July WIPs

Here are the things I am currently working on:

"Wee Melia" by Ysolda Teague in RipplesCrafts Merino DK "Gunther's Seat"

I bought the wool for this at the Highland Wool Festival in Dingwall in May. Helen pulled out the colour to show me as soon as I walked into her booth, then clinched the deal by having a shop sample knit up in warm gold for Little Djinn to try on. It's like she knows me or something. I cast it on as soon as we got home, but Little Djinn spotted the then-latest issue of Knit Now magazine that arrived that morning with a kit to knit a little doggy and she insisted I knit that post haste. Wee Melia was ignored for the Hapalong and MKAL but I have a few days before the Scollay-along starts so maybe I can finish the hood.

"Brainless Socks" by Yarnissima in Opal Cotton Premium "Ozean"

I started these back before Easter time. They're 30% cotton which will make them better for warm spring days although it's July and I'm either wearing my wool socks or going barefoot with a lot more of the former. This is my walking around project and I am almost done with the gusset increases on the second sock. Let's all please take a moment to admire the fact that my stripes line up. Mad skills, yo. Obviously this could all go to pot when I turn the heel.

In the languishing pile we have "Harringbone Rib Socks" by Kristi Schueler in RipplesCrafts BFL Sock "Ola"

These are for Chris and, yes, he picked the colour. The pattern is a two row repeat and I keep forgetting which row I'm on, usually mid row. The yarn is also really skinny, making progress almost as slow when I work on them as when I don't. They're not watching Telly knitting, which is currently as much attention as I can spare a knitting project. I'm on the second sock so I really don't want to frog them and start over with a different pattern :-/

"Terry's Pullover" by Carol Feller in Jamieson & Smith Aran "Olive"

This one keeps losing out to shinier projects. I knit to the armholes and started on the sleeves before admitting my fabric would stop bullets and it would never fit. I frogged it, went up on both the needles and pattern, and started again. I started with the sleeves, two at a time, to check my gauge, and then couldn't find them when it was time to join them to the body so I figured I'd graft them on at the end, which is where I am now. The first sleeve went on easy enough, but the second on wasn't lining up for the 2x2 rib racing stripes. After two days of trying I put it in time out and there it sits. 

Meanwhile I am swatching for the Scollay-along. I usually have to go down on the needles so I started with 3.75mm needles and my unblocked swatch is 20x28 with a blocked target of 22x30 so I'm close. I'm swatching on the recommended 4.0mm needles as well and I'll block them at the same time to see what I get. CO is Sunday, which is a work day for me.