of socks and sizes

I submitted my 3rd content chapter yesterday so took the day off today. :) What better way to pass the afternoon watching a little baseball but to knit? I'm working on the first of the toe socks and as I started knitting the foot, it hit me that this is the first pair of socks that I'm making where I don't have the person they're for at hand to make sure the socks fit well. So, I went off in search of a handy chart and I came across this one by Catherine Goodwin of Knitting Anyway. It looks very useful. But it occurred to me to ask if any of you have a favorite way of sizing socks for absent feet. Feel free to share!

momentum

I seem to be feeding off the writing momentum I'm building. The chapter is in the final example of the final section, I'm waiting to hear back from my advisor on submitting my intent to receive my degree form this semester, and I'm knitting. lol, ok, so I'm never not knitting lately and that's a good thing I think. I've finished the baby blanket I was working on--I love knitting on big needles; it makes everything go so much faster, even with DK weight yarn, which is what I used.


Pattern: Soft and Sweet by Evelyn A. Clark in So Sweet Baby Afghans from Leisure Arts (#75015)
Yarn: Bernat Softee Baby in Pale Blue and White
Needles: US13 (9.00mm) & US15 (10.00mm)

This is a really fast knit and the drape of the blanket makes it snuggly and soft. There is an error in the pattern I have. It begins with 89 sts and then omits a YO on the final repeating lace row. So, I left it off and, before the second repeat (and subsequent repeats), increased a stitch two rows before the lace row to get it ending with a k2tog instead of a YO right before the side border. Then I increased again two rows before switching back to the smaller needles to finish off with the top seed stitch border. This is the second time I knit this but I didn't leave myself any notes last time! (I'd knit it when I was still a knitting noobie, just a few months into knowing how.) Have fixed that now since I'm sure I'll be knitting one of these again.

So, since I still haven't placed my Knit Picks order (the one with the yarn for my mom's Rusted Root, and my Blooming Cotton Scarf), I've moved on to the toe socks I promised the fabulous housekeeper at Chawton House Cottage (where I stayed on my research fellowship last year). I love the yarn the designer used, but it's discontinued and I am trying to destash! So, I rooted out some Marathon Miró from Four Seasons Gründl.



It's going ok so far; am on the leg of the first sock now. Oh, and speaking of yarn, KP is E.Vil! They've got their lace yarn on sale for a week! I think I may take advantage and get the yarn for the Celeste long cardigan from French Girl Knits and the yarn for the Shipwreck Shawl I want to make in honor of finishing my dissertation and Margaret Fuller (who died in a shipwreck). The only thing is that I'd like to make it in a colorway that's greyish/blue/black like the color the designer ended up with, but I don't have the patience or inclination to dye my own yarn. So I was thinking of either (from L to R) Shadow Kettle Dyed in Soot, Gloss in Cypress, or Shadow in Midnight Heather:



From the projects and stash pics I've seen on Rav, the Soot looks like it's more black or more grey, depending on the dye lot and lighting, and the Cypress has a bit too much green in it for my taste (I know! I'm poo-pooing green!) The Midnight Heather might work because it's blue/black, and the designer said she used a mix of Sapphire and Black dye to get that color. What do you think, dear readers?