting ready to head to the beach . . . I always pack the important stuff first.  

Now, to pack the dogs' things - last time I forgot beds and Casey was sad.

Teresa

Blooming

 Three photos of the yarn I washed - to show the difference before and after.

This yarn was farm fresh and so still had a fair amount of lanolin.  It smells like sheep and you can feel the lanolin.  The washing had to be done so the yarn got a chance to 'bloom' - it opens it's fibers when the lanolin is removed and actually becomes bigger, fluffier and airier.  If you knit it 'in the grease', you need to be prepared for the gauge, hand and drape to change when the completed project is washed.

So, in the first picture, can you tell which is the unwashed hank?

 Here are a washed and an unwashed hank together.  

Can you tell which is which?

This makes it a little more obvious.  The inner hank is unwashed and the outer is washed.  The yarn in the outer hank is a bit whiter and a bit thicker.  It also has a very different drape.  The inner hank - the unwashed - is a bit stiff and greasy and smells like sheep.  The outer hank is fluffier, whiter, more flowing.  It still smells a bit like sheep but I'm so ok with that.

Oh, in the top photo, the hank in the middle on the top is the unwashed.  It's skinnier and more compact as a hank and the individual strands of yarn are skinnier and less fluffy.

In the center photo, the bottom hank is the one that has not been washed yet.

Teresa

Coming Soon

My next big project . . . 

I still have one sock of one pair to finish (barely started), the foot of two socks (one heel is turned tho) and the sleeves of the green sweater . . . but I am planning for the next big thing.  The yarn had to be washed because it was farm fresh.  It bloomed beautifully.  When it is completely dry, I will take photos of unwashed next to washed to show the difference.

Teresa

Odd Beginnings make for Beautiful Endings!

Funnest sock I have knit in a long time - and a really quick knit too!  (That is only partly because I always knit two at a time.)

Front view - lovely lace with wide strips of openwork created by double yarn overs with two stitches knit into each.

 The lace detail goes all the way down the back heel flap. These are knitted top down - another thing I rarely do because I like to use every scrap of yarn.

Here is the cool thing - the sides have these lovely open bits that are brought together by cabling stitches.  What a fun idea!

 Close up of the lace in progress on the front.

And a view of how they are knit - a few rows in the front, then a few in the back then cable them together and start over.  

Super fun knit!  Pattern is Hurly Burly from Claire Ellen's latest sock pattern club - Club Mac (for MacBeth).  If you have even a few minutes, follow the link from Claire's name - she is a brilliant sock designer and her patterns are worth looking at!!!

Now to knit the second sock . . . . 

Teresa

Odd Beginnings

First sock of a new pattern. It is odd but fun to knit and it moves quickly. More later. . .

Beach Knitting

Cast on Saturday evening . . . Five days later, quite a bit knit.