J Strizzy

Not Sure Where November Went

I finished the first Leyburn Sock last week, and started in on the second right away.  I really like these - they're obnoxiously bright, but they're really really soft and cozy, and I have a feeling I will be wearing them to bed a lot.  I'm knitting them at kind of a tight gauge, and that's how I like my socks best, nice and dense.  But not so dense that they're stiff, just enough that they're a little cushy.

I also finished the sweater I was knitting for my little dude.  Although I don't normally go in for holiday knitting, I was knitting this anyway, with plans to knit the little girl a sweater next, and since both should be done by Chanukah (or at least by the end of Chanukah - an eight-day holiday provides some leeway) and the kiddos are still little enough to not feel shortchanged if they don't get toys, holiday knitting it is.  I had plenty of yarn to knit long sleeves on the dude's sweater, and it looks adorable.  I haven't tried it on him yet but it does match the dimensions of some shirts that fit him well so it's promising. 

Today I'm eating Thanksgiving leftovers for lunch.  But not like you think!  My sister made this thing with farro and caramelized onions and roasted butternut squash and spinach and a sweet vinaigrette dressing, and it's the kind of thing that's just as delicious five days later and microwaved as it was when she first served it.  I asked her for the recipe - I have some possible variations in mind that I can't wait to try out.  Namely, the produce delivery box we're getting this week is going to have kale in it, which I think might actually be better than the spinach because it will retain a little more bite. 

Starting The Ending

Last night I went down to the basement where I keep my stash, and grabbed the envelope containing this skein of Woolarina sock yarn (it's really more of a fuchsia than the red it looks like here), and the pattern for Leyburn Socks - the last project of my self-imposed 2011 sock club.

I got on the subway and went to start my usual short-row toe with a crochet provisional cast-on, only to find that the only scrap yarn in my little bag of knitting tools was some wool/silk laceweight - hardly ideal, right?  But I persevered, since the only alternative was waiting until I got home tonight to cast on, forgoing an entire day of commute knitting time.  It worked, but I will definitely make sure I have some nice smooth worsted weight cotton with me when I'm ready to start the second sock!

Insert Clever Title Tying Together Socks And A Sweater With A Pun

My self-imposed sock club keeps on chugging.  I finished the September-October socks last weekend:

(as always click to see it bigger - I usually embed the photos from Flickr, and they don't offer a size that fits my blog format nicely)

The pattern is Sunday Swing by Kristel Nyberg, from Knitty Summer 2009 (though I knit them toe-up with a short-row heel, instead of cuff-down with a heel flap as written), and the yarn is Steinbach Wolle Activ.  They're perfectly serviceable in every way - the pattern was clearly written and charted, the yarn is nice enough, and they fit right - but nothing that (you'll have to excuse this) knocked my socks off. 

Which is fine.  Not every pair of socks has to be spectacular.  And in fact my sock wardrobe, if you can call it that, was in need of a serviceable pair of plainish dark socks, so I suppose I'm very glad to have these.

But I'm also glad to be finished and ready to move on.  I haven't yet picked out my last pair of socks for the year, but during the week in between I started a sweater for my little guy:

This is the Playground Shirt by Elena Nodel, knit in Filatura di Crosa Zara. This is what I've been able to knit in a week - I always forget how quickly baby and toddler knits can go.  It's a pretty standard top-down raglan with a collar, but I'm modifying it a little bit; the pattern calls for YOs for the raglan increases, which I thought looked a little feminine so I'm doing kfb, and instead of the pattern's short sleeves I'm going to knit these long so we won't need to deal with layers.  It's hard enough to get the boy to stand still to put on one shirt, much less two!