a late blog post

Sorry, I missed updating my blog yesterday!

I did finish the heel on the 2nd Maizy sock last night, picked up stitches and I am ready to start knitting the foot now. No pictures yet...

Also, my Dad tried on the fingerless mitt and it fits so I will be knitting a 2nd one to match. He also liked the grey socks!

updates

Here is a photo of the first completed fingerless mitt for my Dad.

I'm debating about whether or not I should just knit the second one or have him try this on first. (I'm also busy knitting the Maizy socks!)

Speaking of which, here is the first completed Maizy sock:
I hope it fits my mom! If not, it seems to fit me pretty well. ;-) But, the Maizy yarn is nice and stretchy, so I'm sure it will be fine. I cast on the 2nd one last night, but only knit a couple rounds of the ribbing. Hopefully more progress on that tonight!

Here's a close-up of the toe section:
And in case anyone is interested, here is a pic of the gigantic marigold by my front porch that grew from a seed:
Yes, that is ONE plant. I don't think I've ever seen a marigold quite that gigantic before, and as you can see there are still quite a few more blooms getting ready to burst into flowers. If it gets much bigger, it's going to start knocking on our front door! Ha, Ha.

Maizy progress

I just posted my latest update on the Olympic Sox blog here. Everyone is making great progress on their socks! Here's a close-up pic of the first Maizy sock:
I got a lot done yesterday - the heel, gusset decreases and start of the 1X1 ribbing. I haven't made a lot of progress today, just a few more rounds of the ribbing. But, I will sit down to watch the Olympics soon and I hope to make some progress tonight!

I also knit the thumb of the first fingerless mitt last night while watching Michael Phelps break the world record in his first swimming event. So, the first fingerless mitt is complete, but I forgot to take a picture of it. Next blog update!

Projects for my parents

Since I was waiting for the Olympic opening ceremonies to start my next pair of socks, I cast on another project on Thursday night. I am making a pair of Men's Fingerless Mitts for my Dad. I knit the wrist ribbing and started up the hand Thursday night, and finished the hand section on Friday night just as the Olympic ceremonies were beginning. All I have to knit is the thumb (and a second mitt!) The pattern is "men's fingerless mitts" - Designs by KN.
As the TV coverage began on the Olympic opening ceremonies in the Eastern time zone, I cast on the "Walking in the Maize" socks that I am knitting for my mom (and SOS08... and OlympicSox2008). The colorway is Ballad Blues and it's really pretty! It's also interesting, because even though the colorway is called "blues" and the yarn looks blue as a whole, as I'm knitting it, it really looks like a mint green, with hints of a light lavender and a darker lavender. Nonetheless, it's very pretty and nice to work with.
You can read my post about these socks on the OlympicSox2008 blog here. And to see what everyone else is knitting for OlympicSox, you can check out all the blog posts here.

Finishitis!

Wow, after finishing my Magic Loop socks last night, I decided to finally finish up my blue cabled purse. I just had to sew in a lining and sew on a button!

Ta-da!
Of course, Loopy had to check out my latest FO (finished object).

Here's a close-up of the button. I found it at Wal-mart and actually got two of them for less than $2 - what a deal!

Here's a better look at the inner lining:

And a picture of the completed purse:
I think this is an FO that I will actually use!

I lucked out and found this perfect piece of fabric in my fabric stash. The pattern called for a piece of fabric that was 7 1/2 inches by 20 inches. This piece was about 7 1/4 X 21!! I used 1/4" seam allowance instead of 1/2" to compensate and it worked out beautifully.

This was a really fun project!

finished Magic Loop socks!

I finished the Magic Loop socks at class tonight! Last night, I had finished the foot and started on the toe. These were a really fun knit and I will definitely use the Magic Loop method again. But, I'm not giving up my dpns!!! I think both methods have their advantages and disadvantages and I'm glad to have learned another option for my sock knitting.

In other news, I won a prize on the Socks and More blog! This is a blog about projects using Crystal Palace yarns (of which Panda Cotton is one of my favorites!!). I had entered my Brigit socks and the Fall Herbs socks in the "May, June, July contest". This is my first time winning a prize from a blog. I'm so excited!

I have also decided to participate in OlympicSox2008 which is being organized by the same person who hosts the Socks and More blog. We will knit socks during the Olympics and enter them in different events such as Marathon for the longest sock, Gymnastics for cabled socks, or Water sports (blue socks). So, if you like to knit socks, check it out! There's many more events than the ones I listed. It sounds like it will be a lot of fun. I just wish I had more time to knit!!

I also wanted to mention that there are some new online knitting magazines that launched recently and they're both very nice.

Knotions has a free pattern for Sampler Socks using Sockina Cotton yarn that I really want to try and quite a few other nice patterns as well.

The other is Twist Collective which I heard about on Ravelry. This is set up more like an actual magazine format where you flip through the pages on your screen. It's a very nice layout and has some really interesting articles and patterns. Most of these patterns are not free though, but they seem to be reasonably priced (around $7.00). I haven't bought any yet because I have more than enough patterns on hand right now to last me for quite awhile.

Since I'll be participating in OlympicSox2008, I will wait until Friday to cast on my next pair of socks. I could use a little break anyway, since I've been constantly knitting socks since 6/21/08 (with only 4 pairs to show for it; those Brigits really slowed me down!) I'm hoping to make a good run and knit a few pairs during these remaining weeks of SOS08 and OlympicSox2008. I now have double motivation!!

new yarn

I placed my first order from knitpicks.com. I needed some worsted weight yarn for the fair isle class that I'll be taking at Knitters' Day Out (KDO) next month. As preparation for the class, we need to start knitting a fair isle hat pattern in a main color and then bring 3 other colors of yarn to design the fair isle pattern. So, I needed to buy 4 colors of yarn for this class. Well, I couldn't quite decide what colors would go together so I bought 6 colors of the "Shine Worsted" yarn:
Shine Worsted is 60% Pima Cotton, 40% Modal natural beech wood fiber

And then, I wasn't sure if I'd like the Shine Worsted, so I thought I'd also try the "Comfy" yarn:
Comfy is 75% Pima Cotton, 25% Acrylic

I also needed Sport Weight yarn for the Knitting with Beads class that I'm taking at KDO, so I bought one skein of Shine Sport:

And, of course, I had to try their Risata sock yarn (as if I need more sock yarn!), but since I was ordering yarn from Knit Picks anyway...
Risata yarn is 42% Cotton, 39% Superwash Merino Wool, 13% Polyamide, 6% Elite Elastic

So, I am officially going on a yarn fast now. I am well stocked up for quite awhile!! But, it will be fun to work on some worsted weight projects once the Summer of Socks is over.

I am making progress on the 2nd Magic Loop sock. I finished the leg today and knitted most of the heel flap. I expect to turn the heel, pick up stitches and start the gusset decreases tomorrow.