Various updates

I have been sewing, knitting, and even doing some stitching.  This has resulted in a nice looking Halloween bag for an exchange, a pair of socks, a beaded scissor fob and a lot of unfinished projects.  I can't show off the bag yet, it was just sent off to its new owner, so I am going to share my completed Golden Darner Scissor Fob by Fern Ridge.  I really enjoyed doing the peyote work, but got tired of the fringe at the bottom long before it was done.  It looks great though.  Now, I am working on the needle book to go with it. 

I am also going to share my Cookie A Summer Sox.  They are knitted out of Eat your Vegetables Claudia's Handpaints sock yarn.  I love the name of the yarn and the socks are beautiful and very comfortable.  I used slightly smaller needles than the pattern called for and the socks fit perfectly.  This is a wonderful thing because a lot of sock patterns come out too large for me when they are knitted up.  Since these socks went so well, I bought Cookie A's new book of sock patterns, Sock Innovation. 

Butterflies and Dragonflies

I continue to work on my UFO (unfinished object) list. Now that my Lizzie Kate ornaments are done, I have been working on Chatelaine's Elizabethan Sweet Bag. I finished all of the over one dragonflies and butterflies. I need to finish the bees and leaves and then add all of the beads. I have not decided what to do about the back. I have enough threads to stitch the back, either with a complete or partial repeat of the front. I could also use the threads to make a tassel to close the bag. I will have to see how it looks when I am done.

I have also been knitting and have worked on my koigu socks. I am using the same toe up sock pattern that I used for the Kaffe Fassett self striping socks. This time, I read the needle size before knitting a sock and a half. They fit snugly and have more pooling than I thought they would but when they are on my feet, they look pretty cool.

Toe up and other cold weather pleasures

It has been very cold here in northern Illinois -- the thermometer in my car registered -7 F on my way home. I tried to buy gas and the card readers at the pumps were frozen. The dogs have been hesitating before they go outside and my children have been complaining about having to go to school.

All this cold weather has me thinking about knitting warm things. I bought Janet Rehfeldt's book Toe Up Techniques for Hand-Knit Socks at Christmas time and made my first toe-up sock. I found her directions easy to follow, even for a self taught left handed knitter like myself. I used Regia 4-Fach Haltbar yarn in one of Kaffe Fassett's Exotic Colors. Clay contains a number of my favorite colors and created an interesting pattern on my socks. Now I need to knit the second one.

The weather has also been great for sitting at home and reading -- especially when I have unexpected free time because all of the basketball games are cancelled. I am re-reading Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse, I love how she captures domestic details. In the book Mrs. Ramsey knits socks for the light house keeper's son. In The Voyage Out, one of the main characters works on a large needlepoint tapestry.