Slippers for DH

Yes, I know, pretty plain... these were made more for practicality than beauty. Just some basic slipper socks for about a size 11 mens.

Magic 8 CO 10(20) stitches
Knit 2 rounds
*kfb, knit to last st on first needle, kfb, kfb on second needle to the last st, kfb
Knit 1 round
Repeat from * until 26(52) st
Add 3rd needle to beginning of work, these first two needles will be the heel
Knit in the round for about 40 st or 5 inches
Begin heel:
Knit heel to last st, slip st, wrap, and move st back
Purl to last st, slip, wrap, and move st back
Knit to 2nd to last st, slip, wrap and move st back
Purl to 2nd to last st, slip, wrap and move st back
Continue to Knit (or Purl), slipping & wrapping until there are 6 st not wrapped
Knit across, pick up 1st wrapped st & knit, wrap the next already wrapped st and move st back
Purl across, pick up 1st wrapped st & purl, wrap the next already wrapped st and move st back
Continue to Knit (or Purl), picking up wrapped st, until all wrapped st are knit (or purl)
Wrap the first and last st on the needle not being worked
Begin knitting in the round again, picking up the wrapped st
Knit two more rounds
Begin 2x2 rib, knitting around for about 19 rows or 3 in
CO on row 20

Feeling reinspired

Finally finished blanket #2! Recipiant is very happy :-). As I was getting to the end I was getting more involved, mentally I guess you could say. Got through the last skein in just a couple of days. Then I was still thinking about knitting... I was kind of surprised as I expected to want a break.

So today I cast on my next project... Slipper socks for DH. He has an ideal slipper sock in mind, so this will be a test. The last pair I made (which were my 1st attempt at the genre) did not pass muster. This time I have the luxury of having the feet available for measuring.

I like to get the CO and increasing out of the way before deciding on a pattern an am now at that point. Although I first need to decide if there should be a pattern at all. The pair I'm replacing did not pattern except to have a color change around the cuff. I don't really have an ideal color match in my stash for that, so we'll see about that when we get there.

I know I haven't posted pics in a while and do intend to, however my 1st blanket is in the wash, the slipper socks done in between the blankets are MIA, and the camera battery needs a charge...

Girls slippers

Doing this as a copy and paste so hope it all translates correctly :-). Pics to follow...

fig 8 co 20
knit round 2 rows
add one by knitting into front & back of first stitch & last stitch of each needle
knit one round
add one to the first & last stitch on each needle
knit round
add one to the first & last stitch on each needle
knit round
add one to the first & last stitch on each needle (36 stitches)
knit round
add a needle to the heel section
r1-4: knit round
r5: knit heel, k2, yo, *k2tog, yo, repeat from *, end with k2 (19 stitches now on this needle)
r6: knit
r7: knit, on top needle k9, k2tog, k to end
r8: knit
r9-12: repeat r5-8
r13: knit heel, k2, c4b, repeat for top
r14: knit
r15: knit heel, c4b, k2, repeat for top
r16: knit
r17-18: repeat r13-14 except c4f
r19: knit heel, k4, *c4f, k2, repeat from *
r20: knit
r21-24: repeat r13-16
r25-32: repeat r5-8 twice
begin heel:
k heel to last stitch, slip stitch, wrap, and move back
purl to last stitch, slip & wrap, move back
knit across to 2 nd to last stitch, slip & wrap
purl across to 2 nd to last stitch, slip & wrap
continue slip & wrap until 5 on each side are wrapped
knit across, pick up 1 st wrapped stitch & knit, wrap already wrapped stitch
purl across to 1 st wrapped stitch, knit wrap & stitch, wrap already wrapped stitch
continue picking up wraps until all have been, wrapping the first & last stitch on the front needle

begin knitting around again, picking up the wrapped stitches
after 2 knit rows, continue knitting round in 2x2 rib until desired length (~3 inches)

Downtime...

Most of my knitting is done while I'm working on the road, thus when work is in "downtime" my knitting seems to do the same.

I've been home for about 2 mos now and I've not completed much. I was working on a blanket while on the road and was able to get that done once home. Perhpas unfortunately, the next project was to be a blanket also. These take too long to get that sense of accomplishment that keeps one going.

I managed to cast on and get going, but got side tracked by a yarn sale and did some slippers. I was very happy with the results and was able to get back to the blanket for a while. That slowly dropped off though as it seemed to be getting nowhere.

I'm just about to the end of skein 3 of 4, so the light at the end of the tunnel is starting to glow and I hope to get this finished within a couple weeks.

Once I finish I hope to post patterns and pics of these recent projects. Then I'm going to work on smaller & funner projects...

Windy City Twist... FInished

Finished this scarf for myself after taking a brief hiatis to do some christmas projects. Ended up liking the pattern and the way it worked out very much as the scarf took on some length.

Fingerless Gloves to match...

After I made my Windy City Twist I still had some of the yarn left so I decided to work on some wrist warmers. I wanted to use the basic rib but also wanted to add in some interest with cables resembling a twist. I couldn't find a pattern was working for me, so I just got started with the rib. Then I decided to just start putting in cables and see how it worked out. It wasn't quite what I had in mind, but I like it and I made it up so that somehow makes it better :-) It was kind of complicated getting the cables to work on the left glove, but making it work backwards on the right glove was even more of a challenge. With that being said, here is my pattern:

BOTH GLOVES: CO 36 st on 7 dpns

k1, p1 in the round until ~4 1/2 inches

LEFT GLOVE

k1, p1, k16, *k1, p1, repeat from *; work this for three rows or ~ 5 inches

Begin the cable pattern

1) k1, p1, k2, c4b, k4, c4f, k2, *k1, p1, repeat from *

2) (begin knitting out of the round) (k1, p1)x8, k1, p16, k1, p1

3) k1, p1, k1, c4b, k6, c4f, k1, *k1, p1, repeat from *

4-6) even rows repeat row 2

5) k1, p1, k2, c4f, k4, c4b, k2, *k1, p1, repeat from *

7) k1, p1, k3, c4f, k2, c4b, k3, *k1, p1, repeat from *

8) (begin knitting in the round) k1, p1, k16, *k1, p1, repeat from *

9) k1, p1, k4, c4f, c4b, k4, *k1, p1, repeat from *

10-20) even rows repeat row 8

11) k1, p1, k4, c4b, c4f, k4, *k1, p1, repeat from *

13) k1, p1, k3, c4b, k2, c4f, k3, *k1, p1, repeat from *

15) repeat row 1

17) repeat row 3

19) k1, p1, c4b, k8, c4f, *k1, p1, repeat from *

21-22) repeat row 8

23) bind off

RIGHT GLOVE

(k1, p1) x9, k16, k1, p1; work this for three rows or ~ 5 inches

Begin the cable pattern

1) (k1, p1) x9, k2, c4b, k4, c4f, k3, p1

2) (begin knitting out of the round) k1, p17, (k1, p1) x9

3) (k1, p1) x9, k1, c4b, k6, c4f, k2, p1

4-6) even rows repeat row 2

5) (k1, p1) x9, k2, c4f, k4, c4b, k3, p1

7) (k1, p1) x9, k3, c4f, k2, c4b, k4, p1

8) (begin knitting in the round) (k1, p1) x9, k17, p1

9) (k1, p1) x9, k4, c4f, c4b, k5, p1

10-20) even rows repeat row 8

11) (k1, p1) x9, k4, c4b, c4f, k5, p1

13) (k1, p1) x9, k3, c4b, k2, c4f, k4, p1

15) repeat row 1

17) repeat row 3

19) (k1, p1) x9, c4b, k8, c4f, k1, p1

21-22) repeat row 8

23) bind off

Kitchen Towel

Not the best pic, but I'm so happy with this I had to post ASAP! I followed this pattern and used my fav Lily Sugar 'n Cream in Potpourri Ombre on size 7 needles. It took one skein for the body of the towel and a little of a 2nd skein to complete the decreasing on the handle section. This is part of a Christmas gift and I need to make at least one more and then possibly matching dish clothes. Time is running out and I now realize I should've started knitting these gifts earlier!