sock knitting 2012 goal met :)

Finished my 30th pair of socks for 2012.  I know it was a completely arbitrary goal but it feels good to have met it.

The heels have been turned and I've started on the cuffs of  my current socks(blue/green stranded zig-zag socks).

Started my latest and last pair of socks for the year.  They are blue/green stranded zig-zag socks.

Finished up my stranded stripey socks today.

stranded stripey socks

Started a new pair of socks - a pair of stranded striping socks.

upside down monkey socks

It was a good day.  I finished up my upside down monkey socks.  They are pair number 28 for the year.

More spinning today.  This is some alpaca plied with wool.

Shetland/camel/merino handspun

My latest handspun.  This is Shetland plied with a camel/merino mix.  The Shetland roving was a dream to spin. The camel/merino roving not so much, it had a ton of vegetation in it.  The plied yarn looks pretty good, now it just needs to be washed to set the twist.

Made some progress on my upside down monkey socks.

upside down monkey socks

Started my latest pair of socks.  These are a toe-up version of Cookie A's monkey socks.  More info can be found on my Ravelry project page.

spinning

Spun up some more yarn on my wheel.  This is a 3ply with 2 strands of red mohair/wool and 1 strand of natural wool.  It ended up being about a dk weight.  This is the last of the fiber I had previously tried and did not like spinning with my spindles.  Tomorrow I will be trying my first batch of "good" fiber on my wheel.

My current socks are pretty much finished - I just need to bind off.

My latest spun yarn.  This is about 3oz of a reddish-brown mystery wool that I chained plied.  It took me a little longer to get the hang of chain plying on the wheel than it did on on spindle but once I got it it went way faster.

spinning wheel

Christmas came early at my house - my husband bought me a new Schacht spinning wheel.  I thought I wanted the Sidekick but when I went to try out a couple of other wheels I ended up with the Matchless instead.  I loooove my new wheel.  In just a couple of days I have spun & 3-plied 8 ounces of fiber (8 oz would have taken me at least a month to spin & ply on a spindle).  It ended up being bulky weight but it is at least fairly even.

my first wheel spun yarn

spindle display

 I decided my spindles needed a new home.  After trying out a couple of different options I settled on standing them upright in a pewter pitcher filled with old buttons.

winged gate of paradise socks

Turned the heels on my winged gate of paradise socks.  This yarn is super soft and cozy, not sure if that is such a good thing.  Soft yarns usually aren't very durable.

raglan sweater finished

The raglan sweater is finished and now needs to be blocked.  I like how it fits - the color/pooling not so much.

raglan sweater cont.

I pretty much finished up my raglan sweater today.  However, once I tried it on I decided I didn't like how it looked.  The bottom half was flaring out so I ripped it back and am now re-knitting it from the waist down.

raglan sweater

Today I pulled out the raglan sweater I began knitting in September and started the sleeves.

sock knitting

Made pretty good progress on my current socks today.

winged gate of paradise socks

 

The start of my latest socks: winged gate of paradise socks.  I decided to change it up a bit with some stranded colorwork.

sock knitting

My latest socks are finished. These make 26 pairs for the year.  I haven't totally given up on making my sock goal of 30 pairs for the year but it isn't looking too good. 

North Star Alpaca fiber is now yarn

Today I finally finished plying the North Star Alpaca fiber that I've been working on.  It ended up being a light worsted weight.  Now I have to decide what it wants to be knitted into.

more sock knitting

Today was another sock knitting day.  The heels are turned on both and the decreases begun to make the heel flap.

knit hat - finished

Finished up the blue ribbed hat that I started yesterday.

knit hat

Started a new hat today.  I am knitting this following the instructions for the Jacques Cousteau Hat by Lalla Pohjanpalo.

duffer slippers

I felted up my duffer slippers today.  I like how these turned out.  The yarn I used (Green Mountain Spinnery's Green Mountain Green yarn) was a wool/mohair mix which resulted in a very fuzzy slipper once felted.

sock knitting

A quiet knitting day - just made a little bit of progress on my latest socks.

plying

Today I finally started plying my North Star Alpaca fiber.  I have decided to go with a chained 4-ply.  So far it is looking pretty good.

sock knitting

It was a good Thanksgiving Day - a day of food, football and knitting.  I finished up the brown socks that I was working on and started a new self-striping pair.

duffer slippers

Started a new pair of duffer slippers.  I went down to a size 11 (US) needles and added to rounds at the end to raise up the sides a bit.  These look like they will be much better.

scrappy slippers felted

Felted up my scrappy slippers today.  They ended up a little wonky, which I am going to blame on the mish mash of yarns that I used.  The next pair I knit I will use just one kind of yarn and a slightly smaller needle.

I-cord made on a double lucet

 A couple weeks ago while at the Ann Arbor fiber expo I purchased a small double lucet from sistermaide. I have to admit I love small wooden gadgets like this.  Tonight I made my first I-cord with it.  Not having any particular plans for the cord,  I am going to try felting it.  I think it has bracelet potential.

sock knitting

Today I just worked on my latest socks.  

mini mitten

Bought a little mitten keychain & pattern (by knitcellaneous) today at a local yarn store.  Very cute and super quick to knit.  These would make cute christmas tree ornaments.

scrappy slippers

Knitted a pair a duffer slippers out of some worsted weight scrap yarns. The pattern was pretty straightforward and easy to follow.  They certainly knit up quickly.   Now they just need to be felted.  Hopefully the mix of yarns play nicely together and all felt up the same.

knitting

Started a new pair of socks today.  Not the, um, prettiest yarn ever but the person I am knitting these for won't care.

sock knitting

Finally finished up my diagonal socks today.  Love how this yarn feels.  Hopefully it wears well, I will definitely use it again in the future if it lasts.

green felted hat

hat ready to be felted

hat after felting

I decided to try making another felted hat, this time in green.  In an effort to use up what I already have I am  using 3 strands together of Patons Classic Wool to get a super bulky weight yarn.  Tomorrow I just have to finish up the crown decreases and then it will be ready to felt.




Update (11/13/12): the hat is felted and 3 strands made a very thick & dense fabric - 2 strands probably would have been better.