SM5 - Eisregen

Round Five of Sock Madness brought me to my knees. It used more stitches and yards than any of the other rounds. It was just filled with bobbles - I was not a fan.

They were also far too big for me. Far too big. Since I started a day or so late, and a few of the speedy teams had finishers already, I knew this going in, and decided to knit it for my mom. I used the yarn I had bought for her - Knit Picks Stroll in Wine Tasting - and knit them on size 2 needles. When she visited in April, I tried them on, and they fit comfortably.

So I had her Christmas Gift! I wrapped them up and set them aside in my "gifts" bin for the end of the year.

Ravelry Project Page

Farmer Saffron Socks

Last year, I bought some "Firefly: Serenity Class" yarn in Bounce and Stomp from Nerd Girl Yarns for a pair of Firefly Weave socks for my brother! Well, I also bought a second skein at the same time, for my husband, and I finally got around the making them!

I used the Farmer McDonald socks from Socktopus, which was a pattern well-worth purchasing! I turned it into a toe-up sock, and didn't carry the pattern on to the back because it wouldn't fit over the Mister's heel.

I absolutely love the way the pooling turned out! It was completely un-intentional, but I'm so in love! It's completely different from the other pair!

These will be given to him for Christmas, since he doesn't actually know I finished them!

Ravelry Project Page

Heather's Mitts

A co-worker of mine saw my October Mitts when I wore them to work, and she asked for a pair of her own, but picked out new colors.  

They turned out very well, although my tension got more even (and therefore smaller) on the second mitt.

Ravelry Project Page

Very Hungry Caterpillar

I had been looking for an excuse to knit this for years, and then this April, it came - a Children's Book themed baby shower!

It was a pretty quick knit, and I'm very happy with it! It was nice to work with some thicker yarn (worsted held double) after having done socks for a few months.

I hope to eventually see the baby in it, though it was for a distant acquaintance, so I'm not sure I ever will.

We gifted it with a book and a rattle - I love the little kit it made!

Ravelry Project

Ben's Birthday Moss Socks

Between rounds three and four of Sock Madness, I somehow had the urge to...knit more socks.

Well, I guess that's a little misleading. I had already knit these socks for my brother, and I had knit them with exactly the same construction of the Firefly socks I had knit him, and then I got a call, literally the night they were blocking, saying he had a few fit problems with those socks.

Don't get me wrong - I'm really glad he called. I would much rather knit him socks that he'll wear, especially since he likes them so much, but the timing was...non-ideal.

Well, during Round Two, I had gone to my Uncle's party, and while there, I tried the socks on his feet for heel alignment. I had already knit toe-up, and the problem area had been the heel, so I tried (for the first time) a toe-up heel flap. I frogged the cuffs, finished the two heels, and then headed home.

In April I got the bug to finish them. They were, after all, supposed to be a March birthday gift. So knitting back the Ramen Yarn, I finished them up and sent them off!

And the best part is? This was deep-stash yarn!

Ravelry Project Page

Hacky Sack - Striped DC Ball

This was another pattern I created myself, so once again, I'll be showing you in two posts. In the mean time, here are my creations.

First up, Cole's hackysack. He said he liked blue, so here it is. This one was completed in September.

Ravelry Project: Cole

October brought us Randall's hackysack. He likes orange and green, so this was a perfect fit.

Ravelry Project: Randall

Another October creation, Aunt Kathy's was done with scraps, and slightly adapted since the yarn was thicker, so all Double-crochets are half-double crochets instead.

Ravelry Project: Kathy

Finally, we have the one I made for Adi, completed in November. I never got color requests from him, so I just went with red and brown.

Ravelry Project: Adi