Exploding Blocks and Eve's Temptation

Eve's Temptation finished.  I used KnitPicks Chroma Twist fingering in Red Velvet.  I was fascinated by the color progression.  The first sock is the top one, in the very dark vermillion.  It progressed naturally to the lighter sock.  The yarn is very pleasant to work with.  I like the stitch definition in this yarn; I don't like Stroll yarn because it's too mooshy and my stitches flatten out, but a lot of folks love it.  Not me.

Here are the latest blocks in my Exploding Block quilt.  These things are addictive.

And a close-up of the middle blocks.  Yes, the corners are cut off, but that's the charm of it for me.

Sock and quilt

Here's where I am with the Eve's Temptation socks I started Wed night.  Zooming along is so pleasant.

Progress on my exploding block quilt. 

These are just laid out any which way.  I have too few to make any placement decisions.

Re-engineered

I like the majority of the socks on Sock Madness, but I have a small narrow foot, and the socks rarely fit me.  I can usually give them to the Hubz (if they are massive) or to a daughter.  But I want them for me, too.  So my solution is to re-engineer the patterns so that they are my size.  That's usually pretty simple to do.  (I've been knitting socks for decades). 

I fell in love with the slip-stitch pattern on this pair, and changed the contrasting yarn to something that had been hanging around forever.  This photo is of the original pattern, and the socks are donated to DD#1.

Here's my re-engineered sock, and it fits beautifully.  I do love this pattern and can see it in my arsenal of go-to socks.

It looks blurry, doesn't it?  But that's how the pattern appears.  Here's a close-up.

I finished the pair last night and immediately cast on another pair.  I'm using an old pattern of mine that's still someplace on Ravelry. 

Here's a very blurry photo of it.  Not much to see, and the color is off, but there it is.  It'll be very pretty when finished.

Lots of new goodies

I'm back from a long hiatus in which we had a lovely visit from the MN folks, followed by Passover, and now back from all that excitement.

String quilt:

I'm assembling the latest string quilt, this one done in autumnal colors.

I love, love, love making string quilts.  Mindless fun with all that color assemblage. 

Whirligig quilt:

It's slowly coming along.  I did assemble a couple of blocks with all the company, but it was much more fun chatting and doing field trips with them.

And then, because I need a new project like a hole in the head, I have forced myself to make another exploding block quilt.  I made one of these as an I Spy quilt for little Benjamin (who is now 4 and not so little and never stops talking).  I'm using 2 different layer cakes plus some odd and end charm squares, and I'm using Civil War-ish colors, not my usual at all.  I generally eschew reproduction prints; I like bright and lively, but last year I fell in love with some fabric lines and bought a few layer cakes (all on sale, of course).  I'm thinking this might be a perfect winter quilt.  At any rate, I'm enjoying stepping out of my usual fabric choices.

Here's Benjamin's quilt, made in 2014.

I'm out of the competition with Sock Madness:  company and Passover did me in, but it doesn't bother me.  I have so many projects in my head, and anyhow, I get all the patterns from SM, so I can make at my leisure and can fit the socks to my foot.  All good.