A Little Dab of Paint

A cutie patootie in my life has just turned seven. She's just fallen in love with skating, so I stenciled her a little tank top for her birthday.

This was done with glittery purple paint, using a freezer paper stencil of a silouette I found on the web. This is the first freezer paper stencil I've done for painting purposes, though I've used them for applique before. I'm impressed with the amount of detail that is possible (those fingers are tiny, people!) I used the directions from the Angry Chicken for my project.

Best of all, she liked it. Whew! Ya never know 'til it's opened.

Here They Are

As promised, here's a picture of my second pair of socks.

Yarn: Mississippi 3 (cotton/acrylic)
Needles: Size 1, 4" addi dpns
Pattern: Gull Wings, from Socks, Socks, Socks
Started: 19 April, 2006
Finished: 21 May, 2006

The socks are a bit limper than I'd like. They'll stay up, but they're certainly not snappy. The yarn was the perfect color, though.

Real Life Intervenes

Well, the lacy socks are finished! They've been done since Sunday, but no photos yet. I'm about to go wash them, as the boys are suitably occupied. The end of our homeschooling year is upon us, and the schedule has gotten quite crazy.

Now, I'm casting about for a source of uber-skinny good-for-socks stretchy cotton/lycra yarn to dye. It's not as easy to find as you'd think. I have one boy requesting a dragon sock in about 5 different colors, and another one with a 'Black Beauty' sock on his mind. Wish me luck!

On the Road

I spent Mother's Day weekend up in Ohio visiting family; central Ohio has fewer cornfields and more housing developments than I remember. Sometimes progress... isn't.

At any rate, I knit a leg through Ohio and West Virginia, turned a heel in Virginia, and finished my gusset halfway through North Carolina. Not bad for someone who gets carsick! So, hopefully, a full pair of socks will make an appearance soon. I hope you all had a lovely weekend.

One Down...

One down, and one to go. This is the first sock where my kitchener stitch actually worked out as it was supposed to. Kudos to Amy Finlay and her lovely video. I've kitchenered[1] from written instructions before, but the video made it all clear. Thank you!

I tried to use a light bulb as a darning egg, but the toe on this sock pattern is just as triangular as the heel and I couldn't fit it into the seam. A big marble might have done, though.

As an aside, I bought some wild fabric this weekend with the intention of making a tiered skirt. It's not going to happen, though, so said material needs a new lease on life. Maybe a kid-shirt. Who knows. For now, it's getting packed away until I finish those curtains. Thought I forgot about them, didn't you?

[1] Yes, it's a verb now.

The Itty Bitties

Dave asked about the needles I've been using for these socks. I can't believe I forgot to enthuse about these things - I adore them.

They're addi needles. The package is just labeled 'premium' at the bottom. They are size US 1, and are 4 inches long. The metric on the package says "2,5mm/10cm". They're some sort of metal with a matte finish on them. All of which is very nice. What sets them apart, though, is that these suckers hold on to yarn. I've got a confession to make: I'm the mistress of the flying dpn. And, by flying, I mean in the slipping out and clanging on the floor way, not in the sweater done in a weekend way. But you already knew that, right?

At any rate, these needles are nice and strong (I'd snap a bamboo needle for sure) and happily hold onto my yarn. The few stitches I've had leap off and attempt to make a run for it have been through my own fumbling. So, yes. The needles are good.

Look, Ma! No Holes!

I spent a good deal of my knitting time this weekend fighting with the gusset on this loverly sock. You see, I'm a pattern gal, at least the first time I make something. Since this is my second pair of socks EVER, I'm sticking to the pattern. Or, at least, I was. I've lost count of the number of times I've ripped out the start of this gusset, because I was supposed to pick up 15 stitches when I had 13 convenient rows to do it in. Each time I tried, I had holes appearing in my fabric. Finally, I threw up my needles in despair, knit a dishcloth, came back to the sock, and ignored the pattern. Voila! No holes.

Here's my little dishcloth, knit from an old Workbasket pattern and some scrap Sugar 'n Creme cotton. It's a great car-knitting project. After the itty-bitty dpns, my number 9 needles felt like tree trunks. It was good.