Leaves, leaves everywhere

Ok, I apparently like leaves...a lot. Leaves are the theme of today's post, albeit non-intentionally. It didn't occur to me that I had an obsession with leaves until I started planning out which projects to talk about. I do think they make for a beautiful knitting motif. First up, a project that I have been working on only very occasionally: The Backyard Leaves scarf from Scarf Style. The pattern was designed by Annie Modesitt, and it is truly beautiful. It is knitted in two parts and then seamed together at the end. So far, I have the first half done. The yarn I'm using, Classic Elite Wings, has a little bit of history for me. I bought it on my honeymoon in Mendocino at a 50% off sale, and even since I bought it, I've wondered what to use it for. I think this scarf is perfect for it. I only bought four balls, and that's what the scarf calls for!
Next up is the Falling Leaves sock from knitty, which I've posted about several times previously. I was rather proud of myself that I made some more progress yesterday. I went to the Knit Salon at the Grove and did two lace repeats. I think I only have one more to do before I start the toe shaping, so I'm almost done! I have a lot of knitting time today, so I see myself getting these done very very soon. This sock fits much better than the other one because I made the gusset shorter. For the first sock, I used a rule of thumb that said to pick up one stitch on the heel flap for every two rows. Doing that made the gusset too long, causing the sock to bag at the arch. So, I picked up 2 fewer stitches and that seemed to do the trick. Now the sock hugs my arch nicely.

Finally, for my last leaf project, the package from J arrived yesterday with the Birch pattern and the Inox needles that I need for the project. The very first instruction is to cast on 299 sts using the lace method. There's an article in this issue of the Rowan mag for casting on, and it turns out that the lace cast-on is nothing more than the knitted cast-on method, so I've gotten that far on the pattern, as you can see from this photo. I'm hoping to work on it more today. I have wanted to make this shawl for months, so I'm so thrilled! I'll be knitting it using Kidsilk Haze in Meadow.

That's all for the leaves. I'll leave you now (snicker).