Another pair of February socks!

I made a pair of socks for Hubby! He shrunk the last pair I made him, so I made these extra long.

 

I used two skeins of I Love This Wool Naturals, US5 needles, and my favorite pattern: Hunter Socks. The yarn is not superwash, and I wouldn't normally use it for socks, but I'm trying to destash by using up yarn. I doubt I'll buy this yarn again; it's not very soft, and there were lots of little bits of grass in it, that I had to pick out as I went along.

I knit these socks in just six days. I had planned for them to be my March socks, but I just couldn't put them down once I started. So now I need to pick another project for March. 

Too busy to blog...until now...

Well, hi there! I haven't posted anything in a few weeks. I've been so focused on losing weight...or trying to...that I haven't thought of blogging at all. Well, now I have time. Every once in a while, my joints get inflamed, and I'm in so much pain I can hardly move. It's happened again, and I haven't been able to work out for several days. I've done a little yoga, and some crunches and such, but other than that, I've spent much of this week in bed. While I've been laid up, I was able to finish a pair of socks...

 I used some lovely Malabrigo Sock yarn in "Velvet Grapes", and my own pattern, Hunter Socks. I made these ones a little longer in the leg than the original green ones. They're very soft and comfy, and are making my aching feet and ankles feel a little better.

This time around, the pain has struck only my lower half, probably because of the dance fitness I've been doing twice a day for most of this month. Anyway, my arms are fine so far, so I gave myself a haircut last night. It's always tricky to cut my own hair, but I decided it was getting a little too long and shaggy, and once I got started, I couldn't stop. I cut off about six inches in length; it's pretty short now. But I like how it turned out.

You can also see that my face is looking a little thinner... I haven't lost much weight, but I've lost inches all over. I'm starting to separate out some clothes that are too big now, and that's a wonderful feeling.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to when the pain stops, so I can get back to exercising. I'm desperate to lose weight, and I have a long way to go.

New Patterns

Hello readers! I had three new patterns published yesterday!

 R&R Shawl is available on Knit Picks for $2.99.

Hunter Socks is available on Knit Picks for $2.99. The pattern contains both sizes.

Bottoms Up Dishcloth Set is available on Knit Picks for $1.99.

Hunter Socks!

I finished Hubby's Hunter Socks! And we had a little photo shoot today. ☻

Hubby's socks...

Me on Hubby's lap...

Us...

With Sarah, my shotgun (which was unloaded and pointed in a safe direction, with the safety on)...

Totally off-topic: OMG, I need to go on a diet after Christmas! Yikes!

Knittin'

Check out my new socks! These are the sockweight version of my Hunter Socks. I'm working on another pair of worsted weight ones for my Hubby. And I'm writing the pattern as I go. 

 And I took a three-day break from the Hunter Socks, to make this!

It's not my own design, though I did alter the pattern considerably. My mother-in-law made beautiful Christmas stockings for everyone in the family; Hubby and me, our kids, Hubby's sister and brother. But she passed away five years ago. Well, Hubby's sis just had her first baby in September. Since Grandma isn't around to make it, and every baby needs her own special handmade stocking, I made this one for her. 

Hunter Socks

Hubby was a little jealous that I'm always making stuff for other people. He wanted me to knit him something. Specifically, socks. For hunting. Now, Hubby has enormous feet, which is why I hadn't made him any socks previously. But since they're for hunting, he wanted them thick. I decided I could use worsted-weight yarn and knit them at a very tight gauge. I asked Hubby what color he wanted. Orange, of course! As if you would use any other color for hunting socks! And he wanted them to be long enough to reach to the top of his boots. He didn't want them to be too fancy. He would probably have been satisfied with plain stockinette socks. But I wouldn't.

I have made one pair of "boring"(aka stockinette) socks. They took for.e.ver. I didn't enjoy working on them. I set them aside several times, in favor of more interesting projects. But patterns for worsted-weight men's-size socks are hard to find. I found one, on Knit Picks. It was a free pattern, and I discovered why after downloading it. It was a basic sock recipe, more of a tutorial than a pattern. It left all the math up to the knitter. I get that some people like patterns like that, but I don't. If I'm going to have to do all the math myself, I might as well design my own pattern. So I did.

I came up with a single-color argyle design, and designed Hubby's socks. Each sock took two skeins of Knit Picks Swish Worsted yarn. They turned out a little goofy-looking, as I adjusted the argyle design halfway through, but they'll do for the design proposal.

Now I'm working on tweaking the design and writing up the proposal. I'm going to write it for both worsted-weight in men's size, and sock-weight in women's size. I think I'll request green yarns, since they don't have anything that looks like camouflage...