I am very proud of myself

[meebo1]

Beautiful socks! We are all getting ready for winter. What yarn did you use? I just started my first pair with Deborah Norville's wool sock yarn in shades of blue and green.

The top looks great, but I am stuck on that pesky heel. Directions are long and drawn out but don't tell me the overall plan, so I stopped for a while. I made the flap and now I do what with it?

Guess I have a nice wrist warmer if that heel business does not work out.

I think the written instructions are always more complicated than doing it

[lejoueurdepipeau]

Just finished this little project - a beaded needle case! This is the first time I've done one of these and this one was made from a kit - but I think I'm hooked and would like to make more using my own designs now that I know how to do it! The colours don't show too well in the photo - the beads were black, opalescent white and metallic grey.

[meebo1]

I am impressed. Looks very fiddly to make

[deltadelta48]

Excellent! I like the little tassels too.

I took a class for this beading but then got hooked on knitting with beads and put the needle away!

[moonwitch]

Your wish is my command - my socks

Lovely socks

I just looked on here for a pattern but none of them would fit me....I have to have softy tops to my socks and have been paying £5 a pair

I'll start knitting my own once I find a pattern

[pearlygirl555]

Moony, what are softy tops?

Ooo, that needle case looks amazing!

The socks impress me Meebo, I can knit a shawl on a circular needle because I don't have to think about it at all. But you can't get away with that when socks are the goal!

[moonwitch]

Moony, what are softy tops?

The edge of the top of the socks have to be very loose but the actual sock has to stay put.

I haven't found a yarn that works like that yet...will have to experiment with the stitches

[pearlygirl555]

Good idea to experiment with the stitches, maybe just dropping every third one or so? I know with the shawls, by strategic dropping of stitches the finished product is more likely to stay put.

What if you used a yarn that had a percentage of Lycra in it? That way the entire garment would be inclined to be form-fitting but the pressure would be so generalized, they would seem to stay up by force of habit rather than by grip? Mom has some boughten socks like that made from a chenille/Lycra blend, they've been great for her.

[TiasTreasures]

I'm so jealous!

My mother tried to teach me how to knit. My first (and only) project was a very simple pair of mittens. She had made dozens of them. I ended up with two mittens, but one was about six inches long and the other about 12 inches. No more knitting lesson.

Then she tried to teach me how to crotchet. I was never able to get the second row attached to the first. She actually sat and watched me try, and couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong. We both finally gave up. No more crotcheting lessons.

I was able to master embroidery, as long as I stuck to cross stitching. Finished one picture. It took me so long she gave up on teaching me any kind of needlework. She did display the picture for years, though.

But, I was a cracker-jack computer programmer! Don't think I can add any examples to a thread, though.

[pearlygirl555]

I thought about you the other day, Tia, after hearing about the earthquake on CNN. Hope you came through it without incident.

You can do anything you put your mind to! Mom tried to teach me how to sew and that experience had many similarities to your needlework lessons. When I got older I decided I was going to learn no matter what, so I just bought an easy-looking pattern and some fabric, and jumped in. The resulting garment went straight into the trash once I joined the front & back halves; bought numerous patterns and yards of fabric, getting closer to a finished product every time. Now I can sew dresses that I'm happy to wear, took up quilting with mom years and years later. It was easier learning on my own terms than it was trying to figure out what she meant. Go, Tia!