Cast on frenzy continues!

I have six more or less active projects on the needles right now. That's a lot for me! I usually have a couple going at the same time, and maybe one other one sitting aside waiting for me. Since last we met, I've cast on two more projects: a plain stockinette sock for knitting in movie theaters and Laminaria.

The plain socks are nothing special. This is the yarn's second try at making socks. Previously, I tried doing a Cat Bordhi sock with it and didn't care for how it came out. Plain jane is the way to go here.


And Laminaria. I have had a love affair with this pattern. I adored it as soon as it came out. I even cast on for it in some super splitty two ply lace yarn. That did not work out at all. I've re-cast on for it in Blackberry Ridge silky merino. I had a hank and some change left over from my Shetland Tea Shawl, which should (fingers crossed) be enough for a nice triangular shawl.


The stitch pattern scrunches up pretty easily. Here I've spread it out (the color is also truest in this picture).


So many projects! Who will be finished first? I suspect it will be the May mystery socks which I intend to work on almost exclusively later in the week - to try to finish them before the end of the month.

Fixing problems in lace

The lazy way.

I made a mistake.

On the left. See it? Here, I'll use my awesome MS Paint skillz to make it clear.


I dropped a few stitches off the end of a needle and had some trouble picking them up. Turns out I didn't do such a great job and ended up with a solid area where there was supposed to be yos. So I magicked it and now I have this.


You can still see the error, but it's not nearly so pronounced. I didn't frog it or drop stitches... I sewed it. Yeah. With needle and thread. It ain't pretty, but I think it's fairly effective.


And, in the meantime, I'm making pretty good progress on the stole. Look at it go.

5th of the month project status post: May edition

Old business first!

- Eliina Shawl: Done!
- Simurgh Stole: Done!
- Sondermuster Darmstadt socks: Done!
- Diamonds and Triangles Stole from Victorian Lace Today: Active. I've rounded the first corner, for better or worse.

- Frosted Ferns doily: Frogged! I'm free! Free from the doily!
- Selbu Mittens from Folk Mittens: I have declared this mitten finished. It is not a pair, but merely a sad sorry single mitten. But by declaring it done, I don't have to think about it again!

New Business!

I've had kind of a casting on fit and I now have four projects (including the diamonds and triangles stole from above) in heavy rotation. A row here, a row there, and they grow!
- Kiila, the mystery sock for May: I've got a couple inches on both socks so far. Need to hurry up and get to 5.5" before Friday. Knitting it up in my pretty green Dream in Color Smooshy.
- Amelia cardigan: Knitting it up in black lano d'oro and loving it. I hope I have enough yarn...

- Lilac Leaf Shawl: I just finished the first edge and am into the body repeats. It's a nice pattern, but I had some trouble with the nupps. And I dropped a stitch at one point, leading to the following trouble.

Do you see it there? On the left? I fixed it... kinda. Not by frogging or doing surgery. I made a yo and then sewed the loop down on the back. It's still not perfect, but it's a lot less obvious now. I don't have an after photo yet... maybe another day.

Hopefully the cast on frenzy has passed and I can get on with the knitting.

FO: Sondermuster Darmstadt socks

I'm keeping to my pair of socks per month plan. The most recent pair? Sondermuster Darmstadt. Unfortunately, the pattern is no longer available; the designer generously distributed a limited number of copies for the April Sock Knitters Anonymous challenge and I was lucky enough to get a copy.

The socks are knit in Hand Jive Knit's Nature's Palette in Medium Indigo. The yarn uses natural dyes. Unfortunately, the natural indigo left tracks on my hands as I knit. Not a huge bother, but definitely noticeable.


I knit these socks on 2.5mm needles, two at a time. Doing them two at a time took a little more concentration than usual, because the center motif on the socks are mirrored. In the end, I really like these socks. They're a bit fancier than the patterns I usually choose, but I really love how fanciful the pattern is on the cuffs.



But I will absolutely be giving these socks a serious handwashing before I wear them, lest I end up with blue feet.