Socks, Boxy Cosmetic bags and maybe a Shaving Kit

Two long time friends and I go out to dinner or lunch once per month to keep in touch with each other's lives. One's name begins with a T, one with an L and mine begins with a C, so our group is TLC. Usually at Christmas, we include a play, concert, or special destination to our dinner date. This year was only dinner, but a marvelous dinner it was. We exchange gifts after our meal. This year, I made each of them socks and presented them inside a "boxy cosmetic bag" that was also handmade.

I prefer to knit socks on two circular needles, from the toe up. My favorite basic sock pattern is from Wendy Johnson's book, Socks From the Toe Up (shown here on Amazon). The green socks above used Berroco Sox Metallic 1364, a color called Kiwi.

These socks were knit using Ty-Dy Sock yarn, color #1520 called Arizona, from Knit One Crochet Too. I did a little lace work in three columns on this pair from the toe up into the ribbing. I didn't think to try to photograph that before packaging the socks, but that accounts for the difference in appearance.

I saw this on Pinterest and used Made by Marzipan for my directions. Many tutorials and videos are available if you search for "boxy cosmetic bags". This fully lined bag was easy to assemble with the only hand sewing being closing up a few inches of the lining that had been left open for turning the project right side out.

When they were finished, I excitedly showed my husband who looked at them and cautiously asked whey I was making shaving kits. I had to laugh...yes, they do like shaving kits and would make a great gift for men in a suitable fabric. Using vinyl for the lining would make them even more like a traditional kit.

Christmas Knitting

Now that it is past Christmas and secret projects have been revealed, please check this "I Made This" post for the socks and bags I made for Christmas.

Unrelated to this and without a clever segue, I am enjoying Trisha Yearwood's Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen which was a gift to me this year.

I made two appetizers from this book that were well received at a party last night. I've been in a rut and trying to shake free of it, something that makes hubby very happy. My mom was a cookbook junkie and I guess I am too. Whatever it takes for inspiration, right?

Have a delicious day!

Move over cobwebs and spiders....

Sometimes I need to challenge myself in a knitting project.

Sometimes I wonder what the heck I was thinking when I decided to challenge myself!

I finished a pair of socks and have more planned to knit, but need a project that I can work on while at the yarn store and my next pair of planned socks will be yarn from a different source. Stealth yarn.

I should have put them on for the picture or invest in a pair of sock forms. They look better in person than in the photo. The yarn used is Ty-Dy sock yarn by Knit One Crochet Too, color name is Arizona.

Onto the challenge project: I am working with mohair, making a scarf called the December Scarf from Sheera, available on Ravelry. This is the scarf as depicted on the pattern directions:

The designer used cashmere. I am knitting with mohair in a very pale lavender shade. Lavender is not my usual choice by a long shot. I think this is going to be a gift, but I won't be certain until it is done.
The lace design isn't a challenge for me. I'm not boasting, I've just been knitting a long time. The challenge is the yarn. Hubby looked over at me while knitting and asked if I was knitting a cobweb. The yarn does look gray from across the room without a light background.

Mohair is very fine and can be slippery on needles. The needles I am using are Harmony needles from Knit Picks. They are laminated birch needles. I might be better off using bamboo (they aren't quite as smooth) but I really like the feel of Harmony so I'm not inclined to switch. Not yet, anyway.

Yesterday, while knitting with the group at the yarn store, I had a mishap with the yarn and pulled a bunch of stitches off my needle. I said a four letter word and it wasn't "yarn" or "knit". I got back on track with only undoing a few rows before resuming the pattern. I continued to knit last night without hiccups and am further along than the photo now.

Non-knitters might not realize that some people knit with dog hair that has been worked into yarn. We don't have a dog now, but I do have cobwebs. I think I am going to quit doing housework and cultivate those cobwebs. I might not be able to knit with them at the store but my home's cobwebs might be sturdier than the mohair yarn and I could just drape them around me as an accessory. I think I'm onto something!!

Hmm, I wonder if they are dye-able?

Latest socks

I feel like I've been knitting these socks forever, but it isn't their fault. I've been pulled in other directions and have often knit only a few rounds before setting the sock down for days. Truthfully, I am premature in using socks (plural) in the title as only one sock is complete so far.

The pattern is Rosebud from Wendy D. Johnson's  
Toe-Up Socks for Every Body. 

 

I was concerned that the knit pattern wouldn't show up well in a yarn with flecks that can be distracting, but it is turning out well. This is one of those cases where the work doesn't photograph well, or at least not by this photographer.

 

The yarn is Ty Dye Socks Dots in lilac 6744 from Knit One Crochet Too

 I have nothing lilac in my wardrobe so I'm not sure why I picked this color. I don't dislike lilac, it just isn't a good color with my complexion. Shopping or another knitting or sewing project for a top might be in my future!

The Big Dance and new socks

The Big Dance is over, and North Carolina's Tar Heels are the NCAA champs. Congratulations to them, and thank you MSU Spartans. The Spartans gave Michigan something to be excited about when most news coming out of our state has been bleak.

While watching the game I worked on my second pair of socks but decided I didn't like them and rewound the ball of yarn as the Spartans congratulated the Tar Heels. I'll start knitting socks again in a few days but have a few other things needing my attention first.

Today I am wearing my first pair of socks for the first time. I like them. A lot. Do you think it would be vain to look for a pair of clear shoes to wear with them? What about a sweatshirt that says "Check out my socks... I made them!" Too much?
Hopefully reverse psychology will work and Mother Nature will notice I am making warm socks and decide to bring on spring like weather. If not, at least my feet will be prepared.

One Sock!

No, this isn't a lament about a washer devouring foot coverings. It is a celebration of creation! I have one sock done and the mate is in progress!

I have knit Christmas stockings over the years, but haven't made functional socks for myself before. A few years ago my sister-in-law and I went out of town for a girl's weekend. We took directions for knitting socks on two circular needles (the concept was big news to me then), yarn and needles on our trip to Frankenmuth. Have you ever tried to do any kind of needlework in a motel room? Many of them seem to believe in electrical conservation by way of dim light bulbs. I don't know if they actually make a 5 watt bulb for a desk lamp, but if they do, the motel we were in bought them by the carton.

I hate to tell young stitchers that the day will come when knitting or sewing on black or navy blue will only done in broad daylight or under the glow of an Ott light, but it is true. Sitting on a dark bedspread, with dark yarn in a dim motel room, we gave up on the socks and bought finished socks the next day on our shopping trip.

The yarn for this sock, a self striping one favored by sock knitters has been in my stash for a while now. When my sister-in-law announced she had taken the plunge and was knitting socks, I heard a tiny voice coming from a bin in my craft room closet.

Yoo-hoo! I am still here waiting to be knitted!

While I hate being guilted into doing something, I am happy with the result. The leg is purposely short (3") as I like them that way.