Frenetic February

I know alliterations are so 2012 but the title seemed appropriate for my achievements. February finishers didn't sound as exciting. I have finished three projects; actually I finished four but after blocking I decided that the cast off needs to be redone - it is too loose which is way better than being too tight. I'm also hoping that I'll finish another project currently on the needles before the end of the month.

Here is the photographic evidence.

First off the needles was a shower pouf for a gift exchange our knitting group was having.

The pattern is Bonbon on Knitty.com. It is a simple tube, scrunched and tied in the centre. I cast on more stitches than called for to account for the different yarn and had the purl side of the stocking stitch as the right side. The yarn is Bernat Bamboo Natural Blends although that is a misnomer as it is only 86% bamboo. I can see myself making more of these for gifts.

Next off the needles was a shawl. I had bought two different lace yarns to knit shawls on my road trip but one took a long time. Even so, when it was finished I wanted to cast on the other one. Which was a much quicker knit, for three reasons, smaller size (used less than 1/2 the yardage), easier pattern, and no beads.

This is a close up for the time being, I hope to have some photos of it being worn soon. The yarn is Drops Lace by Garnstudio in a lovely deep blue. It is another pattern from Knitty.com - Forest Ridge; as I had plenty of yarn I worked two extra repeats of the leaf pattern.

And last off the needles was a pair of socks because I still have sock yarn ha ha.

The pattern is Marigold Socks, which I chose as there was a flora and fauna theme in Sock Knitters Anonymous for January. The pattern on the instep has two plain stitches on one side and three on the other so I just decreased one stitch to have the pattern centered. I'm not sure why the designer didn't think of it as she has you decrease a stitch after the heel.

The yarn is Shepherd Sock by Lorna's Laces and was given to me as the next knitter on one of the WCOBBS blankets. As I wanted the leg to be a bit longer than the yardage would allow, the heel was knitted with Araucania Ranco left over from the socks in this post. The pattern is toe-up and here is a photo of Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-Off.

So a very productive February to date, which has reduced the projects on the needles, although another sock has to be cast on so I can get through the sock yarn.