FO: Cabernet Socks

I know it's really hard to see the cables but they turned out beautifully and I apologize for the late-night-fluorescent-light shot but I really wanted to get these up. I followed the Yarn Harlot's Early Grey pattern (on US 3's) almost to a 'T,' toe-up of course! I don't really like the pointier toe that most sock patterns seem to call for. With the Trekking socks I CO a much larger number of stitches (which I don't seem to have recorded: DOH!) and the toe is much rounder and comfortable for my wider than average feet.

This pattern kept me interested without requiring a chart kept by my side and I could see knitting it up again with fewer stitches around the foot so that the pattern will show up a bit more. I also could have continued much farther up the leg with pattern or ribbing because of the excess yarn in this skein. I finished these Sunday night and really just wanted to get back to working on my Lily of the Valley Shawl. Also, in the future I should make the ribbing on smaller needles. I would have done so with these socks except I didn't have enough size 2 needles on circs to do it with. :)

This yarn is LOVELY to work with and I have already contacted the dye-er about purchasing more. She's told me that she's currently stewing up some more colors in this similar base yarn so none of ya'll better be snatching it all up before I'm able to convince Michael that I really don't have enough sock yarn!

On our way to my parents house north of Denver this morning Michael and I got stuck behind 5 plow trucks as they cleared the road. Finally they turned around to go back and clear the other side of I-25 and this is what we saw:
An ENTIRELY empty north-bound I-25! Those of you living near the area know how very rare this is, so much so that I just HAD to take a picture!

One of the more knit-blog worthy items I received for Christmas from my parents was the neutral Knitpicks sock yarn sampler bag. I took individual pictures of the yarns and posted on Ravelry or you can view them through the previous knitpicks link.
My mother has requested a pair of socks made with the Flint Tweed! I didn't think that she really wanted knit items from me and when I suggested this package to her I didn't really expect to get it. I was also hoping to knit myself up a pair of blue socks...
Oh well, anything to fuel familial love of knit garments so that later in life I am not bogged down with too much knitting to store. :)

Also, I'm sure you are all aware of Webs' year end clearance sales on their yarn. Well... I'm sad to say that I actually bought something for myself in the few days before Christmas (the first day the sale started, to be exact) and received it yesterday:
You are looking at approximately 1984 yards of 2/4 Highland Tweed in the Arctic colorway. I got the the whole cone for 8 bucks and have absolutely nothing planned for it... This is 100% wool and seems a bit itchy, however the supplier says that it still has the spinning oil on it and that it will soften up after washing. When this large amount of yarn first arrived I was thinking a sweater but if it doesn't soften up enough in the wash I could make some GORGEOUS shawls out it. Come to think of it, my Grandma was talking about needing a shawl....

One last thing, I forgot to post a picture of the finished scarf for my sister. I finished it on Monday and wrapped it immediately and it really looks exactly like this earlier picture:

Half-way socks

Last night I had much more to show for all the knitting I've put in on my Earl Grey socks, I had just turned the heel Sunday night and have been very busy since. Last night I finally tried the socks on and found that the heel was much too big and I should have started it at least a half inch sooner... So I've ripped it back and just now getting ready to start the heel again. I have a few more good sized time chunks and am still very hopeful about getting the pair done by Christmas.... I shouldn't forget about my sister's scarf though (it hasn't seen any progress since I last posted :) This picture I took Sunday afternoon while there was still some decent day light:
Those cables are showing up quite nicely! I've contacted the person I bought this from about perhaps buying some more because I LOVE THIS YARN!

Link Happy

This past week I've spent a lot of time on Ravelry queuing up patterns and making plans for my stash, I thought I'd post here to bring the blog up to date and so I don't forget what I planned!

I've frogged that boring brown garter stitch scarf because I know it was never going to get done. I had planned to use the Yarn Harlot's One Row scarf as a new pattern. It will be easier enough to remember and work on when I can't put all my attention on the scarf, but should draw me in enough to make me want to finish it. Now that I've been working on my sister's scarf with the yarn doubled and the bigger needles I think that even that might be a possibility. Another thing, I found a matching ball of yarn to the more tweedy one and might be able to include that as well.

I haven't touched the afghan since I last posted a finished repeat over a week ago. It's just too involved for me to make any significant progress on it and I think the overwhelming size is impeding my progress. I was really enjoying the Lotus Blossom shawl: the pattern and the end result are AWESOME. Then I found this pattern and I think that this could be a real contender for a do-able afghan. Another thought I've been having recently, my sister's garter stitch scarf is SOO squishy that maybe I could just do that for an afghan. However, I'm already pretty bored with the scarf and can't imagine finishing an entire afghan in that stitch. Maybe the Yarn Harlot's One Row scarf would be good for an afghan?

I've decided on a pattern for my Cabernet socks: another Yarn Harlot original, the Earl Grey socks. I found some GORGEOUS examples on Ravelry of some longer socks and in some pretty colors, here for those Ravelrous readers, that really sparked my lust. I know that I wanted some simple socks in a fairly solid colorway and I think that this might be them! I've even been feeling some inklings of having them finished in time to show off for Christmas... that might be laughable, but I'm going to give it a shot! I'm hoping for some GREAT stitch definition on those cables.