February dishcloth

I just finished the mid-February dishcloth from the MonthlyDishcloth Yahoo group. I started it in one color but decided that the color I was using didn't do justice to the pattern. So I bought Sugar n Cream Cool Breeze Ombre and really like the results. I used the least noticeable cast one that I knew -- the single cast on. Then I finally found a matching, I think, bind off -- the crochet bind off.
(While I was buying yarn for this dish cloth, I bought yarn for a few more. Making dishcloths is great.) -- The picture makes the dishcloth appear darker than it is. It is actually a fairly light color.

Jaywalkers now finished

I've finally finished the Jaywalker socks for my DH. Surprisingly, for me, I didn't make many changes to the original pattern. Also, surprisingly, his foot is just 1/2" longer than mine. Though, his ankle and instep are an inch wider. He also has a wider heel -- which is no surprise since I have a very narrow heel. Because of his short feet, I was able to use just one ball of Magic Stripes yarn.
The original pattern is at: http://magknits.com/Sept05/patterns/jaywalker.htm . Details of how I made this sock was made are at my other knitting blog.
I'm looking forward to making my next pair of socks. If it hadn't been for the sock-a-month KAL, I probably would have stopped after the first pair of socks. But now, I find that I enjoy making socks and am looking forward to making my next pair (toe-up socks).
I'm also enjoying making dishcloths -- thanks to the MonthlyDishcloths Yahoo group that I found out about on knittyboard.com.

Washing Magic Stripes

I'm happy. After dreading and postponing washing my first pair of socks -- made with Magic Stripes yarn --, I finally decided to wash them. I put them in the washing machine with the rest of my clothes -- hot wash, cold rinse -- and then the dryer. They came out perfect -- no shrinking, no expanding. They look better than when I finished knitting them in the first place.

Sock ideas

Mom's Fast Florida Footies by LynnH at http://lynnh.com/patterns/florida.htm has some nice ideas for socks. First is the cuff. Instead of having k2p2 or k1p1, the cuff is k one round followed by a k1s1 round -- to make a rolled cuff. The heel flap is done in a modified garter stitch -- ie, knit the WS rows, k1s1 the RS rows. The heel is turned w the same stitch and the regular directions for turning a heel. The sole of the foot is done w purl stitches (and the top with knit stitches). Though, I'm unsure why the whole sole isn't done in garter stitch. ---- a lot to think about
I enjoy the planning more than the making. And I like to start planning even before I'm finished w a project that will use the same needles.
I'm also thinking of doing my next sock with crochet thread (the larger diameter kind).

Tubey, a further update

I increased the number of rows for the back part of the shrug to 138 from 130. That crocheted provisional cast on is nice!! I can't see where it was. With 138 rows for the back, I'll have 69 chain stitches on the sides (1 chain loop per 2 rows). Then my plan is to work k3, yo across the back to end up w 92 sts across the back. (69 + 23 = 92)

Tubey update

I frogged the sleeve I was working on (the first sleeve) because I wanted some shaping. So, I decided to decrease 2 sts every 10th row to end up with 50 sts from the original 60. Then I decided to keep the bell part of the bell sleeves by increasing 5 sts evenly around. Instead of doing (k10, m1)5 times, I did k5, yo, (k10, yo) 4 times, k5. Then to keep there from being a hole from the yo, I knit into the back of the yo in the next row. Finally, for the jogless color change, I picked up the stitch in the bottom row by picking up the back of the stitch below (before putting it on the left-hand needle) which gives a short of twist to the stitch below. I guess after knitting on Cinxia for so long, I've grown to like twisted stitches. :)
When I get to the other sleeve, I'm going to knit a few rows flat before starting knitting in the round, to make the back a little bit roomier (as suggested at tubeyknitalong.blogspot.com).