Progress on socks and other things to finish

This is the view out the window in the living room from a morning or two ago. I was taking a bunch of photos to play around with resizing and lining things up on a page. I am not very skilled with this whole coding business, but I'm not doing too bad considering that less than ten years ago I was typing everything up on my typewriter and didn't even know how to turn on a computer. I like the colors in the sky, so I might as well share it.

Only 3 more rounds left to go on the Retro Rib socks, though who knows when I'll get to finish them. Anne can either sleep for 4 hours or 4 minutes, and I'm never sure which one it will be. The yarn is Regia Bamboo 1066/Jamaica if I haven't mentioned it before.

Oh look. Here's the Retro Rib sock sitting and waiting for a sewn bind off. And what's that beside it? Another project? I know I swore to finish all my WIP's before starting anything new, but...but... Ok, you got me. I'll have these to show soon, they are custom fit socks for Anne after I've had enough of the stupid store bought socks that pop off her feet all the time. More on that later.

The yarn for Anne's socks is left-over Regia Cotton Surf 5411 (I now call it Horrid Pink, it'd be ok if the light pink weren't so salmony orange). I used it in 2005 to make my first pair of socks since I started knitting over 10 years ago. They were a bit too big, but washing and drying in the machines helped. I don't really love them, I sort of tolerate them in that they are my first short row socks and my first socks in real sock yarn (don't ask what my very first socks were made of). I used Priscilla Gibson-Roberts yarn-over method, and I've used the wrapped stitch short rows for other socks as well. I don't have a favorite, but I do like toe-up over top-down for the short row socks.

This photo is too much like that of the Yarn Harlot but I was surprised that I caught myself knitting while cooking. I never do things like that, I generally don't take my knitting out of the house with me, either. But it had been One of Those Days, not getting enough done and the baby was finally napping so I grabbed the needles while I waited for the pasta to cook. Not only was I knitting and cooking, I was swaying. I must have been in some zombie state not to realize it right away, though I'm glad no one came in to find me cooking, knitting and swaying back and forth in the kitchen. That's vegetable soup on the stove, by the way. It's a basic recipe, but it's the way my grandmother made it for years and I won't make another variation of it.

Along with all the other projects I need to finish, I want to make the kids sets of these bears from an old Sirdar pattern book. I had to do quite a bit of hunting to find a pattern for bears in 3 sizes for Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Google and Ebay are wonderful. I was also sent a pattern for Fiber Trends Nuts about Squirrels from my mother in law from Montana who knows how much I love these guys. I'll actually have to buy fun fur. The thought disturbs me.

Then there's the child's cabled raglan pattern I created last summer and bought the Elann Peruvian Highland Wool in Starlight Blue for it. It's fun to knit for a baby, and my older son is just starting to come around to wearing something handknit. Maybe. Then there's the 50 cent copy of Learn to Knit that started it all. I think this is where my mother learned it from, but she gave it up after one scarf for my father. I found the book and some aluminum US 10.5's and acrylic that reeked of camphor in an old camphorated wooden chest my dad acquired in Thailand while he was in the air force. I guess that's the Thai version of a cedar chest. My first attempts were hideous and way too big. The first yarn I bought was Lion Brand Homespun (never, never, NEVER again). Eh, you have to start somewhere. I've tried to keep records of what I've knit, scraps of the yarn and the ball band but I know I've missed quite a bit. I'll drag out my record book sometime, though I need a better system. I do like how blogging helps organize it, but there's nothing like having something you can touch. One more thing on my list; organize a better record book.