Finished project... new project...

I finished the January beaded mystery socks:


and I cast on for my new project, the Inner Truth Cable scarf:


The yarn is Bamboozle with is basically a heavier version of Panda Cotton. The colorway is "faded jeans" which is the same color as my first ever knit socks:

Farm show pics... maybe not...

Let's see if I can upload pictures today:

Nope... still not working. I don't know why I can't upload pictures anymore! Frustrating!

Well, in knitting news, I have my final clue for the mystery sock. The pattern is available here on Ravelry if anyone is interested. I finished clue 3 of the 2nd sock today so now I just have to finish clue 4 on both socks. My goal is to finish this pair and submit as my January 52 week challenge project!

Sorry I don't have any knitting photos to show! I hope I can figure this out soon!

Clue 3 and PA Farm show

I am working on clue 3 of the beaded mystery socks now! A pretty eye of partridge heel and now the gusset decreases. Sorry, no pics yet... maybe tomorrow!

I did go to the PA Farm Show today and ate a lot of yummy food (potato doughnut, chocolate milkshake, fried mozzarella, fries and I even sampled corn ice cream - that was a new taste for me!!)

I took lots of pics of the animals there, but I am having a lot of trouble uploading them to blogger, so I'll have to try again another day if I don't get it to work.

Finished clue 2 on both socks!

Finally got my photos to upload!

Top photo is a close-up of the beaded section and the bottom photo is of both socks completed through clue 2.

harika socks

I really want to knit the harika sock pattern from the Winter 2008 edition of Twist Collective. Click on the link to see the socks. They are amazing!

I knew I wanted to knit them as soon as I first saw them. Today, I finally purchased the pattern. Now, I just need to find the right yarn. I want a brightly colored self-striping yarn to form the pattern against a dark charcoal grey, or black or maybe even navy background.

I think planning and dreaming about these socks will be almost as much fun as knitting them!

But for now, I need to continue with my mystery beaded socks. I knit quite a bit more after I blogged last night and am just about done with the leg of the first sock, which is the end of clue 2. Just a few more rounds of ribbing and then I'll move that onto stitch holders and knit clue 2 of the second sock. I bet I'll finish that this weekend! Then I can work on some of my other UFO's until clue 3 is posted!

My latest projects...as presented by Shelby

I finished a scarf that I had cast on back in April! It was yarn leftover from a prayer shawl I had knit out of Lion Brand Homespun. The colorway was called Corinthian and I love it! The photos don't do it justice. Rich reds, purples, greens and golds all subtly appearing and disappearing as I knit. Beautiful! Of course, as I went to photograph the scarf, Shelby appeared to pose with it:
Then he had to lay next to it while I tried to take a close-up picture:
This is the amount of yarn I had left... I finished the skein!!:
Somehow, Shelby managed to avoid getting into that pic. :-)

Even though this scarf lingered in a box for months, when I actually started working on it, it only took me two days to knit! Note to self: find more projects with bulky yarn on big needles! Nice change of pace from sock knitting and a much quicker sense of accomplishment. I still love knitting socks though... :-)

Yesterday, the next clue (clue # 2) was posted for the beaded mystery sock! So, that's what I did last night! I finished the beaded section of sock 1 and just need to finish the leg (I'll probably knit it to 6 inches) and then I can switch back to sock 2 and knit clue 2. This pattern is so much fun to knit! Challenging, but so interesting that I just don't want to put it down!

Here's the progress that I made last night:
It may appear that Shelby was not present for this picture... but he was:

I love Mystery sock patterns!

I moved sock #1 onto stitch holders and knit clue 1 for sock #2 on Saturday! So, I am now patiently awaiting clue 2. These mystery patterns are so much fun. Instead of feeling like I have an endless sock pattern in front of me, I have a small section that seems easy to accomplish and I don't get overwhelmed or bored. Love it!

Also, as I said with my last mystery pattern, I probably would not have taken on such a tricky beaded project, but since I don't know exactly what I'm getting into, it just seems more manageable.

Challenge

I completed clue 1 of sock 1 for the SKA January Sockdown challenge!
Here's a close-up of the beads:
I'm using Caribbean Blue Panda Cotton and Deep Blue Sea Miyuki Seed Bead Mix (size 6). I am knitting these on US1 circulars using magic loop (yes, I am still loving the magic loop method!)

I had almost finished clue #1 on January 1st, but then I goofed up and had to rip back to the beginning of the pattern section and re-knit it! Arrrgggh!! I just couldn't seem to fix my mistake because of all the yarn-overs. At least I didn't need to re-knit the ribbing section. I should have been able to fix what I did without ripping back, but I couldn't figure it out!

The trickiest part of this pattern is that when you're adding the bead with the crochet hook, the next stitch is a yarn-over from the previous round. And for some reason, I kept wanting to just drop this off my needle and it would kind of get sucked into where I was adding the bead and then I had lost a stitch! Once I realized this, I was very careful the next time to not drop this yarn-over, but it took some tricky maneuvering with the two needles and the crochet hook to get the bead added, get that stitch back on my left needle to knit it and then knit that darn yarn-over!!!

But, the challenge was worth it, because I am loving how these socks are turning out!

I may move this onto stitch holders and knit clue 1 of sock #2. I'm not sure when clue 2 will be posted, but I'm guessing Thursday at the earliest.

I went back to working on the Tofutsies sock tonight because I really want to finish that pair. Here's my progress on sock #2:

Happy New Year!

Welcome 2009!! I hope it is a good year for everyone.

January also means that it's time for a new mystery sock pattern! I knit my swatch last night:
I love it! I used some leftover Periwinkle Panda Cotton and the Miyuki seed beads that I got for my bead class at KDO but hadn't used yet and they are so nice to work with! Very consistent and easy to place with a crochet hook (I love how nice and neat the beads sit when you place them with a crochet hook). :-)

So, I think I need to get some more beads to complete this project, but I'm definitely going to get started on it.

The first clue of the pattern is available on Ravelry here.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to knit the mystery socks with the Caribbean Blue Panda Cotton in my stash:
I have also signed up for the new KAL's on the Carefree blog - they are having a UFO KAL to finish our unfinished projects and a 52 week challenge to complete one project each month in 2009. Great motivation (and they're always generous with prizes) so sign up while there are still spots open!



I also have another Christmas knitting project to share, although I had posted pics of these while I was knitting since my Dad doesn't read my blog.

This is my Dad:
And this is my Dad modeling his new hand-knit fingerless mitts (longer, by request, than his previous grey ones):
Any questions?? :-)