First handsewn buttonhole

It is amazing at how much work I will do to avoid some work... Given the option between figuring out how to use the sewing machine to do a buttonhole or how to do a buttonhole by hand, clearly I went with the non-machine option. 

Not perfect, but overall this was really neat.

Totality Socks

Like many other Americans, we were eclipse chasing at the beginning of the month. We ended up in Texas, where we had some amazing food, had some lovely time with family, and got to experience the total solar eclipse surrounded by people of all walks of life, united in that moment.

Also while we were there I made a pair of socks for Salvbard, who has not received a pair in a while.

Pattern: 72 sts 2X2 rib cuff down sock with heel flap and wedge toe

Nothing special here pattern wise, just my default pair of socks to his preferences. He has one pair of black socks that I knit 16 years ago, and I had told him that I was not doing another pair of just black ones. So he got creative in his yarn choices to get as close as he could manage.

Gloucester Rowing Socks

Last year my partner and I checked Glacier National Park off my bucket list, and this trip was my very first time to Montana. 

While I did not really need any souvenir yarn given the size of my stash, a mutual friend of ours with a huge love of orange had been on the sock list for a while, and our color palettes are so different I really didn't have anything in my stash. So while we were out that way, we picked up some locally dyed yarn that was right up her alley.

Yarn: Big Sky Yarn Co. Star Sock

Yarn Supplier: Cama's Creek Cottage in Kalispell, Montana

Needles: US 1 / 2.25 mm

Patter: cuff down, 2X2 rib with offset cable twists

Our friend is active with the rowing community up in Gloucester, MA, and a pair of warm wool socks will be very useful for those early morning rows. Plus I was very charmed to add running cable that travelled from the leg down the top of the foot.

Mountain Fire Socks

While I was sitting around knitting Majes' Fire Circle Socks, a mutual friend started chatting with me about them and jokingly asked how to get on the sock recipient list. She has been going through a lot in recent years, so it was nice to surprise her with a pair that the next pair of stockinette socks that I was just making to keep my hands busy anyways

 Yarn: Hobbii Happy Feet Print in Sea of Flames (leftover from making Majes' fire circle socks) and a lonesome skein of Lang Yarns Jawoll Superwash Acrylic Blend in Navy

Yarn Supplier: Hobbii Yarns and Knitting Treasures (permantly closed) in Plymouth, MA

Needles: US 1 / 2.25 mm

Not the best photo in the world (no blocking done out in the woods), but these were warmly received by a very surprised recipient.

Fire Circle Socks

This past summer, sitting around campfires I knit my friend Majes another pair of socks for his selection. He has been a fantastic knitwear recipient, so I don't mind the fact too much the fact that he has unreasonably large feet. 

Yarn: Hobbii Happy Feet Print in Sea of Flames

Yarn Supplier: Hobbii Yarns

Needles: US 1 / 2.25 mm

Nothing fancy here pattern-wise, just my standard cuff down, heel flap socks with wedge toe. The simply 2X2 rib and stockinette was perfect for sitting in the dark knitting around a campfire and talking with friends.

Baby Blanket for Lil' Pup

Friends of ours were expecting a very welcome baby whom they nicknamed "lil' pup" due to their respective love of otters and wolves. So my partner picked out an unusual colorway for a baby blanket to look more like an island surrounded by water.

Yarn: Cotton Kings Sultan Deluxe in 17 Mojave Azurite

Yarn Supplier: Hobbii Yarns

Pattern: Tusindfryd Baby Blanket by Sys Fredens

I hadn't been able to find good photos of this pattern laid out flat (potentially a red flag in a pattern) but by reading through the pattern it seemed like it should work. The result at least in my gauge, which tends to be relatively short, wide stiches, were these graceful curving lines of the eyelets, which you just needed to organically spiral out from the center to let the edges lie as expected. I was actually very charmed.

Inky Socks 1

Our friend Inky has gotten another pair of socks from me that didn't have an intending recipient in mind, but this is the first pair that were made just for them. These are exactly their colors, and the off-kilter stripes are completely their style.

Yarn: Knitting Fever Indulgence Cashmere (discontinued)

Yarn Supplier: a friend's destash!

Needles: US 2 / 2.75 mm

The pattern is just a basic 2X2 rib cuff down sock with heel flap and wedge toe, but after talking with Inky about how and where their socks would wear out, I went with a slightly longer heel flap to give some extra reinforcement at the top of the heel. When tried on, they quickly got awarded the title of favorite boot or sitting around the house socks.

Not only is this yarn incredibly soft, but also the 6-ply is very squooshy. Very excited about the 2 other balls of this yarn in my stash and then making Frankenstein socks out of the leftovers. This yarn was from a mutual friend's destash, and I think they would both be delighted by the community connections.