Busy times

This is my twenty third year of teaching and each of the twenty three years has started out mind bogglingly busy. This is the only thing about the beginning of the school year I can count on. There are different rules, schedules, technology, expectations of what is to be taught, and students. It's a great job for a person who struggles with ADD like tendencies, forcing a complete and final finish in June and a bright and shiny future in the fall. But I'm not ADD.  I like having control, starting and completing everything in sequential order!

So in the middle of all the hoo-hah I turned to what gives me total inner peace, you know... knitting! I started and finished several projects:

Scott's Socks
Pattern:Donna's  Easy Socks
Yarn: Austermann Step
Colorway: Black/brown self striping
Amount:one skein
Needle size: US 2

School Shawl
Pattern: Sort of Silk Kerchief pattern but not really. I used the instructions from the Milk Run Shawl to get started then looked at the finished projects and decided to cast off in the crochet edge of the annhelens shawl.
Yarn: Cascade Yarns Heritage Solids & Quatro
          On Line
Colorway: turquoise and comedy
Amount: 2 skeins each
Needle size: US 4

Chloe's back to school hat and mitts

Pattern: Mittlets and Hat in Chevron Pattern from the Teens and Tweens Book
Yarn: Jojoland Tonic
Colorway: Dahlia
Amount: 1 skein
Needle size: US 3

With the leftover School Shawl yarn I am currently knitting a pair of after thought socks. I've been enjoying The Knit Girllls Podcast. The girls talked about afterthought heels and Lala said that she liked to make a mindless tube sock while in meetings and then add the heel later. Hmmmmm, so at the beginning of the year school meetings I decided to give it a try, no loss - just leftover yarn!

1. I used Judy’s cast on and started with 8 stitches
2. I increased every other row until I had 64 stitches. (32 on each needle, I use 2 circulars)
3. I knit until the sock was at the place where my leg attaches at a right angle to the foot and then knit a piece of yarn to 32 of the stitches, then slid them back and knit these stitches with the regular yarn I had been using.
4. Knit until the piece measures 6 inches above the odd piece of yarn then rib for 1 inch. Cast off.
5. Take the 32 stitches of odd yarn out. The top stitches will go on one needle and the other 32 will go on another. There will be a gap on either side so pickup 2 on each side. (I crossed them over each other to tighten them up)
6. Decrease stitches on each side every other row just as you would a toe when knitting them from the top down. I used Kitchener for the last 8 stitches! Easy and I like how the sock fits!

One down and one to go!