Some Completed Projects

When I was spending a lot of time resting and waiting for my broken leg to mend, I thought I would be able to get a lot of knitting done. It wasn't as easy as I thought - it's amazing how hard it is to concentrate on anything the least bit complicated when you are taking serious pain meds. My projects that were designs in progress didn't make any real progress until I was back to Advil as the strongest thing I took. What I could work on were items that were mindless knitting, and that could be done in small blocks of time. What that meant or me was socks, and the Lady Eleanor entrelac shawl that had been started and put aside months before. Here are some of the results of my recuperation-

Merino superwash socks, made of a Koigu look-alike that came from a swap table at a retreat. The stitch pattern is a simple 4/1 ribbing, with a garter stripe around every 5 rows. The colors are pretty true here, and yes, they are bright socks, but very soft and comfortable. Knit on size 2.5 dpn's.

I made these socks from some Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport that I had on hand, as a thank-you for my aunt who had been such a help when I was disabled. Also done on size 2.5 dpn's.

Plain stockinette socks knit from handspun superwash merino on size 1's. The fiber was dyed by Jennifer (Spirit Trail Fiberworks) in a pink/periwinkle colorway, and I just plied it up as the colors came, so the socks are definitely fraternal twins, not identical. I have enough left over to do another pair of socks, so I might do color work patterning with some purple Lorna's Laces I have left from a project.

The Lady Eleanor Shawl, from Scarf Style. Done in heavy worsted weight linen on size 8 needles. This entrelac shawl was started in November 2005, then put aside at about 6 inches. It is machine washed and dried, though I do tie the fringes in bunches so they don't knot up horribly, and then steam them a little after untying. It is a great shawl for in-between weather, much more comfortable against summer chills than a wool shawl would be. The yarn is from Misty Mountain Farm in Virginia, and the monochromatic colorway ranges from white to turquoise to royal to navy. I like the finished look very much, it works with jeans as well as with dressier clothes.

I will do a short Rhinebeck report on my next post, and have photos of the cardigan I made to wear there, as well as of a shawl I did using up small skeins from a dye workshop.