First off, we have the first-ever Toe-Up Socks:
What a nice-looking heel (please note the non-wonkiness of the heel...it's a miracle!):
I really liked the toe-up sock now that I was successful at it. I had some binding off issues, but I resolved those. At first, I tried to do a regular bind off and tried to "work in loosely." Uh, that so did not work. So, I ripped it out and used a method I saw on Wendy's blog. You can find it here.Now, some specs on the socks:
Yarn: Gypsy Girl Creations in Watermelon Tourmaline. I used almost two skeins. I think there is enough leftover for baby/little kid socks. This yarn is awesome. It has a bit of a STR feel to it, which I like. I think I will try to get my hands on some more in the near future.
Needles: Size 2 dpns, the standard needles I used for sock knitting.
The Pattern: I used the directions on how to start a toe up sock from Knitty. Increased up to 64 stitches, used the heel directions from a pattern in Socks, Socks, Socks, then did K2, P2 ribbing until I was done. Used the bind off mentioned above.
Results: An awesome pair of socks!
Wow! That was sock overload! And now, ladies and gentlemen, what do we have here? Oh, It's a Forest Canopy Shoulder Shawl!
This was my first real attempt at blocking something, so we will see how it turns out. 
Here it is in all it's blocking glory (please note the shadow puppet of a rabbit...that was Alex being crazy):
So, once that is done blocking, perhaps I will take some artsy pics. We will see.
The Specs:
Yarn: Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Wildflower. I used one skein. There is very little left over. I thought about going two more rows on the edge, but it would have been too risky. I love this color, I love this yarn.
The Pattern: Forest Canopy Shoulder Shawl (click link above). I added a couple extra pattern repeats because I went down a couple needles sizes.
Needles: I used a Size 5 circular. The pattern calls for a size 8, but I decided to use a size 5. No real reason other than I thought the size 8 was looking too loose. I was able to get it to the right measurements when blocking. Lucky, really, because there was no gauge swatch. Sometimes I like being a "Fly By The Seat Of Your Pants Knitter." It's fun. :)
Results: Uh, I need the thing to dry faster so I can wear it!
So, that's it. The Kool-Aid sock is in my locker at work, and will hopefully be done by the end of this week. I have another sock that needs finishing, but I can't get into it. So, I just started yet another sock.
I also bought another pattern, which looks just beautiful. You can find it here. I don't have the yarn for it, so it will have to wait. I may have had a moment of weakness and bought some sock yarn from The Loopy Ewe on Friday. Bad knitter!
Whew! I had a lot to say. Hope you had a good weekend and had lots of awesome weather like we did here in Chicago! It is currently 75 outside at 8:45pm. I love it!
