The skin of my teeth

Talk about cutting it close. This is how much yarn was left as I completed the Opal footies42 inches. I had actually dyed up one of the tiny skeins of Treadsoft I had to more or less match in case I ran out. But I didn't need it after all. The socks have been dubbed Low Rider

They sit delightfully low, not even reaching my ankle bone. I think they'll be perfect with my clogs. I really dig the short row heels.

No holes on the second sock. I think I did one too many rows on the heel of the first, resulting in holes at the corners. The short row heel went way faster than the standard heel/gusset. I may just be converted. They also seem to be fitting a bit better too. I struggle with getting my heels to not be baggy. I'm sure there's an adjustment to eliminate the bagginess, but I haven't run across it yet.

All of the yarns I had dyed for Etsy have sold! I'm so happy other people are liking what I've dyed. It's hard to let some of them go because I love the colors so much myself. But I know I can always dye more. This weekend I dyed up the last of the undyed yarn I have (more is on the way). Here they are pre-reskiening.
Blue JeanBats in the belfryPoodle SkirtThis brings up a question. In my journeys on the Internet, it looks as if most dyers do reskein their yarns. But some leave them as dyed (the famous Socks That Rock are not reskeined). I'm just wondering what you all prefer. Reskeining is a pain, but I think it gives a better picture of how the colors will blend and show up when used. "As dyed" gives a great view of the individual colors, but I just don't find it quite as appealing for some reason. Thoughts? I think I'm going to list this batch as is and see how they sell. These should be up on Etsy by the end of the week.

I was very busy this weekend. Not only did I finish the footies and dye yarn. I also made these fab-o Halloween candle holders.Canned a whack more tomatoes. Finished another Cat Who book. Started another Cat Who book. Got started on the punchneedle.I know it doesn't look like much now, but it's coming along nicely. I'm finding it very hard on the eyes. I'm trying to get a feel and rhythm going so I don't have to look as hard, but it's pretty detail oriented so pretty close attention is required. It's a lot of fun and goes pretty quickly. I don't see this becoming a top of the heap craft for me, but certainly one I'll keep in my repertoire.

Current projects and what's coming up

Since finishing the Yoke Sweater (which happened to coincide with warmer weather) I've not felt like knitting anything big. I've still got the Wool-Ease Four Seasons Cardi that would love to be worked on. The poor thing sits in a box, a back, one front and maybe a third of the second front piece. But I just can't bring myself to work on such heavy knitting. Instead, I'm back on socks.

The Mr. Joe Blanket socks are finally nearing completion. I can't even remember when I started them. To be fair, they were my "take along knitting" and we haven't gone anywhere during tax season. They've graduated up to TV knitting now and making faster progress. I was completely surprised I could remember what I did with the heel since I didn't take notes (shame on me). But the socks are matching very well and should be finished before too long.
Remember the Regia Bamboo that was supposed to be Widdershins but failed horribly? It's looking great now as a plain old basic sock. I so love this yarn. It's super soft, cool to the touch and should make great summer socks. It's 40% wool, 45% bamboo and 5% polyamid. I'm on a major quest right now to collect as much bamboo sock yarn as I can get my hands on. Last year I knit dishcloths all summer, this year may just be the bamboo sock summer!
Not that dishcloths aren't part of the picture. This one is pretty cool. It's Lion Organic Cotton and the dishcloth pattern from the last Creative Knitting magazine. I'm afraid I don't know the exact issue. The pattern is such an easy repeat, a little 2 stitch cable, I memorized it and filed the magazine away somewhere. I realized when I was taking the picture, this is about done. It's one of those things I have laying in my knitting basket that I pick up and knit a repeat on when I want to knit something different. Think I'll try and finish it up this weekend.
This is the first of 2 tank tops I plan to knit this summer. This one is actually a vest pattern (Summer V-neck Cable Shell from Sarah James). I modified it quite a bit though. I hated the weird random purl pattern she used, so I'm going with plain stockinette. I also reworked the cable design on the front. The original has both sides of the cable slanting the same way which looked wonky to me. So I reworked the cables so the slant opposite each other. When it reaches the V-neck, it nicely mimics the V. Unfortunately, it will be ages before I can show this to you knit up. As you can see, I'm only just beginning the back. But, again, I'm loving it. I've been quite lucky lately to have hit on so many projects that turn out to be every bit as wonderful as I think they'll be. This is being knit in Aunt Lydia's Denim Quick Crochet thread. Yeah, you read that right, crochet thread. But it's not really. It's a worsted weight, 75% cotton, 25% acrylic yarn. I used it once before to knit a string bag, but never think of it because I never look in the crochet section. I desperately wanted to knit this vest with denim yarn, but to use Rowan Denim would have been over $50! No way was I going to spend $50 for a tank top! Then one of my searches for denim yarn lead me to Aunt Lydia's and I remembered how much I liked using it before. And it's dirt cheap, under $10 for that same tank. Now, it's not going to shrink up like Rowan, so I don't think you could use this as a one for one swap on a Rowan pattern. But if you just want a denim look, this is a great alternative.

And finally, here's what's in the wings. These are the yoga slippers from the spring Knit1 magazine. I'm going to use 2nd Time Cotton, another of my faves. It should make for soft, sturdy slippers. This color is Scottish Moor. I've also got a ball of Istambul on order in the hopes of making two pairs. We'll see how long my ambition holds up!