Of Socks and Scents

I managed to get quite a lot done last week- a fact I attribute to planning out my projects and monitoring my progress more than I have been (yet another thing I can obsessively add into my Life Planner). Since I've had a few commissions through my Etsy shop, my personal knitting projects have become my weekend projects. Still- lots of progress means lots of knitting time- and who can ask for more than that?

I finished the Bigfoot socks for my friend Abby's boyfriend. These are BY FAR the largest socks I have ever worked on! They turned out beautifully- I hope that Abby's man loves them as much as I loved knitting them. These socks are currently on their way to sunny Florida to warm up some very lucky (and large) feet.

Since I don't have sock blockers in this size the socks look a little wonky here, though I am pretty proud of my inventive solution to that- I ended up blocking them on my Annie-sized sock blockers by stuffing some plastic bags into the toes to make up for the difference in size. I was super proud of my ingenuity, sometimes it's the small things. Much to my surprise, I still have almost a full cake of the Hawthorne Sport left over- I think I'll make myself some comfy house socks, or maybe a pair of mittens- this color is so lovely in person!

I finally got my Electric Rainbow Monkey socks off the needles this week- and I am really pleased with how they turned out.

Since it had been a few weeks since I last worked on these, the gauge is slightly off on the second sock. This doesn't bother me too much, but what struck me is how different the colors look on the two socks because of it! The first sock (on the left) looks so much darker than the second, but I suppose that adds to their character. I submitted these for the Suburban Stitcher Rainbowalong KAL, but I also added a neat 21 points to my Winter Camp total.

This week was the first time I attended the Pints & Purls knitting group at Gather Here, which added some quality knitting time to my schedule. Since their big move to Inman Square, the store is now literally around the corner from my house, so I had absolutely no reason not to go over.  It was wonderful! I got to meet so many cool people, people who are as into knitting as I am! Total joy. I obviously couldn't leave my favorite LYS empty handed... The Pom Pom Quarterly Spring Issue and a hank of Vesper Sock yarn by Knitterly Things both came home with me that night.

One can never have too much self-striping sock yarn. Obviously. And this was just too gorgeous a color combination to pass up- I'm a complete sucker for orange and hot pink, but add in that bright aqua blue and it's game over. My credit card never knew what hit it.

Speaking of game over, my Tuft Woolens order arrived in the middle of the week and- Oh, man!- they smell FANTASTIC! My Royal Apiary knitter's hand balm was running dangerously low and I thought I'd get some as backup. While I was at it I added a bar of bath soap to my cart just because. Let me tell you, Martha is a fragrance magician!

These smell so amazing- I honestly cannot stop smelling myself when I use these hand balms. I can't even decide which one I love the most- it's just impossible! I can't recommend Martha's products enough- they never disappoint. Treat yo self!

Since I've been planning my projects like a maniac I am really excited for March... I may have registered for Sock Madness after hearing a couple of women rant/rave about it at knitting group. I'm super excited about it, but that all may change after March first, especially since I have loads of other life things going on, so I'll have to keep you posted. Until next time, friends, just keep knitting!