The Hannah Sock

Is anyone else participating in the Ravelympics? I don't know that you could say I'm participating in any official capacity...and I highly doubt I'll complete the project in time, but I'll update you all nonetheless.

If you recall from my last blog post, I decided to enter the Designer Biathlon event. The idea is to design and publish a pattern from scratch within the 17 days of the Winter Olympic Games.

Here is Hannah, a sock designed especially for little girls:

I've gotta say, this was a challenge. And while I have a rough draft done, there are still a couple issues that require tweaking.

I don't want to give too much away about this pattern, but here are a few more pictures....

And the detail I'm most proud of?

Hidden under the foldover cuff is just enough ribbing to help hold everything up.

I'm working on a second sample now with a white cuff and pink foot. I'm convinced that these will look absolutely precious with a different color for the cuff.

The pattern will be available soon in toddler, girl, and women's sizes if all goes according to plan. Email me if you'd like to be notified when this pattern is available for purchase.

I Think I May Be Insane....

Why do I think I may be insane? Well, first, I signed on to do the #TwitKAL which is a Twitter knit-a-long doing The Travelling Woman shawl. We're supposed to be finished by February 17.

Then, of course, I've also decided to join in the fun of the Ravelympics which starts tomorrow. My event? The Designer Biathlon. The goal is to design from scratch and knit item, and get a pattern published within the 17 days of the Olympic Games. The plan at the moment is socks inspired by my two girls. The goal is to create sizing for little girls up to adults, but let's not go overboard. It's 17 days after all. But hopefully I'll have at least 2 sizes available (child/adult) that can be tweaked a bit with yarn and needle sizes to work for just about anyone.

To top it all off, I'm planning to knit a baby sweater that's due by early March. That baby had better be on time or late or I'm in big trouble!

Not to mention all the works-in-progress I have stashed throughout the house. The plan in January was to wrap those all up, but I failed. Miserably. Cast on more, in fact. *hangs head in shame...sees yarn....decides to cast-on just one mo...NO! Stop!*

This weekend, I'm running away. Well, just for two nights. Doing a little knitting retreat at NeSoDak. It's a lakeside (though frozen over now and covered with heaps of snow) lodge that does family reunions, camps, etc. This weekend is just for fibery folks. I've met at least two people going thanks to local shows, and I'm looking forward to meeting more! I'm going by myself otherwise. I figure I'll either have tons of time to get all this crazy knitting done. Or I'll meet lots of great people and have a fabulous time, despite not getting much of anything done. Both sound absolutely heavenly to me.

I plan to post design updates as I work through these socks. I do have one test-knitter lined up, but I could use at least one more. The trouble? You may only have 4-5 days to complete one child-sized sock and give me feedback on it. I also won't have time to send you yarn for the project, but it should only take an ounce give or take of scrap sock yarn. As payment, you'll get a full skein of whatever yarn in my shop you want...or a credit for a future skein. Update: I have three test-knitters now! Thanks so much guys! I'll try to post at least hints as I work through the pattern. If all goes really, really well, I may even have a finished item to show you after this weekend. *fingers crossed* Wish me luck!