Tinking

I was hoping to share pictures of our road trip to the sound with you today... unfortunately, Mom and I both forgot our cameras. If you know either of us, you'll know how strange it is for not just one, but both of us to do that - our cameras go everywhere with us!

I'd also hoped to show you a nearly finished Garden Path sock - after all - I had six hours of road-tripping and I wasn't the driver for once!

Sadly, about an hour in, I realized I'd made several mistakes, and with the munchkins chattering away right behind me, and not a lot of sleep the night before (probably the reason I made the mistakes in the first place) I wasn't up to the job of tinking back a bunch of tiny lace sock stitches, so I set it aside and just enjoyed the view.

I picked it up again this morning, tinked away, and finally got it knit far enough that I'm ready to start the heel.

 And now you can see more of the pattern. A nice simple lace leaf motif bordered by a horseshoe cable.

Now, a little note (since a couple people asked): I like my socks shorter than most people, and tend to do my legs between four and five inches. And the Secret Garden sock pattern in this trio is a true ankle sock, with a cuff of just a few inches. That said, all three of the socks can be easily lengthened (and within the average yardage of a standard 100g sock yarn skein) and there will be instructions in the pattern on how to do so. So if you like longer socks than me - knit away!

I've set the sock aside for now - it's in its bag and ready to be travel and lunch hour knitting - and turned my attention to the Solo Cat shawl.

Sadly, it has required a fair amount of tinking too (it must be Monday!). I've finished the flower motif for it, and I'm trying to move on to a leaf motif. Sadly, three of the motifs I've designed just don't want to play nice.

But that's all part of the design process... trial and error, and all that. But, I think I've got it licked now, and after dinner I'm going to give the fourth try a whirl.

If it works, you'll get a glimpse of it tomorrow. Wish me luck!