Baycation Socks

Our trusty Salty Acorn boat did not have any problems this year, as we made our way to Ocracoke, North Carolina. The weather was good, and I got in a lot of knitting time!!!! The blue striped socks are the Stashbuster Spirals, the pattern for which can be found online. The blue/tan socks were a new yarn for me: Jitterbug 100% wool, handpainted from Colinette and the yarn is wonderful - very firm and great stitch definition. The fair isle socks are a repeat of socks I have knit before: Bird Foot, designed by RedBirdKnits.

Ribbing and Buttonholes and Steeks

The wrist ribbing was totally stretched out from over-zealous blocking on my new wooly board, and I had thought to try to rewet and reblock, but it was so stretched out that I felt as though it would be useless to try, so I just reknit the wrist bands. Now they look a lot better.
The first band I knit for the center of the cardigan worked out well. Even the colors cooperated. But the buttonholes for the other band were another story. I reknit the first buttonhole about 10 times before it started making any sense to me, and each buttonhole got better as I went along, although I am not totally happy with them. Then I went on the the tacking down of steeks on the inside. I will not show the inside on my blog, since it looks quite awful, primarily because of the color changes. I overcast and tacked the edges with purple on the first band, and while it looked acceptable on the purple and red sections, it was hideous on the yellow and green since it showed up very vividly. The only way around this was to have cut multiple sections of color from the remaining yarn, and I wasn't about to do that. So it will have to do.
The collar ribbing is also slightly too big, and I am going to do some single crochet around the edge to see if I can tighten it up slightly. The sweater is very comfortable to wear, and it looks fairly good if one doesn't inspect the inside. Polymer clay buttons are up next, but since I'm going on vacation tomorrow(!!) it will have to wait.

Kauni Cardigan Progress

Shown on my new Wooly Board! Now I have to cut the center open, and pick up bands and do buttonholes. Yikes. All in corrugated ribbing. Double yikes!

I started out with two huge 290 gm skeins of this yarn, and I just weighed what remains, and IT IS 233 gms!!! I love the yarn and am already thinking about another sweater with the leftovers. In case you're interested, I am knitting the large size.

Stashbusters Spiral Socks

This is an older pattern from the Six Sox KAL, but one I have not knitted before. The technique of using leftover yarn in jogless spirals is intriguing, and appeals to my frugal nature. I used three different yarns, all blue variegated ones, but changed the pattern to have the heels, toes, and ribbing the same color. The pattern is here: Stashbusters Spiral Socks
I also chose to do my usual dutch heel, since short row heels don't fit my feet well. Just started the second sock in an attempt to keep myself busy while waiting for the next clue in the Mystery Stole #3 KAL.
My Kauni is dry after having blocked on the wooly blocker overnight, and I will now have to cut the front and add ribbing. More procrastination on my part since there are more decisions to be made. I plan on making the buttons for the sweater from polymer clay and have to do some sketches and color mixing.

Mystery Stole 3 KAL, Clue 1

Here is the completion of the first clue for the Mystery Stole 3 KAL. Melanie is still accepting members to the group until July 6, so if you are interested, check it out. Here is the link: Mystery Stole 3 KAL

Anyway, the yarn is white (pure white, even though it looks yellowed) Zephyr, wool and silk, and knit on US #5 / 3.75 mm Bryspun straight needles. There are also embedded transparent AB beads but the picture doesn't show them at all. I knit the last mystery stole which Melanie designed last summer, and it was gorgeous, so I am fully expecting this one to be as well designed.