catching up!

incase you haven't heard, it's hotter than hell in north carolina. seriously HOT. so HOT it's in the news. so, my pictures today were not taken outdoors as usual. i was out earlier today, doing laundry, and then my weekly grocery shopping and errands, and then i quickly retreated back to my pseudo-AC'd cave.

it's funny though, town felt a bit like a ghost town today. that's not so unusual in the summer, as the coast is only 2 hours away. but still ... i think most folks are keeping a low profile and staying indoors.

okay, enough with the "oh i'm so HOT" rant.

socks! of course, SOCKS!

so, i finished the pretty rusty-colored pair of papaver socks ...


and i mailed them yesterday. these were knitted as a gift for someone i consider a mentor, who had a major back surgery recently, and she'd been admiring my socks for the last year. i wanted her to have something to help her "get back on her feet" so to speak. i'm certain she'll enjoy them.

because i gave them away, i wanted a pair for myself.


mine are on the left. i'm using some yarn i've had in stash for a bit now ... it's crystal palace panda silk. it's lovely stuff too! this yarn has tried to be other socks, socks that just didn't go anywhere. and now, it's found its pattern.

i'm almost finished with the first sock, and will quickly cast on the mate. the knitting is slow because i'm juggling too many projects right now.

the other sock in the photo is the test knit i'm doing for RoseHiver on ravelry. this month's challenge on SKA is colorwork, specifically fairisle. i've never been much of a stranded knitter, but, it's slowly getting easier. i find that my tension for my floats is best when i knit with my project inside out. yeah. i know.

it makes me still dream of knitting a fairisle sweater, and steeking! someday.

and inbetween all these socks, i did cast on another for mindless purposes ... another pair of jaywalkers.


this yarn is paca peds in colorway 'grapevine'. it's been in stash for awhile. i knew it would stripe in some fashion, so i opt'd for a pattern that was best for striping, the good 'ole jaywalker.

and if this isn't enough, i'm craving a sweater! last week, i was visiting my friends at the LYS. i hadn't planned on stopping by, and was underdressed for the AC temperatures. so, i ended up wearing a shop model for warmth. i was wearing this!


at first, i didn't care for it, but then it "grew" on me. it's called Canton from the louisa harding book called Chinoiserie. i'm going to knit the smallest size (finished 40") in colorway "intense" (a purplish shade).

the yarn arrived yesterday, i got the book yesterday too. needles are on order, but i did find a set on a project long abandoned. so, i'm pretty much ready to swatch. it should be a fairly quick knit as the shapes are all rectangles and the gauge is 4 sts/inch.

i'm very excited about this. it's going to be stunning!