CHRISTMAS SOCKS

Last weekend, Foghorn and I were home with strep throat.  This weekend, The Professor and I have been sidelined with colds and an ice storm that came through the southwestern Ohio area last night.  That means...more knitting!







Last weekend I finished up some small projects.  This weekend I'm devoting to the new yarn I purchased from Roving Acres this week.  Throw in Ken Burns' dvd on the Lewis and Clark expedition and I'm set for a not-unpleasant afternoon (except for the nose-blowing and pounding head).

For my first Roving Acres project, I used a soft variegated merino/alpaca yarn in shades of dark gray for a pair of fingerless gloves.  I tend to read a lot before bed and while I'm snuggled up under the blankets, my hands get chilly holding the book.  Now I have the solution, courtesy of a free pattern found  here.

Today I'm working with my other skein of the same merino/alpaca yarn, this time in a gorgeous natural color.  After having made numerous pairs of socks in the last month from sock weight yarn, I decided I wanted a pair in thicker worsted weight.  Since I have terrible feet and live in Birkenstock clogs, I figure my cold heels would appreciate nice, thick socks.  I'm using a free pattern I found on Ravelry here.

Lastly, I never managed to post pictures of the socks I made at Christmas.  For the last several years, inspired by Mr. Bean's Christmas Special, I've given my mother and sister socks.  Since we do our celebrating on Christmas Eve, it leaves them with a little something extra from me to be opened on Christmas morning.  Thanks to my new knitting obsession skills, I was able to make the socks this year.  And who would I turn to for yarn except my beloved Roving Acres?  As with the scarf and hat set I made for myself, Beth was super-helpful in getting just the colors I needed for these socks.  I wanted variegated red, going from a bright, deep red all the way down to just short of pink.  The yarn came out exactly like I wanted and it is so luxuriously soft.  In fact, it was so wonderful to work with that I was kicking myself for not buying a third skein so I could have a pair.  Turned out, since the recipients don't like socks that come too far up the calf, there was enough yarn left over for a pair for myself.  Both ladies loved them and declared them to be the nicest socks they've ever owned.  I used a free pattern available on Ravelry here.

From my ice-bound family room, I leave you with my inspiration for my Christmas tradition.  Enjoy!

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