I've Finally Got the Heel!

Wow, do I feel pretty behind on things, in addition to cranky and tired. I've spent too much time at baseball games and quilt stores in the last week to make a lot of progress on anything but Mr. Stripey the 2nd, which is coming along nicely:

In other sock news, I have made some progress on the Bavarian Rockstars. To recap the dilemma that I had, the short row heel knit on size 0 needles seemed a little shallow and tight. My sockpal has slightly larger feet that I do, so I was a little worried about the fit. I separated the socks, and on the second sock I tried out the same heel on size 1 Addi Turbo lace needles. I like the fit much better, here's where I'm at now:

I've knit three pattern repeats past the heel, and once the first sock heel is at the same point I may put them back on size 0 needles, and add a wide rib to the back of the sock. I think the ribbing will be K1, P1, K3, P1, K1, to mirror the side cables on the front. Or maybe not, we'll see when I get there. I've got team pub trivia tomorrow, and another baseball game on Friday, but I'd like to have the two socks even by the end of the weekend. I'd really like to finish these up by the 4th!

Work on WIP Week: Mr. Stripey is now Half a Pair

Thanks for all of the nice comments about Mr. Stripey--seeing them on the blog was definitely the highlight of my day! I arrived home later than expected this evening, but I did finish Stripey #1:

This is definitely a sock that will benefit from a soak and a block, but I'll likely wait until Mr. Stripey the Younger is complete. Here's another view:

Oh, how I love the striping on the heel flap! I haven't cast on sock #2 yet, but I'll try to do that this weekend. I'm really looking forward to seeing how much my gauge has changed in the last 10 months--these socks are definitely not "perfect" enough to be a gift, but even I won't wear socks of two noticeably different sizes.

Work on WIP Week: Mr. Stripey

Yesterday, I planned to either keep working on Wicked or the Print O' the Wave Shawl. Instead, I spent hours adding tons of yarn and a few projects to Ravelry. I'm already feeling more organized, and also a little guilty about all of the yarn in the stash that I don't even remember buying. I mean a t a l l. Here are some of the yarns I added over the past couple of days:

Hmm, I guess I have a lot of brown in the stash--or at least in this layer of it. It's fun to photography & catalog yarn. How

This evening, after a very mediocre performance by my pop culture trivia team, I managed to resist ravelry in favor of Mr. Stripey. Mr. Stripey is a sock that I started late last summer, and I've worked on it very sporadically since then. He may, in fact, be the first sock I ever started, although I've finished many socks since then. The socks are on the stretchy side, and I probably should have knit them on US#1 needles instead of US#2, but they are still acceptable.

Named after a tomato plant that also features stripes, I may be lucky to finish this pair before the new Mr. Stripey plant bears fruit. Still, this evening I started the toe, and I'm pretty sure I can finish this tomorrow and cast on sock #2. This photo is pretty terrible, so I'm keeping it small--it's past my bedtime now and I took the easy way out and used the flash. Once this sock is done, I'll take some better photos & provide a full recap.