Officially Fall...

... and officially finished! The first pair in my Socks for Sarah project, that is. These are in Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, colorway Gold Hill. 64 stitches around, toe-up, short row heel, double eyelet rib and double rib leg.

Lookin' good, for a first pair of socks. Things I learned: work more rows plain after the heel before beginning leg patterning. Work tubular bind-off LOOOOOOSELY!

Here they are on my fat, fat feet:


And I've cast on for my second pair. Top-down, this time, still 64 stitches around. These are in Knitpicks Felici in colorway Schooner. I'm going to try a different heel this time too.


Meanwhile, in other knitting news, the body of my mom's Radcliffe Cardigan is finished and blocked, with button bands and everything, and ... it's too small. I've got to rip it out halfway and increase under the armpits. And take out the waist shaping -- it is my style, but not my mom's.

Lessons learned with this project: while aiming on the small side for superwash projects is the way to go, non-superwash yarn does not grow nearly as much in blocking. I measured my swatch ruthlessly, but I should have rounded up instead of down, because a difference of a tenth of an inch a stitch can make a difference of an inch or more in the final product. Oh well -- at least the gauge on this one is big, so it won't take too long.

tubular

Okay, I have to rip it out because it's the wrong size, but I needed to share this:


The gorgeous tubular cast-off I learned from TechKnitting.

Just look at that edge:


It's a thing of beauty. And stretchy? Like you wouldn't believe. In fact, so much so that I threaded in a little elastic (visible in the shot above) as I was kitchenering it closed, to make sure it would hold its shape (this is a neckband). What a difference a good finishing technique makes!

In fact, it was so much fun to learn this new finishing technique and have it turn out so lovely that I am looking forward to ripping it out so I can do it again!