While I’m waiting on my dinner (soup) to cook, I thought I would have a little update on what’s up around here!

Clapotis is finished, but no photos yet – I’m trying to finish dropping all those stitches.  Karaoke looks pretty in the pattern, but oh boy is it ever sticky!  But that has freed me up to begin a new large project.  I thought about starting the Drops Swing jacket, but I find myself feeling very unenthused about the project – really, I think the reason I haven’t started is that I don’t know about the silhouette on me.  I like A-line and all, but I fear looking swallowed by the coat.  But I do like the Taconic Pullover from Valley Yarns, which is written for the Williamstown.  So I will maybe reserve my yarn for that.

In the meantime, I have begun Emily, from Kim Hargreaves’ new book.

The color is more true in the first photo.  It is a very saturated color, but not bright the way it looks in the 2nd photo.  I’m using Cascade Venezia Worsted, a wool/silky blend that has a really lovely feel to it.  This is the back, and there are eyelet rows, although they aren’t so apparent here… I trust they will block wider.  The pattern is lovely, although I did find an error… in the schematic drawing it lists 15″ as the total length of the sweater, but it’s the length to the armholes (thank goodness – I was trying to work out how a sweater could be that short!)  Mine will look quite different from the model, but neutral beige is not my thing.  I love my deep colors!

I’m working hard to finish up my second Lozenge sock – I am past the gusset, so if I am lucky it will be finished by tomorrow.  Does anyone have any advice for me about a sock problem?  My picked up stitches at the gusset always look all elongated on one side.  I can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong!

I want to finish it so that I can cast on for another pair of socks – Dublin Bay socks in Merino/tencel by Mama Llama in the Fall Leaves colorway.

I like the idea of making socks for holidays, so these will be my “Thanksgiving” socks, although I doubt they will be done by then.  Ah well – it counts if they are worked on during Thanksgiving!  I love the color, and I’m anxious to try a merino/tencel sock yarn, as there are several I’m dying to try out, and my love for tencel is well documented.

I’m going to swatch for the endpaper mitts soon too.  I already learned the tubular cast on , which wasn’t as fiddly as I feared (I learned the regular one, not the fancy one called for in the pattern.)  I’m excited to learn color work, as I’ve really been enamored by several color work patterns of late… notably the Colette pullover from the current IK (love the kitty cats) and the Ivy League vest from the same.

Thank you for all the wonderful comments on Thermal!  I am about halfway done responding to them, and hopefully I will get there!  I find I am reaching the point where I can wear something hand knitted every day, which I find very exciting!  Yesterday I wore the tree jacket, and today I am wearing hand knit socks and a scarf!

Speaking of socks… I went ahead and finished up the first of the Lozenge socks.

I think this is the first sock I’ve ever knit that actually needed blocking.  Since I sized these down from a man’s size to 60 stitches, I also had to rework the heel and toe.  I used the round heel/wide toe combo called for in the book.  One thing I really like about Nancy Bush’s book is the way it gives you instructions in the front for all the heels and toes, so if you need to change the size it is very easy.  I was convinced the toe was wrong the entire time, but as it turns out it is correct, it just is very different from any toes I have done before.  It’s a tad pointy, but that may be my fault.  This pattern is super easy, and really fast if you aren’t knitting a fingering weight sweater and a clapotis at the same time.  I have cast on for the second, and will try very hard to finish it this week – I want to cast on for some Thanksgiving socks, probably in the Dublin Bay (warning: opens PDF file) pattern.

Speaking of Clapotis, I am very nearly finished.  I’m in the decrease section, and hopefully I will be finished in the next day or two.  I will have to unpick about half the drop sections, as I am very lazy about doing that!  I am a little worried about the weakness of this yarn (it is a single ply) in relation to this pattern… I will have to be careful not to catch it on anything!

This week I received some yarn I ordered from Wollmeise (yes, I have to be like everyone else!)

To the left is Kurbis, and on the right is Poison #5.  Both are in the dark versions of their colorway.  She also sent a sample skein of worsted weight Spice market, which is lovely.  Both of these yarns are lovely and very soft, and the skeins are massive – over 500 yards each!  Kurbis will become a pair of “Gentleman’s fancy socks” sized down for me, and I’m thinking Poison would make lovely “Evening Stockings for a young lady,” also from Knitting Vintage socks.  I am totally in love with Nancy Bush patterns now, and I think I “need” her other sock books.  I’m actually a tad disappointed that Poison is so dark – it did not look that dark on the website – but that is the nature of handpainted yarn.  It will make lovely lacy socks perhaps, but not right now… I have many socks to knit first, and there are other things to think about!

Like these…

Transition gloves from Shibuiknits.  I think these are just gorgeous, and while I’m not exactly ready to make them, I have added them to the “someday maybe” queue.

And my personal favorite name for a sock pattern… S(p)ocks by Wendy Knits.  You know I have to knit those, right?

As soon as Clapotis is finished I can begin another sweater… I am thinking it will be either the Drops jacket or Emily from the new Kim Hargreaves book.  Either way, it’s going to be worsted weight – I am not up to another fingering weight sweater at the moment, or even sport weight.  I need a quickly finished sweater, and then I can think about other weights.  My queue is totally ridiculous right now… if you’re on Ravelry take a gander (I’m Stitchywitch there too!) It’s like 5 pages long, although I need to take a few out. Ah well… I like to have choices!