Four Toes Not For Me

I finished the socks and now I can start a pair for the 5280 Challenge.

These socks are out of Cascade Fixation and involve three skiens. Not much was left. The two beige/grey ones are about the size of a small apricot and the red one is almost a small cutie orange size.

I am calling them four toe socks because the heel is put in last after marking it with waste yarn. The pattern said to knit another toe for the heel. Rudy's comment was that they looked awfully square. It is debateable about whether I will knit this pattern again because of the heels. If the reciepent really likes them, that would encourage me to do it.

The needles used were Boye Balene II Size 4. If your stitches fall off, these are the needles for you. If you are like me and metal holds most yarns, try something else. The needles really slowed my knitting down.

Just a note, on the 5280 Challenge. The Denver Knitters list Mom start a challenge of knitting 5280 pairs of socks. The number was choosen because Denver is a mile high. Pairs of socks because one sock really isn't very useful for most people and the list Mom knits and designs socks.

A Little Bit of That

Finishing just has been happening during the last few days.

On the knitting front, I currently have progressed just past the bottom of the armhole on the Philosopher's Wool Sweater. I did bind of two stitches at each armhole then cast on three the next round. Reportedly, this makes the steek for the sleeve easier and reduces the chance of ladder. In a perfect world this would be done by now.

One knitting project that is showing progress is the Fixation socks. I think they are taking so long because they are for a guy and the plastic needles I am using don't seem to work well with fixation. Next time, I work with Fixation I will be back to metal needles. The first sock still needs a heel and the second sock minus the heel is about an inch and a half from the toe. So, I have hit the black hole the Yarn Harlot talks about. Knitting and knitting and still just an inch to the toe.

In direct violation of the rule of four there are 3 other projects on the needles, a lace shawl, a shrug, and a big heavy afghan. The urge to finally cast on the afghan can be blamed on the weather. It is warm, so the most perverse thing to do is start an afghan out of super bulky yarn. Actually, probably the curiosity factor of whether there is really enough yarn not is the real cause.

I did ply together one spool worth of yarn but this does not count as a completion. I still have roving and single ply yarn on two bobbins. The roving was purchase over a year ago in Couer d' Alene, Idaho. I think I will get almost another spool of two ply.

With all of the fiber content, you maybe wondering, "Why is there a picture of unicorns?" The answer is very simple. I didn't take any pictures of the fiber but have a picture of the twelve unicorns in the front room. The ones I don't look at much because they are in the front room. I paid more attention to them at the previous house when they were by my chair.

Since, I am already in violation of the one topic to a note. I am just going add more.

Next up, recently read books.

Another murder mystery, Killed by Clutter. The title caught my eye. If you know my family, you know why it is such and eye catching title. Turns out this is a series involving an interior designer who solves mysteries. They are light hearted, based in Colorado and written by a Colorado interior designer. It was an easy read.

The other book was the Yarn Harlot's latest book. I read it last weekend and really love the remark about Seminars on speaking Klingon.

Dragons and Moons

Since, I am sure the recipient has open her present, it should be safe to post this.

Remember when I said I need a couple of things to complete some beading projects. These frog moon earrings were contributing to the problem. The silver frogs weren't just sitting on the moon, they were asking for green. I am not fond of green and didn't have any small green beads in the general bead bin. I can't think of any big green beads either which wouldn't have worked anyway.

As a result they sat until I was passing by a bead store and stopped in. Probably, not the wisest decision. There was a sell on parts. More ear wires, silver beads, head pins, etc. followed me home.

Once, I had the green beads, the earrings were together, weeks before they were needed. The moon sitting frogs were purchased in Post Falls, Idaho. The green beads came from Bead Stringers and the silver beads are from Spokane, Washington.

My other recent completion is these dragon earrings. The parts were acquired at different times and places. The charms were purchased at Bead Stringers when my Mom was visiting. She purchased the pink, I don't remember what stone it is, and traded a few with me. The purple dyed amethyst is from my first Fire Mountain mail order purchase. The amethyst is well traveled. It was shipped to Idaho and lived with my Mom's beads for a couple of years before she brought them here.

I never remember where head pins and ear wires were purchased. Some of them have come out of my Mom's stash of beading supplies over the years.