What a Heel I Have Been

Up until now I have used a short row heel for all of my toe up socks and overall I have been happy with the results. With my latest pair of socks I decided to pick a pattern and stick to it to broaden my knitting horizons. I picked the Van Dyke Socks from Wendy Knits Socks from the Toe Up book and in this pattern she uses a Gusset style heel. Well, have my eyes been opened! By using a series of increases and decreases you get a heel with no holes, like sometimes happens with a short row style, and the end effect is a triangle wedge at the back of the sock. As you'll see from the pics below, this made for a cool look with the yarn I an using. I am really happy with the results.

Somebody is Swatching Me

I've decided to use the Cascade Eco Wool I got at the Knitorious After Christmas Sale to make myself a Central Park Hoodie. I was originally going to do this in a darker and more subdued color and then my partner reminded me how much I prefer bright colors if not black. When I saw three of the same color skein in a blue I simply adore wearing, I knew this was the right yarn. I'm being good and I've knit my swatch. It's showing 9 sts/2" so I'm slightly off gauge but I haven't washed the swatch yet and since I'm doing this right I will remeasure then.

Italian Sausage Soup

I used a modified version of the "Italian Sausage Soup" posted on Allrecipes.com to make a big yummy pot for dinner today. The recipe is simple to follow and I just added some extra onions, celery, and a small potato. I also added some red pepper flakes and a pinch of a few other spices like oregano and parsley and it turned out quite good. The bonus is it's good for us too with all the different veggies!

In the Beginning

I've finally started a Clapotis scarf using some beautiful hand dyed yarn I picked up in New Mexico. I wanted a pattern that would just let the beauty of this yarn shine though and I would be able to use it all. So far I'm up to about 80 stitches per row and I'm thinking to go up to around 110 total. I'll weigh the scarf when I've finished the increases so I'll be able to knit until I have the same amount left and then decrease. I should be able to pretty much use it all that way. I love, love the colors so far.

The View

I am sitting watching "Moneyball" and knitting the swatch for my next sweater, the Central Park Hoodie and this is my view. Ah, family!

Yummy!

Digging into my yummy carrot cupcake from Jilly's Cupcake Bar. I love beautiful food and this certainly takes the cake so to speak!

What a beautiful morning!

It was a beautiful morning in the park this morning as the puppies and I made our circuit. I can tell New Year's Resolutions are still going for a number of people since it was more crowded than usual as well. It's wonderful to see the sun on these cold days!

All in the Family Socks

I'm loving the socks in progress using the yarn my brother bought for me for my birthday. I love the colors but I was afraid of what they would look like knit up. Fortunately I find the striping pattern to be awesome. Spot likes them too as he sits in my lap and helps.