Crochets' Rebellion

It took a while, but it looks like I'm getting the hang of this. I knew I wanted to use a crochet seam to join the sections of the Garter Stitch Throw (formerly known as the Garter Stitch Blanket, but downgraded due to smallness), but I have little crochet experience. Despite my intense perusal of books and the YouTube, all my stitches were lying to one side rather than forming a neat row between the two pieces. Something was wrong.

I went to The Knitting Nest this afternoon to spend down a gift card and ran into Staci. Being the fiber arts goddess she is, she figured out my problem soon enough -- wrong size hooks. She gave me some pointers and let me borrow her Very Pink crochet hook. I don't know what I'd do without my knitting friends. As you can see, I'm back on track.

I spent my gift card (plus 1 ¢ !) on yarn for a sweater -- for me! I got Cascade 220 in Jet (mostly) and Fennel (a small part) to make the Cobra sweater from Debbie Stoller's Son of Stitch n Bitch. Ravelers can see examples here.

And, I've decided to take a new tack on what I've been calling the Blue Tiger Socks. I didn't like the way they were looking, so I ripped them once again -- I think I may be testing the structural limits of this yarn it's been knitted and frogged so many times. I'm starting again, this time using a Coriolis pattern from Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters.

I'm a little freaked -- there are TONS of stitches on the needle. And the book is written so that you have to flip all over the place to follow a pattern. It's a little unnerving. I've just wrapped the stitches for a short row heel and am getting ready to pick them up again. I'm wishing I'd read this book a little more closely before just jumping into a pattern.

Won't be working on the blanket much. I don't want to be knitting on the in-laws' Christmas gift when I see them at Thanksgiving, but I'm hoping I can get started on my sweater. Will I really have four projects on the needles at that point? Yikes!