two pairs of socks!

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

This is my 25th pair of hand knit socks that I've made to date. They had a lot of issues (like me, hahaha!), so they went into time out for about a week. After that time, I was able to frog back and fix the mistakes that I had made. (This was my first time doing partial frogging successfully, which was a big deal!) I'm so pleased that they are finished, and more importantly, finished well. I LOVE THEM!! They are warm and happy...perfect for these dreary fall days! The yarn is Malabrigo sock yarn. The color is 857 light of love. (I wonder who gets to name these things!)

I finished this pair of socks (my 24th pair) back in August. The yarn is Felici by Knit Picks, which was gifted to me by my sweet friend Suzanne. (I tried to find a link to the yarn, but I think it's either out of stock or discontinued.) I'm pleased as punch with this pair as well! I used my basic sock pattern (available here) for both of the pairs shown.

This pretty much sums up how I feel about hand knit socks. :)

Now, it's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the MONTH....if you have multiple finishes to share, please feel free to link up more than one! Thank you, as always, for joining me for finish it up Friday! I know that some of you miss having a weekly link up, but I have to say, that doing it once a month has been so helpful for my sanity. (I don't have that much to spare. hahaha!) Anyway, I hope you have a FABULOUS weekend!

socks for Z

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

Late last night I finished knitting my 20th pair of socks to date. That's a pretty exciting milestone! I loved knitting them, even though it seems like they took forever. These are for my 16 year old son, who loves gray as much as I do. Hurray! For my next pair of socks, I've decided that I'm going to try to knit two at a time. I don't have a problem with second sock syndrome (not wanting to make the second sock after the first one is finished), but my perfectionist side goes bonkers if the socks are not exactly the same. If anyone has great tips for knitting two socks at a time, I'd love to hear them!

(The quilt in the background is oh my stars!, which is one of my favorite ones that I've ever made.)

Now, it's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the week. And thank you, as always, for joining me for finish it up Friday! Have a great weekend. xo

Mary's socks

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

This morning I finished my 17th (!!!) pair of socks to date. These are for my good friend Mary. She purchased the yarn (isn't it gorgeous???) and I had the pleasure of knitting them up. I hope that she enjoys them for a good long time! The yarn is from Spun Right Round and the colorway is graffiti.

I used my basic sock pattern, which is available as a free download here. I changed things up a bit by knitting the ribbing pattern on the ankle/leg section only. I used a plain stockinette stitch throughout the foot instead of the ribbing. It makes for a comfy pair of socks!

Another finish this week...day 14 of my pincushion challenge!

This is a paper pieced courthouse steps pincushion. I left it un-quilted because I didn't want to mess it up. You can be sure that I will try another one, someday, and I plan to quilt it next time. I LOVE this little block. It's all I can do not to start an entire quilt of them. But, I really (REALLY) need to finish some other WIPs first! This pincushion measures about 4 1/2" square and it is scrap project #161.

One bit of business...Therese from Wichita...if you are reading, please email me! You are the winner of my bright birch tree starter kit winner. If I don't hear from you by Monday, I will pick an alternate winner.

That's it for me this week! Please link up your finishes. Thanks for joining me for finish it up Friday! Have a GREAT weekend! xo

socks, bibs and pincushions, oh my!

Welcome to finish it up Friday! The school year is winding down, so things are busy, busy, busy. I'm thankful that I have any finishes at all this week!

This is my 16 pair of hand knit socks to date. Hurray! These are for my oldest son, so now ALL of my kids have a pair of hand knit socks, or "Saturday Socks", as they are affectionately called in our house. My kids love them. I love that they love them! This yarn is a mix of bamboo, wool and nylon. It wasn't my favorite to knit with (it tangled so easily) but the results feel amazing! I'm glad they have a happy ending. :)

I used my basic sock pattern, which you can find here. (For this pair, I did make a few modifications. I knit the ribbing for the cuff according to the pattern, but I did a plain stockenette stitch throughout the foot portion.)

I went a little crazy making bibs last week. I powered through 9 of them! I used the best bib pattern, and I talked about the modifications in this post. I'm excited about gifting them!

I made a few flying geese pincushions...this one in all greens...which was totally inspired by my backyard....(it's scrap project #143.)

(man, I love this time of the year....)

I made another pincushion this morning, to test my pattern....to make sure the first one wasn't a fluke. Hahaha! This is scrap project #144! (You will probably see a few more of these...)

I love these pincushions because they have the most humble beginnings. I absolutely love transforming scraps into pretty things! (I know, big news there! Hahaha!)

 

Now it's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the week! Thanks, as always, for joining me for finish it up Friday!

rose city roller socks

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

I have a new pair of hand knit socks! I finished these this morning...just minutes ago! I love how they fit! This is the second pair of socks I knit with this particular sock yarn. (You can see the first ones here.) I still can't believe that I was able to squeeze out four socks from 2 balls of yarn! love that I was able to use almost ALL of the remaining yarn I had on hand. It almost feels like I got a free pair. :)

I especially love the contrast toe, which was even more leftover sock yarn. One day I will figure out how to do a contrasting heel as well. But for now, this is great!

I used this pattern as a guide. What a fun knit! This is my 15th pair of hand knit socks to date! I already have pair #16 on the needles. :)

One more little finish for today...I finished my rainy day birdie coaster (#2!) that I started back in September. I love how it turned out! The pattern is in Erin's book Sweet Tweets. The crocheted edge was the challenge, as my crochet skills aren't super strong, but I think it ended up pretty cute! I used the instructions as a guide (noticing a theme?)..and then I kind of made something up that looked good on my coaster. For the edging, I used up more leftover sock yarn (yay!), which worked pretty well! The pattern called for embroidery floss, but I wanted to use what I had on hand. It is scrap project #121!

Next week we will not have a link up party on Friday, since it is Christmas day. I think I will move it to Monday, the 28th instead, so you can share what you made for Christmas or any other finishes you may have between now and then. Does that work? I hope so!

Also, I will be picking 2 winners (one from the comments and one from the links) this week to win a 3 pack of PDF patterns of their choice from my pattern store as a thank you for joining me for finish it up Friday!

Now it's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the week! I hope all your last minute Christmas prep is going well. Remember to breathe! Have a great weekend! xo

charcoal socks

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

I finished knitting another pair of socks this week--my 14th pair to date! I love gray and I wear a lot of it. It was surprisingly difficult to find a decent gray sock yarn, but I found some on a trip to Duluth earlier this year. I used my basic sock pattern, which you can find here. I'm sure that these socks will be in heavy rotation this coming fall/winter. They are so comfortable!

One year ago, I had a sock finish as well! Isn't that funny?

Also, today, I am finishing up my 30's. That's right...I turn the big 4-0 tomorrow. I'm not sure that I'm excited about that finish, but I guess it's better than the alternative! Ha!

One more thing...thanks for all your sweet comments on my upcoming Craftsy class. I appreciate your support more than I can say! xoxo

Now it's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the week. Thanks for joining me! I hope you all of you in the US have a great and safe holiday weekend!

florida socks

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

This week I have a pair of hand knit socks to share with you. I started these on my trip to Florida about two months ago, as a way to cope from being away from my sewing machine. A friend of mine and I joked about me furiously knitting while I was standing in a zillion lines for rides at Disney. Ha! I would like to say that they were an enjoyable project, but they really weren't. I found out later that the yarn I used is single ply, which isn't fun to knit, because it splits so easily. But, I powered through, and they are pretty comfy! I like the colors and I also like that the colors are placed differently on each sock. I used my basic sock pattern, which you can download here for free.

I'm glad that these fit, because the last few pairs of socks that I knit ended up going to my kiddos. They don't mind one bit. And really, I don't either! This photo makes me delightfully happy.

Now it's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the week. Thanks for joining me for finish it up Friday!

a mish mash of finishes

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

What a week it's been! As of this morning, I am done with my business taxes for the year!!! (Insert a HUGE party here!) If I could do cartwheels, I would do 100 of them. I find it highly challenging to run a small business, but I am also very thankful that I get to do this. If you've bought a pattern or a book, taken a class or attended a trunk show/lecture that I've given, thank you! Your support means so much!!!

Ok, now, on to some fun, crafty finishes!

Yesterday, I finished my 12th pair of socks to date. They only took me a month to knit, which feels super speedy! They are pretty unexciting, color wise, but they will match about 80% of my wardrobe. Funny how that works, eh?

 I'm happy to say that photographing socks is getting a wee bit easier. Hurray!

I used my basic sock pattern, which is available as a free download here. I can't tell you how much I love wearing hand knit socks. I'm pleased that my collection is growing.



Speaking of a growing collection...I made a few more pin cushions for my craft room "candy dish". (See this post if you missed it last week.) This is another little orphan block turned pin cushion. Slowly, one by one, I am cleaning up odds and ends around the craft room. It feels great! I love the dense grid quilting. So fun on a tiny project!

This one was NOT a quick finish and it was a bugger to turn. Inspired by my bright birch trees quilt,  it uses the smallest of scraps. I LOVE how it turned out!! It's about 3.5" x 3.25" finished. Tiny!

Here is my bowl of happiness for the week. Be prepared for a pin cushion update, weekly, for the foreseeable future. :)

A note about pin cushion filling and construction: For the filling, I use crushed walnut shells that I buy from the pet store. (They are sold as lizard litter.) One big bag makes a BUNCH of pin cushions. For the construction, I make a quilt block, quilt it onto a piece of scrap batting (no backing required). For the other half of the pin cushion, I do one of two things: I use ticking (without interfacing) OR quilting cotton with a layer of Pellon SF 101 interfacing fused to it. The interfacing gives the back a bit of stability and prevents the need for an inner liner. I hope that answers any questions that you may have!

Now it's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the week. Thank you for joining me for finish it up Friday!

ticker tape doll quilt and some socks

Here's scrap project #100/101! It's a little ticker tape doll quilt (tutorial here) that I made for my daughter. I had her pick some of her favorite scraps from my ticker tape drawer, and when she lost interest, I picked my favorites. There are so many good ones in here!

That little cutie pie deer is a favorite! I left a 1" border around the edges this time and I like how it gives the patchwork a little border. I also like that it gives the binding a little breathing room.

So many scraps used...so many scraps leftover. I could make 20 of these, easily! If only I had more time! That's always the trick, right?

Isn't that a sweet backing? It's the perfect match for this quilt. The quilt measures 16" square.

 

I finished up another pair of socks last week! These are my 11th pair to date. I think this is my 3rd pair this year. That's pretty exciting, because there is NOTHING like a pair of hand knit socks.

I used my basic sock pattern, which is available here, for free!

 

See you tomorrow with scrap project #101!!!

teal socks

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

This week I finished my 9th pair of socks to date! Do you know how hard it is to photograph socks alone on a gloomy day? It's not easy! After several failed attempts I popped out onto my front step and I had an acceptable photo in no time. Hurray for fall! :)

It's cool and blustery here, so these babies are going to get broken in (and covered in a whole lot of thread)...today!

 

Now it's your turn. Please link up your finishes. Thanks for joining me for finish it up Friday!

another pair of socks

When I first learned how to knit socks, I went to great lengths to take the classes. It wasn't at a convenient time of the day so I had to find a sitter for my girl and find someone to watch the boys after they got off the bus. (Sometimes that involved two different sitters in the same day, which is totally unheard of in my world.) Then I had to purchase the sock yarn, pay for the class, drive back and forth, pay the sitter, etc. When it was all said and done my first pair of socks cost at LEAST $75. For that reason (and so many more), I am committed to keeping up my sock knitting skills. I try to have a sock on the needles at all times.

I had a FABULOUS teacher (through a local-ish yarn shop) and it was totally worth my time and effort to learn this new skill. Hand knit socks are a treat to wear AND I enjoy the process of making them. I have a high tolerance for tedium, so knitting them-even the second one-isn't a problem for me. No second sock syndrome here. Hurray for that!!!

This particular sock yarn was a gift from my pal Terri. (Thanks, dude!) It's lovely, lovely yarn....Lorna's Laces in the color Mother Lode. (Ha! Love that name! That's exactly how I felt when she gave me this yarn, like I hit the mother lode!) I love these socks! Every time I finish a pair (this is my 7th pair!) I still feel like proclaiming "I can knit my own socks!"

I just cast on another one today...in charcoal gray. Mmmmmmmm. I can't wait!