mitered squares and heavenly spinning

I've been unable to concentrate on any one kniting project for longer than half an hour. It has been very disconcerting lately, but I'm just not obsessed with any of my projects at the moment which is very sad. I love being completely obsessed by a project.

I have started this:

It is going to be a mitered square afgan or throw for my friend Laura up in Ottawa. Hopefully it will be ready for her birthday/christmas, which are around the same time.

I have also started spinning again. And now that I know to pre-draft the yarn, it is going a lot faster and a lot smoother than it has ever before. I really need to take classes because as of now I am self taught and I am sure I could be churning out stuff faster and of better quality if I had someone show me how. I almost have an entire bobbin full of beautifully dyed merino from Momma E's cybershop. Perhaps it will turn into socks or mittens?

on the needles

Okay so I'm still not doing a great job of regular posting but at least I'm posting twice in April. I finally have a picture of the cabled socks in progress to post.

The would have been finished by now if one of the needles hadn't broken (it's a long story about rescuing a parrot who threw a hissy fit and landed on the floor). So since I haven't been to a yarn store that stocks 2.25mm dpn in sets of 5 yet I have started to work on these from some koigu I bought at Lettuce Knit when looking for said dpn's.
My first ever pair of toe up socks! They are my own pattern and it took a couple of attempts with wrapped stiches to get this beautiful turned heel:
I only will admit to buying some beatiful alapaca/silk in a rich turquise and maybe a wee bit more koigu.

I also started work on this:

Which is a sweater of unusually construction made from a yarn called Ottawa. I have also worked a bit more on the red cashmere sweater and I am almost to the point where I have to design the armholes and neckline.

That will be all that I am going to admit to having on needles at the moment. ;)

haven't I been bad, but good

Not posting once for the whole month of March is not a good thing when you are trying to keep a blog. But I have been good and have been knitting quite a bit, I just don't seem to complete much lately. I think I'm too scatter-brained lately and seem to have a hard time concentrating on a single project for any decent length of time.

I did however work quite hard on a pair of socks:


I even had no problem starting up the second and finishing it, which is usually the problem with socks. But I think the lure of having a pair of homemade socks one out and ta da I have a pair of matching socks!!!


They are Child's First Sock's in Shell Pattern from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks (yes I even shaved my legs just for this picture). I used 2.25mm needles instead of the 2.5mm and the yarn is Lorna's Laces in Cedar. I love the subtle colour changes in the yarn and superwash definately has it's uses. Hello washing machine!

It's my second ever completed pair of socks. My mother received the first pair for her birthday and she loves them so much that I have been able to bribe her with bamboo needles and some orange koigu yarn to learn to make her own. Her goal is to get the leg part of the sock to the length she wants and on Mother's day weekend I'll show her how to make the heel and turn it.

I am currently working on another pair of socks with a blue colourway of Handmaiden merino, can anyone say yummy! It's my own pattern and there are cables (sorry no picture of this one yet). One sock is done and I'm on the heel of the second one. Maybe if I get of my procrastinating rear end I'll try to write up the pattern so it is ledgible to others and post it. I wonder if anyone will ever make them?