Beautiful Fall Pictures from the Farm

I went to the pumpkin patch over the weekend with me m.i.n., s.i.l and nephew. We had a great time and I was able to get some great pictures of the animals and scenery at the farm. I thought I should share with you some of my favourite shots.

Pink Knit Socks

I knit a pair of socks every year for my sister for Christmas. This year I made these gorgeous socks that I am going to have a hard time parting with. Every time I look at them I just want to slip them on my feet. They came out so perfect. 

Sister's Socks:
Yarn: Couleurs Mouton's Kargil in Souris Rose
Needle Size: US 1 (2.25mm) 9" circular needles
Pattern Source:  My Cup of Tea socks by Robin Lynn (free Ravelry download!)

Look at how gorgeous that pattern is!

Yarn Clean-Up

My WIPs basket was getting really messy. To the point where I could not find projects I wanted to work on. There were balls of yarn from old projects, lots of loose paper and bags from random stores that I hadn't thrown out yet. Please excuse the horrible picture quality, it was late at night when I started on my clean-up adventure.

Now it looks nice and clean and I am ready to knit again! 

Broken Rib Slouchy Hat

Another Christmas present finished. I have been crossing things off my list quickly and at this pace, I will be finished with lots of time to spare.

This hat is intended for my sister's boyfriend. I made him a beer mitt for his birthday and I made this hat to match it. 

Graham:
Yarn: Berroco Vintage in Cast Iron
Needle Size: US 6 (4.0 mm) & US 8 (5.0 mm) 16" circular needles
Pattern Source: Graham by Jennifer Adams (free Ravelry download)

I made the larger size of the hat. I modified it by changing all the *k1,p1* to *k1tbl,p1*. This gave the ribbing a more distinct look. I think it is supposed to be worn inside out, but I like the way the ribbing looks

Burgundy Knit Headband

Blocking all the items I made last week took forever. The weather has been wet and cool this past week so it took a while for everything to dry, then I wanted to wait for some sunnier weather to get some nice pictures of the finished pieces.

This headband is a Christmas gift for my sister. It won't be a surprise since she picked the pattern and the yarn for it. I want to knit people things that they want, so I went through Ravelry patterns with her and she picked out what she liked. 

Anthro-tastic Headband:

Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick Solids in Claret (I don't think I even used half a ball)

Needle Size: US 13 (9mm)

Pattern Source:  Anthro-tastic Headband by Vera Sanon (free Ravelry download)

This was such a quick project. It only took me a few hours from start to finish. I think I may have to make myself one!

Blocking Party

I finished a whole bunch of projects over the weekend and I was able to wash and block them. I feel like I accomplished a lot. These are all Christmas presents and I am glad to be checking them off the list. 

When they are dry I will be able to get some nice pictures of all the finished projects.

The journey of one sock

I started a new sock project on the train while on my way to visit my family for Thanksgiving. Unlike my last journey with a sock project, this one was way more productive and I was able to get a lot of progress shots of it.

On Friday night on my way to Dorval,  Quebec I casted-on and knit the cuff of the sock (after finishing the toe of another sock ). 

Then Saturday I started on the leg, and got about halfway through. 

 Sunday I was able to finish the leg and turn the heel and finish the gusset.

Monday was my return trip on the train and I was able finish knitting the first sock and I casted-on the second one.

 

Now I just have to finish the second sock and I have another Christmas present finished.

Christmas Knitting

I have just started my Christmas knitting. I am not panicking yet but I am sure that I will start soon.  My sisters gave me quite the wishlist and I hope to get most of it done but I don't think I'll be able to do everything.

 

Here is the first sock of a pair that I made for my youngest sister. I think that I will have a hard time parting with these socks, they are turning out beautifully.  The pattern is My Cup of Tea socks by Robin Lynn (free Ravelry download!) and I am using my  Couleurs Mouton's Kargil in Souris Rose yarn for this project.

Hummingbird Socks

I finished the socks I was making on my train ride to and from my parents house. I did not make much progress on the train ride (you can read about that adventure here) but I did finish them fairly quickly once I got home.

Hummingbird:

Yarn: Snowberry & Lime's Sock Yarn in Faded Lilacs

Needle Size: US 1 (2.25mm) 9" circular needles

Pattern Source: Hummingbird from  The Knitter's Book of Socks

The pattern for these socks is simple and well written. I did not memorize it, so I had to keep looking back at the pattern every 2nd row, but it kept me interested.

I like the combination of the yarn and the pattern; they work really well together. 

I am now starting to work on Christmas presents, and I am still not panicking. I am really hoping that since most of the projects are small, I won't have a mental breakdown between now and Christmas.

Train Knitting

I take the VIA Rail train quite a bit (almost every month) to visit my parents. It is about a 4 hour train ride between my station in Oshawa, Ontario and the station where they pick me up/drop me off in Dorval, Québec. This gives me quite a bit of time to knit and read (and sleep).

I got the idea to mark my progress on my knit project by taking photos at every station from a post by Yarn Harlot (read it here). 

Great idea? Yes, in concept.

In practice it was slightly more difficult.

I left for Dorval station Friday night after a long work week, and I was exhausted. So guess how much knitting I got done... you done guessing? I knit 2 rows... 2 lonely rows. So my first attempt was a complete bust. So instead I told myself that I would knit furiously on the train ride back and have some great progress photos to show off. So here is how my train ride went:

 Just got on the train, take out my project, eager to start making some progress.

 First stop - Cornwall (one hour into the ride). Knitting alone could not keep my attention so I started to read. Then quickly realized that this sock pattern was way too complicated to knit while reading a book that was as interesting as this one was. So I took a break from knitting to read. 

Then I fell asleep and did not get a picture at the next stop (Kingston) and did not make any progress on the sock until the last hour of the train ride.

 Just before my stop in Oshawa.

So not much progress... I did not even finish the leg. Oh well. Does everyone else have as much trouble as I do staying awake while knitting? I need something else to hold my attention while I knit. I need to be watching TV or a movie to stay awake.

I really don't know how she got such crisp pictures of her knitting while sitting in a moving vehicle. Maybe an airplane is steadier than a train, but every time I wanted to take a picture, the train would jolt and it would get blurry.

I am going back on the train next week to visit for Thanksgiving, so maybe I will try this experiment again. This time I plan to bring my portable DVD player to help keep me awake while I knit.