Sleeves, Smocking and Socks!

I made some decent progress on smocking this week. Both sleeves are now done, and I just need to do the front. With a bunch of car travel time coming up, I'm hoping to make a large dent in it!

Now that smocking is approaching the last part (the front is all I have left to do) I'm thinking towards my next project. I found this sweater in an old (Winter 01/02) Vogue Knitting and thought it may work well for the bag of Rowan Cork in a beige color I have.

It's not as "cabley" as the Rebecca sweater I was originally thinking of, but I think I may like it better - what do you think?

I managed to finish another pair of mittens this week (a larger kids size) - I still have to weave in the ends and give them a block, but they are pretty cute. Made out of a friend's handspun, she is going to sell them in her shop.

They are similar to the green and off white pair as they really have that "handspun" rustic look to them.

The updates will not be as frequent here for the next few weeks - I have an agility trial this weekend, My sister is moving to Baltimore next week, so I am off to Maryland on Monday early morning, come back Wednesday, a day trip on Thursday, and then have an agility trial next weekend along with another one Monday and Tuesday! Life around here is going to be pretty hectic for the next month or so! The trip to Maryland is extra exciting - not only do I get to help my sister settle in, and see my cousins, but I finally am going to be in town for the Monday night edition of Knit Nite! I knit with this great group a while back, and we've been conversing through email and blogs ever since. It will be nice to be able to chat and knit with them in person!

September and October seem to be the big months for agility trials. I have one pretty much every weekend from now until November! There are also a few big ones coming up towards the end of the year. The one I'm looking forward to the most is the huge AKC trial at the Bayside Expo Center in Boston. The Bay Colony Dog Show is not only a 4 day agility trial, but a huge breed show as well. I went last year as a spectator with Terri, and am really glad to be competing this year! Over 12,000 dogs compete in the breed shows over the 4 day event. It is quite a spectacle!

As my sister is starting a new job, I promised her a pair of socks to commemorate it - since it is in the medical field, she'll be wearing clogs some of the time, so she wanted a pair of socks with heel patterning. After looking at quite a few patterns, she decided on the Aran Sandal Sock from Socks, Socks, Socks. They have some great cables down the heel!

They are done in a heavy fingering/DK weight yarn, so to make them even more custom, we are going to dye part of my cone of Henry's Attic Kona in the color of her choice using our new Washfast Acid Dyes from ProChem! We divided up the cone into equal 5.25 oz skeins - it was a bit of a chore, but not horrible. By my calculations, they should be about 367 yards each. Plenty for a pair of sport weight socks!

It will be our first foray into acid dying, and we have the three skeins to do. I'd like a nice rich, red skein for some socks at a later date. The third skein color is still up in the air - a light blue maybe, or pretty light pink? Something for the Denmark sock that will make the pattern pop. I really love that sock! Another cone of this is a definite order if the co-op comes up again! I never realized how many of Nancy Bush's patterns are for heavier weight sock yarn!

Another pattern I found in the same book is the Austrian Patterned Knee Socks. With the recent knee sock craze (I still need to make a pair for my ever cold feet and legs!) these are some of the more complicated, patterned ones I've seen.

They are beautiful. I doubt I will ever make them, but I do enjoy daydreaming over the picture! Maybe one day if I learn to cable without a cable needle and get up enough guts, I will attempt them. Right after I do the Norwegian Stockings....(ha ha!)

Ravin has been adjusting to life with us just fine - he seems very comfortable, and his training is going great! He's a smart boy! (excuse the possessed eyes in the photo! Darn it for getting dark out so early!)