Socks! Yarn! & a Question about Darning

After much ado (including running out of yarn & having to order a second skein from the States), Lovely Husband's socks are finished:



Yarn: Zitron Trekking XXL color #182 (approx. 500 yds)
Needles: 2.5 mm
Pattern: Oxo Ripple Cable pattern (19 st. repeat, 76 sts.)

He is thrilled with them, and so am I.



And, of course, when I had to purchase a second skein, I figured I might as well order some yarn for myself, so I got this Berocco Ultra Alpaca in pea-soup mix for Norah Gaughan's Brea Bag. I just adore her patterns, and this will be the first one I make.




& this Ultra Alpaca Light in peat mix for this Sofia Shrug.

Now that I am knitting socks, I want to know how to darn socks. Can anyone recommend a good source for teaching this? I love the idea of darning socks, of having a sock that lasts and lasts and lasts.

Postcard from Tasmania #3

Hobart, from the wharf




Hobart at night, near Arthur Circus

Postcard from Tasmania #2

The Isle of the Dead at Port Arthur, the nineteenth-century penal colony. Imagine being buried there, at the end of the world, cloud-cloaked & forgotten.

Postcard from Tasmania #1

This is a pademelon (say PADdymelon). It's like a cat-sized wallaby, and the place is lousy with them. Instead of squirrels, pademelons bounce around the yard at dusk. Darling!

sockalicious!

Okay, it might seem like I've been idle, as it has been forever since my last posting, but it's only because I've been knitting gifts galore and can't post the images online. But here is a photo of my first, self-designed project: a sock for my husband--



Actually, the cable pattern is taken from Maria Parry-Jones' Knitting Stitch Bible--the Oxo Ripple Cable. Here's a close-up:



--but I designed the sock myself. The yarn is Zitron's Trekking XXL color #182, which I love. It changes color as the day does, and is a very soft yarn.

I love knitting socks, making a three-dimensional object out of a string. But I wish it would go faster! Lovely Husband has a cold, and outside is all bluster and winter show. He needs those socks now!

sewing 101

My first sewing project on the new machine! I love it! The pattern is from The Crafter's Companion, and it was an excellent first project, as I didn't need to worry so much about straight lines and could instead get the feel of the machine. I love the sound it makes, especially the whir before the sewing begins, like the spinning legs of Road Runner as he gets ready to run in those old cartoons. It's such a cheery purse, so springlike, and here it's late fall!




It's 4:30, and the sun is behind the hill already. But I bought these lovely chrysanthemums from the florist on Saturday, and just look how sunny they seem. I love giving the heads a little squeeze. When I finally have a garden of my own, I shall plant only the puffiest flowers--mums, hydrangeas, peonies--so that the garden is always plump and soft and reminescent of clouds of moths (that's what hydrangeas seem to me: clouds of moths).

Have a lovely day!

my friend pfaff

Introducing my new obsession: Pfaff 213. I purchased it recently on Trade Me and yesterday got it set up in my office. I haven't really used a sewing machine since high school home ec class. Mainly I've sewn by hand, which I do enjoy. I even handsewed a quilt once, but it took me years, literally. But now I have Pfaff, and oh, the places we'll go!

On the needles I'm working on my first sock--the cabled sock from Handknit Holidays--but it's a gift, and I can't risk posting a picture and ruining the surprise. Let me just say that I am addicted to socks! I love it. At first, not having a person to turn to who could explain turning heels, &c., I was a bit intimidated, but the internet is so useful (especially this link ) so now I've decided to knit socks for everyone I know.

Finally, this week I met my secret skein pals for the No Sheep Skein Swap. They're both so lovely! It's a thrill to hear from other knitters, and I can't wait to exchange skeins.