(Mis) Matched Socks

 I finished a fun pair of socks while I was out of town hanging out with my Mom.  

Back in the 80s, I treasured two pair of Bobbie Brooks slacks that I purchased on a deep discount, one in each of these colors.  Both yarns were Core Gusto, one dyed by Cece's Wool in upstate New York and one purchased from Yarn Bits and Bobs in Pittsburgh.

I added a Doodle (charted colorwork) from The Doodle Knit Directory and worked an accent diamond stripe around each ankle.  It's a little tricky because knitters can pull the yarn too tight and make the sock skinnier when using two yarns.  I think I successfully avoided that!

After I made the first sock, I decided to make the second in the opposite colors.  Kind of a matching pair but not really.  

My mother in law has known each other for 42+ years; she knows I'm weird and loves me anyway.  She apparently has strong opinions against mismatched socks.  When I finished the socks, I simply had to wear them to her house, take off my shoes, and point to my feet.  She laughingly said "You have to make socks that MATCH, Debby!"  

Just for her, I think my next pair of socks will have crazy stripes, but be identical to each other.  We'll see if that satisfies her.

In case you didn't catch it, I adore my mother in law.

An Away-from-home finish: Storm Junior Sweater

I'm away from home for an extended period of time and I truly miss my sewing room.  Fortunately I also knit and knitting is quite portable.  

After finishing a pair of socks, I got to work on finishing a sweater for one of my grandsons.

The pattern is Storm Junior from PetiteKnit.  I saw this as a class sample at Pick Up Every Stitch yarn shop in Mt. Kisco, NY.  This classes didn't fit into my schedule but I was brave, bought the yarn at the shop, and decided to try making the sweater on my own.

"On my own" means "with a few panic-filled phone calls to my daughter and several YouTube videos," but I did finish and am happy with the results.

This Petit Knits pattern had some non-intuitive shaping that made perfect sense once I figured it out (i.e. start in the middle of the back and then knit up over the shoulders).  I already knew how to knit from a chart but learned how to do an Italian cast off, how to rib for a neat folded neckband, and how to join and cast off the neckband at the same time.  New skills that I'm sure I'll use again in future projects.

Italian Cast Off

I used some yummy yarn in a color that my daughter-in-law picked out:  It's a lovely merino wool in a blue/gray that might look more dull in the photo than in real life.

My daughter and daughter-in-law both knit and will appreciate and care for this hand-knit sweater that will hopefully be worn and covered in mud as the precious boy explores the world around him this fall/winter.