Vacation knitting

It's great being on vacation. We're missing the traditional family vacation this year as my husband started a new job, and is not able to get away. Instead, it's a few day trips, some knitting, walking by the beach, some Back to School shopping, and some shameless slacking on my part. I was able to join the weekly knitting group which meets early Monday afternoon. There were many new faces and a couple of familiar ones. Projects ranged from socks, "double knitting" a blanket in a pattern (would love to try it!) to a baby hat. The group met at a Starbucks next to our LYS.

It's the second month since I joined Sockamania, and I've managed to complete both months of socks (just) in time. August's pattern, Spiralling Socks, by Anni, was interesting, and easy to follow. This pair are a Christmas present for one of my nieces.



The current project is for Socks for Soldiers. Kim runs fun contests for the group, and the yarn was won in a Fourth of July contest. I'm a bit embarrassed that it's been sitting around since then, and I've started a pair of soldier leisure socks. The self striping yarn is kind of fun; very patriotic!

Socks

Beginning in July, I've started (sock) knitting for the family for Christmas. The tally is four completed, and two pairs on the needles. The last pair completed is the blue pair below, in Cherry Tree Hill yarn, using a Nancy Bush pattern, Conwy, from her book, "Knitting on the Road". The bright red socks are Sockamania's July Serpentine Socks.



The August pattern for Sockamania is a Spiralling pattern, which was started approximately a week ago. As a cable-lover, I enjoyed the Serpentine socks better, but the spiral pattern is interesting as well. Am still on sock #1 as knitting time was limited last week. After finishing this pattern, I'll take a break from the Christmas knitting, and knit a pair for Socks for Soldiers.

Progress so far on August Sockamania:
The yarn is Opal, and the colorway is "Frosch". Yep, the pictures on the labels always help, as the label is almost totally written in German. Learning Latin in high school has helped me greatly but doesn't help me in the least with deciphering German! There are pics of some other colorways on the label as well.

Opal's "Tiger" colorway looks like fun, and has the color of a Siberian Tiger, or perhaps, my marmalade tiger:

The Yarn Harlot

Last Friday, I listened to the Yarn Harlot speak at a local bookstore. It had been a tough day at work, and I almost missed it, thinking that it would be easier to go straight home rather than fight rush hour traffic to get there. In the end, I went, and was glad that I did. Stephanie was very funny, as she took her traditional sock/audience picture, and spoke about stash, yarn, and misconceptions people had about knitters. Although some of her talk included material from her books and her blog, her personality brought the material to life, making it much funnier! We weren't as wild a bunch as in Boston, where some wild knitters threw panties! She also spoke about the generosity of knitters, and collected hats for a local shelter.

July's Serpentine Socks finished

Here's the Sockamania Club Knitalong's July socks which I was able to finish on time despite the frogging. They are pictured with one of my grapevine baskets. Enjoyed the toe-up pattern, and the heel short row's technique, which resulted in a better finished appearance. It will be interesting to see what August's pattern is like. Thanks, Anni, for the Knitalong and the original pattern! In the meantime, I'm working on sock #2 of a Nancy Bush pattern and a pair of Men's ribbed socks at work. Both are Christmas presents, so no hurry.