It's been a week?!?

Where to start? Let's see... I finished the Pink Ladder Socks on Wednesday, a week ago. Exactly 2 months after I started them, which would be ridiculous if they'd been the only thing I worked on during that time. I usually throw newly completed socks in a mesh bag and wash them, then hang them to dry, but these soft & cushy things have disappeared into the upstairs part of the house.

I told my husband I'd make him a pair of socks, so that seemed to be the appropriate next project. I had gotten a kit from the Red Cross with a vintage pattern and some nice olive drab wool, so I'm going to make those for him. The kit looks like this:


And here's what comes in it:


I'm not sure who picked the needles to include -- they're not marked with a size, but my needle gauge says they're a US 5, or 3.75 mm. The yarn seems to be a fairly standard sock/fingering weight. It's a 4 oz. skein, and I estimated the yardage to be about 435 yards. Pattern gauge is 7 sts and 9 rows to the inch. So I'm using US 1 needles. I don't think I'd use a size 5 even for worsted weight socks!

The pattern is also available as a free download (.pdf format). I am trying to follow the pattern without modifications, just to see what I get. I have 3 inches of 2x2 ribbing done; this will be followed by 8" of "plain knitting" as the pattern calls it. I'm up to about 4 1/2" so far. This is my traveling knitting -- waiting while I get the car worked on, or at the orthodontists office, or the eye doctor, whatever.

In a moment (or several) of weakness the other day, I started the socks from the Rockin' Sock Club. I decided to try them toe-up so I could make the legs as long as I want, without worrying about whether I'd have enough to finish. These are my first socks with Socks That Rock yarn, and I have to say that everything good that I've heard/read about this yarn is true! The socks will be soft & plush; the stitch definition is excellent; the yarn has a sheen to it.

I am using the chart as written but I started with row 3. I thought about turning the chart upside down, but then I'd have to figure out an easy way to turn that nifty right twist into a left twist. I've got 64 stitches on a US 1 (2.5 mm) needle. Started with a short-row toe (love the Queen Kahuna method), and I'll probably do a short-row heel, as well. The tricky part is going to be the picot edging at the top of the leg, or to be more precise, finding an easy way to fasten the edging down.

My Mystery Shawl 3 has grown by a whopping 10 rounds this week. I'd like to get it done before the EZasPi group starts the "Choose your own adventure" Pi Shawl on April 14th. Only 70 more rounds, divided by 9 days... doesn't look too likely, does it?