A Year of Knitting

Last summer I decided it would be the summer I learned to knit socks.  I followed the Winwick Mum sock tutorial.  I got as far as the heel flap and had to rip out several times. 

The needles were narrow and the yarn was thin.  I lost track of stitches over and over again and got frustrated and frogged the whole thing.
It turned out not to be a summer to learn how to knit socks. Too many other things were going on!

I bought a pattern for an easy garter-stitch shawl and started in on that, but lost interest as I am prone to do and instead crocheted up a chunky basket using thick yarn and a big hook. This was very satisfying!

Using the same yarn, but in a different color, I knitted up a dog sweater for my sweet pit-bull who has that super short hair which makes me cold to look at him. (No pictures yet of him wearing it--it got too warm for it as soon as it was off the needles--of course!)

I figured, by then, if I could handle the dog sweater--which involved some creative shaping to get over his big chest and then taper down his narrow waist--I could go back to the socks.  Which I did.

Obviously I am not worried about being matchy matchy.

The "good" heel flap

I ended up with one heel flap being much more tightly knit than the other (which is not visible in the picture--nor will anyone else really ever notice since that bit is inside the shoe). I am sure this was probably due to beginners anxiety as this was the area I had had so much trouble with starting out.

At the end of all this, I was ready to finish up the shawl.  It is the Beachcomber shawl from Knit Picks. I like it, but it is an unusual shape.  I am going to soak it and block it and see how it looks when it grows a little.  

Once I got going, it did not take long to make.  I like the colors a lot and the overall feel of it.  I messed up on one of the stripes--made it the wrong color.  But I can't even find where I did that anymore.  Now I just need to go the beach and try it out!

Lots of stripes = lots of ends to weave

This picot edge was particularly fun to do.

My mom got me a sock pattern and some yarn for my birthday. And I am ready to go again with socks--although I think I will use the Winwick Mum pattern again now that I have the hang of it.

The magnolia tree is blossoming, and we keep bringing in a bloom and setting it on the big table. The subtle scent is the smell of the beginning of summer in the south.