Some and none

I made a fair bit of progress over the weekend but I haven't gotten much done since then. I haven't been sleeping well so my evenings have been spent staring zombie-like at nothing. Moving the needles is too much work - let alone following a chart or something like that.

I finished the tomato socks and packed them off to their recipient. I didn't wash them, I probably should have - but in the end I decided to let her try them on first. If they fit as they are, then she can wash them in cold water so they don't shrink too much. If they are a bit too big, she can wash them in hot water and shrink them up a bit. They really weren't that much work so I'm not really sure why I am so freaked about whether they fit or not. I haven't heard a word since I sent them home with the recipient's hubby to be gifted...kinda makes me nervous but we usually see them on Thursdays so here's hoping I will find out today. I just want to KNOW OMG.

I've worked some on Whispering Pines. Last night I started a new swatch for the mystery stole. I swatched previously on 4s and the fabric was more open than I prefered. This was actually a little odd for me - I'm a tight knitter so normally I end up starting with a needle size larger than the one recommended. I only got through one repeat, though, before I was just tired to do anymore. I think I like the 3 better, but we'll see when it's blocked. I did block the original swatch pretty severely, so it may be that I could just...not do that.

I am debating over knitting both sides of the stole at once. I'm not really keen on knitting them both at the same time (that is, doing one row of one and the same row of the other on one long needle), but I was thinking before, when I was using 4s, that I could work one side, cap the cable, and work the other side on a seperate cable. I would effectively be working each section twice in a row. Don't ask me why this is preferable to just doing the second side at the end, but somehow I'm sure it would be.

However, 4 is the smallest size of interchangeable needle put out by knitpicks. If I use the 3's, I'd have to buy another needle.

Decisions, decisions.

I'm also struggling with a last-minute bead substitution. One of the beads I ordered, the Montana matte, was the right blue but it didn't show up. I'm wondering if the Montana lustre ones would be the right blue but show up a little better. I thought I was happy with the old ivory beads but I kind of hate that I have not tried the blue ones. Again - decisions, decisions. If I order now they will not get here by tomorrow and tomorrow is when the first clue comes out so I would have to wait to cast on...I'm not sure if I can do that. Woe!

I'm also really, really tempted to buy one of Beadwrangler's beading kits. Not the bead crochet ones, but one of the actual beading kits, like maybe the floral thing or the vine wave kit. I'm trying really hard to be good, though, finances are really tight so I can't get too carried away.

The embossed stitch socks are going along nicely. One of the great things about this stitch pattern is that it's easy to count repeats, so I am doing a much better job at matching length on this sock than on previous socks. I counted 9 diamonds before the heel, and then I plan to count diamonds on the foot too so the socks will be even. I'm keeping an eye on my guage and it looks like my tension is the same on both socks. I had a mishap with the tomato socks, in that I ended up, again, with one longer than the other. I didn't realize it until I had kitchenered the toe and rather than try to pick it out - I just cut it off. The end of the toe, that is. It was kind of scary, but it worked. I picked out all the cut pieces until I got to the end of the yarn, frogged back to the beginning of the toe decreases, joined the skein back, added a few more plain rounds, and then re-kitchenered the toe.

I forgot to take a picture, either of the cut-and-frog or of the finished socks. I had stayed up kind of late by that time and I just didn't think of it.

Football season is picking up again so there will be much knitting while the SO watches sweaty men crash into each other. I'm at the heel of the embossed diamonds sock and I hope to get some progress made during the game tonight...if I can stay awake.

Scheherazade got its first outing on Sunday. I may have been a little proud of myself.



I also finished the embossed stitch socks in the C*EYE*BER Fyber Periwinkle. I am in love with these socks.



Look at the way it striped on the heel. LOOK AT IT. Love, I tell you.



Equal time for the toe.



I've already cast on number two, but once I got through the cast on I switched over to the tomato socks so I could watch yesterday's gymnastics (missed it because Scheherazade and I went to see the Lion King at the Kennedy Center).



Saturday they showed the marathon, which - I'm sorry, but until you get to the end, it's just not that interesting. :oP So I swatched for MS4.



I added one more repeat than the swatch instructions called for so I could try all my bead options.



The bottom beads are an opaque Montana blue (whatever that means) and while it shows up okay on the picture, it gets lost on the actual swatch. The clear aquamarine ones barely show at all, all you can see is the gold lining, and not much of that.



That takes it down to the two white ones, one matte (top) and one pearly (second from top), and I think I'm going to go with the matte. The pearly are okay but I prefer the matte ones. The impression of the blue with the matte white is casual and flirty, and I'm good with that.

That settled, I worked on Whispering Pines. I got through chart A and I'm now halfway through chart B.

Overdoing it

My in-progress projects have ballooned. So, here's what I'm working on at the moment:

Whispering Pines




Embossed Stitch Sock


It's actually considerably larger than that, now, I've turned the heel and everything, and I thought I had a newer picture, but apparently not. Anyway, that's enough to get the idea, although I wish I could show off the stripes on the heel.

I needed something plain for Olympic knitting, so I cast on a pair of plain socks for the SO's mom, who has been hinting rather strongly that she would like some.



The SO is highly amused because I keep calling it the Tomato Sock. That's KnitPicks Essential in Tuscany Multi, but come on - tell me it doesn't scream TOMATO at you. This sock is also considerably longer than it was when this picture was taken, because I took the picture right at the start of last night's primetime Olympics coverage, and knitted all the way through. (well, not all the way, I finally moved upstairs at 11:30. I was brushing my teeth when the men out-touched France in the medley relay and I nearly spit all over the TV in my excitement)

I did not neglect my spinning.



...But I didn't spin any of that this weekend. That's what I've been spinning up until now. I went to WYIF on Sunday and picked up a couple of little 2 oz bags of fiber for fun. I was duly cautioned that the fibers I had chosen were maybe not the best for beginners, but I chose not to care.



Because it was pretty. And because I am impatient, I bought a spindle so I could play with it right away.



I couldn't get the penny in there, it was wound too tight.

Still waiting for my MS4 yarn to arrive, so that I can decide which of my beads to use:



I also have another set of soldier socks on the needles but they were in the car when I did the photo shoot, so we will have to leave that to the imagination.