Socks Done, and Another Birthday

I finished Kenny's socks on the 17th. He wore them for the first time (other than to try them on) in honor of my birthday yesterday. I'm very pleased with how they turned out. The waffle rib breaks up the colors well and makes for a stretchy, snug fit. I loved the Sherman heel. Will have to try the toe and heel again.

I also finished my second Priscilla's Dream socks. Had lots of knitting time last Saturday as we drove to North Hero, Vermont for some most excellent skating on Lake Champlain.

Now I'm trying to get going on my Parasol Shawl. It's about half way done. Looking forward to getting out my new swift and winding up the third skein today.

I was asked to knit something for the Old Berwick Historical Society's 50th Celebration this fall.  Looking through my stash and favorited shawl patterns to find something fun. Hmmm. Reminiscence by Lily Go currently has my attention. It looks like it would be comfortable to wear and it is knit bottom up, so the construction would be interesting. I'd rather not by yarn for it, so I don't have a huge range of color choice, purple, red, green, and white. And then I have to decide if I can part with it.

My last stash enhancement arrived. This is the last skein from the Knitspot Fall into Full Color club.
It's very pretty handspun from NewHue.  The bins are officially closed to any incoming yarn. I placed an order at Knit Picks today. Didn't order any yarn, just a couple of books and notions while their books are 40% off. And a small project bag...after all, it was my birthday.

Socks for Kenny

I started socks for Kenny. He got to open a package of yarn on Christmas, so I felt that I should start them quickly. The yarn is Mountain Colors Crazyfoot in the Red Tail Hawk colorway. Bought the yarn at The Yarn Sellar in York. (one of the last purchases of 2011...) The color is similar to some Lisa Sousa yarn I knit into socks for him, but he likes it. He doesn't have big feet, but I wanted to be sure I had enough yarn so I'm knitting them toe up, two at a time, magic loop. The pattern is the waffle rib from Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks. Easy enough, but I've managed to mess it up twice on the instep. Oh well, it will be in his shoes. The pattern is three rows of 2x2 rib and one row of purl. Looks good so far. The purl row helps to break up the colors. I used Judy's Magic Cast On. It worked beautifully. There is a lot of support for that cast on on the web! I just used the description on Knitty and it was easy to follow. I have never knit heel flaps toe up, and certainly not two at a time. This will be a learning experience. Usually I "run home to Momma" and put the sock on dpn's to do the heel.