Knitting and a Thought

Knitting has been done this week. I both started and finished these socks, which are Rose's Fred & George pattern:
It was with great joy that I realized I had enough leftovers of two favorite yarns to knit a pair of of these - the variegated yarn is Socks That Rock (colorway: Moss Agate) and the nearly-solid is Dream in Color's Smooshy (colorway: Merlot).

Yesterday I realized that I had a few things deep in the knitting bag that have been sorely neglected, so I shall endeavor to finish them in the coming weeks. Some of you will remember this scarf, which is (slowly) getting longer:
But I don't think anyone has seen this sock...it's Judy "Magic Cast On" Becker's Tangled Up In Blue pattern:
It shouldn't take long to knit the cuff and then I'll be ready to knit the second sock. This yarn is what I received ages ago in the Dye-o-Rama Swap - it was dyed with Kool-Aid!

I will leave you with this thought (another from C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity) - Lewis is speaking of his spiritual life, but I can see how it could apply to other areas of life where one aspires to be changed:

"If I am a field that contains nothing but grass-seed, I cannot produce wheat. Cutting the grass may keep it short: but I shall still produce grass and no wheat. If I want to produce wheat, the change must go deeper than the surface. I must be ploughed up and resown."

Finally, Some Knitting

Wow. With all the newfound freedom to branch out a little bit with my topics, I have amazingly little knitting to show you. I don't know why I haven't knit much this week. No good excuse, really. It would be so much more exciting to be able to say, "I would have knit a lot this week but I was afflicted with the plague," or "I would have knit more, but I had scurvy." I think those would be valid reasons...but I have been busy staying on top of Natalie's school work and trying to get the kids outside as much as possible before it gets too miserably hot and humid (which, I fear, is right around the corner).

I did start a new sock in the new(ish) Austermann Step Duett yarn "mit Aloe Vera und Jojoba Oil." Impressive, eh? I was happily knitting along and after trying the sock on I realized that it really needed a higher stitch count. Translation for you non-knitters: it was very tight. So here is where said sock stands now:
Clearly, I am back to square one. The yarn really is nice to knit with - you can definitely feel the effects of the aloe and jojoba. Interestingly, the colors of this yarn are a bit distracting to me because all I can think of is Trix cereal. You can almost smell it now, can't you?

I have also been (slowly) working on the Merino Lace Sock from Interweave's Favorite Socks book. It's an interesting pattern and I think the finished product will be lovely - but I only work on it in the evenings when I can concentrate on the charts:

I do actually have a finished object to show you...I finally knit my Jacobean pattern for myself! (see sidebar for free pattern ------>) These are knit in Socks That Rock in the Beryl colorway, which is darker than this photo shows.
I was really hoping to get some sewing or scrapbooking done this week, but so far, nothing. I suppose the week isn't over yet, but I feel like I need to get the house cleaned up before I can do either of those things. The house isn't terrible, but could use some sprucing up since both sewing and scrapbooking will involve dragging out supplies and having space to spread out. I am left wondering, though...am I letting the valid house-cleaning serve as a way to procrastinate about the crafting? I don't know.

A case of scurvy sure would make things a lot more cut and dry.

Baby Knits

A new friend is expecting a baby soon and while I don't know her well enough to merit spending a lot of money on a gift, I would like to give her a little something. Or a few little somethings. I decided to rummage through my stash and see what leftovers I have that might become fun baby gifts.

I've always liked the Baby Genius Burp Cloth pattern from Mason-Dixon Knitting...here it is in Sugar 'n Cream dishcloth cotton:
I also wanted to make a pair of fun booties. I've knit plenty of socks but never any booties - and besides, every girl, no matter how tiny, needs some fun shoes, right?
These are the Christine's Baby Booties pattern, knit in Socks That Rock fingering weight (colorway: Space Dust). These were so fun to knit - I'll definitely keep them in mind for future baby gifts!
I still plan to knit a few more little things to go along with these, so keep your eyes peeled...

Green

Here's a little green for your Tuesday. We've been enjoying all the things we planted. Thought I'd share a little progress pic now that it's had a little time to grow.
Even though our holiday weekend was very quiet, I did manage to start something new with some Socks That Rock (Beryl) that's been in my stash, waiting for just the right time.