I’m proud to say that for the first time in the four years I’ve participated in Socktoberfest this is the first time that I’ve actually started and finished a sock in October. ** I stand corrected, in 2006 I actually knit an entire pair of socks in the month of October.** To be completely honest only one of the socks in this pair was knit this year. The first sock of the pair was started and completed last year but then I experienced some serious second sock syndrome and another pair of socks looked much more appealing.

Waving Lace Socks by Evelyn A. Clark
from Interweave Knits, Spring 2004 and
yarn: Bonkers Raspberry sock yarn in Raspberry
sock1: started: October 6, 2007, completed: November 7, 2007
sock 2: started: October 15, 2008, completed: October 27, 2008

I finished the second sock in a record twelve days (a record for me) and I didn’t even have to take them everywhere with me. Granted I was home sick a few days last week but I was really impressed how quickly the seemed to knit up. It’s made me excited to make myself another pair of socks. The next pair will be two at a time because I can’t deal with year long gaps between socks.

There are books that have been made but photos haven’t been taken. They will be posted soon.

Bryan’s so excited about my making books, he’s coming up with a lot of his own ideas with incorporating his collages and poetry into little handmade books. I taught him how to sew his first binding on Monday night. We glued the spine and the next step is making the cover.

I’ve never been one to have a knitting schedule until now. Holiday knitting wasn’t even on my list until just a few days ago. A bit of a late start but this one sock can definitely be accomplished in a set amount of time. I started the sock on Friday and decided that I need to knit one lace repeat per day to finish it by Christmas Eve. The second sock will be finished after Christmas but I just wanted to have something for the receipient to open on Christmas Day. It’s a bit maddening to realize that what seems like a completely do-able task (one 12-row lace repeat) can quickly get away from you.

I promised photos in the last post but it took me a few days to gather everything up for photos. Finally, photos are taken and posted. I’ve been on break officially now for seven days and I’ve been keeping myself very busy. This week I’m hoping is a bit less crazy and that I can settle in for some good knitting.

Waving Lace sock. Sock one is finished, sock 2 not even started. The needles are being occupied by another pair of socks that are a gift that must be completed first.

Tweedy Vest. This is the vest that I started on Thanksgiving Day. The back is finished and I haven’t started the front. The yarn I’m using is a bit different than the pattern calls for so I’ve basically reworked the pattern for my yarn’s gauge and my own rib pattern of k1, p2, k3, p2, which doesn’t show up well in the photo. The yarn is Debbie Bliss Aran Tweed.

Martha cardigan. I made a lot of progress on Martha in November finishing one front in a matter of two weeks. The vest distracted me with the possibility of finishing it in a few weeks and the above-mentioned gift socks have been a distraction from Martha and the vest. The first sleeve on Martha is coming along well thanks to some serious knitting group knitting in the last two weeks.

My invitation for Ravelry arrived last week and I’ve tried very hard not to get completely sucked in. There is so much to it that I haven’t even full explored. A few projects have been entered but that’s about it. I could see it being a true time warp site. If you’re floating around Ravelry drop me a message (libraryknitr).

Finally, my friend S sent me this article about the Sock Wars. I thought it sounded great but a bit too competitive and crazy for me personally. I really admire people who participate in things like this.
Have a wonderful holiday weekend!

So I wrote this post with the intent of having a few photos only for me to come down with something. I’m hoping it’s the 24-hour head cold but I’m fearing it’s not.

Wow, despite the fact that I have a ton of school work to do, several projects seem to be working themselves together. Knitting on the bus and during class breaks has proved to be quite fruitful in the knitting department.

First, the first sock of the Waving Lace socks is finished complete with a toe already kitchener stitched together. A new record for me, I stitched up the toe the same night that I finished knitting the sock.

This afternoon as I was relaxing a bit, I finished the back of the Martha sweater. Tonight at knitting, I did a three-needle bind-off of the shoulders and started the second front of the cardigan.

Since these projects have been coming together so nicely, my urge to start something new has waned, which is definitely a good thing. I still really want to make the Tweedy Vest and K at knit night started a new pair of mittens another project that sounds really fun. Plus I have a pair of long fingerless gloves I need to make my sister for her birthday that was last month. I’ve decided that this year I’m not even going to attempt to knit any holiday gifts. The thought of Christmas being less than 50 days away is nauseating. So many fun projects that I want to make and I want to get back into spinning. I haven’t touched my wheel since Mother’s Day weekend, how sad.

And finally speaking of everything coming together at the right time. Moving my website over to the new domain name was quite easy and only took me a few hours of headaches. :) At least it’s done and when the old domain name goes away on November 17th or 18th, I don’t have to worry about losing anything. Plus I completely backed up everything before I moved it over. If you’re wondering where Candles in Kites came from and whether it has any significance, it doesn’t. Bryan came up with it on Sunday morning after we’d been talking about domain names for a while, it’s just one he threw out there that I liked.

First, just a quick housekeeping note, keep an eye out here for a moving announcement. Bryan and I are deciding to cut costs a bit and share a domain name. We haven’t come up with one yet but when we’re all moved in I’ll give you some warning. I’m giving up the erica-lee.org domain name after seven years and need to be moved by November 17, so there’s a bit of crunch time.

Thank you all to your very sweet notes and messages this week. I truly have dear friends from all over the country and world. Sometimes it takes something like this to remind me exactly what it’s all about. It’s so easy to get so wrapped up in school and other stuff that I forget about the really important things like family, friends and taking time for myself. School is important but I can’t let it completely rule my life. As my mom reminded me earlier this week, I need to remind myself how badly I wanted to go to school and why I’m in school. I’m still enjoying school but it’s feeling a bit overwhelming at the moment making up papers that I missed.

Tuesday evening at our knitting group, we had a blast making creep cakes and watching The Nightmare Before Christmas. I’m still working on the Waving Lace socks and am about half way through the foot on the first sock. Unfortunately, my plans of getting the whole sock done in October didn’t work out but I made significant progress. (Also my photo of the Waving Lace socks in the leaves made it up on Lolly’s blog. My sock’s 15-seconds of fame.) Lately, I’m experiencing start-itis and was swatching for the Tweedy Vest but got frustrated with the 8-row rib pattern that I’ve decided to do the same pattern with my own 3×2 rib pattern. I just really want a vest and to use yarn that I already have in my stash.

Wow, two posts in less than a week. There much be something in the air.

I think I’ve found a happy medium lately with school reading and knitting. For my Children’s Lit class this week, we have two decent-sized books to read, Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett and The BFG by Roald Dahl. On top of all of my other reading, I wasn’t sure I was going to get it all done. Several people mentioned last week that they listened to the books on disc. What a brilliant idea, why didn’t I think of that? So this weekend, I’ve been listening to Wee Free Men and knitting. During the first disc, I finished the Rowan Demin baby item, which has been washed and just needs buttons. (I’ll have a photo when it’s been received by mother and baby.) During the second, third, fourth and fifth discs, I’ve been knitting on a lovely new pair of socks. Ever since I first saw the Waving Lace Socks (Interweave Knits, Spring 2004) I’ve wanted to make them. Saturday, I decided that now is the perfect time to make them and I have plenty of sock yarn in my stash. I’m using Bonkers sock yarn, which I purchased at TKGA 2002.

All of this listening has been very productive and already I’m working the heel on the first sock. I love the rhythm in this lace pattern. In the description of the sock in Interweave, it says “…Evelyn Clark finds [this sock] particularly soothing to knit.” I have to agree. Who knows, I may have a sock finished before the end of October without any problems.