Spiral Eyelet Socks - Finished!

I tried to post this yesterday, but Blogger would not upload my photos for some reason. Today it is uploading them just fine. Go figure.

I finally got around to photographing the Spiral Eyelet Socks, so here they are:

Unfortunately, the eyelets do not show in the pictures and I did not take one of the socks on my feet. Mea Culpa. Here's a close-up of the pattern detail. Believe me, the eyelets really are there.

I love the colors and they are a bit brighter in person. The cuff has a picot edging and then K2P2 ribbing.

The heel flap is called a "seed stitch" heel, although it isn't truly seedstitch. Odd numbered rows alternate knit stitches and slipped stitches (instead of purl stitches). Even rows are purled. The heel flap does have a texture similar to seed stitch but less raised or defined I guess.

I knit these on US size 1 doublepoints using Opal Petticoat yarn #1296.

I'm also still plugging slowly along with the Gotland Island Mittens, and hope to finish them this weekend if it is not hotter than hades around here like it has been. I'm still at my parents, but I think I will try staying at home this weekend, as they are going out of town to visit my sister and her family.

I feel like this is a really dull post. But life is ok. You know that Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times"? Some times the interesting times aren't a lot of fun. I was wishing summer was over when I was walking through the heat and humidity in the parking lot this morning on the way from my car to the hospital entrance. And then I thought, "No I don't want to wish my life away. Today is one more day in my life and I don't know how many days I have left, so I should live in and enjoy today as best I can." So I will. Bye for now.

It ain't the heat...

I was going to whine about the heat (80's & 90's) and 85 % humidity, but pretty much everyone in the good old US of A is getting the same weather. So I won't say anything else, except that I have spent the last 6 days at my parent's house because they have air conditioning.

It's hard to knit when it's so hot and sticky, but I have done a little. I did finish the the spiral eyelet socks, but they are home in a drawer and so I cannot photograph them. I decided to joint the Bitchin Mittens knitalong. I bought this book a year ago and the patterns are just beautiful.

I choose the Gotland Island pattern. Gotland Island is in Baltic Sea, southeast of the Swedish mainland. It has the oldest knitting traditon in Scandinavia. They used their knitted items, which were highly valued, for trade. The women did the spinning, carding, and dyeing together in groups to lighten their chore load with companionship. They did most of the knitting too, although children and men sometimes helped. I finished my first mitten and here it is.

This is the view of the back of the mitten. The tip of the mitten is knit using the flat decrease method.

This is the palm side of the mitten. The thumb is a peasant thumb and it also used the flat decrease method. Do you see what happened to my gauge? When I started I was knitting more slowly trying to follow the chart and pickup the colors in the right order. Once I memorized the pattern and got used to the stranding I picked up speed and my gauge tightened. I don't think it makes a big difference, but I do notice it. I shortened the hand chart by one pattern repeat to fit my hand, otherwise it would have been too long. For the thumb, I started the decreases when the thumb was half way up my thumb nail. It actually fits very nicely.

When it's too hot to knit anything else, you can always knit a dishcloth! I knit this one last Sunday and gave it to my Mom. She and Dad are so nice to put up with me and my dog as refugees from the heat.

That's all folks.

Tagged

Donna tagged me for this Meme. Ok, here goes.

Four places I have worked:
H & S Pogue Company
Anderson Power Products, Inc.
University Hospitals of Cleveland
Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital for Rehabilitation

Four movies I would watch over and over:
Steel Magnolias
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Major League
Casablanca

Four places I have lived:
Cleveland, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Boston, Massachusetts
Denver, Colorado

Four TV shows I love to watch:
Law and Order
Big Love
What Not to Wear
Antiques Roadshow

Four places I have been on vacation:
The British Virgin Islands (sailing)
Aspen, Colorado (skiing)
Shelburne, Vermont (knitting retreat)
Ireland (two weeks with my Mom, exploring our roots, driving around and staying at B&Bs.)

Four websites I visit daily:
Yarn Harlot
Mason Dixon Knitting
Wendy Knits
and lots more!

Four of my favorite foods:
Chocolate
Crab cakes
Fresh peach pie
Asparagus

Four places I'd rather be right now:
The Black Point Inn, Prout's Neck, Maine
The Hermitage, Highlands Nature Sanctuary
Home on my screened porch
The LYS

Four friends that I have tagged that I think might respond:
Nope, not going there.