Shawls, Shawls, and More Shawls

That's pretty much what I've been up to. A shawl for my mom's friend (the leaf shawl from Knitted Lace of Estonia but without the border)....

The Holden Shawlette in one skein of sock yarn. Nice easy shawl pattern for a newbie.

A Christmas present for my mom

A shawl from Victorian Lace Today, not yet done...

And the Celeste from the new 101 Sock Yarn Skein book. This is temporarily on hold because I ran out of yarn and need to thread a lifeline. I'm going on a plane ride Friday, so getting this done is my flight goal.

There's also two sweaters in progress...this is Roam from an old Knitty. The back's done, and I was working on the front before I got distracted.

The Augusta cardigan (I'm on one front, with just the other left to go)

And a sock....

And I started on a shawl from Wrapped in Lace. No picture of that yet, since I need to tink back a ways.

Oooh, look, FOs! and WIPs too!

First off, we have a pair of socks that have been a loong time coming. Yup, I finally finished the Ice Christmas socks (aka Eunice from Cookie A's sock book). I added a repeat to the leg, and um, they look good. Not a huge fan of the yarn (Knit Picks Imagination), since I prefer my sock yarn more tightly spun, but they look good.

 Then we have a WIP, the Anniversary socks from Favorite Socks, in Ella Rae Lace Merino. While not technically a sock yarn, it's the right weight and is a dream to knit with. I started these on Monday, and am already on the foot. Pattern looks complicated but isn't really, but do watch out for the errata!

 Another FO, this one completed back in August. This is a really simple knit, co 60 stitches, work the Elegant Ribbed pattern from the Elegant Ribbed Stockings from Favorite Knits, and just remember to do a thumb. The nice thing about these is that there's no left or right hand. And yes, I made up the pattern myself. The yarn is Ella Rae Lace Merino again, and I used less than half the skein. Thinking of making a cowl with the rest....

 And a WIP, Peach Roam. Ambrosia got frogged, and since it's finally getting vaguely cooler I thought a cardigan would be nice. Enter Roam. I like the linen stitch, and it's a pretty brainless knit. This is important, since I've had a migraine for almost two weeks now and brainless is about all I can manage.

 And another FO. A pair of socks (yes, there's only one in the picture, but I promise there are two and they're both done). This is from More Sensational Socks, done in Berroco Comfort. It's a 4 stitch repeat, and right now I can't remember what it's called.  Anyway, this was the fastest I've ever knit a pair of socks, since they got done in 2 weeks flat.

Canopy Scarf and the Evilness of Socks

The sock, it frustrates me. My heel turn, which I figured out by myself (okay with the help of More Sensational Socks) is not centered. But but but I don't want to pull it out, so I have set it aside for a little while.
My Canopy scarf is still ongoing. See picture above? That's it. Okay, so I stink at pictures, but that at least gives you an idea.

I've also started a Noro sock yarn scarf, and again I made up my own pattern (well, sort of). I swiped the Vertical Eyelets pattern from More Sensational Socks, and changed rows 1 & 3 to read p4, k1 instead of k4, p1. In my brilliance, I kinda forgot that I needed to reverse as well. But it still looks good, and with only 4 pattern repeats, it's a lovely lacy thin scarf. That's going to a friend of mine, because the colors make her happy and the wool's too rough for me. I'll still need to figure out what to do with the rest of the skein. I've only used one color repeat, and it's about 3 feet long, and there's a ton more repeats in the 400+ yard plus skein.

I picked up the Kaigo? pattern book at Hancock for 5 dollars. I may never make anything out of it, but the pictures are lovely. And a whole book of laceweight stuff? Yay!

Intro (and other stuff)

So, hi. I'm Melfina, and I knit, crochet, and do random other things. I plan for this to be my knitting/crocheting/random craft squee blog, so that my lovely friends at LJ and IJ don't get sick of me talking about it all the time.
Currently I am:
1. Knitting my first sock. I have an inch of k2p2 ribbing on size 1 double points. I am ridiculously proud of that. (since it took me three froggings to get to where I am). Note to self: should not attempt to do a sock pattern on the first sock you ever make. It's too confusing.
2. Making a lace scarf. I made my first finished scarf out of lace-weight malabrigo and had some left over, so I'm making the Montego Bay Scarf from Summer 2007 issue of Interweave Knits. It's been frogged and restarted once. Not a hard pattern but I seem to be good at getting my knit and purl rows confused. Since I now have 6 inches done, any mistakes are design features, no matter how odd they look.
3. Making a lace ruana/scarf/wrap thing. I think I shall figure out what it is after I get more than two inches done. It's currently my "I need to pay attention to what I'm doing" project. (It has also been restarted 5? 6? times. This explains why I have decided that any and all random rows(I like to knit when I should be purling and vice versa) are in fact nifty design elements.
4. Making washcloths for a friend's bridal shower. Thankfully I've only screwed up and restarted on one of them, and only have enough yarn for one more. Of course, now those needles are being used for the Montego Scarf. Yes, I fail at planning ahead.
5. Crocheting a lace sweater out of organic cotton. The pattern's from Sensual Crochet, and I highly recommend the book for gorgeous patterns. And Blue Sky Cotton is so so soft.
Resisting the urge to start anything else.