Finished the socks!

Moving on to the next round.  No knitting or English paper piecing tomorrow, too many aches in my hands, wrists, etc, etc.

The "curly" ribbing on the top is on purpose.  This is a toe-up sock, and that bit of extra bind-off makes it fit so well.

First sock

I finished the first sock of this round of Sock Madness and started the second one yesterday.  I estimate I'll be done on Fri.  In the past, I was able to knit a complex pair of socks in 2.5 days, but that was really pushing it.  This year, my body wants me to slow down.  I have to listen to my fingers, hands, wrists, elbows and shoulders.  Don't really want to, but it makes sense.  So these will be a 5-day pair of socks.  And then I will rest!

Isn't that a cute heel?  I love the pattern and I may use it on a hat or a pair of mittens.  It's pretty toasty. As usual, the sock is big on me.  Not bad in the circumference, but too long.  I have to follow the pattern exactly.  I'll still wear them, even though they bunch up a little in the heel.

OK, lots of knitting today.  No errands, no lunch out (bummer), just knit, knit, knit.  Make pizza dough and bake bread, but that's it.

Sock Madness 11 in progress

Here we go, the first round of Sock Madness.  This one is so pretty to knit with a lot of neat techniques.

I'm on the 5th fastest team, which means I have to knit my little fingers to pieces.  My right thumb is already complaining.  Don't know how far I'll get this year because family is coming to visit in a couple of weeks.  So if a pattern drops then, well, I'd rather play with the little guy and chat with Miss P and hang out with DD and SIL.  So, we shall see.

You know what today is!

First day of spring.  It's time for the annual spring poem.  Brace yourselves.  Here we go:

The annual spring poem

High up, over the tops
Of the feathery grasses, the grasshoppers hop.
They won't eat their suppers,
They will not obey
Their grasshopper mothers and fathers who say:
"Listen my children, this must be stopped.
Now is the time your last hop should be hopped.
So come eat your suppers and go to your beds."
But the little grasshoppers just shake their green heads.
"No, no," the naughty ones say.

"All we have time to do now is to play.

If we are hungry we'll nip at a fly,
Or nibble a blueberry as we go by.
But not now. Now we must hop.
And no one, but no one can make us stop."

Finished!

My red log cabin is quilted (not by me), bound, washed, dried and crinkled!  I used 2 color catchers, but still got a teeny bit of red on one of the logs.  It's not bothering me very much.  You have to look for it.  (And it's not in any of these pictures).  The next time I wash it, I'll use color catchers again.

First row done and a name

I have a name:  Whirligig.  We have one in our back yard that spins in the wind, and at night is lit up by LED lights.  I just love it.  The spinning blades on this block remind me of that whirligig. 

The indentation on the second row is where the partial block will come.  And of course, there will be partial ones on the top.  I'm planning on a border or two.  We'll see; there's a long way to go.

Latest blocks.

I'm not sure about this last one; that's a pretty striking coral/orange, but I think if I incorporate it into at least 3-5 more blocks, it should work out.  If not, then it can become a coaster.

49 blocks

That's how many I've made so far.  I can get 1-2 done most days.  This is slow stitching at its slowest, but it is very enjoyable.

I'm planning on 10 blocks/row, with side fill-in blocks on the odd rows.  Probably 11 rows in total, and then the top and bottom fill-in blocks.  I work on it just about every day, but when Sock Madness patterns come out, then I put the quilt aside.  Right how I have 8 blocks joined for the first two rows, and a couple on the third row, just to play with it a bit.  I decide each block's placement as I go along.  This is how I like to work:  a minimum of organization and a maximum of serendipity.

And here's the quilt in progress.

Click on the photos to get the best view.

Three more

The latest blocks for Valse Brillante.  I took a few days off to do my 1st sock for Sock Madness 11.  Finished them this morning, and now I'm back to English paper piecing. 

Still more

The latest blocks plus the first 2 rows in progress:

I'm glad I've started joining them.  The thought of doing this all when I've finished the individual blocks is daunting.  I have over 40 blocks done, so I have plenty of choices about what gets joined next. 

At first I thought of 11 blocks/row, but now I'm thinking 10 plus a border or even 2 of them.  Not sure, but it doesn't matter at this point.  I can always add another row before I sew on a border.  At any rate, I don't think this will be finished before July.  It's very slow work.  Very very enjoyable, but it does take a lot of time.