Looking back

I'm always tickled that Janus, the Roman god after whom January was named, had two faces, so he could look forward and backward, and thus became the god of beginnings and ending (and also of door hinges).  But I digress...

January seems an appropriate time to look back at the projects that actually got finished in 2006 (or at least the ones that didn't make the blog yet), so hang onto your double points!

The astute reader will recognize the colors from  the dyed sock blanks in the previous post.  I went for a plain vanilla sock pattern to show off the colors in all their polychromatic glory (which is just a bit brighter in real life).  I was delighted to find that Nancy Roberts and I must be heel sisters, as the amount of yarn her blanks designate for the heel matched my heel-stitched half-handkerchief heel almost exactly.  (You can get your own sock blanks here and have endless fun with color.)

A quickie project, made for a couple in my biochemistry class who have a nine month old baby -- every time I thought I was busy, I thought about them.  Mission Falls 1824 wool, so it's machine washable.  At one point, I had a pattern from Peace Fleece for a hat like this, but you don't really need one.  Cast on enough for the head in question, knit around and around to where you'd normally start decreases, but stretch them out as long as you like.  I gave one of my brothers a hat like this one Christmas, finished length about 4 and a half feet.  When it's really cold, he wraps the end around his neck for a scarf he can't lose.

I may have knit this a little tightly for the yarn, as it also like to stand up on its own....  Do notice the jogless stripes -- I was very proud of them.

These are the Jaywalker socks, which took me forever to finish, and I'm not sure why.  The pattern was fine, I loved everything about the Cherry Tree Hill Supersock yarn -- they were just one of those projects that stay around in the knitting bag for months.  They have been well-worn, and warm me up just looking at them, which has been important in Colorado lately.  (Don't go looking for the color on their website, though -- they were an oddball skein, though Sugar Maple is probably closest.  Most of the Supersock color repeats seem shorter than the ones in this skein, too, but I love the twist and the feel of the yarn no matter what color it is.)  Their original photo disappeared, so this is how they look after probably eight trips through the washer and dryer. 

My sons have appeared and are clamoring for the computer, so one more photo.  Remember the snarled mess my puppy made?  Ta-da!

The mess on the right is the part I gave up on, but all the rest wound up fairly painlessly.  Eleven episodes of Pinky and the Brain later, the yarn is ready for a warp once again.  Someone asked if I loved the yarn -- well, not particularly.  It was a mill end slubbed cotton, and the entire cone probably cost five bucks, but it was the principle of the thing.  I had already done the math for its project, after all. 

Comments

[Sara]

In case you have a bit more time this summer: Nancy is coming your way, to Shuttles to do her class :).

[marta]

I still LOVE that hat. I thought you were keeping it (I still think you should). How are classes/getting into vet school going? I'm student teaching now (well, not *right* now - Beth is sick :( ) and having the time of my life. take care - wish I got to see you more...