Works in Progress, October edition

It's WIP DAY!  I've been doing some cleaning, and pulled out some works in progress, so decided that today is the day to document them.  Some have been WIPs for so long that I'm sick of looking at them!

First up is my Wandering Socks, from Miss Babs sock in the Portulaca colorway.  I bought the yarn at MSWF in 2010, and cast on the first sock just before MSWF 2011, so I'd have a plain project I could knit on while wandering around the fairgrounds.  The first sock was done in about a week.  The second sock will be done tonight or tomorrow...2 1/2 years later!  These will be heading to Florida to live with my BFF Autumn when they're finished.

Next is the Moderne Log Cabin Blanket from Mason-Dixon Knitting.  Begun in January 2009, it's been knit on randomly and intermittently over the last almost 5 years.  I bought two balls of each of the four colors (Vanna's Choice, total of 1360 yards) with the intent of knitting til the yarn was gone.  The blanket is about lap-sized now, and I'm still in the first ball of each color, so it's definitely got a ways to go!  It makes for terrific couch/TV knitting during cold weather, so I'll have to keep its basket nearby and get cranking on it once more.

Here is the first of a pair of Charade Socks, from Online Supersocke Vintage.  This picture was taken months ago, and the sock hasn't progressed beyond there.  It's all ready for the heel to be turned, but I just haven't taken the time to sit down and do the minimal counting required to make that happen.  The Charade is my sister's favorite sock pattern, so after seeing at least 5 of hers, I had to knit one of my own, and I think it's just great with this green-blue color.

Another first sock, this one for my almost-11yr old son, who requested a pair of stripey socks early in the summertime.  He chose this yarn, Regia Stadion #5399, at the LYS in the beach town we vacationed in this July, and I cast on the sock when we came home the following week.  I didn't much care for the white portion of the color progression, but he asked me to keep it, so I decided I could at least make it smaller than the other color patches.  And looking at the picture now, I think I'd better rip it back to the toe increases, add a few more, and make the top of the foot ribbed, so it stands a chance of fitting him for more than a week or two!

A sweet little baby gift, for my friend Hillary, who I've "known online" since the late 90s.  She's having a baby boy in the next month or two, and the leftovers from Dan's first socks called to be made into something for her little one.  It's a Newborn Vertebrae, a frontless cardigan to keep tummy-sleeping babies warm, and it's too cute for words!  Leftover projects generally do not work out well for me, and doing this one in stripes was not my greatest idea ever.  We'll see how it goes!

Leaf Lace Scarf - started in late August to be a honeymoon gift to my BFF, who took a Baltic cruise with her new hubby, and wanted something to keep her warm.  Failed miserably on this one - what you see in the picture is as far as I got on it before we left to fly to Florida for the wedding.  The yarn is lovely though, Knit Picks Swish Tonal in Pearlescent.  I doubt this project will ever be finished, as she's getting the socks above, so I'll probably come up with some other fun thing to use the yarn for.

Lastly, a Vernon Hat for my honey.  He's gotten many hats throughout our relationship (we celebrated 3 years in May), but for this one he had specifications in mind - it needed to be knitted long enough that he could fold it back, but still cover his ears with it, and be ribbed to keep it on his head.  I chose this pattern because it's knit from the top down to the brim, so I could use as many inches of this KnitPicks Wool of the Andes Tweed yarn (got 2 balls of 110yds each, in Reindeer colorway) as possible.  The random ribbed pattern is neat and looks great, but requires a bit more attention than I'd thought it would, so it's been slow-going.  It's about halfway through the second ball now, and I'd better get it done soon, because as I type this, it's about 55* outside here in the Baltimore 'burbs!

Back to my knitting now!