kayray.org

A couple of days ago I made a little roll-up case for my DP needles. I used gray wool for the outside, and green plaid cotton for the inside. It’s just a rectangle, folded over and stitched to make pockets, with a fold-down flap at the top for security. I made a little spaghetti-strap tie-cord first, and stitched that into a side seam when I lined the gray with the plaid. I turned the rectangle right-side out and topstitched the edges, then folded up the bottom and sewed vertical lines to make needle pockets. I left a couple of larger pockets on the right side for a ruler and other small notions. Pictures!

Rolled up and tied:

Unrolled, lifting top flap:

Completely opened:

This afternoon, Henry and I went to a really fun gathering of homeschoolers who like Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh. While the kids played, I got a lot of knitting done! Turned my heel and began the leg ribbing. Here are photos:

Snazzy, huh? :) I’ll probably work a solid-color ribbing band soon and stop.

Notes to self: work 9 white stripes, then start heel flap. Inc one st so heel-stitch looks nice. Work 4 rows per stripe, 3 stripes each color.  After third white stripe, turn heel in blue (6 st. each side).  Pick up side stitches with blue, dec at sides every other round back down to 44 st total.

I’ve started some cotton/acrylic toe-up socks. I actually started them a few days ago, but I wasn’t happy with my first few tries and kept starting over. Now I’m on the right track, though.
Materials:

• Plymouth Yarn Wildflower D.K. 51% cotton/49% acrylic 1 skein dark blue, 1 skein cream, each color divided into two equal-sized balls.
• Skinny gray little dp needles

Pattern: adapted from Footed, Toe-Up Socks and Denise’s Toe-Up Sock.
Here’s what I’ve done so far, just to help me remember and make the other sock the same – not a good idea to try to follow these directions if you’re a beginner! BLUE: CO 8 w/ loop method. K8, turn needle over, K8 in the back of the loops. (16 st)
Inc (twisted YO technique) both sides every round, two times. (24 st). Inc one side only, every row, to 38 st. Then inc same side every other round to 44 st. End of toe.

Start stripe pattern: 3 rows each color. K2P2 rib on top of sock. (K the first round after color change, then rib 2 rounds.)

Here’s my progress so far:

To be continued…