Finally Finished!

Last night was a Kill Bill-athon. We watched both movies and I knitted for about 4 hours. So, around 2am or so, I finally finished my socks and promptly slipped them on, was grateful for the chilly weather, and slept in them. Lots of sock-y happiness! And, lest we forget the reason I knit more often socks of the toe-up category, let us take a look at the amount of yarn left over from this venture.I kid you not - this is how close I cut this. I had originally planned on 6 rows of ribbing, but changed it to 5. And, since I always have problems getting the bind-off stretchy enough, I used a needle several sizes larger to see how that would work. Lo, and behold, I got a perfectly stretchy finish. Those of us with less-than-svelte ankles appreciate a truly elastic-y top to our socks.
On the scarf front, let's take a look at how far along I've come. I think I worked on the scarf through Kill Bill I and the socks through II. I didn't want to slight either project, you know.

My Knit Wars status certainly took a leap during that knitting frenzy but I am becoming quite obsessed with making sure I keep accurate records of my time. Last night, I even pulled out the stopwatch. Can we say OCD much?

Another one of my obsessions is blog reading. My list here is by no means a fraction of the ones I follow - rather like the neverending blogroll. Of course, when I'm visiting someone's blog, I have to take a look at who he/she reads, and then I might end up reading five or six new ones and...well, you know how that goes. I'm almost afraid to put my actual list here because it might be longer than my blog posts. There are so many incredibly talented people out there that I just can't resist looking at all those fantastic creations. Thank goodness I can knit while reading them all...and thank YOU for reading my blog.

What I'm Up To Today

I am happily (make that hysterically) listening to the Lime & Violet's Daily Chum podcast whilst updating my blog and working on Heather's scarf. So, I thought I would post a couple of pictures of my latest projects. I was planning on just working on the scarf, but I may be laughing too hard to actually follow the pattern correctly.

So, let's start with the scarf. I found the pattern which I am kinda/sorta following but not totally because, yeah, that's just me...ooh, look a castle...snaps fingers okay, I'm back now. Yes, the pattern. Well, here's the story - several years ago, when Heather was in college, we attended a play called "The Laramie Project" which was based on the events of the 1998 murder of Matthew Wayne Shepard. About a week ago, I was noodling around on the Net and I found two patterns that were designed in Matthew's memory. I, of course, sent the link to Heather and asked her if she would like me to make her one of the scarves. She picked the pattern called "Matthew" and expressed the opinion that it was probably too hard and I shouldn't really bother...which, of course, I took as a challenge.

So, here is my version of the Matthew scarf. I am constantly reminded of the kids who performed in the play and the story of Matthew so I am dedicating this scarf to the memory of all of you guys...whether you know it or not.

The other WIP that is amazingly nearly finished is my socks. (cue Daffy Duck saying "Mine, mine, all mine!") This is a cobbling together of several patterns, of course, because it's just too boring to use only one when 2 or more will do, right? The yarn is Cervinia Calzetteria which I got from Smiley's Yarns a couple of years ago and is 70 percent wool. I can't wait to finish so I can wear them now that the weather is turning colder. These are knit toe-up, which is now my favourite way to make socks. Heels and toes are garter stitch but the pattern stitch is (I think) from Charlene Schurch's second sock book, More Sensational Knitted Socks (can you tell I started these quite a while ago?). I can finally see the end of the skeins so I must be nearly finished. Happy sock dance!

Well, I have to go pick up my artistic daughter, Mary, who has been spending several days with an equally creative friend, wreaking havoc (I'm sure) on said friend's house. The first night they were together, they painted the glass in the French doors to look like stained glass. Oh, and I guess I should mention that they did this in the wee hours of the morning because these two girls are major night owls. She is having such a good time, I'm lucky she's actually letting me bring her home. I had to bribe her by offering to let her paint my French doors which I'm sure she will want me to post here. I'm hoping to get my SO to drive to pick her up so I can work on Heather's scarf. We shall see!