The final week of August was a productive one for me. Not only did I finish my Skews, but earlier in the week I bound off my baseball socks while listening to the Nationals game on the radio.

While the Nats did tie the game up while I was finishing the socks, sending the game into extra innings, unfortunately these are not magic rally socks and the Nats ultimately lost.

But I won because I got a great pair of socks out of it.

I bought the yarn during the marketplace at the Stitch and Pitch event at Nationals Park back in May. It’s Miss Babs Yummy Superwash Sock & Baby Yarn – 2 ply in the Nationals colorway.

I cast the yarn on in May to be a pair of Hermione’s Everyday Socks, but then I discovered that the yarn, when knit in straight stockinette over 64 stitches, striped. The original pattern was obscuring that, so I ripped back to the end of the cuff and started again for a plain vanilla sock.

I’m delighted with them and may wear them to the ballpark for the doubleheader we’re going to see tomorrow. Of course, the forecast suggests wet, so I may just stick with my galoshes. After all, I can wear my Nationals socks even after the team’s season is over.

Today’s Ten on Tuesday topic is 10 Things I Want to Knit this Fall/Winter:

1. A baby sweater or two (I buy the yarn to knit for the babies in my life but then fail to follow through. I really should get on pre-birth knitting, because babies insist on getting bigger as time goes on…)
2. A new pair of fingerless mitts — perhaps these or these.
3. A pair of mittens or two — perhaps these or these.
4. Rudi’s cycling socks — He bought the yarn for them several years ago and I knit the first sock, but it doesn’t fit. I need to knit him a pair before the cold-weather biking season begins.



5. I’d like to revive one of the sweaters I’ve started. Hey Teach is probably the likeliest contender, but it could be one of the others.
6. A new hat — I cast on Roebling the other day out of yarn I bought at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival in May, but I need to get further along to see if the gauge is way off like I fear it might be.
7. A new winter sweater. It’s been several years since I made my Every Day Cardigan, and, honestly, it’s really not good to wear it every day. Maybe just every other day…
8. A lacy scarf — People on one of the Ravelry boards I’m on have been working on that both is pretty and seems to knit up quickly.
9. Another shawlette — My Citron knit up really quickly and is very versatile.
10. Who am I kidding? I could have filled this whole list with socks. Heck, I probably have ten pairs that are in progress, let alone the ones I haven’t started yet but would like to.

Dear Corey,

A year ago, on Sept. 5, 2010, as Rudi and I were about to head home after the lovely wedding of our friends Amani and Marcus, we encountered a kitten out in the parking lot. It was obvious to us that he was lost, as a banquet hall, mall, business park, and hotel do not normally house small cats, even ones who scamper up trees as quickly as this one did that night. A call to the police department referred us to animal control, who were off for the holiday weekend.

You might all remember this post I wrote back in mid-July, where I had reached a cross-roads with my pair of socks:

Poorly tied knots in both skeins of yarn meant that I could not just knit my pair of socks straight on until morning. Instead I either had to had to find a way to match up the stripes (which involved cutting) and possibly run short of yarn or live with mis-matched (and mis-sequenced) socks.

What I wanted everyone to tell me (and which you all did, down to a comment) was to go the harder route and cut the yarn.

I am pleased to report that due to a pot of gold at the end of my rainbows, the cut sections of yarn happened to partially match the other ends of both balls, so I did not run short of yarn (had they not, it would have been a problem and I would have had to get creative).

I finished the pair late Wednesday night.

I can’t begin to tell you how delighted I am with them.

I also can’t begin to tell you how glad I am that I followed Laura’s advice and went up two needle sizes after the inner ankle. They are still a smidge tight at the ankle because of the socks’ unusual construction, but they’re wearable and they could still loosen up a bit after I wash them.

The pattern is Skew, the yarn is Regia Nation (acquired in the Yarn Aboard 2 swap back in 2006 (coincidentally I managed to finish knitting the yarn from my Iceland-based partner the week I booked tickets to Reykjavik)), and I used 2.25mm and 2.75mm circular needles to knit them on.

Obviously, I will not have any problem finding shoes to match.

This weekend, I plan to:

• Have a picnic at the Yards with friends. (Okay, including this is kind of cheating because it’s already happened, but still…)
• Go to yoga class.
• Get to the Corcoran for their final free Saturday of the summer.
• Watch the Mets-Nationals game followed by a Lifehouse concert.
• Swim at the pool.
• Stop by the garden.
• Clean a bit.
• Visit the library.
• Perhaps go to a local farm.
• Perhaps rent a canoe and paddle around on the C&O (although I might want to do a preview sniff test to assess post-Irene drainage issues).
• Perhaps go to a movie.
• Perhaps cook out.
• Go to the farmers’ market.
• Drink strawberry daiquiris.
• Break out the Wiffle ball and bat.
• Do a little baking.
• Knit.
• Read.
• Sleep.
• Get outside.

How about you? Any fun weekend plans?

It’s been a quiet week in the Burrow. But we’re heading into a holiday weekend and the ceremonial end of summer (which will continue on through most of September, so don’t fold up your beach chair just yet):

1. After a year of not doing yoga, I get to two classes on consecutive days. By Sunday, the muscles in my back ache, but in a good way. Secretly, I am relieved to discover I still have muscles in my back.

2. A man wheels his BMX-style bike past on the sidewalk. It looks like it has been touched by King Midas, as it is spray-painted gold, right down to the tires.

3. Practically up until the day we buy the tickets to go, we have never considered Iceland as a vacation destination. But there’s a deal and the allure of the Northern Lights, and suddenly we’ve booked a weeklong November holiday in Reykjavik.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world this past week?