Knitting In Public

Yippee! I have finally finished the sock I have been test knitting for Jeanie Townsend. It’s called the Cathedral sock, and it is so perfectly written! Not only is it easy to follow, but Jeanie included the shift she used in the ribbing so it all lines up so pretty with the pattern. I’m way behind in getting this done, and I have a small start on the 2nd sock, but this one is sure to be completed as this is a gorgeous sock.

Pattern: Cathedral socks by Jeanie Townsend. Available for purchase

here (scroll down to June 4th entry) for $5, I think.

Needles: CO with

Brittany 1.5 dpns, knit with

Brittany 1.0 dpns
Yarn: KnitPicks Essential, DuskI have knit socks with the KnitPicks Essential before, and it has never felt this soft before. I can hardly keep from petting the yarn! I love the color and can see myself making lots of socks in this colorway.

Here’s a close-up of the design:

Check out how nicely the ribbing goes right into the pattern. Brilliant!

OK. Back to knitting now. Coming soon: photos of more socks and other FO’s

Here is my “week’s worth” of knitting:

Pretty pathetic.

I’m loving how the pattern is coming out, and it’s an easy one to memorize. This is the first time I’ve used CTH for socks, and I love the feel of it! What’s even better is that most of the inside is the knit side of the reverse stockinette, so it’s oh. so. smooth!

I hope to get more done this weekend - but I’ll be working a lot in the office to get caught up on that nasty paperwork (I am soooo behind). Then Mystery Stole 3 starts today, too. With this work schedule, I’m just not getting to knit as much as I’d like. What you see above is ribbing that was finished Sunday, then the lace portion is knitting with Mary and a little bit last night. I even missed knitting with my Caribou group this week!

I hope to wow you soon! ‘Til then - keep on knitting (so at least someone makes progress)!

We have had a wonderful adventure over the last month. I was just thinking about pulling weeds and getting ready to plant some flowers in the garden by my front door, when we discovered this:

A Mallard duck had decided to make her nest in my garden! We decided to let the garden go this year, so Mama could keep her nest. This photo was taken on May 19, 2007. Within a day or two, Mama had covered the eggs with leaves and twigs, then started leaving bits of down. Soon she settled in for the long wait. Occasionally she would leave the nest, and C & D went out to check the egg count…..9! We have awaited our duckling babies, envisioning a duckie parade down the driveway… so yesterday, we looked out to see this:

Babies! (Look closely, in front of Mama’s breast.) Over the course of the day, we managed to see at least 4 or 5 of them. At times, they would be beside Mama, and at other times, she would have them tucked beneath her again. So, technically, the babies were still born ” in the spring.” Today is the Summer Solstice, and the nest is empty and Mama and the ducklings are gone. They slipped away without us noticing, so we missed the parade. We’ll be checking out the pond to see if that is where our little family has gone.

Now it’s time to get back to knitting - Summer of Socks starts today, so I need to get started on my Summer Solstice socks!

I am eagerly awaiting the start of ”Summer of Socks 2007″ (June 21, the summer solstice). I still can’t figure out how to add buttons to my blog - am hoping C can figure this out for me and get it going….I have lots of buttons to add!

I have a pattern ready and some CTH supersock yarn, so I’m all ready to go. Here’s a peek:

The photo isn’t the best - I tried to get the colors of the yarn to show, but it’s a pretty bright red/orange mix. It’s all wound into a cake and ready to start this Thursday! I thought it would be fun to make my first pair with the pattern “Summer Solstice” since we are starting on June 21. My goal is to complete a pair of socks every other week. I also have the Mystery Stole 3 KAL to work on (that doesn’t start until June 29, so I’ll have a week to get a good jump on these socks) and I have joined the Civil War Shawl KAL. I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep up on that one. It has already started, and I don’t have the pattern yet (it’s on the way) or any fingering weight yarn in that quantity (nearly 5000 yards). The last round of the shawl has 1200 stitches! It surely is a beautiful shawl, though, and I’m reading through the posts to pick up any corrections or hints on how to do various sections.

Work has been so busy lately that I haven’t had much chance to knit. I’m looking forward to having some time this weekend to relax with my knitting. I’m going to take some photos of possible yarn/bead combinations for the MS3. I’m hoping you can help me decide which I should use!~

I’ve joined a new KAL - Mystery Shawl 3. We will actually get “homework assignments” each week. I hope to be able to keep up with the group. We won’t know what the finished shawl looks like until we’re done…. It sounded fun, and after I joined the group, I discovered that two of the shawl patterns I purchased in the past were actually Mystery Shawl 1 (Leda’s Dream) and Mystery Shawl 2 (Scheherazade)! The first clue will be published on June 29, and there will be an extra week when the new Harry Potter book is released, so we have ‘time’ to read the book. Since I loved her previous shawls, I’m excited and anticipate that this shawl will also be a knockout! I’m sure this will be “at home” knitting, and I’ll be continuing with my Summer of Socks when I’m Knitting In Public.

  Today is Worldwide Knit in Public Day! What an appropriate day to start my blog! I hope you all had a chance to be knitting where others could see you, and admire your craft!

I’m finally up and running on a knitting blog, with the help of my “geek” son. (Thanks, C!) I’m always among the last to jump on the bandwagon — I hate to tell you how long it took me to get a CD and a DVD player!I’ve joined “Summer of Socks 2007″ and they require a “regularly updated” blog to participate. Hopefully it will keep me on track and knitting this summer, and reducing my sock yarn stash! SOS starts June 21 (summer solstice) and ends September 21 (autumn equinox). I’ve bought some CTH supersock in bright reds/oranges and will use the pattern from Heartstrings called Summer Solstice for my first pair of SOS socks. After that, I have a long “to do” list, including patterns from Six_Sox_Knitalong, Jeanie Townsend, and Cookie A. Meanwhile, I’m trying to finish up the socks I currently have OTN.

Enjoy your Knitting In Public!