Spiral Stashbuster Socks with Afterthought Heels

Here is a real mash up of yarns in a pair of socks - five different balls of leftovers. Since two of the stripes are so varicolored, the stripe pattern really doesn't show. So that part is a fail. But the real aim here was to use up some small balls and the overall effect is warm and pretty.

The pattern link is here. I only used the pattern for figuring out how to get the stripes going. Not wanting to do any heel shaping, I opted for an afterthought heel.

Knit the socks with a contrast waste yarn where the heel will go.

Blue yarn is the place holder.

Pick up stitches above and below the waste yarn.

Knit your heel like a toe on a top down sock.

November Bee Block - Jumble

The assignment for the charity quilt this month was to make Jumble blocks with pink and green. It is always interesting to see what other people come up with. Despite having more fabric in my stash these days, it always feels like I don't have much of the chosen colors or prints. Somehow, though, it also seems to always work out.

To see all of the finished quilts our circle has made so far, click here. 

Neon Hat

Pedestrian safety, that's the main reason for the new neon hat. My daily walk is lovely - it's right out the front door with varied scenery and rolling hills. But the road is narrow with blind corners and it helps everyone when the joggers and dog walkers and bicyclists are easily seen.

I ripped out this version of the hat. It was a tight cone and looked stiff. The second try was all wrong as well, for different reasons and didn't warrant a picture. But I like the third hat - floppy and bright and fun. 

Yarn: Manos del Uruguay Maxima

Color: Highlighter

Needles: US 5 and 8

Diamond Star Blocks Finished

All 42 of the Diamond Star blocks are now finished and sewn together. Yay! It has been a fun process - not really slow slow but something that has served as my main project for the past month. This part measures 63" x 73" so I will add some kind of border to make it more bed sized. We have enough lap quilts!

I have some fabric ordered for the backing so I will wait to have a look at that before deciding how to do borders and binding. The blocks really are pretty - I just haven't been in the mood to photograph each one and post them here and on Flickr. Likely I will get some additional pictures once the whole thing is completed.