Knitting, With Beads

Socktoberfest Finale

Whups, where did the last month go?

These seriously purple and pink socks were knit with KnitPicks new Bare Fingering Superwash, dyed with acid dyes.  Knit with US size 1 dpns over 60 stitches, with a short-row heel, for my niece.  The yarn took the dye very well; I love the intensity of the colors.  It was nice to knit with, but I have a niggling feeling that it may pill.  Time will tell, eh?

The final pair of Socktoberfest 2006 socks off my needles was this pair of yellow/orange lace panel socks.  The yarn is Kona 2-ply fingering superwash from Wool2Dye4, dyed with acid dyes.  Knit with US size 1 dpns over 64 stitches, using  the faggoted lace panel from the 365 Knitting Stitches calender (January 28th). 

The skein I wound for dyeing was a short one, and thick.  It was sort of an experiment, although I'm not totally sure what I thought would happen.  Obviously the dye didn't penetrate, so now I have a pair of socks that doesn't really look like a pair.  The first wash released a flood of yellow dye, so now they're much more orange-y.  I'm still debating whether or not I'll overdye with red.

Mystery Solved

Like pretty much everyone else, when I come across a pattern online without a photograph, I skip it.  So the Mystery Sock KAL was an interesting challenge.  I found myself analyzing stitch patterns of some of those pictureless patterns.  There were several I liked the looks of (including this one, this one, and this one), but since I was searching for a fairly simple sock, I settled on the Lacy Sock by jp.  And since it was lace, I decided to dive into my birthday loot from Joan, choosing the solid color Wildfoote in Lilac.  I really liked knitting with this wool, and have added it to my approved sock yarn list.  As always, click on the picture for a larger version.

Sister Jane, Luida and I picked tomatoes and peppers yesterday.  Ruth, Jane's next-door neighbor, has always been generous with her garden bounty, this year especially so.  She told us about a month ago that she was done canning tomatoes, and to feel free to come pick some any time.  I knew there weren't many days left (before freezing weather hit), so we filled several bags.  I didn't bring a whole lot home, but Jane plans to pickle some peppers.  Maybe even a peck.