Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Yarn Along

This week I broke my cardinal rule of simplicity and cast on 2 new projects.  I had to.  I was afraid I would lose my nerve if I didn't cast on and if I tried to decide which one to start first I would just revert to something else.  And something easier.  So here is my first attempt at socks and my first attempt at a grownup garment.  It's only the sample socks from Toe-Up 2-at-a-Time Socks.  I wonder if they'll fit Littler?  Even if they don't I'll probably make another pair the same so that there will be a dark pair and and light pair.  And so I can get a little more practice.  Then I might attempt a pair for the WeatherMan.  He's not into hand knits himself but would tolerate socks.  And I think would like that I made something for him for once. 

The second project is a February Lady sweater for me.  Not because it seems to be popular in the blogsophere currently (helped, no doubt, by Ginny's lovely example) but because I picked it months ago thinking I should be able to actually pull it off.  I'm not very far yet so I'm still at the point where I look at it and think it looks terrible and will never come out like it's supposed to.  But I still have plenty to go for it to shape up ;-) 


Here is the blocked shawl, now ready for me to write a card and ship off.  I'm sorry that the photos do not to justice to the colors of the yarn.  The second photo is a little closer but still not quite what it really looks like.  

My other finished object this week was a novel, The Owl Killers by Karen Maitland.  Set in an English village in 1321 and using several characters as narrators it is the story of the conflict  between and fears of the villagers and the local beguinage (a self-sustaining community of women.)  Both the plot and the characters really sucked me in.  At times it reminded me of the later (and much darker) Harry Potter books and also the Johnny Depp movie Sleepy Hollow and M. Night Shyamalan's The Village.  These are dark and dangerous times and most people are just trying to do what is best (and often that means what is best for themselves.) 

Linking up with Ginny's Yarn Along :)


8 comments:

Tracey ~ Clover said...

Well Kate, you have cast on two projects that are on my list too. I really am excited to see how you like doing the two socks at a time from the toe up, I'm a little scared to try!
Have a great yarn along day.

karen said...

You will love the FLS it's a fun knit. The shawl is beautiful, you did a great job :) Good luck with your socks, they look fantastic right this very moment!!

Jen said...

Wow! You don't fool around when you want to cast on for new projects. :-)

I've never knit two socks at a time, so I wish you the best of luck. I think it will make it easier to tackle this technique when you go to make another pair of socks. After this, you can do anything you set your mind to with respect to socks.

steph said...

Your shawl is lovely!!! The socks and Feb Lady's sweater will be a breeze after that!!!!

Erica Saint said...

The book sounds good! I put it on my list. I bought everything to knit two at a time toe up socks and then chickened out. I am looking forward to updates on yours. :-)

embracingitall said...

The shawl looks lovely. Have fun knitting your FL sweater. It's one of my favourites, but not gotten around to knitting it yet. The books sounds great. I might have to look it up. Jacinta

Erin @ Wild Whispers said...

I hope your socks come out awesome! The shawl is beautiful, too!

cpcable said...

You can do it! Way to challenge yourself. You're an inspiration. And your shawl looks lovely!