First FO of '08

Yay socks! I finished the second Bellatrix yesterday afternoon. Didn't get a chance to blog until now. So here they are:

I really love them a lot. Can't wait to wear them. And last night when I got home from work, I decided that I just HAD to cast on the Embossed Leaves sock from "Favorite Socks," in my Dream in Color Smooshy "Happy Forest" yarn. So great. So pretty. Here's where I'm currently at:

It's working up much faster than anticipated. So, yay. I'm ahead on my Sock-a-Week project. I'm thinking this is good. I've got hockey game tomorrow and Saturday night and I've planned a short sojourn to Pittsburgh for Sunday. It's been much too long since I've gotten to see best friend Elizabeth who moved away for work. So I don't foresee too much knitting happening this weekend.

Sadly, in my zeal for sock knitting, my sleeve knitting has nearly vanished. I did a bit at the new SnB group that's been started to meet here in Mentor, on Tuesday, but spent more time chatting with new knitting friends, and not so much on the sleeves. Oh well, no worries.

Very excited, Mom just found my Snapfish order in the side door (who knows when it arrived)! Last week I ordered 131 prints (give or take) to be scrapbooked. Something about the New Year made the scrap bug bite me hard. I haven't done any scrapping for myself in ages. So, I've been impatiently waiting, made a trip down to the Cord Camera in Macedonia to stock up on supplies, sketched out ideas for all the pages I have in mind, so I should be ready to go. Maybe tomorrow night.....

A New Goal

Not much to offer today. Had a busy weekend at work - 11 games in less than 48 hours - and therefore didn't get much knitting done. The Steelers game didn't help either. I started the sleeves during the football game, and have gotten this far: Less than 6 inches. Very uninspiring. It's good that I'm doing both at one time, I'm running out of steam for the double seed stitch. Need to hurry up and finish these so I can block them. Last night I started the second Bellatrix sock, and got this far:
Most of the leg. Here's a close up of the pattern. Still loving it. And over on Ravelry, I found a group to join - the Weekly Sock Group. The idea is that you knit a sock a week, from stash, for at least 6 months. How cool is that. Last night, I went through my sock stash and found that, I have enough sock yarn to complete 6 months of this challenge and a little bit more. So by the time this is all done, I'll be able to re-stock. Anyway, I figured that this would be a good way to use up my gorgeous yarn that I love and adore, in a more timely fashion.

So here are my own personal rules.

1. A week begins Monday and ends Sunday.
2. Time is able to be made up in the following week, as long as the next sock is finished too.
3. Challenge time: 30 weeks. Which would put me at 15 pairs of socks by July 27. I know it's more than 6 months, but I like the number 15.

So, I'm counting last week as the first week, because I did complete a sock. Wish me luck.

First Project of the Year

And it is... the Bellatrix Socks by Gigi Silva. I first stumbled across the pattern this summer, but didn't have the right yarn. I mean, the pattern is based on a Harry Potter character, and although most of you think I'm a dork for loving HP, it had to be just right. Enter Black Purl. As soon as I saw this yarn on the Loopy Ewe, I knew that I HAD to have it. It was just so gorgeous. And then once it was in my hands, I knew, it had to become Bellatrix. And then I had to wait because I had so many other things going on. So behold, Bellatrix.

Seriously, for those of you who have read HP or have seen the last movie, is this yarn not absolutely perfect? It is rare that a project works out so well that the yarn is perfect for the pattern and ends up looking better than you hoped, and this is how this sock is for me so far. That's how far I got yesterday. The leg went SUPERFAST! (as Leo would say). Love it!

I also managed to finish the front of the Notre Dame sweater - there really wasn't that much left. So here's where it stands.

I'm going to replace the stitch holders with waste yarn, this after realizing that it still needed to be blocked, and I think that the plastic holders won't fare as well as some yarn. But I think it's coming along very nicely. Onto the sleeves.

Yesterday, I came to the conclusion that I have a child sized head. In circumference at least. I broke down and tried on Kaylee's tam, since my hair wasn't in a pony tail. And it fit. But not in length. So, I'm thinking that I'm going to make it again, with fewer cast on stitches and more increases so that the top, patterned part is the same, but it will fit her head. Maybe then, I can give her the hat I promised back in November. Here's Mom modeling it.

She's so going to kill me when she sees this. So leave comments on how cute and very Scottish she looks.