Monday, May 10, 2010

Catch up...

Time for a little catch up.  It seems that I've been lax in blogging since Malabrigo March, but really, it was just that I had a lot more to share during that month.  So, you may see a few posts from me today.

First and foremost, I have finally finished my Gansey Girl socks by Debbie O'Neill!  I've had these on the needles since December.  This was a test knit for the designer.  Lucky for me both socks were the same so I only needed to test the pattern for the first sock.  These were knit ShibuiKnits Sock, Wasabi colorway.  I don't know why these took me so long to finish...it's not like I didn't enjoy knitting them...second sock syndrome.  In fact, I finished the leg and foot of the second sock in less than 2 days.  I love this pattern but am really disappointed with how the yarn striped and pooled.  I totally expected this colorway to be semisolid but looking at Ravelry reviews, it seems to be the norm. Oh - and though the dye lots were the same, you can see that one sock is lighter than the other.
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Now my next FO was my first attempt at an all crochet project.  For the past two years I have knit my mother-in-law slippers for her birthday.  I didn't this year.  Not because she doesn't appreciate them...but quite the opposite.  She wears the out so quickly!  And it really disappointed me that the slippers that I've knit her have not held up well.  And with recent blow outs on my hand knit socks, I've become a bit disenchanted with hand knit foot wear.  (Note: I started the socks above before the aforementioned blow outs.)  What to do?  When I was browsing slipper patterns, I saw several crochet patterns that I really liked...but alas, I did not know how to crochet.  But the idea of crocheted slippers really excited me!  My rationale was that crocheted slippers would be thicker than knitted slippers and therefore last longer (?).  We'll see.  I found a pattern that consisted of single and double crochet stitches, only, and decided to give it go.  SO!  My first (real) crochet attempt, Mary Jane Slippers by Lisa Gutierrez knit in Shelridge Farm - Soft Touch W4, Wedgewood and Pink Lemonade colorways.  Granted they aren't exactly symmetrical but I think they turned out pretty cute, nonetheless.  These were gifted for Mother's Day and she loved them!
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3 comments:

Becky said...

Sad to hear socks have been wearing through. Had one pair of mine get a hole first time I wore them too. Hope the crocheted ones go better

Anonymous said...

Love those green socks! I'm working on a pair of socks too -- my first in months!

Amy said...

Becky - I guess I just need to learn how to darn socks. Then maybe I won't be so sad when my socks wear out.


Leslie - Thank you! I love hand knit socks...just a little gun shy about wearing them. I'll keep my eye out for yours.