Booties

I'm hoping to finish this pair of baby booties today.

The combination of 8-ply yarn, 4 mm dpns and a small item is feeling rather clumsy in my hands, so I've been procrastinating, but now they're just about done. The pattern is from Yarn Thrower. The yarn is leftover from my new bright blue baggy beret. There's also a bottom-up version of this pattern. I may try that next. Or I might cast on another pair of socks for me. I turned the heater on for the first time yesterday--winter weather is coming on.

Now, back to the knitting and I should have these done very soon.

Unhappy Needle

My planned ruffle was not a success. I guess I tried to force too many stitches into too small a space. This was the result.

I don't think it can be fixed, so I'll need to replace it. Meanwhile I've ripped out the offending stitches and am back to a plain garter stitch scarf. I guess it will have to be a crochet ruffle.

Cuff Take 2

This is the second sock of this pair.

And this is the second time I've completed the cuff. Why?, you ask. Do you see the needle in the lower part of the pic? It's not the same as the others. No, it's not! It's half a millimetre smaller --oops--bigger . In this case that matters. I completed the whole cuff before I realised I was using the wrong size needles. Then I agonised for a while about what to do. When I looked at it objectively I had to admit that the tension was noticeably different. So I ripped it out and started again. Now I can get on with the rest of the sock. The sizes are printed on the needles, but I just wasn't paying enough attention.

Success of the Travelling Sock

The second sock is done.

I had to travel to an inner city suburb to pick up some beading materials yesterday. The cost of parking is about the same as a tram fare. The tram takes a little longer, but I can  knit on the tram. I'm feeling pretty confident with my new double pointed needles, but I'd hate to drop one on the tram. And I love to explore new ways of doing things.

I changed over to two short circular needles for the foot of my sock. The knitting felt nice and secure and didn't require as much concentration as the dpn's. I knitted through my tram ride. I knitted some more while perusing the newspapers at the local library. By the time I got home I was ready to do the toe shaping.  I grafted the toe and wove in the ends over my morning coffee. Now it's all finished. And yes, I'm already thinking about my next pair of socks!

Another Happy Gift

These knitpicks double-pointed needles were also happily received on Christmas morning. This is their first outing and I'm loving them. I'm making a pair of wristies to match the coral scarf.

This is the biggest set (at 3.25 mm). The smallest is 2.00 mm. And they come in sets of six! That's enough for the five dpns I like use when knitting in the round plus an extra to use as a cable needle. They're smooth and strong and I'm not having any difficulty with laddering at the join between needles. That makes me a very happy knitter.

And One More

I had double pointed needles on my wish list when I went to the Craft and Quilt show on the weekend. It would have made sense to look for them the week before at Bendigo, but that was my play it by ear visit and I went without a list. The dpn's I found were bamboo--that's a good thing. I'm enjoying the extra bit of grip they provide. And they came in a set of five, rather than four. I'm surprised at how much easier I'm finding it knitting with this set. Stitches distributed over an even number of needles just seems to make more sense to me and despite having one more pointy stick in my hands, I'm actually finding it less of a juggle.

There's just a tiny bit of this mohair left, so these wristies will be just a little more than woolly bracelets. I found the blueberry pudding set almost too warm when I wore it on the weekend.