Free Patterns! Yay!

My wrist and shoulder have been bothering me a lot this week, so I've been avoiding knitting. I did a bit of work on the sock this weekend (one pattern repeat).

But, I thought I'd share this little bit of knitting goodness that Susan posted about (she saw it on notmartha): Knitting Daily has a free pattern book comprised of the top five knitting patterns the readers voted for. It’s only available to download until May 14. It includes the Sunrise Circle Jacket, which has been on my to knit list since it came out (I even got so far as to swatch for it). There are also some great versions over on Ravelry. I'm often not a fan of the finished products made from variegated yarn, but some of these look great. Here are a few of my favorites which show some of the yarn choices;
from Cleo; from Pediaknits; from schmidtly.

A mini update, some random finds, babbling...

Honestly, I really would like to blog more often than I do. Unfortunately, there often isn't much to report in the world of knitting around here. I am trying to avoid the second sock syndrome, hence I'm slowly plugging away at the second embossed leaves sock. As the other Aloha Knitters can attest, it was a slow start, which took weeks just to cast on and knit three rows/rounds. The first challenge was remembering the ribbed cast on called for. Then, once I figured that out (thanks Barb), I joined immediately, forgetting that you knit two rows flat before joining (I might have just left it, but I think I need the little bit of extra width this provides at the calf). Then I just kept managing to be off on my stitch count. But finally I managed to get going. My ribbing was one off on two of the rows, but really, no one is going to see the top of the sock anyway because these will always be under pants. But I'm going now, and trying not to lose what little momentum I have.

But, I may be in need of some instant gratification projects. I was thinking about knitting up a few felted coasters for my desk at work. But then these nested bowls also recently caught my eye on Design Sponge (actually, I think I saw the link on notmartha.org)


Another thing that I'm really liking is this rug from craftster.org


I was also thinking that maybe I might find the motivation to blog more if I did Project Spectrum.

And then I saw what color it was for this month. Orange and Yellow. No offense to anyone, but those are my least two favorite colors. I think my I own clothes that are every other color but those two. But, July is Purple month. Maybe I can use that as a goal for finishing the second sock.

Never mind, I was looking at last year's 2006's PS.

I think I can find some stuff for this year, April/May covers Earth Tones (green, brown, metallics). And now I have until August/September to finish the sock :) I should start carying my camera around with me.