Christmas 2014 Knitting has Begun

My facebook feed has been filled with frightening posts of "14 weekends left until Christmas" or the really scary one that I saw today "91 Days Left!" (Cue ominous music now.) Thankfully yesterday I finished the Father's Day Christmas socks! I was talking with my sister about them this weekend and she reminded me that Dad loves my knit things and will show them off to anyone who will look at them (which as a pastor is a lot of people) so I don't think he'll care that these have changed holidays.

I was debating between Hermione's second sock, a cowl for myself using some yarn I got last Christmas, or the first Christmas present of the year. (There are a couple works-in-progress from previous holidays that will find their way under the tree this year, but this is the first new thing.) My husband gently reminded me of last year when I was furiously knitting on Christmas eve and encouraged me to start early. After looking on Ravelry for a pattern that used yarn I had in my stash and could be finished in a couple of weeks I found Change of Heart. I love that this is a fairly easy project, but has a touch of lace, a cable, and even an i-cord that will be interesting enough to keep me working on it.

Back to Knitting

The past couple of weeks I haven't been very excited about my knitting which means I've been focusing on quilting. Ordinarily this isn't a big problem, but in the fall is when I start most of my quilts. Since I don't have a big stash I've been ordering lots of fabric. While waiting for the fabric to arrive I read quilting magazines which results in shopping for more fabric. It's a wicked cycle, but since it's all been ordered with a plan I know that it will all get used. Once the fabric arrives I'll do a post of everything so that I have a record some where of my plans. Yesterday I was a bit shocked to see a post on facebook that Christmas is 100 days away. Eek!!! Since Christmas usually means lots of knitted gifts I've been focusing this week on finishing up those languishing projects.

The fronts of Blueberry are done! (Even better is the fact that they look nice and are the right size so I won't have to rip those out.) Has anyone had to rip back an entire piece of knitting before? I'm trying to figure out if I'll need to wash/soak the yarn from the back piece before I reknit it.

I've finished the heel flap on my "Father's Day" socks. My sister invited me to go to the Renaissance Fair in Minnesota this weekend so I'm looking at several hours in the car on Saturday. I should be able to turn the heel before then and this will make some great car knitting. Who knows, maybe I'll even have time to cast on a mate for Hermoine's Sock.

The Forgotten Sock

Monday was Memorial Day in the US so that meant I got an extra day off of work. My husband and I both work with adults who have physical and mental disabilities. I work in a classroom setting and he works in one of the houses. Unfortunately he still had to work this weekend so I had three days to do whatever I wanted to. My goal was to finish the first of the Father's Day socks. Saturday I woke up with an overwhelming desire to start playing with my hedgehog fabric. By Sunday I had finished the quilt top, two Farmer's Wife blocks, and made this cute little pouch for a giveaway. Go to Sunday's post and tell me your favorite animal for a chance to win. You can also get an extra entry by following my blog and telling me you do so on Sunday's post.

I figured Monday I could really put some time in on the sock. I finally worked up the courage to talk to our neighbor about using some of her extra rhubarb so I made rhubarb jam Monday morning. I woke up really early so my kitchen was back to it's normal state by 7:00a.m. Still plenty of time to work on the sock. Then I realized that if I spent the morning working on Farmer's Wife blocks I could almost get caught up. I really shouldn't be surprised that I'm still working on the first sock. (I did finish the instep last night so it might even get done before Father's Day.) Of course yesterday in the mail I got my background fabric for the Supernova Friendship Swap and I got some cute Briar Rose fabric for a little girl's comfort quilt so who knows. Sadly the plain black sock does not compete well against cute little frogs with backpacks. I need to remind myself that when I finish this pair of socks I can go back to knitting my blueberry. Maybe the temptation of a bright blue happy yarn will keep me on track.

Father's Day Socks part 1

My Father's Day socks are coming along really well. I couldn't believe it when I finished the leg last night. I figured with the quilt show this weekend eating up most of my time these socks would be sadly neglected. It's a very strange moment when you realize you've moved beyond the stage of beginner. I'm sure most of the people around me would say, "Well duh," when they read this, but I haven't really stopped to examine my skill level in a while. I remember my first quilt show 3 years ago. I entered one quilt that is a great example of a first quilt. The points didn't match, a few seams popped open, and there were more than a few wrinkles on the back. Oh, I did I mention I made it using old jeans. Not the fabric a first quilter should choose. 

I remembered walking around the show and looking at all of the amazing quilts the other ladies had finished that year and wondering if I'd ever be that good. I was seriously questioning if I should just quit since it felt like such a hopeless cause when my husband asked if I enjoyed making my quilt. I thought for a few moments and realized that yes, I did have fun with it. Then I heard a few of the women talk about how long they'd been quilting and most had been at it for 5-7 years. Five years wasn't so long. I continued to quilt and learn as much as I could from the quilters around me. This year I entered 6 quilts into the show! Even more exciting 4 of the 6 were original designs. Walking around I realized that I have moved so far beyond a beginner quilter.

Now seeing how much of this sock I knit this week in all of it's busy chaos I realize I've moved beyond a beginner knitter too. Having such projects as my lace shawl and my heavily cabled green sweater under my belt it's weird that a sock makes me feel accomplished. I read once that all knitting is broken down into the knit and purl stitch. Everything else is just a variation of those two stitches. This has given me the ability to look at complicated patterns and say, "It's just two stitches, I can do this." However I may not be able to do it fast. Knitting fast takes experience.

Here's a close-up of the pattern. Old Joe Socks is a great pattern for guy socks. It's nice to have something more than a vanilla sock, but still very simple and appropriate for work. I love how perfectly my water bottle fills in for a leg. It really gives the sock the shape it needs to show off the pattern.

Dancing the "Happy Knitting" Dance

Today I'm definitely dancing the "Happy Knitting" dance. I finished the first Hermione sock. The pattern uses a different heel and toe then I usually do. Erica did a great job of walking me through each new step which made it easy and a lot of fun to try something different. 

In more "Happy Knitting" dance news I finished the second sleeve for Blueberry. It feels like I've been working on this forever, but looking at my Ravelry page I finished both sleeves in 6 weeks. Considering all of the quilting I've been doing in those 6 weeks that's really pretty good time.

Last night I even cast on for dad's Father's Day socks. I'm using the Old Joe pattern by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee for these socks. It's the first time that I've knit socks on 3 needles, but since the pattern is repeated 3 times it makes sense to do it this way. Unfortunately it means the socks don't lay flat when I'm not working on them and there's no good way to get a good picture. My goal (in all of it's insanity) is to make a sock a week for the next four weeks so next week there should be enough progress to get a good picture (even if the sock isn't finished.)

If you're wondering I'm using Knit Pick's Stroll Fingering in Midnight Heather. It reminds me of a blackbird in that it's almost black, but has hints of greens and blues depending upon the light.