Some FOs

I had a relaxing week in the beautiful Wisconsin Northwoods area. Unlike Chicago we got hardly any rain. In fact it was so dry that the boys were not allowed in the sandbox anymore because of their "dust explosions". Of course they found ways to have those explosions elsewhere. It was so dry. I didn't get much knitting done though. I had expected to knit while my little girl was playing on the beach and the boys were out boating. Instead Ellen liked the canoe rides so much that we did a lot of family canoe outings. We explored Little St. Germain Lake and its northern shores and saw a lot of its wildlife, including several bald eagles and even a beaver. We had picknick lunches on island and felt like explorers. When it got cooler toward the end of the week we went on hikes at two of the other many lakes in the area and we had a great time on those, too.
So all I knitted were Zebra socks for Thomas in opal sock yarn, just plain stockinette stitch with short row heels.

And socks for Ellen. They are still a little bit too big but should fit at the end of winter/spring. I had bought this sock yarn in Germany 2 years ago and started some socks for her but didn't like them. And now I can't find the ballband anymore and don't know what sockyarn it is. It is something with cotton. I knitted them toe-up, with short row heels. The pattern is a lacy rib. I did a kitchener stich bind-off to make the top elastic.

When we got back to Chicago it was very rainy and grey. So on Sunday I cast on for a pair of socks for myself and almost had one sock done by Sunday evening. I got the yarn from my Sockapalooza sock pal Karen. It is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in colorway Argyle. I used the Whitby pattern from "Knitting on the Road" by Nancy Bush. The only changes I made was to cast on more stitches since my feet are fairly large( I just added an extra rib at the back and more purl stitches next to the cables) and I did a kitchener graft at the toe. The two socks don't match but I love them anyway. I think I will be wearing them a lot this winter. It was a pleasure to be knitting with this yarn. Thank you very much, Karen.

When I went to Loopy yarns yesterday I had all 3 kids with me. I like the store because of their friendliness and helpfulness, not to mention their selection of sock yarns. The boys like the store because sometimes they are allowed to operate the ball winder. So they always beg me to buy some yarn that they can then wind. I did indulge them and got some Claudia handpainted sock yarn. So they got to wind it. But what they found even better was a kit for making potholders. I just had to get it for them. So far they have finished 4 of them. This is one by Niklas: And this is one by Thomas.
Tomorrow we're off to Wisconsin again, for a camping weekend in Kettle Moraine state forest, with a group of German-American friends and their children. Let's hope it won't rain much more.