I Don't Have Second Sock Syndrome!

Trucking along on the second sock...stripes seem to be matching up more or less, though the heel colors are a little different...there's no pink on the bottom of the second heel, which led me to do a lot of re-measuring and counting of rows, but I think I did everything the same.  Must be due to variations in the yarn.

Self-Striping Sock: Completed 1!

I finished one of the Striped Socks.  I'm using the cheat sheet from Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's "Knitting Rules!" book.  It seems like it fits pretty well!  I can feel the seam a little with my toes but I think it will be better after blocking.  This sock seemed to go faster than the other one because I liked seeing the stripes appear.  The author of the book says the key to completing a pair of socks is to cast on the second one right away.  I'm going to bed instead.  ;-)

Self-Striping Sock: Turned the Heel and Working Towards the Toe

I am truckin' along on my sock.  It feels like it is going pretty fast; I think it has been more interesting than the first pair I did because of the stripes.  Because of the way I had to knit the heel back and forth in a square, the stripes came out wider on the heel.  I looked at other people's projects, and some people bought a complimentary colored sock yarn and knit the cuff, heel, and toe in that color, which solves that problem.  Maybe next time!  

I don't know why it looks so wide...I've tried it on and it does fit.  Not sure if it is supposed to be tighter?  Socks...they are a learning experience!

Pig and Hippo and a Sock, Too

Hippo finally has a face!  

In retrospect, I shouldn't have doubled up my embroidery floss (as if it were thread) because the face details look a little too black/thick.  Next time I will just use one thread and knot it at the bottom.  I love these toys, though!  Which one should I make next?  Giraffe?  Baby doll?  Koala mama and baby?

In other knitting news, I started my self-striping Vesper sock.  I LOVE THIS YARN!  The colors are so brilliant (even better than this picture shows).  It looked like it was coming out a little too big, though, so I had to go buy a set of size 1 needles (eek!) and start over.  Wondering if love of yarn will keep me going to make 2 socks?

Levenwick Photo Shoot

Hugs for Hippo

These are a little blurry, but will do for now, so you can get an idea of the size of the hippo.  I used one strand of worsted weight yarn (instead of 2 strands of sock yarn), and the hippo did end up bigger than I expected!  I think I may have filled the poly pellet bag in the body a little too much as well; it's pretty heavy!  It's still missing the details of the face.  I'm out of embroidery floss and Michaels is a bit of a hike from here...maybe I will pick some up this weekend.

Levenwick Sweater - Buttons and Toothpicks

Here is my sweater with buttons attached!!

As you can see, I finally sewed the buttons on my Levenwick sweater.  My mom gave me the tip to use a toothpick to create a little space between the button and the fabric of the sweater in order to make sure each button was not sewn on too tightly.  This is how I did it:

Afterwards, I googled it and realized I was actually supposed to put the toothpick on top of the button (see HERE).  Oh well, I think it created the same end result!

SO EXCITED to show off my new sweater!!  What do you think of the pocket?  I had a hard time stitching it on so that there was no seam...I think it may look a little granny-ish with the pocket, so am considering removing it.