sock update

When you're facing sweater problems there's nothing better than sock knitting to forget. I have been making some progress on the unusual amount of socks I have on the needles. First, I finished these guys (yet unwashed, though)

They're made with the lovely Dicentra Designs sock yarn that I got from Shelby in the Yarn Aboard! swap. I have lots left, which is a bit of a pity, but baby socks come to mind.

The red sock is still without a partner, poor thing.

but I've started the second Shetland sock and am already at the heel. Yay!

Then there's my favorites, the moccasins. This picture is a week old, I actually finished them this evening. Warm socks for me this october, oh yeah.

The pattern for these comes from Strikk deg varm (originally Swedish) and I really love them. I found Anna Zilboorg's Simply Socks in a yarn shop in Reykjavík last weekend and took it home with me, because I think I might just be obsessed by Turkish socks. Yesterday I spent a good part of the day putting together patterns for another pair. Those will be for my mom, for whom I still haven't knit socks. I realized recently that her comments, such as "what are you going to do with all those socks you're knitting!" really mean that she would like a pair herself. After presenting her with a collection of different socks I've knit, she decided she wanted Turkish ones to wear around the house.

Last weekend I got a desperate longing to learn a new technique, so I browsed online and decided to check out the magic loop. So I started a new pair of socks. But of course.

So far I like it, it's a definitely a cool idea. For me it wasn't a life altering discovery, though. I've never minded DPN's, in fact I quite like them. But I will surely mix it up with a little magic loop once in a while.

The red sweater

Oh yeah, I've been working on a sweater behind your back, that's me alright. Actually, I mentioned it once, but that was a long time ago. I started it in January, while I was in Iceland, and when I went back to Helsinki in the beginning of March I left it behind. I've been back for three months now, but it still isn't finished. Hrmph.

The pattern is my own. After christmas I bought a very handy and cute windbreaker from 66° North (mine's black), but it's so fitted that all of my wool sweaters are too bulky to wear underneath it. It makes me look like a body builder, and that's not exactly the look I'm going for. The reason why I bought the windbreaker in the first place was to wear it over my handknits, to prevent the wind from blowing through and chilling me to the bone. There's a lot of wind on this island. So. A thin fabric was needed.

The style of the sweater is a very simple raglan with turned hems, and to spice things up a bit, I decided it should have an anorak-style hood. I'm using single-stranded plötulopi and 2.5 mm (US 2) needles, so the gauge is pretty tight, around 28 sts/10 cm, and it takes time and patience to knit. The hood has been taking for-freaking-ever, so it was to my great disappointment when I discovered that it just ain't working out. I don't like it. Yay!

Then I thought, collar!, and to get an idea of what it would look like if I just ripped back and left a decent collar on, I folded the hood to the inside and took a few pictures

I'm not completely convinced, I think maybe it looks a little bit too chokey. Still, the sweater needs something extra, because if I just end it with a round neck opening, it's going to look like the plainest thing on earth, and at a gauge of 28 sts/10 cm that seems like too much trouble for too little gain. Any ideas? I don't have much time to think about it because I'm going to Rhinebeck in a month. As I understand, it's vital to wear a new handknitted sweater to the event. Oh yeah, baby, I'm going to Rhinebeck! Yay! I have a flight to New York on October 17th, and I'll be spending a week there with Cassie. I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am about it. It'll be fantastic! Exclamation point.

Finished... finally

The Selbu mittens are done! I blocked them last week, trying my best to stretch the smaller one into shape. It didn't work out perfectly, but they're still wearable as a pair so I'll let it lie.

I totally love them, but I'm afraid I might not use them that much. That's what sucks about traveling by car, you don't really need mittens while walking from the house to the car, and driving with a pair of slippery woolen mittens is not too good of an idea. Oh well, they're still pretty to look at!

Specs:

• Pattern:Vott fra Selbu, from Håndplagg.
• Yarn: Rauma Gammelserie, natural white and black.
• Needles: 1.5 mm (US000) for body, 2 mm (US0) for thumb.
• dt: May to September 2007.

I have been knitting a lot of socks recently, none of which match.

I just keep starting a new "pair" once I finish the first (or not). This is an abnormal behavior for me, and in an effort to find my former self, I began the second Shetland sock today (the green one in the picture). Surprisingly, it was easier than I thought! Maybe I'll have a finished pair to show soon.