a knitted hug

"A knitted hug" is how I described this little shawl in the card I wrote to the recipient of this shawl. She's a dear, and she was there for me as I was losing my granddad to kidney cancer last year, and now her grandma is going through the same thing. Just as I knit baby stuff with good intentions for the wee one, I knit this shawl with thoughts of peace and healing for L and her grandma through this tough time.



Yarn: Neighborhood Fibre Co. Studio Sock
Colorway: Randle Circle
Used: About two-thirds of a skein
Pattern: In the Land of Oz
(Ravelry details)



I can't say enough good things about this pattern. It is a truly easy lace pattern. You knit lace only every fourth row, and you can always tell where you are on each repeat. I love that kind of intuitive pattern. I'll definitely be knitting this again - maybe in a bigger version!

I plan on giving this to my friend today, if she's back at work. I have a feeling she went to Iowa for the weekend to be with her grandma.

a sock-ish update

I whipped through my socks-in-progress while I was in Ohio visiting my family ... and on the spur of the moment decided my mom should receive them!

Here is a link to her shot. My photo didn't turn out so well, as you can see:



I brought some "emergency sock yarn" with me, and I'm glad that I did, because I knit much of the foot of this sock in the airport and on planes:



STR lightweight in Marbles
US 1 needles
toe-up stockinette

I acquired this yarn from Irishgirlieknits' contest and it's so pretty! Continuing the spirit of giving socks away, these will go to my BFF - I gave her a pair a couple years ago. She texts me all the time to tell me the socks are keeping her feet warm on a school ice-skating trip, or that it's raining, her boots have a hole, and these are keeping her feet warm and dry. She loves pink so I think she'll love these.

I adore Socks that Rock (as the five pairs of socks I've knit from it show) but I'm starting to realize in hindsight, I should have made more purchases in Mediumweight rather than Lightweight. The 360-yard put-up in LW doesn't make for very tall socks when you're knitting for size 10 and 11 feet (which my mom, the BFF and I all have). Ah well. I will just knit shorter socks is all!

current projects

Here's what I'm working on these days:



Toe-up sock, no pattern (yikes!)
Socks that Rock Lightweight, ST-1
72 stitches, 2x2 rib
US 1 needles

I got together with some knitterly friends at an Irish pub yesterday and made a ton of progress on this and now I'm past the heel flap and onto the leg.

I also am working on a shawlette for a friend:


Pattern: In the Land of Oz shawlette (a very easy feather-and-fan pattern)
Yarn: Neighborhood Fiber Co. in Randle Circle
I'm nearly halfway through the charts. Super easy pattern.

Well, that's all that's going on with me right now. Hope your WIPs are flying along!