Number 1 - Vestigial Socks by Beata Jezek
Nice, eh? I loved the pattern, so straightforward, so quick to knit up, so lovely. Highly recommended. In fact, I HAVE recommended it to my newly found knitting friends and one of them already has a Vestigial Sock on her needles :)
Number 2 - Aylesbury Shawl
Lo and behold, another shawl done and dusted. To be honest, it's a shawlette rather than a shawl, it eats up around 400m of yarn and can be knit in three days from start to finish, average knitting speed.
A lovely little pattern; I was halfway through before I realised it was designed by Aisling M. Doonan, whose Ardrum Scarf I've knit a while back. A quick browse through Ravelry revealed that there are quite a few knitworthy (and free!) designs in her collection so if you're into lace, do check her out.
It's lace on garter stitch background, therefore details of the pattern can be a little hard to make out. On the plus side, it stays flat. Really, really flat, without the slightest inclination to curl anywhere and you have no idea how much I appreciate this. Hatred of curling edges in knitting is one of my (completely irrational) quirks.
Number 3 - Foot Ovens, or my variation on the theme
A simple design by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (known also as the Yarn Harlot - in the unlikely event of anyone not recognising the name). Originally written for chunky alpaca, I made my pair out of aran weight acrylic and it worked just fine. I had to fiddle with the numbers a bit of course, but there are few patterns where I don't.
The best part? A pair can be whipped up in a day or two. That's size large, too.
So, what do you think? Not too shabby for a week of work?
Let's hope the productive stretch continues for another while. I have Owlies on the needles now - I saw the pattern yesterday evening and could hardly sleep at night from the desire to cast them on. It's my first time beading, too. By a total coincidence (synchronicity???), I found a teeny tiny crochet hook in my hardware tin, so I'm all ready to go.
I'll keep you posted.
