Finished up my latest socks - stranded striped socks.  I like how the self-striping yarn works with the stranded pattern.

sock knitting

Today I worked on my latest socks - stranded striped socks.

Reverse Rice Stitch Cowl

Made a cowl/neck warmer today.  I followed the pattern by by Angela Baldi from Pumpkin Pie Baby blog.  I like how this pattern stitch looks in the yarn I used - Kentucky Blue Fiber Company's 2ply sport weight Alpaca/ Merino.

hurricane hat no 2

Today I tried another version of the hurricane hat.  For this one I used some handspun yarn that I purchased from  Wonder Why Alpaca Farm, LLC last year at Sandhill Crane Vineyards’ Winter Wine & Wool Festival.  For this one I went with a k3 p1 ribbing which I like better than the k2p2 on my first hurricane hat.

handspun hurricane hat

Knit my first project using my own handspun yarn - a hurricane hat following the instructions at http://lovehestia.wordpress.com/2012/07/19/hurricane-hat-pattern/.  I like how it looks with the handspun yarn although I think a rolled edge would have looked better with this yarn instead of the ribbing.

recycled cashmere

Today I wound together strands of cashmere that I unraveled from some old sweaters into plying balls.  Not sure if I like the color - I might over-dye these with some Kool-aid after I've plied them on my wheel.

stranded striping socks

Started a new pair of socks - stranded with striping yarn.  I like how this yarn looks with a simple stripe pattern however I might change up the pattern a bit once I get to the cuffs.

snazzy argyles Christmas stocking

Finished up my stocking today.  I like how it turned out. I have to say it is bigger than I had envisioned, I may end up felting it down a bit.

Turned the heel and my stocking.  The argyle pattern is a little slow going but I do like how it is looking so far.

Christmas stocking

Every Christmas I get to thinking that I should make a couple of Christmas stockings for me and my husband and that is about as far as I get.  This year I am actually going to make them.  I cast on this morning and have about 4" knit on the first one.  I am following the Snazzy Argyles pattern by Linda Daniels from the book  Knit Christmas Stockings! 19 Patterns for Stockings & Ornaments.

sock knitting

Finished my first pair of socks for the new year.  I like how they turned out, however if I hadn't run out of black yarn I would have made the cuffs longer.

ear-flap hat

Today's project was an ear-flap hat for one of my little nieces.  I think it turned out cute.

seed stitch headband

A quick little headband that I made for my sister today.

first socks of 2013

Started my fist pair of socks for 2013 - in a  "goat's eye" stitch pattern following Wendy Johnson's basic gusset heel sock pattern.

recycled yarn

Today I spun up some strands of cob-weight yarn that I unraveled from some old sweaters.  Before plying them on my wheel I first wound them together into a plying ball to make them easier to manage.  The resulting yarn is nice (it is mostly cashmere) even if it is a bit Ohio State-ish in color.

handspun llama/wool

I bought a new slow whorl for my spinning wheel.  Today I gave it a whorl ,and used it to loosely ply together  a strand of llama and a strand of commercial wool.  I wanted to ply it loosely in order to try to keep the finished yarn as soft as possible.  I still need to set the twist but it seems to have worked.

I decided to start the new year by finishing up some projects that have been languishing for awhile.  First up is a pair of socks that I started for my sister about 1 1/2 years ago.  I am knitting them out of bamboo yarn.  This yarn is not exactly enjoyable to work with - it is splity, slippery and has no give to it.  Ugg.  I have since restarting on them, turned the heels and knit about 3" of the cuffs.  Tomorrow I'll decide if 3" cuffs are good enough or if they need to be a little longer.  Tonight 3" looks good enough but that may be because I'm ready to just be done with them.