Hello Again FO Friday!

In the spirit of getting back to the blog, I present to you the one project I completed during my hiatus: Turkish Bed Socks for my sister:

They look even cuter on someone's feet, but you will
just have to trust me on that.  I didn't want to stretch them
out before sending them on as a gift.

Pattern:  Turkish Bed Socks
Source:  Churchmouse Yarn and Teas
Materials:  I only used half of a skein of Abstract Fiber Supersock, in the color "Burnside Bridge"; and US 1 needles.
Modifications:  The pattern includes directions for only one size.  To make them a bit smaller I knit with smaller needles than the pattern recommended.

A gratuitous cat photo, I admit, but it does give
you another view of the Turkish Bed Socks.

My pattern review:
Pros:  These bed socks are a great gift for someone who might not be wild about wearing hand knit socks out and about, yet still needs warm feet while hanging around the house.  Plus they make for a fun and quick knit.
Cons:  After paying full price for the pattern, I was surprised to discover that it only gave directions for one size.
Yet now that I have completed a pair, I think it was worth it.  It is pretty easy to adjust the pattern for size, and I will be making more of these.  In fact, I am almost done with my second pair.

As a bonus, when I visited the Churchmouse Yarns website today, I found that they currently have a lovely scarf pattern available as a free download.

Speaking of freebies, I am finishing up a project that I plan on giving away to one of you.  (The project has to remain a secret for now, but I think it is something any knitter would appreciate.)  I would like to thank my friends and readers for visiting, so check back soon for the contest.  I'm off to link up with Tami's Amis FO Friday post to get reacquainted with everyone.  Have a good weekend!

S.W.E.A.T. and Sweaters

I'm still here!  Over the last couple of months, I've been absent from this space as I've been busy with a variety of things, but most of all because lately I've traded in my knitting needles for running shoes.

My good friend Tera, who originally taught me how to knit, has now motivated me to take on a new challenge.  We plan on running the Redding Marathon in January.  When I sent off my registration form and fee, I had to make the check out to "SWEAT" which is just so appropriate!

If I had realized 2 months ago that practice runs would suck up all the free time I usually devoted to knitting, I may have hesitated even more than I did.  However, now I am committed and I'm thoroughly enjoying the process of becoming a runner again.  Even though I ran on the cross country team in high school, and continued to take long runs just for fun during my college years, it was one of those hobbies that fell by the wayside when I became a parent.  That was 15 years ago, and it is high time I got my feet moving again!

I think I've established a routine of regular training, and I am now trying to squeeze knitting and blogging back into my daily life.  I have some knit gifts to finish up, but I have also allowed myself some selfish knitting to reinvigorate the passion for the stash.  I dug in to my yarn boxes, and cast on for not one, but two CocoKnits sweaters that have been in my queue for ages:  Silke and Maria.  I hope to wear these cosy sweaters to Stitches West in February.  At the moment, I am off to exercise, but I will be back soon to tell you more the knitting, the yarn dyeing, and maybe even a few posts about the running.