Happiness All Around

Well, I finally managed to finish those socks I have been plugging away at.

Avocado Toes by Cori 2012.

Pattern: Starter Stockinette by Betsy Lee McCarthy, size large (pattern available in Knit Socks! 17 Classic Patterns for Cozy Feet by Betsy Lee McCarthy)
Yarn: Cascade Yarns 220 Superwash Quatro in Summerdaze (blue, two balls), and Green Tea (green, one ball)
Needles: US 3

Even though the measurements given for the women's large should have fit my feet, these came out way too big for me. They were not too big, however, for my husband, who was more than happy to reap the benefits of my needles:

Socks! I have socks, yay!

I shall put them on my feet and do a jig for you!

You can see from his sexy legs why I married him, of course.

Anyhoo, other than issues of size (I swear my gauge was right, but whatever), I am really happy with how these came out. I will definitely be making another pair (in the smaller size next time) for myself at some point. Also, I love this yarn.

After I was done with the socks, I even had enough to make this guy:

Swell Fella by Cori 2012.

With only eight legs, not nine, despite my husband's urging.

Pattern: Amigurumi Octopus by Lion Brand (may require free registration with site to see pattern)
Yarn: Cascade Yarns 220 Superwash Quatro in Summerdaze and Green Tea (less than one ball each)
Hook: US G

I used two strands at a time to get the fun color effect on this one. I like it a lot. I was really happy with how this guy came out. Quick and easy despite the pain of making and attaching all of the separate legs (while my daughter kept wandering off with what was assembled of him so far). This will be a gift for the son of a friend who is expecting her second child at the end of this month. I hope he enjoys it. It already has my daughter's stamp of approval!

Now I am back in blanket making mode. I am already pretty happy with the pattern and yarn for the current project, so that's a good thing. Hopefully it will work up quickly! I definitely have a lot more small projects I would like to try to squeeze in this summer. Only three blankets to go after this one gets done though, so my fingers are crossed.

A Few More Finished Projects

A new year is upon us and with it comes new possibilities for playing with yarn! I've got quite a few things on my plate already, of course. But I have high hopes that I will be able to stay on top of projects a little bit better in 2012. As of right now, I have two projects in the works (holdovers from 2011), which I will be tackling fiercely in the next few weeks. I also have five blankets queued up. I have ordered the yarn for one of them and bought the yarn for two more yesterday. As for the other two, I have picked out the patterns for them and believe I have been kind to myself in so doing (and still made choices that will result in beautiful gifts, of course). So I feel like I am off to a good start, at least. I have it in my head that I will also get on the ball about those smaller projects that are "want to dos" to break up the monotony of the larger projects. Fingers crossed that goes well, at least partly so I can have stuff to show you guys, too!

I'm not even going to look at my knitting/crocheting goals for 2011 to see how well I did. I know I fell far short of my expectations. That's okay though. I am still pretty dang proud of everything I did accomplish yarn-wise last year, and while maybe I didn't get as many of my personal projects done as I had hoped, I didn't have anyone I intended to make a gift for go wanting. I also managed to increase my skill in knitting, and am very pleased at how that progressed. I still have a lot to learn though, so that gives me much to look forward to (and to likely make me curse occasionally) in 2012.

Now, with all of that said, allow me to present to you my final two projects of 2011. Enjoy!

Stealth Beanie by Cori 2011.

Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers in 9443 (red) and Cascade 220 Wool in 8339 (blue) [< one skein each]
Hook: I

This was for my husband's Christmas stocking. It has become something of a tradition that I make him a beanie for his stocking each year. He loves him some beanies, yo. It's just all single crochet, in the round. There's no real pattern, I just did a few stripes, alternating colors, and then carried on until I felt like it needed to change. I am very pleased with the end result, though the tip is a bit pointier than I would have liked, I didn't decrease quite properly, I fear. Still, he loves it, and that is the most important bit!

I mentioned that I was taking my socks and KAL sweater on my trip to work on. Sadly I didn't get to do anything with the sweater, but I did manage to finish the first sock while I was there. Behold, my very first knit sock, ever!

I am ridiculously proud of this thing.
(Sorry the lighting isn't great in this shot.)

Of course, how good is one sock, without its mate? So upon finishing, I did promptly start the second one and worked on it the entire flight home and over the next few days, so that by Friday I had this:

Winter Socks by Cori 2011.

Pattern: Little Guys by Betsy Lee McCarthy (from Knit Socks! 17 Patterns for Cozy Feet)
Yarn: Mary Maxim Bamboo Soft Stripes in Lagoon [< one skein]
Needles: US 1 (2.25mm) DPNs

I really like this pattern, both in the ease of making and the final look of it. Though for full disclosure's sake, I should admit that I completely screwed up the broken ribbing pattern on the leg. The socks are worked on four double-point needles, and there are a few places in the pattern where the author says "to end of needle" when she should have said (IMHO) "knit to end of round" or "knit to end of heel/instep." I realized this maybe two-thirds of the way through the first leg, and could have probably ripped and redone, but it seemed like too much effort and so I didn't. They still look super cute. Also, Baby Girl, approves muchly.

Her exact reaction was, "Socks!"

Aw, such cute little feet. Must. Not. Tickle.

So there you have it. 2011 wrapped up and 2012 underway. Thanks for sticking with me this far, and I hope you'll join me for this year's ride as well.

Craft on, my friends, craft on.