the battle ends

Woe is me! An innocent looking package awaited my return from work last night. That's me out of the Hat Wars competition; knocked out by a very nice Isotope Hat from Karen at KG Krafts in Massachusets. Accompanied by chocolate and herbal tea, it wasn't a bad way to go. It's a very nice hat and fits perfectly. Nice colour, too. Later today or tomorrow I should know my final ranking.

The first of my Easy Eyelet socks is also done. I'm holding off on the finishing - grafting the toe and weaving the end - until the second sock is done. I'm still not convinced that I've done the heel correctly. So it may be safest to wait and see how the heel of the second sock turns out, before finishing the first. Just in case I have to rip the foot out and redo the heel.

And I've started poking about, looking through all the yarn I have to decide what to use for my Tree Frog. It's time to try it.

wrap and turn heel

When I reached the bottom of the leg, I discovered that the heel construction in this pattern is wrap & turn short rows instead of the usual heel flap and gusset, so I'm learning a new technique. The upside? No holes anywhere - very tight construction. The downside? The resulting heel is small and the leg pattern travels further down onto the heel than I'd like. Not entirely sure I've worked it correctly, but my heel definitely looks very much like the pattern pictures so it's not far off. Note to self - pay close attention to the row by row instructions for the heel of the second sock!

Hat Wars update: 23 knitters remain in the competition. The odds of me cracking the top 20 look pretty good.

Easy Eyelet socks

With my Mr. Pitt's socks done and my Vespergyle mittens frogged, I wanted something small and portable for train knitting. I've cast on these Easy Eyelet socks with stretch Bamboo sock yarn in a colourway called Mermaid. I've always loved the look of little lacy socks - maybe because they are so completely inappropriate for my giant feet. But I can't imagine they'd stay up if they were knit from a traditional merino wool sock yarn. That little bit of lycra in Dye-Version's bamboo sock yarn seems like a good idea here. It may even give the picot cuff a bit of stretch. Knitting on 2.75 mm needles makes them quick work ... more than 1/3rd of the leg knit during the first period of the hockey game. Sadly the hockey game didn't prove to be much of a distraction - Ovechkin and the Capitals skated circles around the Leafs. Shades of last season ... sigh.

insurmountable problems

When I started my Vespergyle mittens I wasn't sure I'd have enough contrast colour yarn. So I shortened the cuff and omitted the CC stripes, and determined to knit the thumb entirely in MC. Problem solved. But after setting aside the thumb gore stitches and rejoining in the round I had to acknowledge there was another problem. My main colour Alapaca yarn was noticeably heavier than the fingering yarn recommended by the pattern - the mitten was working up way too big. Although it's labeled sport weight, I'd say it's a light DK. This'll never work! A shame really, because the pattern is beautiful and so is the yarn. I had to pull it out, rewind the yarn and rethink.

Any feelings of distress over the mittens quickly evaporated when I turned my attention to the lovely yarn that arrived by post from the Loopy Ewe. A friend had emailed a gift certificate to thank me for some design work I had done for her, and with it, I'd picked out these skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in a hand-painted colourway called Tuscany. Hmmm. What to knit? Maybe Pomatomous by Cookie A?

finished socks

Finished - one complete pair of Mr. Pitt's Socks! Okay, I'll admit it, this easy knit had become quite tedious towards the end. But the socks are exactly what I had hoped - soft, stretchy, comfortable and practical. After modeling them for the photo, I think Gavin may be wishing his gloves were from yarn like that. I can see there's a second pair of gloves in his future.

Next on the needles? I'm casting on Vespergyle Mittens with Alapaca yarn purchased at the Kitchener-Waterloo Knitter's Fair at the Hubbert Farms booth. Fingers crossed, though, because I'm not at all sure that I have enough yardage to complete them. I'm going to give it a go.

a Hat Wars surprise

Apologies to Canada Post - unbelievably, the hat that was mailed to me was returned by the US Postal Service to the sender in Massachusetts. I guess USPS didn't like how it was wrapped. My fateful hat is being repackaged and remailed today. How lucky is that? As it stands now, I am one of only 39 knitters still in the competition. Who knows, I may even finish in the top ten!?!

And, as you can see, Gavin's second glove is done. He's tried them out and says he likes them, but a Eucalan soak is still needed to soften them up. Under no circumstances am I to felt them though, or so I was told last night. Sigh, back to my second sock.

fiddly fingers

This morning I find myself part way through the fiddly finger bits of the second glove. Ring finger, pinkie and thumb still to finish. And then all the ends to weave in. It'll have to wait until tonight, I guess. Still, they've worked up quite quickly - after knitting sock yarn, the worsted weight wool seems huge. I'm toying with the idea of felting these but I'm concerned about whether they'd end up too small. I've only ever felted one thing and find it a bit scary. Maybe I'll knit a second pair to try it. One thing I know for sure, Gavin won't want his plain grey gloves experimented with.