Finally Progress

I feel like I've been knitting all summer but not really getting anywhere. Well, truthfully, I didn't knit much in May, June or July. I brought yarn to knit at the beach on the honeymoon, but then never touched it.

Then I started a sock, but ripped it out a few times. I had decided to use size 0 needles so my stitches would be nice and tight. But then I looked at my 2s and thought they looked so much bigger and wouldn't it be nicer (to my poor finger) if I used them instead? So, I did a swatch in each needle size and knew the 0s were better, but I wanted a seasoned sock-knitter's perspective. What if they thought the 2 swatch was fine? I new it was wishful thinking but .... At last week's Baltimore Knitting Meetup, I asked Amy (thanks, Amy!), who confirmed my suspicion that the 0s were better. But it is OK, I started them again, and am knitting away w/o (so far) punctures in my fingers. Yeah! And I have a couple of centimeters done! Yeah! It is fun. I am really enjoying knitting in the round. Even though there are 76 stiches, I feel like I go around much quicker than when I knit something flat. So far sock knitting gets a big thumbs up. Who knows what the verdict will be when I reach the heel....



As you can see in this photo, I am still knitting too lose, even on the 0s. I am just going to keep going though and try to knit tighter. I can't expect my first sock to be perfect. :)



I am also working on a simple diagnol garter stich baby blanket. I got the yarn at a meetup swap and don't know exactly what it is, something arcylic, but it is soft and is a pink, white and green variagated yarn. I think it will make a cute little blanket. There's a good chance that at least one of my brothers' babies will be a girl, right? Here is a corner:



So, I am feeling better about knitting today than I was earlier in the week. My problem was that I am going to a wedding on Aug. 12. And even though I have two, very full closets of clothing, I wanted something new to wear. What is it about weddings that makes people want to buy a brand new outfits? I will know only a handful of people at this wedding, and aside from my husband, the other four people have seen me fewer than four times. One of those times was my own wedding. Two of the people are guys, one is the groom. My point: I can wear anything from my wardrobe and it will look new to them; they will notice that I am wearing clothes, but nothing beyond that. But, still, I want something new. But I just got married, am saving for a house, trying to be wiser w/ spending. So I should just wear something I've got and shut up already. But maybe I could knit something, I thought. A cute little sweater or a tank. But I am a super slow knitter, have never made an adult garment before and don't have yarn or a pattern. So, I know I'll never knit a tank in time for that wedding.

So then I was sad. Why can't I be one of those knitters who just happens to have the perfect yarn in her stash and can make a sweater in a weekend. I know I'm not, yet. But I remembered: I can sew! And I have tons of fabric in my stash, including summery fabric I got on two of my work trips to Hawaii (yeah, I've got a good job that sends me to Hawaii in the winter every few years). So I made this skirt on Monday after work. It's not done; I still need to hem it. But I didn't have a pattern. I used an A-line skirt I had made years ago as the base and built on it, made it a little bit fuller. I've never done that before, but it was easy. So, now I have a new skirt. Yeah! It would look great w/ a hand-knitted black tank... hmmm.