Ready, Set, Go!

Done, done, done - yes, I have finally finished the Horcrux socks. Here they are in all their glory:

I love the colors in this yarn, and the striping pattern, but the yarn itself was kind of splitty for me and hard to work with. Part of it might be the dark color of parts of the yarn, but I had more trouble with these socks that any of the other socks I've ever made. I dropped stitches right and left, and there are a few mistakes in there, but I still like them.

I have a pretty good amount of yarn left over because the cuff of the sock is shorter than most of the other socks I've ever made, so I think I am going to try making some footies for my daughter.

While I was out and about yesterday I was near the Redmond Ben Franklin's and had the urge to stop in and see what was new. A little stash enhancement ensued:

I totally love that Trekking yarn! I can't wait to try it out. The Patons is new to me, but it is a stretchy cotton blend yarn. I bought a pattern booklet made for the yarn which had some really cute patterns in it, including some lacy wrist warmers that I thought my daughter would like. They also had hats, and socks of course! We'll see who ends up with which color of yarn. I was going to make socks out of the turquoise, but my daughter decided that she would try to knit a headband that was in the pattern book - so either I'll wait until she tires of the knitting (although I hope she decides she likes it), or I'll just make myself some black/white socks.

Now that I have finished the Horcrux socks, I can be ready for the Ravelympics 2008! Here is my yarn, pattern, and needles all ready to go:

This pattern is mostly stockinette, but it has a lacy insert up the sides. The idea of the Ravelympics is to knit something that is a challenge to you during the 2008 Olympic Games. Cast on during the opening ceremonies, and hopefully finished before the flame goes out 17 days later. For me, knitting a pair of socks in 17 days is definitely a challenge! The Horcrux socks are the fastest socks I've knit so far, and that took a little over a month. It's not that I knit so slow (although I am not the fastest knitter in the world) but it's about how much time I have to knit. I'm lucky if I get an hour a few nights a week. However, I love the Olympics, plus I have a vacation coming up during the Olympics, so I may just be able to pull it off. And the pattern I picked is fairly simple, but still interesting. So we shall see!