Beachy Stress Socks

I told myself that I was going to use my new square needles for my next socks, and I did... but I had a major problem.  It wasn't the yarn, which was this gorgeous varigated with colors that made me think of the warm summer beaches that I've left behind - it was the needles! They're too small, and the resulting fabric is just tight and not very fun for socks.

So, I recast on with some addi turbos that I got from a friend that wanted to unload some knitting stuff before she moved, and things have been going well.  It's just plain stockinette - perfect for class.  Though, I only have 8 hours of class each week, and lately I haven't had time to go to knitting club.

The sock is still becoming nice and long though - I'm going to do an afterthought heel so I don't have to worry about budgeting free time to turn the heel.  If I do that, the sock will sit on my desk until the end of the quarter!

In a way, it's ok that most of my friends have left and that Hooks and Needles is full of strangers.  I'm so busy and grumpy that I feel like my head's going to fall off at any given moment.  Thankfully, eveyone else in my apartment is in their last year of school, too, and is working their tails off just as much as me - I think I'd be ridiculously annoyed if that wasn't the case.  I just can't wait to be done with school and move on to the next part of my life!

Darn?

I'm not sure if this is darning, but I'll share this with you anyway.  Ever since I finished my colorful Kaffe Fasset socks, I've been wearing them a lot.  Sadly, though, I took them out of the sock bath a few weeks ago to find a tiny hole in one of them!

I didn't know what to do, and was in the course of packing, so I put scotch tape over the hole and threw the socks in with my projects.  Thankfully, the hole didn't get any bigger because when I checked it out today, it was only two stitches.

Somehow, the yarn had split and thankfully I caught the hole before it was gigantic.

So, I used my shiny new needles to catch the stitches and keep them from dropping further.

Then, I went into my old sock yarn stash and found the remnant of this project.  I picked off a section that matched the section that broke, and worked my way across the row a bit to anchor the yarn. After that, I kitchnered the loose stitches together and did some more duplicate stitch to anchor the yarn on the other side.

I think that I saved my socks! I've never darned before, but the pictures that I've seen, the socks look kind of gross looking.  Soon, I won't even be able to tell that I mended them!

Finally - Finished My Dragonfly Socks!

They only took me all summer!

Project: Dragonfly Socks from Cavyshops

Yarn: Eskimimi Knits Broccoli Sockoli

I'm happy with how they turned out, though the heel is a little weirdly placed - it slides off my foot.  Oh well, you win some you lose some - I'm still going to wear them.  Can anyone tell me what I did wrong? I think that I just made the heel flap too long. I guess it's just taking a while for me to make socks that fit me well.  Now is the time for that - the only projects I really have time to do are stress socks. 

I still don't see the dragonflies! Maybe because I k tbl on some stitches instead of just plain k them?  I thought it made the pattern look better when it stretched out.

Last Leg of School!

It seems crazy, but I haven't posted in almost two months! That's mostly because I got an awesome new internship in addition to my other job, and because I'm almost done with grad school! I moved into my room on Sunday. So, by Thanksgiving, I will have entered the real world.  I'm kind of excited, because this time I won't be travelling around, sleeping on people's couches - I will have my own apartment, and a car, maybe a cat... etc. etc.

Another reason (besides being ridiculously busy) that I haven't blogged is that I haven't really knit over break. I chugged away on my dragonfly socks, maybe getting a row in here or there, but I didn't make any real progress.  I finished my giant red sweater and it looks hideous, which is disenheartening.  I have a bunch of designs that are ready to be published, they just need one or two little things. (Or, erm, testing.)

BUT, I am starting to knit again.  I knit all through my business class on Monday night (while I was missing a Hooks and Needles meeting...) and I am - EEK - finally on the toe of my second Dragonfly sock! I've also been making hedgehogs. Lots of hedgehogs.  I'm not sure why, maybe it's a sign of my growing mental instability.

Mainecation Photos

So, last night I finally got around to sorting through my favorite pictures from last week.  I thought I'd share them with you guys!

I really like this self portrait for some reason, though, I have a small place in my heart for photos of me taking photos.

The best sunrise:

The best sunset:

Fourth of July Fireworks:

Adorable puppy named Elliot:

Oh, and halfway through the vacation I found out that my camera actually has a setting that imitates tilt shift, so I kind of went crazy with that!

Really, the number of tilt-shifty photos is enough to make someone suspicious that I only SAID I went to Maine, when really I spent a week in my basement making scale models of Portland landscapes. The area is just beautiful, and I would have a lot more photos but most of them were old houses. Definitely on my list of "places I want to live" (which isn't very long, really.)

Extended Vacation Sock Knitting

Whelp, it seems that due to a general SNAFU, I'm stuck in New England for the week, mulling about my boyfriend's apartment.  It's okay, though, because there's an Internet connection that I can use to work on my grad project, which is beginning to consume every waking moment of my life.

But, I have a little something to show for it!

Yep, I finished my first sock in the Dragonfly Socks KAL! I grafted the toe and cast on for the second sock while I ate lunch and mulled over my current troubles.  Someone once told me that it's good luck to cast on for the second sock in the same sitting that you finish the first it - anyone else hear of that?

On an unrelated note, the carpet in this apartment is oddly fascinating...

... I need to take more microbreaks. I'm hoping to finish the second sock this week, but knitting while reading journal articles is a lot harder than I expected.

Checking in from New England

Wow, Maine is absolutely amazing! I'm staying on a small island off Portland with my boyfriend's grandmother.  I seriously want to live in Portland some day, and the view from the island is beautiful.

And, the house I'm staying at is also beautiful.  The bathroom that I use at night should be on Pinterest.

I've done some knitting, mostly on the ride up - which was hot and muggy (the car had no AC) and I'm almost done with the leg of my dragonfly socks... but I hit another snag.

The yarn turned my sweaty fingers slightly green!

Okay, looking at the picture, it's really hard to see.  Maybe the heat and sun caused me to hallucinate.

Anyway, the internet in the hotel we're staying at now is really crummy, I'll post a big picdump later this week!