FO: Wine and Roses Mitts...

Pattern: Wine and Roses Mitts by Jolene Treace; Interweave Knits Winter 2006
Yarn: Peruvian Classic Baby Cashmere in "cashmere blue" (from Elann.com); ~1.5 balls
Needles: US2/2.75mm Clover bamboo DPNs
Time: 4 days

Notes:

This was a destashing project using the yarn I had leftover from the Union Square Market Pullover. I had just a bit less than three balls of the blue left and most of one ball of white, but this project ended up using half the blue (originally I thought if I ran out of yarn I could trim the mitts with white). So the destashing was only half successful.

The project was pretty quick despite getting confused by a couple of the chart symbols. I just decided to trust the pattern and it all worked out. Of course, part of the confusion was a result of how lumpy the lace was while knitting.


Quite a difference, no?

I would definitely recommend this pattern as a way to get rid of small amounts of leftover (fingering weight) yarn in the stash. It doesn't use much and I can imagine how you can add different colors to the edges or even stripe the cuff.

Time to get moving on those sleeves...

FO: Embossed Leaves Socks

Pattern: Embossed Leaves Socks by Mona Schmidt; Interweave Knits Winter 2005
Yarn: Regia Silk in Loden (#70); 2 skeins
Needles: US2/2.75mm Clover bamboo DPNs
Time: 1 month
Mods: Did not break yarn after turning the heel; Worked leaf chart 7 times total instead of 7.5; Grafted toes.

Notes:

I had quite a bit of fun with this. The leaf pattern kept me interested, I really liked the way the heel was worked (although I did modify that part a teeny bit), and I love the toe. I'm not sure I would use the 1x1 rib method for casting on again as this came out rather tight. But since it still fit, I didn't bother to go back and fix it. I also reinforced the heel and toes with some nylon thread since I plan on wearing these around the house all the time.

I'm not a fan of breaking the yarn and rejoining on socks. It's something I try to avoid doing when possible, and on this pattern there really wasn't any reason to do that. I just simply knit across the heel stitches, picked up stitches down the left side of the heel flap, worked across the instep, picked up stitches up the right side of the heel flap, and knit the first half of the heel stitches onto the last needle. Just like any other basic sock.

I ended up leaving the last half repeat of the lace chart because it would have made the socks too long for me. I'm not sure if this is because my row gauge was off, but I know that it was spot on for the leg. Who knows?

Overall, this was a great pattern. I can see why so many people have made these socks. The yarn is also really nice, especially since it doesn't irritate my skin.

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The rational side of me says I should get going on the sleeves for Brilliant Retro. Unfortunately, having my size 2 DPNs freed up meant the rational side lost...


First of the Wine and Roses Mitts

On the bright side, these are going really fast AND I'm using up some leftover yarn that's been sitting in the stash for a year.