Progress Report on the Turkish Bed Socks.

We started our latest KAL two Fridays ago (on November 12) and we've had great participation in the shop these past two weeks. Admitedly it didn't seem like we made a lot of progress that first Friday - I spent the better part of one hour sewing the two seams - but it was fun and the conversation took us many very hilarious places. Looking back, I guess it's amazing any of us got knitting done! And sadly, since I didn't get a photo to share, if you weren't there, you missed it - Theresa sat with us and cast on a sock for herself.

Given our somewhat slow start, Joanna and I were very excited when we got to the finishing steps on our first socks this past Friday.

my sock on the left and Joanna's on the right (I love the way her yarn is striping!)

We must've excited Sharon, too. Because yesterday, she was wearing hers. Yep, a finished pair (raveled here). And we modeled the photo to match that one on the pattern. Which sadly doesn't show the big smile on the knitter's face, but you know it's there!

Cute, huh? Makes you want to knit a pair for yourself, doesn't it?

And in case you do, here are a few of the "key learnings" from the group so far:

• The seams up the sides are tedious, but worth it - they add structure to the sock.
• When you cast on the stitches across the top of the foot, really snug up the yarn across your dpn's. It's easy to get holes (and those aren't any fun).
• Plan on at least a few extra rows on the foot - the pattern suggests 24 rounds and that is way too short (for everyone I've talked to). Sharon added a couple of rows, I added five and Joanna added a few more than that. The toe decreases add about 2" and you probably want the finished sock to be no more than 1-1/2" shorter than your foot. More stretch than that might be uncomfortable.

If you're knitting along virtually, please let us know in our Ravelry group. Questions, comments, etc. are welcome there, on facebook, or here. We'd love to have you join in the discussion!

...and of course now that we have finished objects appearing, there's talk about our next KAL. Stay tuned...or better yet, comment and share your ideas. Not only about the project (a beret or a cowl, perhaps?), but also the timing. We're game to start another project before Christmas if there's enough interest, otherwise we'll kick off the next one January 7.

Another Crush (and our next KAL).

Our infatuation with the gorgeous Churchmouse patterns continues. We're seeing quite a few Linen Stitch Scarves, all looking lovely - and so different. A few Fridays ago, we were sitting around the table for knit-along time and I was finally binding off my scarf and a woman came up to me and commented about the scarf and said she was from Bainbridge Island, and I asked if she'd been to Churchmouse and did she know that was where the pattern was from and turns out - she was one of the models for the pattern! (she's the one with the really cute hair wearing the green scarf). Wow!



Our conversation continued and she asked if we'd knit any of the Turkish Bed Socks. Well, no, but we love the pattern, especially because they look so cute with Danskos.



She said the pattern is really fun and it only uses one skein of Koigu (that's 175 yards - not much knitting at all!) So the group of us around the table bought the pattern and picked out our yarn and then shared the whole story with Theresa. And she suggested we do them as our next KAL. And I said sure, but will you join us? And she agreed!

We're going to cast on next Friday, November 12 at 2pm. Please join us! And if you can't make it to the shop on Friday afternoons, that's OK - please join the discussion on Ravelry or Facebook. These projects are all about the shared experience.

(ok - honestly, this one is also about making a really cute pair of socks to decorate the insides of our Dansko clogs!)