I have several finished items that I’ve neglected to share on the blog. I keep wearing them and forgetting to take a picture and when I do think of taking a picture, they’re in the laundry or some other unphotographable state. But no more! What’s more, even though I knitted them a while ago, they’re lace so I’m thoroughly enjoying them this grey, sunny, hailing, heat wave, cloudy, normal Portland spring. Winter and Summer fight over who should dominate Spring, but eventually Summer always wins out.

In the meantime, I will wear these lovely green socks. The pattern is Polly Jean (though I had Michael Jackson’s Billy Jean stuck in my head the entire time I spent knitting them) and it’s a free pattern! I changed it up a little. I subtracted a couple stitches from the cast-on since I like my socks pretty snug. I also opted to not to the twisted stitches, though they do look pretty, just because I don’t like to knit twisted stitches.

Thirdly, I did a basic 2×2 ribbing for the cuff instead of the 1×1 ribbing called for in the pattern. I like how snug the cuffs are but I did lose the way 1×1 ribbing would have flowed right into the main pattern. To that I say oh well. I love these socks! I also love that the yarn was free. It’s Louet Gems that I won in a contest. How awesome is that.

Another free lace pattern with free yarn. These super soft fingerless mitts are Cafe Au Lait Mitts (free Rav download).

The yarn is Bouton d’Or Ksar and I got it from a secret pal a while back. It’s 50% camel and 50% wool and is so amazingly soft! I had 2 balls of it and I have maybe 1/2 a ball left. I wish I had a thousand balls of this yarn. I changed not a thing on this pattern and I love love love my mitts.

In other news, I have doing a ton of gardening! I really want to put a picture of my garden on here but, like my knitting, every time I think of it, the conditions aren’t quite right for picture taking. Things are starting to grow and I’m excited for the summer when everything will be leafy and full of vegetables. I’m looking forward to a summer full of yummy salads like this one from Eco Metro!

Me:’ Hey, I’ve gotten to where I should start the decreases so try it on and see if it seems about right.

Mike:’ Um, it feels kind of loose. Maybe the decreases should start earlier.

I rip back 7 rows and knit about half the decrease rows.

Me:’ Okay, try this on now and see how it feels.

Mike: It’s too tight. The decreases probably should have started where the pattern said.

So I got to rip back again, reknit the 7 straight rows and then do all the decreasing. Not a big deal but a little annoying. I guess the universe is all balanced out now that I had to knit the top of the second mitten twice too.

(This is Mike’s “Ha, ha, you can’t tell if I’m flipping you off or not” picture. Thanks, Mike. )

The pattern is Basic Men’s Mittens (Rav link)’ and the main yarn is Lion Wool and the burgundy is some Cascade 220.

FO #2 is a pair of socks that I knit this summer but never blogged. I knit most of them on our camping trip to southern Oregon and they won a ribbon at the state fair! I really just started wearing them now that the weather is good and cold. I don’t remember what yarn I used and I wish I did because it’s such a pretty color! The pattern is the Embossed Leaves from IK. (Rav link)’ I followed the pattern exactly but do wish that I had made the leg a little longer. I certainly had enough yarn left over to add another repeat. Oh well, I still love them!

And that’s all for 2009. I did knit some cute soakers for the kiddo that never made it on here but diaper covers aren’t super interesting to most people so you’re not missing much. If you’d like a complete recap of this year’s knitting, just click on the ‘FOs 2008′ in my tag cloud over on the right.

I have some failed Christmas knitting and a knitting disaster of 2008 that I’ll be posting soon but I want to ring in the new year with something positive so that’ll have to wait. Goodness knows I need positive things to happen this year!

Even though the weather was grey and drizzly this weekend (how quickly weather changes in Portland!) we spent a lot of time outside. Here are some pretties from the weekend.

We went to the park and there were already lots of leaves on the ground. It really is feeling like autumn. I want some more sunny days!
Did you know that winged seeds are called samaras?’ I love this cluster of them.

I saw this tree while walking in our neighborhood. I don’t know what it is but I think the fruits hanging down are really pretty.

This is a volunteer plant growing in our front yard. It’s probably a pumpkin but I’ll have to wait a while longer to find out for sure. I like mysteries!

Climbing the steps back home. I do love nasturtiums.

Finally some knitting to show! I’ve mostly knit for the baby this summer but these are Mike’s socks! They’re his first pair of handknit socks and I think they’re a hit. They’re basic toe-up socks with a heel flap and 2×2 ribbing up top. The yarn is Regia 4-ply and the color is Patch Antik #5759.

So the contest. The lovely Vanessa of Designs by Vanessa is hosting a contest on her blog and the prize is a coffee sweater from my etsy shop! So go on over, check out her blog and enter to win!

Hopefully I’ll have some more knitting pictures soon. I hope you’re all having a nice Monday!

E is for evergreens and emerging life.

One of the great things about my job is that there is a trail through the woods on the property. I love the evergreens for their height and beauty and I get to look at them all day. When not looking high in the trees, though, the trail hasn’t been very pretty this winter. With the coming of spring, I have been discovering life emerging from the seemingly dead vegetation. It takes some close inspection but things are starting to grow and emerge from the bare branches. I thought I’d share some of my pictures with you because I love this time of year!
(If you’re just here for the knitting-I’ve got that covered! It’s after the nature pictures)

I wish I could tell you what all these plants are but I really don’t know. I’m pretty good at identifying trees but that’s about as far as my plant knowledge goes. I wish my backyard were looking this pretty and full of life. It’s a mess of weeds, bare ground and a lumpy lawn but I need the rain to stop before I can fix it!

This isn’t on the trail through the woods but I thought I’d include the flowering cherry tree because it’s pretty and pink and it’s pink and red month at Project Spectrum.

Speaking of Project Spectrum, I have some knitting to show you! I finally finished my red Cascading Leaves sock. I finished the 1st one right after Christmas but then I got sidetracked by other projects so it’s been sad and alone- until today! I love, love, love this pair of socks because it’s the first pair I’ve ever knit for myself! The yarn is sock garden from knitpicks and it’s so soft and snuggly on my feet. Look how nicely they fit my feet! The only drawback to the sock garden is that it’s 100% merino -that explains the super softness but it also means they won’t be the most long-lasting socks unless I treat them very carefully.
I used this pattern to make my mom some socks but I didn’t really like how square the toe was on her pair, (sorry, Mom!) so I changed it on mine. I’m looking for a new sock project now! Now that I have 1 pair, I think I need some more. I don’t want my 1 pair of handknit socks to be lonely in my drawer. What is your favorite sock yarn? I’ve only used the sock garden and Lorna’s Laces shepherd sock which is lovely but a little pricey.

The pattern I settled on (for those of you that missed it in my previous posts) is Cascading Leaves from the Towsend socks knitalong yahoo group. I changed it by making the ribbed section at the top longer, making the leg of the sock a lot longer that the original pattern, and by extending the pattern down the top of the foot. I think it makes for a much prettier sock. The only thing I’m not 100% happy about is how square the toe is. It rounds out nicely when the sock is being worn, but I prefer the look of a rounder toe so I think I’ll modify that when I finish my own pair. All in all, I find this pattern really fun to knit, which is good because I still have to finish my own pair!

1st in line for finishing, though, is my backyard leaves scarf. It’s almost done so I’ll post an updated picture soon. I didn’t think I would be this excited about a scarf but I simply can’t wait to wear it!

Ta da! Here is my very first pair of knitted socks! I was happy to have finished the 1st one but a complete pair is much more exciting. I wore them for a few minutes last night but then put them away because they’re a Christmas present. I will miss them but (hopefully) they will be loved my my mother in law. It’s exciting to finish projects. Now the only thing I’m knitting is a sweater for myself. Mike’s flame sweater needs blocking and then it’ll be done. I might just have to start something new.

Here’s the info on my socks:

Pattern: Dublin Bay Socks- a free pattern found online. I have a link to it on my sidebar.

Yarn: Lorna’s Laces shepherd sock. The colorway is called watercolor. This was my first time using this yarn and it feels really nice! It’s 4-ply, though, and can be splitty.

Knit for: Diane, my mother-in-law since she often buys me cute socks.

Changes I made: I decreased a few extra stitches so the foot was 4 stitches smaller then the pattern called for. I tried them on when I’d knit the “correct” number and they felt loose around my foot. They feel perfect now so I only hope Diane’s feet are the same as mine!

What I learned: How to knit a sock! It was easier than I imagined and much quicker than I thought knitting on size 1 needles would be. I need to make another pair, this time for me.

I hope you all had a great Halloween yesterday! I handed out candy to trick-or-treaters and it was fun- my first halloween in our new house. Here’s a picture of the pumpkins we carved.

As promised a whie ago, here’s Phoebe minus a lot of fur. She doesn’t really hold still so it was hard to get a non-blurry shot.While I’m showing off my pets, here’s a picture Mike took. It’s a rare occurance because my cats hate each other. Well, it’s really just one that hates the other but we rarely see them both in the same place at the same time. Here they are, though, both sleeping on my bed. The top one is Ramona and the bottom kitty is Gatsby.

1. Daylight savings sucks for me this year. I went to the store this morning to get some breakfast on my way to work (yes, I have to work on Sundays) and was surprised that the store was closed even though the signs said it should have been open. So I went to a different store that was open and thought I was going to be late for work, and was getting stressed out and driving faster than I should have when I realized that I never set my clocks back last night! So, here I am, an hour early for work on a Sunday. It sucks but at least I have my sock with me to knit!
2. I’ve been doing some frogging! Speaking of my sock, I have successfully turned the heel (I don’t know why that scared me so much). I couldn’t tell from the pattern what was going to happen to my sock when I started knitting and turning my work but miraculously, a turned heel appeared! This sock thing isn’t so hard after all. I did frog several rows lastnight, though, because it was a little loose around the foot and I wanted to decrease a little more. I’ll post a picture tomorrow- I’m going to a comedy club tonight so that doesn’t leave time for posting pics. I also frogged about 8 inches of the last sleeve of Mike’s flame sweater because I realized that 8 inches back I somehow switched knitting needles and so my gauge was all wrong! How do I do things like that? Does anyone else make such dumb errors and not notice?
3. About comments: I know you’re out there reading my blog but nothing makes me happier than comments from you all. I know you’ve got something to say! A reader of another blog said that she didn’t know that bloggers really appreciate comments so if you’re like her, I’m here to tell you that they do! I never realized this myself until I became a blogger.
4. Okay, I know I said 3 things but here’s a 4th. I haven’t forgotten that I promised you a picture of Phoebe post-haircut. Once I finished cutting her hair I didn’t want to immediately torture her more with a flashing camera so I decided to wait a few days. It will come tomorrow.