Next project...

I have finished THE SOCKS!

I almost finished them on honeymoon, but then I ran out of yarn and couldn't work on it until we came back. There wasn't much to do, though - just the ribbing at the top. I finished them last night and this morning I managed to weave the ends in. They fit well, although if I do another pair I would try to bind off even more losely than I already did. It isn't uncomfortable when I'm wearing them, but putting them on it is a little bit tight.

I even have a picture of the socks - would have posted earlier, but I had a computer incident today. I tried to switch it on and nothing happened. Then, as I was trying to remove the power cable, there were sparks and it started to smell burnt. I was so worried, in particular since yesterday I had uploaded the honeymoon pictures, but hadn't yet burnt them onto CD. My thesis, etc. is all backed up, but it would have been so sad to loose these pictures.

Rang up a computer place and they took pity on me and told me I could bring the PC round today. I think it showed how much I am attached to this machine - when I walked into the shop and told them that I'd rung earlier, the guy grinned at me and said, "oh yes, the poorly PC!" ;-)

In any case, he had it fixed within 20 minutes. Apparently it was 'just' a power surge, and nothing was damaged... So relieved!

Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, the socks. Here they are, in their full glory!



Apart from finishing the socks and ferrying my computer around, I haven't achieved much today. I spent a lot of time sitting in front of the tv, watching the Guilty Pleasures Weekend on one of the music channels, which is just the right thing for an 80s girl like me. ;).

Yesterday evening I cut some of the dalias in our front garden. Are they not beautiful?

The three weeks away and the stressful time before is really noticeable in the garden. It looks terrible! There are some beans, though and some courgettes, and yesterday I cut some pattypan pumpkins, which look very cute (will have to take a picture) and we had some Perpetual Spinach in the curry that D made for dinner.

Also, today I cast-on for the Hourglass Sweater. Finally! After many attempts at getting gauge with the Kelso tweed yarn that I'd envisioned using for this sweater, I finally had to admit defeat. Thinking about it for a while I was not quite happy with my first choice anyway - the yarn is rather scratchy and might work better as a cardigan over some t-shirt... Instead I think I might use Lang's Fantomas Superwash, of which I happen to have a large quantity lying around. I had planned to use this for the Market Sweater in the Fall issue of Interweave, but as my copy STILL hasn't arrived I might as well work on something else instead.

I'm a bit concerned about how it's going to turn out, because this is a lighter yarn, and there is no way I'm going to get gauge with it. I knitted up a swatch with 4mm circs, which seems to be a comfortable size needles for the yarn, and my gauge came to 3" x 3.5". Not quite the 4" that are required for the pattern.

I'm determined to use the yarn, though, so I have decided to alter the pattern. Of course, my poor math skills might mean that I'll end up with a tent instead, but what I am thinking is this:

My gauge was 19 sts = 7.5cm (3"), so 79 sts = 31.5cm. This means that I need an additional 28.5 stitches to get to the 42cm width required in the pattern (Calculated from the gauge as 19sts = 10cm). This means that I can more or less follow the pattern, using the 2nd largest size (which asks you to cast-on 107 sts), but have to make sure that I measure the length of the sweater regularly so I don't end up with a crop-top. This is going to be more of an issue I think, but we'll see how it goes. I'm also worried about the sleeves and how they are going to fit in, but let's master one problem at a time! I'll keep you updated...

Enough for now, I'm going back downstairs to knit some more and to watch some more cheesy 80s music.

2nd part of the Big Report will follow tomorrow. :)