Finished socks

 Here we are the end of June and full into all the regular summer stuff: kids fighting, kids claiming to be bored, and being sick.  What? Your summers aren't filled with this?

I did manage to catch a cold timing it just so that I was most miserable the day the pool opened for the summer (a mere two days after school got out) and ended up at Urgent care over the weekend because, after 10 days, I just could not stand one minute of being sick.  Three hours after starting on antibiotics I started to feel better.  Seriously.

It is strawberry season, and so I have begun the freezer jam.  So far I've made three batches.  I want to make 2 or 3 more.  I mention this because I can't find anywhere, how many I made last year and that number was nearly perfect.  I also delved into canning although not with strawberry jam, but rather Strawberry lemonade.  I made half a batch, and had a little leftover after filling three pints, and so we got to try it and YYYUUUUMMMM!  I've been doing the jam over time, so as not to get tired of it, but with being under the weather, well let's just say I have spent more than my fair share of this "vacation" feeling tired and overwhelmed.

We also took a small trip, traveling to a concert venue in Grand Rapids that has outdoor concerts.  I sat and knit my way through the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra.  It was quite perfect for me, to sit surrounded by my happy children, listening to excellent music and knitting a sock.  And it was a LOT of knitting time, so much so I finished the socks.

So of course now it is too hot to actually wear socks, but they will be a nice surprise when the weather turns in September.

I knit these with Lorna's laces Shepherd sock, I thought Lake view but the tag says Icehouse.  I used size US 1 needles and a basic toe up pattern, with a heel flap, short row heel.  I finished with Jenny's Surprisingly Stretchy bindoff, which  I found I liked doing.

Now I am debating the next project, as I finished the socks before I had plans for anything else.  I have some ideas though, so now that I am on the mend from my cold, and nearing the end of strawberry jam season, I'm sure I'll have something soon.

first knits

Today I don't want to talk so much about my knitting as I do about my daughter's knitting. My daughter is 10, loves purple and has really taken to knitting (she has a twin sister who has shown interest in crochet, but hasn't focused on it). She made a garter stitch scarf for her American Girl and then we tried to think of a project where she could purl.

Back in the day, when I was slightly older than she is (11 or 12 maybe) My grandma taught me to knit and purl (but not to cast on or cast off or weave in ends) by having me make a project from a book. I chose a headband thinking I'd be oh so cool in it. I still have it and as first projects go it isn't terrible. It is though quite weird that I'd pick a headband as my first project, as I have never ever in my life looked good in a headband. I still have it though and mostly use it when washing my face. Some pictures:

and:

However, this daughter looks great in headbands. We thought about replicating mine, only in purple, but honestly I can't recall the pattern. While it sort of looks garter stitch, I distinctly remember purling. What I had her do was a knit purl combo. I was thinking knit two rows, purl one, but she was way more random about it. And honestly, it doesn't curl and looks pretty neat. She only worked on it a few rows every night as I read to her (which makes it sound like a domestic scene from the nineteenth century, especially when you consider the other daughter was usually drawing) but I doubt 19th century domesticity featured the fantasy novels we currently are reading (Ranger's Apprentice, for anyone who cares).

Last night I showed her how to sew it up, and this morning she wanted to wear it. As she was getting ready I said--aren't you forgetting something? And I grabbed her camera and shot a few shots of her wearing it. She looks darling, you'll have to trust me.