Mikknit

I either need to start knitting faster, start showing a LOT more in-progress shots with incremental progress, or think of things to talk about other than knitting if I want to blog more than once every 10 days or so.

I finally finished my Twin Rib socks in Trekking XXL color 108. The second sock absolutely dragged on forever. They’ll be great to wear now, though!

And of course I had to cast on for a new pair immediately:

BFF Socks

I’m using some well-aged Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock in the Mixed Berries colorway. This is an extremely poor representation of the color, you can see a better representation here. It has been a long time since I worked with this yarn and I’d forgotten how much I enjoy working with it. I’m using KnitPicks 2.25mm needles instead of my usual 2.50mm, which makes the fabric much cushier and should make it last much longer, as well.

I need some suggestions – I have a ton of friends who have either just had babies or are due within the next 8 months (ha!) and I am looking for some new & different patterns for baby gifts. I normally knit soakers, but I knit two in rapid succession over the past couple weeks and I’m burnt out. I’m looking for sweaters, booties, etc. Things that can be knit out of sock yarn are a bonus! Thanks in advance!

And now out into the heat to let the kids play. Whee.

I’m working on getting back into the swing of things after being in lovely Ashland, WI for the last 1.5 weeks. It’s tough – I really miss being there. Funny how I wanted to get the heck out of town when I graduated and now I’d love to move back.

Anyhow, on to the knitting and knitting-related chatter:

The main reason for our vacation was my sister’s wedding on 7/7/07. They got married near this lovely view:

Big Bay State Park on Madeline Island, WI. More pictures here

They picked a gorgeous spot, no doubt about it. A gorgeous day, too. It was hot and humid on the mainland, but on the island it was breezy and cool. Ah, Lake Superior.

Of course I had to take the opportunity to give handknit socks:

Socks for BIL in Fortissima Socka sportweight yarn, lost the ballband so no clue on the colorway

The Green Bay Monkey socks for my sister. As you can see, I neglected to pack the sock blockers. Wish I had…

No word on whether they’ve opened them yet and whether they love them or not. I’m assuming they were/will be well-received, though. Both have appreciated handknit socks in the past.

I also did a little shopping, of course. Ashland is home to Northwoods Dyeworks, which is where we’ve been buying great tie-dyed clothing for the past several years. Now, Libby is dyeing and selling yarn as well. I had to buy some, of course – how could I not? She doesn’t have an online store just yet, but she’d certainly be glad to mail you some yarn! I had to buy this:

100% Merino wool sock yarn in the Gogebic colorway

Yes, I know I don’t like to knit socks with 100% wool, but I figure I could make something else with this stuff if I don’t want to use it for socks. We’ll see. I ordered some other yarn from her too, which may well show up here as a contest prize in a few weeks. We’ll see if I can come up with something creative for a contest.

I also found some yarn from sheep that live on Madeline Island:

Bulky yarn from Fly Away Farm, sadly not online that I can find.

It’s very pretty, though a little rough. I’m sure it’ll make a nice hat and mittens or maybe a scarf for the Red Scarf Project. We’ll see.

I also did a little knitting – had to bring more sock yarn with me because I knew I’d finish the Monkey socks while we were there.

Twin Rib pattern from SKS, Trekkling XXL in color 108 (ball band missing, so I may be wrong)

I just grafted the toe on this this morning and started sock #2 at playgroup. Only got a couple rounds done, though. I’m just not feeling it right now. Maybe after the kids are in bed…

I joined Mystery Stole #3 and I got a little over half of the first chart done on vacation, until I ran out of energy and concentration to work on it. I still haven’t downloaded the second chart, too. I suppose *that* could be my project for after the kids are in bed, but who knows – black yarn, black beads, nighttime knitting… Not such a good combo. We’ll think about that one for a while. The sock will definitely be more conducive to catching up on my huge backlog of knitting blog reading!

Well, since it’s just me and the kids this week (Chris’s work sent him to Montreal right after our vacation, how nice), I get to feed them things for dinner that he won’t eat/doesn’t love. I should go check the pantry and see what sort of non-husband-friendly foods we have, haha.

Have a great week, everyone!