Warm Winter Nights Need...

Log Cabin Socks!

I have made good progress on the first sock. I did the cables down the heel and turned it last night (though I somehow have an extra stitch, 13 instead of 12, I will address that later.) I like that the heel is cabled, I think it adds a little something extra to the design. It is nice working with this yarn too (as I mentioned yesterday) I really like how soft it is, and I can tell how warm it will be once on Amber's tootsies.

I am knitting these socks on smaller needles than the pattern calls for (#4's instead of #5's) for two reasons. The first of which is that I don't have the needles it calls for. I have #4's and #6's. Since I am a very loose knitter, #6's seemed like they would be too loose for Amber. Which brings me to my next reason, my sister-in-law has skinny ankles and feet. Her feet are so narrow, in fact, that I feel like the missing link when we are standing near eachother barefoot. I think that the #4's will be perfect for her. When I knit the pair for my husband, I will use the #6's. He didn't inherit the "narrow foot gene", which means our children are doomed. (incidentally, I don't have anything against buying new needles or anything, it's just that with all this yarn purchasing lately, the less I buy that is knitting-related, the better. Just 'til after the holidays, of course!)

In other sock-related news, I have decided to rip out the first sock I knit for my Dad way back in July. (It can be seen in this post, just scroll down, I promise it's there.) I like the way the color pooled into the visage of a stream, love it in fact. I love it so much that I forgot to write down what I did. See, I kinda made up the pattern as I was going along, and all I remember is that I used #2's and cast on 80 stitches. That's just not enough information and I know that with only that to cling to, I won't be able to match the second sock perfectly. So, I have decided to rip it out. I will likely choose one of the ribbed patterns in "Knitting Vintage Socks" for the second go-round.

I picked up my copy of "Knitting on the Road" yesterday at the bookstore. I love SO MANY of the patterns in this book! A few actually make me want to learn to incorporate color into my knitting (in the form of intarsa and fair isle, not yarn.) My favorite pair is Whitby, and I plan to make them for myself just as soon as Christmas knitting is done.

And, as promised, I have also added some eye-candy in the form of my Father-in-Law's Zig Zag Scarf (please ignore the hideous kitchen table). This photo is a better representation of the color of this yarn. The scarf is moving along, though not as quickly as I would like. Mostly due to the amount of time spent on the Log Cabin Socks, but partly due to the fact that I am only knitting it on my lunch breaks at work, which is not much time at all, once eating has been factored in. As long as it is done by Christmas...that's all I can hope for.