FObulous times Two

Two lovely finished objects today, but don't get used to it because this kind of thing is very rare around here.

FO 1: Skinny Crocheted Item

Now this was really supposed to be a scarf, but none of the scarf pictures turned out, and besides--I really like the way it looks as a belt. If I had known it would be such a great belt when it was done, I probably would have made it a bit shorter. I need to figure out a way to block it so it spirals some more. A few ideas in the works.

I made this scarf using some leftover unidentified yarn. I bought the three skeins to make a fair isle PDA cozy and kept them around. It's a cotton/something manmade blend that was a bitch to knit with but was pretty and shiny. I decided to play around with it when I was teaching myself double and triple crochet, and WOW. What a perfect yarn for crochet. So I made this guy. Here's the pattern, which hardly counts as a pattern. It was a great way to get used to single, double, and triple crochet.


Ch about 300 sts. Nobody cares if your count is off.
Rows 1-3: SC all sts in lt blue
Row 4: DC all sts in dk blue. Realize you are going to run out of dk blue. Decide one row of DC is all you wanted, didn't need another row.
Row 5: TC all sts in purple. Come really close to running out of yarn for this one too. Decide a 2" wide scarf is In right now.

This was my first crochet project and I think it turned out really well. I just hope I can find use for this thing!

Now on to the masterpiece.


Yup, it's another pair of socks! I'm keeping these for myself. The pattern is from Sensational Knitted Socks. It's called "oblique openwork" and has these gorgeous ribs that are all twisty and pretty. Here's a not-incredibly-awesome shot of them and my heart-print pajamas.


The yarn is Knitpicks Essential, and the needles are US 1. I really, really liked this pattern but I hear there are softer, plushier sock yarns out there so I'm going to go exploring the bigger LYS sometime soon to look for em.

These socks are so warm, and I'm thrilled. I wanted handknit socks to replace my old Ugg boots, which I have had since the first time they were popular almost 10 years ago. Almost all of the fleece is gone from the inside, so they don't insulate as well as they did earlier in their lives. The insole leather is cracked and the soles are coming off. These knit socks actually warm my feet better than the Uggs, and are smaller so easier to pack. They'll be coming with me to Italy, I can promise you that.