Socks, Vest, Tunic and More

When I posted about my birthday one item hadn't arrived yet... I had commented on this listing on etsy to my husband right around my birthday and he surprised me by ordering it for a late present.



I haven't been spinning lately, but I have plans this week to at least start some again.


Soon after he returned from a trip for work I (a month or two ago) had finished brown socks for my husband.



I forgot to take a picture right when I finished them, and he wore them the next day, so if they look a little stretched it's because he just took them off!



He already handed me yarn for another pair which I am planning to start within the next couple of weeks... I love doing the plain socks, I can knit while watching tv or while watching children - which means they got done quicker than patterned socks!


I finished my first steeked project!



Unfortunately I ran out of the green yarn about 1/4 of the way through the neck ribbing! Someone else on ravelry had listed the same yarn, same dye lot in their stash and was willing to swap me it for some of the yarn in my stash! I only had to wait a couple of days (Well, less than a week) for it to arrive. I worked on the brown socks and finished them while waiting and then finished up the vest as soon as the yarn arrived.



I love how the vest looks on me, but you will have to wait until I buy a new shirt to go with it, as I don't have anything that looks great under it yet! I will post pics here or on ravelry or both once I've made that purchase.



I originally made these slippers for my husband, but I left them in the washer felting a smidge too long and while he could fit into them they weren't comfortable. So I promised him a new pair in the fall and I felted these a bit more and gave them to my dad instead. My mom already purchased nice leathery bottoms for them (and got them in the mail) and just needs to sew them on and he'll have a great warm and non-slick pair of slippers!

I also finished the weaving!


I had done one set of napkins already and after christmas I warped the loom for another set. My family loves using large cloth napkins at meals and although we bought a bunch at ikea I really liked the look of the handmade ones. I finished weaving on my birthday in april and then finally took the couple of days needed and finished most of them for my daughter's tea party that she had for her june birthday. A couple of days later I finished the rest and now the loom is returned and the weaving yarn is back with the stash... perhaps sometime for christmas or spring I'll look into getting a cricket loom or another small loom that I can use for a while and pack away otherwise. I did enjoy weaving though!


Last year when we went to the MA sheep and wool was when my daughters discovered their love for weaving and we originally borrowed the large floor loom from my wonderful neighbors. This year we went to sheep and wool and the family enjoyed seeing the sheep, shearing, sheep dogs for the first time, kool aid dying, lots of things for sale, friends (fun bumping into our neighbors and their friends and sharing their fries!), and a tiny hay maze and play area!




We kept our purchases in check as we are slowly realizing how anti-surplus-consumerism we really are (yes we have stashes, mine - yarn and fiber - fit into four rubbermade bins, my husband's fit into another two and I'm comfortable with that amount). We purchased some new fiber for each of the girls (the pink for 'curly', the yellow and half the brown for 'lily', the green and rest of the brown, and the bright colorful one for me) and some patterns and the yarn for them for my husband. All of my stuff is already added into my ravelry stash page - which I love for knowing what is in those four buckets when I find a new pattern I want to make! If you love the look of something and don't want to go searching on ravelry (or don't belong) ask me and I can tell you what it is!


Also for my youngest daughter's birthday I finished a tunic for her!



I was actually shocked, I worked on it for a couple of weeks and she never asked what it was... I guess they are used to me knitting strange things and just being so excited about them that I explain what they are randomly, but she never knew it was for her, until I was *almost* done with it on her birthday... I told her, tried it on her, finished the last set of pattern and then did the bottom edge and washed and blocked it.



She was very excited about it and twirled in it every time she's put it on so far. She couldn't wait to show her friends, so she wore it to a birthday party she was invited to less than a week after her birthday!