Circles

Well, it looks like we've sold our house! The home inspection will be next Friday. If all goes well, we'll sign papers for this house and our new one at the end of June. We're buying the home of a good friend, who lives just a few miles away in another equally great, walkable neighborhood. The new house has a big backyard, a driveway, a double garage, and a big front porch, all things our current house lacks. Inside, the woodwork is all original, unpainted, with the original light fixtures and lots of character. And our friend will be relocating to another spot not far away, which means we'll still get to see her and be able to sit on her beautiful back deck and knit.

That's my big news. On lesser fronts, it sounds like my sock pal received her socks. I also finished my mom's Mother's Day socks.
I used Trekking XXL (and loved it) with a simple cable rib pattern from Charlene Schurch's "Sensational Knitted Socks". They were made toe-up with garter stitch short-row toes and heels. I ran into some trouble with the bind-off edge. I wanted to finish them with a few rows of stockinette and then fold over on a *k2tog, yo* row, stitching down a final few rows of stockinette to the inside edge. On my first try I did a three-needle bind-off, which, while it looked beautifully clean and neat, was way too tight. Then I tried weaving the top row with an inside row, but still couldn't get enough stretch. While I might try that again sometime with elastic thread, I ended up pulling it out and finishing off the top with a picot bind-off. Not the finished look I wanted, but it's stretchy and gives a hint of whimsy.

I've started the second circle for my "Sunburst Pullover" (Norah Gaughan, Interweave Knits, an old issue--maybe 1999? Mine are already packed away and the copy I made doesn't list the year). I am using some finer wool, Elsebeth Lavold's Silky Wool, which has a wonderfully cool, crisp, yet soft, feel. Given the weight change (of the wool! Hopefully not of me) I'm needing to follow the gist of the pattern but make up most of the numbers. I'm really liking the orangish color, something I normally wouldn't have reached for. I can't wait to have this sweater finished, as I think it will make a great summer sweater for cool mornings and evenings. Happy knitting!