Some Fine Looking Knitting

You haven't heard from me in a long time, or perhaps just a week, which I am not sure whether it's a long time or not. I admit a lot of the reason is that I was busy with getting the college boy settled and working my little buns off, but another reason is that I was knitting away! And look, here is the result--Dianna2 with all its squares complete and over half of a lace border applied!

I debated what to do with the edges of this. I really don't like them unfinished. I decided a modest lace border would look good on the sides, but I think I will go with the i-cord edging on the flat side, because without it, the stockinette tries so hard to curl up. I will be able to block the points of the lace and the i-cord edging very nicely, I think.

The border you see before is from Epstein's Knitting on the Edge book. The illustration did not do this simple pattern justice at all! You could not see the lovely fagoting nor the very cool extra-large holes in the points. They are made with four yarn overs, so you know those are big holes! The little extra touch of beads in the points adds just enough sparkle to tie the edging in with the rest of the shawl.

I am pleased with this so far, and predict it will be pretty spectacular when blocked. I am also glad that I added the edging, since someone else made the Dianna shawl in the same darn yarn I did! Mine's a lot bigger. I hope it really gets bigger with blocking, though, because even with 17 rows, it isn't very big. I need it to cover my arms to keep me warm in air conditioned rooms, ya see.

So, what is this gorgeous thing? It's the sock that I finished today. I had a lot of time to knit at work this week, watching my little projects churn through their publishing process. I started to get excited when I saw how much fun the patterning was on the heel, then when I started on the foot I was totally thrilled with how the slip stitching turned consistent, and the black spiraled up.

See how it starts out gray, then ends up red? Cool. the foot looks fine (I will show it more when I do the other sock, no doubt), but the leg really shines. I sure hope the other sock ends up the same. I like how the slip stitching in the heel continues up the leg, and I also kept it going in the ribbing (there are 10 rows of K1P1 ribbing at the top, so the edge won't curl.

I have to say I love the yarn, though because it has cashmere in it, there isn't too much. I hope I didn't make the legs too long (they are just 5 inches, though). To remind you, the yarn is Handmaiden Casbah in Loopiefied, and the pattern is based on Wendy Johnson's basic toe-up slip-stitch heel sock, with a K1 P3 slip stitch pattern.

I'll try to post more this week, since I am thinking of all sorts of things, just haven't had time to type them. I may do a test knit for my friend Jodie, too, which will be fun. The only bad thing is I won't be able to show it to you! Wah!

All rightee, I need to go read other people's blogs now! Think of me as high school starts, which means knitting on the school bus will commence again on Friday (a LONG bus ride).