Project Spectrum 2.0

(I’m hoping that the exclamation points and the word ‘knitting’ will divert everyone’s attention from the lack of posting for the past several days…)

So, the finished Pomatomus socks. These were actually finished…um…a week and a half ago…but between the toddler, the musicals, the never-ending battle I wage against laundry, dishes, dog fur and clutter, and just a general lack of free time, I haven’t had a chance to post about them. Having said that, I really liked this pattern. It was interesting and complex, but I found it to be a fairly quick knit. I even managed to work on them during bits and snatches of rehearsals where I knew I wouldn’t be playing for a while. They also fit really nicely, no sagging or bunching. I think if I did this pattern again I’d start the chart halfway through the first repeat, because the leg is just a bit longer than I like. But really, overall, a wonderful pattern to knit!

And, since it’s becoming quite a habit to have a pair of socks on the needles at any given time, here are my new “girly” socks. They fit in fairly well with the Project Spectrum colors for April and May – well, at least there’s a whole lot of pink in them!

In other Project Spectrum news, here’s a yellow bunny to go with the hat I made for a friend’s new granddaughter. (I cheated and started it last month, but who cares?) It doesn’t have a face yet, because the black yarn I need is trapped in my craft room behind half of our bedroom furniture. (Don’t ask.)

The final Spectrum color for this round is green. I have a much bigger project in mind for the green. It involves paint…

Want to see my two latest finished objects?

On the left, a Klein bottle hat which I knit for my brother for his birthday. (Which was last month, but as he’s been away at school this was the first time I’ve seen him since Christmas break.) On the right, a cute bunny blanket buddy which I knit for Carrie. This pattern is going into my last minute baby gifts file, since it’s even appealing to a two-year-old who’s going on twenty.

The hat, being of the mostly gray and blue persuasion, also works for Project Spectrum. Bonus!

In other knitting news, I finally finished swatching for the future hoodies. Is it bad that US 6’s and US 7’s gave me exactly the same gauge? I guess I’ll go with the 7’s. It will make me feel like it’s going faster since it’s on bigger needles… But before I cast on, I’m back to working on my never-ending mittens. My hands have been cold these past few weeks, and I have no one to blame for it but my own lazy knitting self! It even seems like the knitting gods are trying to nudge me into finishing them, since the needles I’m using to knit my Pomatomus socks – my favorite sock knitting needles! – broke and I have to order new ones.

I’m probably the last knitting blogger in the world to try knitting the pomatomus socks from Knitty. But, really, what else could this mostly blue (but with a tiny hint of teal) sock yarn become?

I’m still trying to decide whether I love the striping effect, but since it’s relatively subtle I think it will work. This is 1 1/2 repeats of the 22 pattern rows (which is a really complicated way to say 33 rows), so halfway to the heel shaping. It’s really not as hard as I’d expected, but it definitely requires a lot more concentration than my typical toe-up ribbed socks do. (Look, I’m actually even using stitch markers!)

In other blue knitting news, I started swatching for the sweaters I’m planning to make. I’m using my new KnitPick’s needle set. At first I started with size 7 needles, and I’m getting gauge, but I’m worried that when I wash and block the swatch it will expand, so I thought I’d switch to size 6 needles for the second half of the swatch…except. One of the size 6 tips doesn’t actually stay on the cable, the hole that’s supposed to thread onto the cable is too big. Luckily, KnitPick’s customer service is as fabulous as their new needles, and they’re sending me out replacement tips free of charge and no questions asked. So, responsible swatching will have to wait a few days.