Given it Thought

During the time away I have given posting a lot of thought.  Pictures have been taken with the hope they would move me to writing.  But I know I am still doing the same old things, knitting socks and beading coverings (ball gowns) for Xmas ornaments.  So I hesitated to write just more of the same.  And then it hit me.  That is really all I even do so why should today be any different.

First the sock.  Here it is in a couple of stages of development.

As we began.  Note there are two pair of circular needles there

Cuff, heel flap and turn, as well as gusset, all done!

I will call this one Chili, which is its colour name.  Since I have really only knit four socks from the cuff down I decided to do one more pair before I move into the toe up adventure.  This is an Ann Budd pattern, but I have done two new things for me.  First, I am using two circular needles.  This allows me to knit without any ladders and I am testing the technique because it is the same basic skill needed to knit two socks at a time.  Doing two at a time seems like a good idea since there is no need to count rows to make sure they are the same size.  Second, the heel was knit using the ¨eye of partridge¨ stitch, a four-row pattern that looks like this:

Image from knittingdaily.com

In my variegated yarn it is hard to see the design but it is there in my sock as well.  Since I want to complete at least one pair of socks per month this year, I have to get cracking to finish up before Tuesday.  Odds are not in my favor, but the second of the pair will definitely be started by then.

Then I have made a number of beaded ornament ball gowns as well.  The pink one will go to Miss M since I think it most speaks to her personality.  But of course more of these will be made and perhaps another will suit her better.  Here´s the three I created since we last spoke.

I think this will be Miss M´s

Note how the silver bead strings crossover the red

The shape of this ornament helps emphasize the ¨gown¨

I also made a simple bracelet.  Lisa, the teacher of the class I took a couple of weeks ago in Abbotsford, offered to help me if I came back with a bunch of ladders made  Yesterday we got together again and I learned how to do the crossover technique and finished this simple bracelet.

BTW, aside from the one ornament pledged to Miss M, there is no real plan for any of the rest.  If you want one and know me personally, send a private message; I will happily give you one.  If you can supply your own ornament the ¨gown¨ can be mailed quite easily.  I have a feeling there will be plenty made before next Xmas.