More of the Green Towels

I finished weaving the green towels a while ago, and now they are all folded up, sitting and waiting for me to hem and wash them.  In the meantime, I thought I might as well share a few more photos that will show each of them in progress, on the loom.

I wanted to change things up with the second towel, so I did this variation in an X patterning.  I like the way the Xs make a lattice to connect the pattern into a more unified design than the little unconnected Os.  If you refer back to my earlier post, you might be able to see the difference in the overall lattice.

For the third towel, I went back to the Os (even without the lattice that connects the design I prefer their roundness to the thornier Xs) but with yet another variation on the design.  This one made lots of little squares and some cool equal-armed crosses.  I really liked the way this one looked, as I was weaving it, and I was almost sorry to come to the end of it.  I think the negative space is interesting, and I look forward to seeing the reverse side, too.

With the fourth towel I finally did some dukagang.  For some reason I always think I won't weave this structure for the sets I make (probably because it is so different from the others and I worry that it will stand out too much) but then I change my mind and do it.  It always ends up my favourite, in the end.  It has a very different look than the others, with a more vertical direction to the whole design, but I felt like it really worked with the sort of medallion shape that this tie-up variation has in it.

Having finished those four, I pulled out the purple pattern weft and started one for myself.  I used the same tie-up variation that I used for the dukagang, but this time using the Os.  I'm not sure I love the purple as much as I thought I would - the green background gets a bit muddied by using this colour for a pattern weft.  It might actually have been better in dukagang, as well, since the colours would be more isolated.  Live and learn.

One of these days I will get around to washing and ironing them and then you can see what a difference finishing makes!

So Many Socks

As time marches on, here at Chez Crafty, I am completing projects at a much faster pace than I have been blogging them.  I have had it pointed out to me that I am being remiss in keeping everyone up to date with my goings on, so here is a finished-sock round-up for you, to get things started.

First a simple two-colour striped sock, as is one of my favourites.  I did the usual 3:1 ratio of rounds, this time as 6 rounds grey to 2 rounds pink.  I love how these turned out - they are a really cozy colour combination and so comfy.

The second pair is one that I took my time completing - one of my knitting groups had decided to do a stranded colour work knitalong, and I chose this design.  I pretty much only worked on them when I was with the group, so they took a long time.  The pattern is a super fun one, that you build as you go - components of the design are printed off onto paper and made into dice that you roll to decide what the overall sock will look like, 10 lines of knitting at a time.  The randomness of it and the anticipation of what the next section would add to the design kept me going on this one.  Of course, stranded knitting makes some thick warm socks, so I probably will wear these around home on chilly mornings, and not so much in shoes.

When Knit Picks reintroduced some new colours of Felici self-striping yarn, I couldn't resist picking up at least one colourway - this one is called Rustic Cabin and I fell in love with it.  Didn't take long to make a lovely pair of stockingette toe-up socks.  I will have to keep my eyes peeled for more Felici in the future.  There is nothing I enjoy more than peacefully knitting mindless stockingette and having it come out in pretty stripes without any effort on my part.

Finally, Hazel Knits did a knitalong for March/April - this cool pair of socks were the recommended design.  I thought they were super pretty and just happened to have some beautiful silvery Hazel Knits yarn in my stash, so I knitted some up.  The original pattern had beads, as well, but I left them out.  I think they're still really beautiful!

Of course I have two more pairs on the needles right now.  I will never run out of socks!  Many other things are going on, as well, including completed weaving projects and new weaving projects, so stay tuned.