Well, they're definitely too small. I noticed it about an inch in, but did I stop? No. I even tried it on (It was a struggle, let me tell you!) and knew it was too tight. Did I stop then? No. When did I stop? When I finished the whole leg! HAHAHAHHAHAHAA! Ahem...

So, yeah...this will be frogged and reknit, probably on 2.75 mm needles. This version was knit on (the recommended, but I'm using less smooshy yarn and I'm a tight knitter) 2.25s. Oh, and I can't find my 2.50 mm DPNs. Anyone seen them? The last project I knit on them were my bright orange socks, but I finished those up in February. I wish I were organized.

Well, I frogged my "walking socks" today. I tried it on late last week and the yarn (Froehlich Wolle Special Blauband) just isn't nice or interesting enough to work in mindless stockinette. Oh, well...I'm thinking of pairing it with some black yarn (Brown Sheep Wildfoote Luxury Sock) that I have and making some striped knee-highs.

I also finished frogging the last big of my Dogwood Donna yarn. I still have the intarsia flower and a bit more on the side, since Nadine said she'd sew me a lining and put a zipper in it so that I'll have a little pouch. It's felted already, so I don't have anything else to do for it. Kind of an FO, kind of a WIP.

In FO-related news, I finished a baby cape that I was working on. The buttons are sewn on and everything! I just need to take some good pictures of it and it'll will be ready to send out. Oh, and apparently I have baby shoulders, since it fits me!

And finally...

I cast on for a new pair of socks for myself. I'm a bit worried that they're knitting up too small, but I seem to be getting the correct gauge for the pattern.

So...remember my grand stash plans?

05.01.2008
Stash: 19,036.90 (up 2,822.20)
To Swap/Sell: 3,758.60 (down 12,722.60)
Overall: 22,795.50 (down 9,900.40)

So...not too bad. I have bought A LOT of yarn over the past four months, mostly for gifts, but definitely for stuff for me, too. A few yarns keep moving back and forth between my stash and stuff I want to swap/sell, so I think the total number is what I really need to keep an eye on.

I've definitely been knitting quite a bit and finishing a lot of items. There are a lot of gifts, so 3 of them haven't been blogged yet, but I've finished up 4,949.10 yds. Not too shabby.

I don't have an "ideal" for how big I want my stash to be at the moment. If I can just get through all of the things I want to have done by the end of the summer* and manage not to buy any other yarn until Stitches Midwest in August, I'll be very, very, very happy. Wish me luck!

*Baby Cape (720 yds), Walking Socks (450 yds), Wedding Capelet v. 1.0 (250 yds), John's Sweater (2420 yds), Final Wedding Capelet (520 yds), Nadine's Shawl (1148 yds)...Total = 5508 yds

Pattern: Cable Footies from One Skein
For: me
Yarn: 128 yds Plymouth Encore Colorspun Worsted in 7009 (left over from Auntie Helen's Birthday Shawl)
Needles: US size 7 Knit Picks Options
Timeline: started 04.19.2008; finished 04.21.2008

Yeah, what can I say? If I like a pattern and it knits up quickly, I'll probably make it more than once. Nothing much to report here. Yay for using up some stash and making some little socks to wear at Yarn School. We had a lot of cold weather, so they were definitely needed.

Hello! We are fraternal twins. :)

Pattern: 86-10 Headband in Alaska from Drops, AKA Panta
For: Me
Yarn: ~67 yds Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Pollen
Needles: US 7 Bamboo Straights
Timeline: started 04.18.2008; finished 04.18.2008

I lost my first Panta and have been meaning to make a replacement for a while. I didn't want to run out of yarn and wasn't sure I liked how wide my first one turned out, so I went ahead and left out one pattern repeat. (I cast on 16 sts instead of 19.) I think it turned out well. I love how Malabrigo knits up on 7s. Just lovely. So...yeah. Yay for Panta.

Pattern: Cable Footies from One Skein
For: Nadine
Yarn: ~161 yds Cascade 220 Heathers in Straw
Needles: US 8 plastic DPNs, set of 5
Timeline: started 04.13.2008; finished 04.17.2008

This pattern was really straightforward. I wanted to use up this odd skein of 220 that I had, and this took care of most of it (almost 75%), so that was cool. I'm not really sure what else to say. The pattern was clear, the yarn was fine, blahblahblah. Oh, and they knit up really, really fast. I made these for Nadine, but I might make myself a pair at some point. It's a great pattern to use up an odd ball of worsted weight yarn.

The only thing I might change is not going down to such few stitches, since the toe ended up pretty pointy. Oh, and this is the first time I cabled without a cable needle for an entire project. Definitely fun and fast using thicker yarn made of wool.

Pattern: Laburnum Socks from Sensational Knitted Socks
For: Nick's 29th birthday
Yarn: Schachenmayr nomotta Regia Bamboo Color in Jaffa, almost 2 full skeins
Needles: US 2 / 2.75 mm Knit Picks 6" metal DPNs
Timeline: started 03.05.2008; finished 03.27.2008

About to be wrapped.

I don't have too much to say about these. I'm impressed that I finished them relatively quickly and, as always, using Sensational Knitted Socks was a breeze. I cast on 70 sts, got about 7.5 spi, and was shooting for a wide-ish size 10 men's sock. I knit them toe-up to use as much yarn as possible, used the short row toe and heel, and ended with a tubular bind-off.

I've tried to make these socks once before, so I was glad I gave the stitch pattern another chance. They came out pretty nice, although the pattern wants to bias a bit on the leg. I did get some pooling, but I actually sort of liked it. I've used the Regia Bamboo Color for socks before and it's really lovely stuff. Great stuff for summer socks.

Wrapped.

I'm really enjoying knitting socks lately. Now, I just need to make some more for myself.

...at least when it comes to blog content. I finished a project today, but it's for a gift, so no blogging about that for now. This is the fourth project that I've had to put on hold due to secrecy requirements in the past few months. No fun. Luckily, one of them should be gifted this week, so hopefully some blog content will be forthcoming.

In other news, I signed up for two classes at Stitches Midwest. I'm taking Great Beginnings (basically a class on a bunch of cast-ons) with Susanna Hansson and Brandon Mably's Concentration on Color & Design in Knitting. I'm excited about both of them because they'll each make me do something that will make me a better knitter. While the Hansson class will give me the opportunity to brush up on some straightforward technique issues related to when to use specific cast-ons, the Mably class will let me really play with my knitting, which I never really make the time to do.

And, of course, there are only 12 more days until Yarn School. I have a short list of what I should bring, but I'll need to make a more specific one so that I can get packing. I can't wait!

Oh, and finally...if you're on Ravelry and haven't already heard, there's a huuuuuge fundraising push right now, so be a RavelRaiser. I am, so...you should, too.