WIP of the Week - Cape Cod Socks

Remember that Sock Landscape yarn that Knit Picks used to have? I've had a skein in my stash forever, in the Cape Cod colorway. So, it was a no-brainer what my travel project would be for our trip to the Cape a few weeks ago. I consulted Ravelry for pattern ideas and found that someone had knit gorgeous socks in the same colorway using the Elongated Corded Rib pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks. Perfect!!! (What did we ever do before Ravelry??)

The pattern is fun and knits up pretty quickly, but when we got home from the Cape I ditched the poor sock after getting obsessed with the Casino Shawl. A few days ago I picked it up again and finished the first one.So pretty and a perfect fit!! I love the way socks in ribbed patterns fit. I was a little sad to see the pooling on the gusset - you can't see it as well in the picture, but the tan sections really pooled and it looks kind of funny.

It's getting very cloudy out and it's cool here. My house is spotless and the laundry is done. I think I'll curl up on the couch with some tea and get to work on Cape Cod sock #2!!

Just another in the LONG list of reasons why I'll never be consided cool . . .

I'm one of those weirdos who feels the need to attend a Renaissance Faire in costume.Not the best picture, but the day was so HOT and HUMID I instantly regretted dressing in layers. (Don't you love the glare coming from my pasty-white bosom? I shutter to think the blog hits that phrase will get me.)

But oh, the Faire was so much fun. We saw horses and jousters and merchants and knife throwers and pickle sellers. And the Fiber Hut, where they were kind enough to teach me (again) how to use a drop spindle. I swear I'm going to get it this time. I was particularly interested in the shops selling costumes. From what I saw, skirts can go for about $50 and corsets run about $75. I couldn't scope out the prices on the under-dresses, but I'm more than satisfied already. You see, I made my own costume, with $20 worth of fabric from Wal-mart and a bunch of random notions I already had on hand. That puts me at least $100 ahead already.

But the absolute best part of the day was that I was escorted by my very own prince.
He'll always be my Knight in Shining Armour - even if he refused to wear the costume. :)

WIP of the Week - The Story of the Shawls

Pea and I are going on a cruise in November. For some reason, I got obsessed with the thought of knitting a neutral colored lace shawl to wear. I tried to talk myself out of it, because I've got plenty of other projects I need to finish up. But I kept thinking about a new shawl. Before I knew it, I was cruising (no pun intended) Ravelry for shawl patterns. And I become fixated on a shawl I've considered time and time again. The Casino Shawl. Before you could say "last call for all bets" I had ordered, downloaded and printed the pattern.

Then I read it. And promptly decided it was far to complicated for my second lace shawl project. (When I say "second lace shawl project" I'm ignoring the half of the Mystery Stole I knit.) I turned back to my Ravelry queue and decided to cast on for The Snowdrop Shawl instead. I began it knit and very quickly I had this.
And it's a pretty start. In fact, it's very pretty. But I didn't love it. I kept thinking about the Casino Shawl. I looked at the pattern again and started to think that it would have all made more sense when I had the needles and yarn in my hand. Maybe I could have managed it. That's when Pea said "You really haven't gotten that far, I think you should just rip it out and knit the other one.". This was wonderful advice . . . . except that it forced me to admit to him that I had a whole other skein of yarn that was earmarked for the Casino Shawl. (Not that he doesn't fully understand the sheer volume of my stash, but I do try to avoid reminding him of it!) So, Snowdrop when onto a waste-yarn stitch-holder and Casino was cast on. All 305 provisional stitches. And I've made it through the first 8 rows . . . but only with complete silence, bright light, undivided attention, the tinking of almost one full row, and one improvisational fix for an extra stitch that came out of no where.

Okay, okay, not much to look at in that picture. It's just a bunch of off-white ruffle on the green provisional cast-on yarn. Let's pin it out and see what we have.

The beginnings for some Spades. Yes, many, many hours in complete silence and that's all I have to show for it. I keep reminding myself that this is probably the hardest and longest part. The triangle is getting smaller with each row, so by the end I will be zipping along. At least, that's what I keep telling myself . . . .

September???

How the heck did the summer go by so fast? Time for another monthly knit list already? I didn't even finish my last one. Here's what happened.

1. Finish my July Holiday Headstart project - DONE!!!
2. Knit a pair of Fetchings for my August Holiday Headstart project - DONE!!! (Although I never got around to posting them. Heck, we all know what Fetchings look like though.)
3. Finish the first Seduction Sock - Nope. I ended up frogging these. I did start the Pillars of Atlantis socks in their place, but haven't quite finished the first one. I also started a new pair of socks when we went to Cape Cod. I'm almost done with the first one.
4. Finish Mystery Stole 3 - Nope, didn't finish this either. When the theme and the "wing" got announced, I put it into hibernation so I could figure out if I wanted to knit the wing or not. I've decided that I will knit it as written, with the wing, but I'm not sure how soon I'll pick it up again.

So, for September I think I will keep my list very short and try a little project monogamy. Here's what I have planned.

1. Finish either the Cape Cod socks or the Pillars of Atlantis socks.
2. Knit another Amanda's Squatty Sidekick for Holiday Headstart.
3. Knit the Casino Shawl! I just bought this pattern today and cast on the 305 (!!) stitches, so I'm ready to go. I'm a little bit afraid that it's going to give me a knitterly smack-down, but we'll see.
   

Whew . . .

I really didn't intend to wait so long to write my next post, but life got in the way. Pea's birthday was on Saturday and my dad's was yesterday. Pea's biggest birthday wish was that I spend the whole day with him instead of the computer . . . so no blogging for me. Yesterday we spent the day out and about with my parents to do some more celebrating.

Luckily, before the Birthday Celebrations began I had just managed to catch up from our little get-away in Cape Cod. That's right, Pea and I were in Cape Cod last week!!

I was impressed by how many of you correctly guessed where we were. I was even more impressed by those of you who named the lighthouse I was standing in front of! It was the Highland Light, also known as Cape Cod Light, in Truro and I believe it is the oldest lighthouse on Cape Cod. The random number generator helped me pick a winner for the contest and chose Theresa!!! Send me your snail mail address, and I'll start putting your prize together!

Before I go attempt to get caught up on my e-mail, I wanted to show you the wonderful surprise that was waiting for me when I got home from vacation.

Ragan spoiled me with a beautiful hand-made card and some lovely hand-made stitch-markers . . . just because she is a sweetheart! Thank you so much, Ragan. I love them!