Going back to the beginning

I finally finished the Yarn Pirate Spooky socks. They turned out okay and do fit, although I have to pull them over my heel a little. I like them, but I don't like them. I think it was working on the size 1 needles. Somewhere I saw that if socks start to pool to cast on less stitches. The person who suggested this, cast on two less stitches and her yarn stripped well. That wouldn't work for me. I would have to cast on four less stitches to make the stitches divide well. But, I found another alternative. HiYa HiYa makes size 1.5 bamboo needles. Maybe that would work instead and the needles wouldn't be as thin. I'll have to buy some and try it next time this happens to me.

I also finished one sock using Plucky Knitter's yarn in Palatial. I really love this yarn and love the colorway. The only negative was that I had to go down to size 1 needles to get it to stripe. They striped better than the Yarn Pirate socks above. I really love this sock. Now on to finish the second sock. I don't plan on starting a new sock until I finish this pair.

I did start knitting on my sweater that I started in 2004. This was my first knitting project that I started when I began knitting. It's the Olivia pattern from Berroco booklet 219. I am using Araucania Nature Wool Chunky yarn in color 108. I like the yarn a lot. I have the back completed and I'm almost finished with the front. The sleeves shouldn't take long. I won't be at my knitting class for a couple of weeks, so I am hoping to get close to finishing the front by the time I am able to go again. Then maybe I can start on the sleeves. The sweater appears to be really big for me, but I don't care. I just want to finish it and I can wear it around the house as a big comfy sweater. Maybe I will knit another in a smaller size later. I found that I have learned a lot about knitting since I started this sweater. Sock knitting has helped me.

Got my STR club yarn for January. I love the color. It's called Dragon Dance in lightweight yarn. This will probably be my last year for this club. It's getting too expensive and I have a big stash of sock yarn.

I did order some knitting books from Knitpicks. I love them all. I think the toilet roll covers are cute and I love the scarves in the Ocean Breezes book.

Well, this week will be tough for knitting. I am working every day this week plus Saturday. This past Saturday was slow, so I got to go home early, but I don't think that will be the case this week. There are times I wonder why I am doing this because I love to be home, but it's only until April 15th (79 more days and counting).