Dual FOs and Other Busyness

Hooray – finished up a couple gifties! Just a few more now.

N is already enjoying his Ribby Slipper Socks…

After he knew about them anyway, it didn’t seem right to squirrel them away. I finished weaving in the ends on the second one, and unceremoniously handed them to N while we were sitting on the couch.

I made the men’s large size, and subbed 2 balls of Gedifra Highland Alpaca for the foot and used Blue Sky Worsted, as specified, for the cuff.

He says they are very comfortable, even with the seam at the toe. And they are monster warm, but I don’t know that I’d make another pair. Very hard on the hands, unfortunately.

My sis L specifically requested a gray, black, or gray/black/white variegated big fluffy scarf, so that she may have a scarf that matched all the other more colorful items in her stash of handknits. She once sent me a link to an afghan she loved, and it was loosely woven with chunky thick/thin yarn, and she likes boucle as well. It’s all about the texture.

So when I popped into A Mano to survey for some yarny possibilities and came across this…

…I could believe it. It was perfect for this project. And it was in the sale bin to boot!

I tried a few needle sizes, and even tried tunisian crochet. In the end, it looked best in plain old garter on honkin big US35 needles.

I used just shy of 3 balls. I almost finished up that third ball, but this thing was already huge! It’s smooshy and fluffy and soft. I was surprised in the yarn store to find it’s 77% merino, so despite being a novelty-ish yarn it high quality and also quite warm.

I finally finished the first of a pair of Tidepool socks.

I am having second sock syndrome on this pair. Not because I don’t like the pattern, just because I tired of the teeny stitches and US1 needles. I can only use them for so long.

Yesterday I cast on for the Cabled V-neck Vest, from the premiere issue of Debbie Bliss magazine. Based on my gauge swatch, I figured out I could knit the next size up and get a size that works for me.

Doesn’t look like much yet! I used a tubular cast on to make a tidy edge, thinking the traditional long-tail edge would really show in this chunky yarn. It’s a pain in the rear, but usually worth the effort. I cast onto a US10 needle then immediately switched to a US11, the main needle size I’ll be using.

I’ve already accumulated enough new patterns for a linkfest! Based on some of your comments on how you manage your “I want to knit list”, I’m eventually going to move many things in my Ravelry queue to favorites, and keep the queue for those things I know are am “pretty sure” I’ll be working on in the next little bit. We’ll see how that works out. Thanks for the inspiration!

On to the patterns! For your perusal…

Small things:

Carlotta Lace Beret (Ravelry) by Knititude

Just Enough Ruffles Scarf (Ravelry) by cosmicpluto

Baby Bowknot Cowl (Ravelry) by Tres Chic Veronique

Chic Cabled Cowl (Ravelry) by Elizabeth Eisenstein

Kiddie Cadet Hat (Ravelry) by Kathyrn Ivy

Star Crossed Slouchy Beret (Ravelry) by Natalie Larson

and for crochet fans:

Phoenix Mitts (Ravelry) by Julia Vaconsin

Bigger things:

Twisted Vine Cardigan (Ravelry) by Sunday Knits (pattern is with purchase of yarn; but yarn is reasonably priced)

Ophicleide Cardigan (Ravelry) by Kamicha

Hope you found something new!