It's a race

I'm knitting as fast as I can, trying to get those darned socks finished and off the needles so I can cast on a new one to take with me on my trip. I only have a few inches to go but it seems to take forever! I must say I am absolutely thrilled with this second sock. I have gotten the toe-up gusset heel down and it looks so good! I tried to take a close up picture of it Wednesday but it was too light and the detail washed out. I'll try again because it really is nice. I am looking forward now to doing this next pair because I feel like I've worked out all the bugs and have finally come up with Shelley's Simply Perfect Socks. Only two ends to weave in - the start and the finish. No grafting. The toe is cast on with the Turkish cast-on method which leaves no seam. The gusset heel, which I got from this site, is easy to do and looks like a top down sock heel. I think I can even do two at once with this method but it's going to take a bit of working out, especially the cast-on bit. But first I'm going to take pictures of the process with one sock, start to finish. After that I'll try two. I'm not all that keen on two at once because I don't think it's all that much faster (if at all) and there's the added annoyance of that second piece of yarn getting tangled up AND I don't seem to have the second sock syndrome. But just to know that I can do it, since I made such a hash of the top down two at once that I tried.

I haven't forgotten my Ogee Tunic. In fact I look longingly at it every evening. I only have a few inches to do on the sleeves but it's not first priority. When I get back from vacation I'll finish off the sleeves and block them and then cast on for the front. It's going to be a looooong go and I'm just going to take my time. I have also been thinking about the turtle neck I'm going to make with the nice soft Cashmerino Chunky I got. I'm going to have to just choose a cable and run with it. I just keep finding such pretty ones! I'm going to wing the pattern, but it's going to be a top down raglan and I'm going to start at the turtle neck and work down rather than picking up stitches for it afterwards. You know ... as I write this I am thinking that the reason turtle necks are picked up and knit afterwards is probably for the shaping so that you can get that little dip in the front that shows the front from the back. I don't think it's all that important and I'm going to only do the cables on the front of the sweater anyway since I'm not certain I have enough yarn to do front AND back AND sleeves. This Magknits pattern is a top down turtle neck and it looks fine so I think it can be done.

Every year we have a little Christmas party at work where everyone brings a gift and you draw a number and then pick gifts in order but you can either get a new one or one that someone else already has. It's fun and the past 3 years I've brought something I knit. The first year it was a scarf and hat set and I had just re-started knitting and crocheting and it was gawd awful! The next year I felted a purse and threw in a matching scarf and it was a big hit. Last year was another scarf and hat set but this one much nicer. This year I just wasn't sure if I should knit something but one of the girls asked me was I going to, because she sure would like some fingerless mitts! Well okay then! Problem solved. I have some recycled cashmere that I have been trying to unload on eBay and not getting a nibble so I'm making some Fetching mitts but I'm making them with two more repeats on the cuffs so they're a little longer. They go so quickly.

I'm going to stop by the yarn shop I found in Paris while I'm there (like I need a few more odd balls of yarn ....) and I'm hoping I'll have time while I'm in London to search out a shop. Maybe I should do a little internet sleuthing before I leave.