I'm Still Here...

I've been working on another model cross-stitch sampler for Teresa Kogut so haven't done any of my own stitching for a while. I can tell you it's Hallowe'en-themed in a Quaker style. Not sure when she will be releasing it, although she does plan to do releases fairly frequently this year so she and her husband aren't overwelmed with filling orders with big, infrequent releases. 

I did finish the second Excavation blanket 

and got the fringe twisted and trimmed.

I took two strands from one colour and two of the other 

and twisted them clockwise with the fringe twister. I counted it out so each fringe would have the right amount of twist.

Then I took the two twisted strands and tied them together with an overhand knot near the end

When I let it go, the two colours twist around each other in the other direction. 

After doing all that twisting, I went knotted the strands higher so they were all knotted in the same place, the knot being 3" away from the edge of the blanket. Then I trimmed the excess off, making the fringe even the whole width of the blanket. 

My fringe twister had 4 clips but I only ever imagine using two of them. They do come in 2, 3, or 4 clip versions. Any weaving supply shop will have them in stock.

The pattern makes a square blanket (plus the fringe). To make mine rectangular, I didn't leave a fringe on the right side and actually decreased on the right edge and increased on the left edge. I did this for 20". Then I rotated the other fringed triangle onlo the first one with the extension making sure there were the same number of stitches on both sides first. Then grafted them together.

That way, my entire garter stitch blanket has a right side and wrong side (that shows the purl bumps). 

I have continued working on my camo, ribbed socks and have about half of the foot done.

I used an eye of partridge heel and continued the EOP slipped-stitch pattern on the bottom of the foot in the gusset area. I wear my socks out in that area and wanted to give it double thickness there.

It doesn't interrupt the pattern on the rest of the sock. If you wear your socks out on the ball of your foot, you could also do the EOP stitch in that area as well. 

I also started a pair of two-at-a-time scrappy socks. It's quite the juggling act but I do like my socks to be identical twins. I achieve that by knitting one sock with one end of the yarn scrap and the other sock with the other end. 

I'm not keen on having non-ribbed legs because I know these will fall down and bag around my ankles but if I ribbed them, the unsightly purl bumps (aka dashlines) would show. I could have ribbed then and done the trick where you knit the first round of the new yarn then purl the next rows, thus hiding the purl bumps but, of course, I didn't think of that. Hmm. Maybe I'll rip these back and do that after all.

I have a sea turtle kit I want to start stitching and need to raid my fabric stash for the appropriate fabric as I intend to swap out the 16ct Aida cloth that came with the kit. 

I also want to do some punch needle. It goes so fast! I have tons of patterns, I just need to pick one, get the floss, and get going.