Socks and Blankets

This time of the year, my thoughts always turn to blankets and socks.  I’m not sure why it’s not sweaters and shawls instead but there you have it.  Blankets and socks.  Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean that I cast on for a blanket and a pair of socks but I think about it.  And I search for patterns.

This year though, I’ve done more than just think about it.  I’ve cast on for a pair of socks.  I haven’t gotten very far but that’s because I’ve pulled them out and started over.  I started out using mini circulars because I have heard they’re wonderful, once you get used to the tiny things.  But I struggled with my K2P2 ribbing, it was going soooo slow on those circs, and I was getting rather frustrated so I ripped it out and started over on DPN’s and all was right in my world again.

 

I’m using the Basic Sock Pattern from Churchmouse that I bought a while back along with some Paton’s Kroy Socks FX yarn that’s been in my stash for a while.  I have a confession to make.  I didn’t swatch.  The pattern calls for size 1 needles and so I just started right in.  My rational being that in the past, I’ve knit socks using a size 2 or 3 using the same cast on of 64 stitches and they just didn’t fit as snug as I would have liked.  That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

Just Do It!

I’ve been wanting to make Mason-Dixon’s Liberty and Mitered Square Blankets for a long time, since I first saw them in the books, as a matter of fact.  I even bought some Takhi for the Mitered Square Blanket.  But in the end, I couldn’t decide on a color scheme.  Did I want to use just just a few colors or a whole bunch?  Did I want a recurring theme?  And which yarn would to use since it didn't have to Tahki or even cotton for that matter.  And Ravelry was no help.  Did you know, that to date, there are 836 projects on Ravelry? 

And then, there is Liberty.  Fewer projects on Ravelry for sure but  I was just plain undecided about colors.  And since it has a steek, it really needs to be wool.  I like the one pictured in the book but did I really want to use the same colors?

As you can tell, indecision reigned, not to mention the little matter of budget.  At any rate, back at the end of December, I decided that 2012 was the year to JUST DO IT!  So stay tuned, you’ll be hearing more about these blankets in the coming months!