Decisions, decisions!

Yikes! Summer of socks starts this week and I'm still knee deep in both the Regia Bamboo and Katsara socks. I just turned the heel on the second bamboo sock and really want to keep working on them so I can wear them during the warm weather. I miss my handmade socks in the summer since wool is just too warm for our climate. I'm really looking forward to some summer-weight socks. I'm still on the first sock of the Katsara socks and won't feel too guilty putting them aside for awhile. The rules for SoS are pretty loose. You can knit as many or as few socks as you want using any yarn and pattern you want. It doesn't specifically say the socks must be started on or after June 21 (the start of the KAL) unless you are participating in one of the contests. I'm not a contest kind of person so I'm not too worried about that. But I think the spirit of the KAL is to try to start and finish the socks during the 3 months of summer. So. Now I've got some decisions to make. I've got a pile of sock yarn to choose from.Knowing my general slow knitting speed, I'm figuring I'll be able to do 1 maybe 2 pair during this time. I want to do something special, so I'm leaning towards using one of my newly hand-dyed yarns. Although the Lime & Violet yarn is pretty special too. And then there's the Socks that Rock. As for patterns, I'm thinking Horcrux (since this is also the summer of Harry Potter) but Jaywalkers have suddenly started calling my name too. ARGH!

I finally got around to getting a picture of the machine knit sweater I made over Memorial Day weekend.
It was knit from Lion Brand Cotton Ease in Berry, 6 skeins plus a tiny bit of a 7th, on a Bond ISM using keyplate 3. The ribbing was knit by hand. I used Ann Budd's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns to come up with the pattern. This sweater is super comfortable. We had a cool snap last week and I actually got to wear it one day. I would only make 2 changes for next time: I'd shorten the sleeves a bit and start the v-neck sooner, there's very little depth to this one. I really like the modified drop shoulder design. It's much less bunchy under the arms, very well fitting but still comfortable.

And finally, thanks to Charles for mentioning my blog on his knitting videocast this week! As far as I know, he's the only knitter doing a videocast. He's up to his third episode, I think. He features book and magazine reviews, website reviews and yarn porn. Since I tend to listen to podcasts on my Ilo and not my computer, I often don't get a chance to see what the podcasters are talking about. With Charles' videocast though, you get to see the stuff as well as hear about it. Great job Charles!