Heat map

The spouse thought of the name and I think it's quite fitting, given the colors. The pattern is the Double Eyelet Rib Socks, by Wendy Johnson, modified to seven repeats around the foot instead of 8 (total 56 stitches instead of 64).


The yarn is something I bought in Germany many years ago, called Belday. It reminds me of a Regia colorway I once worked with, except that it has a bright red instead of orange, but otherwise the striping pattern is very similar, to the point that I am sure they were intentionally imitating Regia's colorway. Here's a picture without flash, but neither one of them captures the colors well.


Someone might wonder if 56 stitches are enough for an adult sock. They were just right for me and I have no complaints.

Sapphires

Again, some pattern I found in ravelry but never added to my favorites. I just knitted a few rows, memorized it and now I cannot remember what it is or how I came across it. It's a very easy honeycomb pattern, but I would not have come up with it on my own. Pity I cannot give due credit.

The socks are very pretty, thanks to the beautiful yarn from Rabbitworks. The colorway is called "Cryptic Notes".

Micro

I almost named this shawl "redemption" given the recent bad luck I've had with shawls. But this is just a small kiri, and Micro is what best describes it.


It's not for me, it's for my sister, who admired my Nano once. My sister is allergic to wool, so I had to use cotton. I'm using something called Basics, from the Italian brand lana grossa. It's shiny and soft and much better than your regular dishcloth cotton... but frankly, I prefer Mexican Sinfonia. It splits much less, and one 100g skein holds many more yards than a 50g skein, which is how they sell Basics. Plus Sinfonia is cheaper.


I only used two skeins of basics for this shawl. That meant hiding four ends. Cotton is not lace friendly when it comes to weaving in ends. If I had gone with Sinfonia, I could have finished this shawl with only one skein.


Live and learn...

Confetti

For some reason, I forgot to post this pair of socks here after posting them in Ravelry. Well, here they are:



It's a simple pattern, with lace ladders all around it. On the back of the sock the lace is made with purl stitches as an experiment. There isn't really much difference in the end result. The little holes and the splashes of color make me think of confetti, hence the name.

I seriously thought I should name them "transition socks", since I finished them as I was changing jobs. But the truth is, the job change is completely unrelated to the socks. It came about without me having any control in the process.

Long story short, I was told my contract was not going to be renewed, but before my contract was over I had found a different job. The new job is nothing to be excited about, but then, there is no such thing as a perfect job. I consider myself lucky to have avoided unemployment. I even managed to squeeze in a long weekend in a Mountain Lodge between jobs.


The yarn is called Admiral Flakes, by Schoppen Wolle. I loved it. It came with my swap socks from Estibaliz and it was a wonderful gift.

Haruni

There was once an incomplete shawl that ended up abandoned in a corner after running out of yarn. Several attempts were made to substitute with a similar yarn. None worked. But finally, I am pleased to announce that embroidery floss, split in half, worked out. It's only the final crochet row that ended up finished with floss, the rest is all kidsilk spray. Which is, by the way, a terrible yarn for this pattern. The two contrasting colors create splotches that blur the pretty leaf design. All in all, I loved the yarn and the pattern, but not the combination of both.

Slanted

Socks for the spouse, kindly modeled by him. Sometime ago in Ravelry I found something similar but forgot to save the link, so I recreated the pattern as best as I could. Made with Cascade Heritage.

They're Here!

They arrived last Saturday, but with the spouse taking until the last minute to file taxes I was unable to post pictures until today: In addition to my socks, Estibaliz included som Admiral Flakes yarn, stitch markers, needle point protectors, a row counter, a cute little purse, lip gloss and..... chocolate ladubugs! I love chocolate. They did not last long. As for the socks, they are warm and cozy and fit perfectly well. I only wish I knew what yarn it is, otherwise they are never going in the washer. I'm very happy with my socks. I wore them already and now they're soaking in Woolite.

Right on time

My swap socks were finished a week ago, then washed, blocked, and finally sent this Saturday to their destination. I hope their new owner likes them!

Monochrome Argyle

I finished today the spouse's socks, the ones that were originally on my needles. I finished them using my grandmother's needles which, unlike my addis, have a stiffer cable and the union between cable and needle is not as smooth. Anyway, picture time: Regarding the swap socks, this is the Rabbitworks yarn in the "Cryptic Notes" colorway. The camera does not do it justice. It combines several hues of deep blue. I look at it and think of sapphires. And this is how it looks when combined with "Revenge" using the Pinwheel pattern: I had to add a stitch, given that when knitting with two yarns you need an even number of stitches. Also, I refuse to make a pinwheel garter stitch toe. I know the garter stitch pinwheels are what give this pattern its name, but I personally find garter stitch toes very uncomfortable. This is the toe I prefer to wear, and so I used it for this pair of socks too.

Better than nothing

At least I am past the toes. Which isn't much, especially considering that I am going to rip the few rows I've knit after finishing the increases.



I am making Pinwheel Socks. I have made two pairs so far and feel confident enough with the pattern that I will not have to worry about screwing things up. I also wanted to try it with a single yarn, given that so far I have used this pattern to get rid of scraps.

It turns out that the real beauty of this pattern lies in the vertical stripes. Using only one yarn is creating a very boring pair of socks. Luckily, I have another skein of this Rabbitworks yarn, in a pretty blue colorway called "Cryptic Notes". I hope they work well together.