Finishing (Some of) the Things

When you complain for a while that all your projects are still in progress because you're working on three of them simultaneously, eventually they do get finished. Case in point: the two finished objects I have to share today!

FO number 1:

Pattern: my standard stockinette sock, worked over 40 stitches
Yarn: Fibernymph Dye Works Bounce (80% superwash merino/20% nylon) in Harlequin, one skein
Needles: US 0 (2.0 mm) 40 in. Addi Sock Rockets, magic loop
Started/Completed: March 27/April 21

I tried very hard to make these match, starting in the exact same spot in the stripe sequence and working what should have been the same number of rounds. As you can see, though, something got a little off working the toe of the second sock (that's the one on the bottom in the photo). When I put the socks side by side to compare them closely, I found that one of the black stripes on the foot of the first sock was a tad bit wider than the corresponding stripe on the second sock, so that (combined with some inattention when knitting the end of the second sock) may have been enough to require me to knit a couple of rounds of the toe in the red.

I am very thankful that Lisa's skeins are typically a little heavier than 100 g, because these socks used a full 100 g of yarn. The only leftovers I had were the portions of the red that I wound off to start the socks (I did a long-tail cast on using the red as the tail starting right at the point where the red stopped and the white started) and about a yard of red after I finished the second toe. Talk about yarn chicken!

Before I give these to the Mister (who's really in no hurry for wool socks at this time of year anyway), I'm going to give them the Knitmore Girls Citric Acid Soak treatment to try to prevent them from bleeding. I'm always wary of reds, and the black was coming off on my fingers a bit as I was knitting, so it can't hurt to be proactive.

Now, FO number 2:

Pattern: Hyphen by Lisa Chemery, size 3 months
Yarn: Knit Picks Shine Worsted (60% Pima cotton, 40% Modal) in Watermelon (discontinued colorway), three skeins
Needles: US 5 (3.75 mm) and US 7 (4.5 mm) circulars
Started/Completed: April 11/April 22
Mods: did only three buttonholes (more seemed unnecessary for a sweater this small)

This is now the second time I've knit this pattern and I can tell you now that it won't be the last -- Rainbow has one for her coming up soon! It's an easy, straightforward pattern, simple enough to be fairly mindless but with enough of an interesting texture to keep your interest.

The color of the yarn is so hard to capture; it's a deep pink, very much like the pink of the flesh of a ripe, juicy watermelon. It's blowing out a bit in the photo, likely because I took this picture right after I finished sewing on the buttons at about 7:30 last night, when there wasn't much natural light left. This photo was also taken preblocking; it got a nice soak right after and is currently drying while it waits for its recipient to be born. I used just a gram less than three complete skeins of the yarn, though I had yarn left from the third skein after completing the first sleeve and broke into a fourth skein for the second sleeve so that I wouldn't have another join in the middle of such a small piece.

The buttons, though it's hard to tell, are a very pale pearly pink. I had Rainbow's help in selecting them, and we thought they were a bit less stark than plain white.

The next thing I hope to be finished is my Humulus sweater, which is moving right along. Last night I bound off the body and started the first sleeve.

I know it's a bit wrinkly, but that's only because I've been shoving it into a project bag that's probably a little too small for it now. I'll be pushing to get this finished up this week, which doesn't seem entirely unreasonable. At the very least, I'd like to get it done before Maryland Sheep & Wool because I'd like to start my handspun Boxy to take with me on the trip. Send me all your sleeve mojo!