Knitting Catch-Up

I have been busy moving in and working on the house in general but obviously not posting on the blog, however I have managed to knit a few things.

I knit a pair of pedicure socks for Annika out of Blue Moon Fiber Arts(BMFA) heavyweight Socks That Rock(STR) in "Backstabber" (which I could not find on their website), however I forgot to get a picture before I gave them to her, so you'll just have to trust me on that. They were basic stockinette socks, without the toe, and about an inch of 1x1 ribbing on each end.

I also finished the toe up socks using Wendy's pattern that I showed ages ago. For those I also used BMFA STR. These were mediumweight in "Fire on the Mountain". That name seems so apropos today! These were for me and I love them, because they are so soft and comfortable. I was a little annoyed with the pooling on the leg part, but I'm pretty much over that, cuz they are so snugly.

It took me a while to obtain the yarn for my Lizard Ridge afghan. Since Kureyon can be so variable, I really wanted to get it in person, which is hard to do when there is no local yarn store (no LYS!!! how sad). I went to Jimmy Bean's in Reno, but they were phasing out all of their Noro yarns, and had no Kureyon. I eventually bought a bunch of one colorway in Auburn when I was down there last month on a paint errand. I was thinking I would just use one colorway, but it was a little too blah, because I was using a colorway with a lot of earth tones and light colors. So then I got brave and ordered 3 more colorways online, getting colors that would fit with my earth tone plus blue and green plan, while adding more contrast and personality to the piece. They arrived while I was down in the Bay Area a week ago, and I promptly got started. I'm very happy with it now.
By the way, I had to wipe the ash off of the ottoman before laying my knitting on it. Maybe it is time to close the windows? My eyes are stinging from the smoke.

With this afghan, I plan to bring together the colors that I have put into the blue room our guestroom. I'm not totally sure about the color we painted it. I think I was a bit tired from all of the decisions on the house when I decided to paint the room light blue. I wanted some color, but I didn't want to paint it yellow, which seems to be the "in" color in the mountains these days (or is that the case everywhere?). I also didn't want to paint it in "coffee house colors" like sage green. I thought blue would be relaxing and soothing for our guests... like a retreat. I think there is a chance that I pull it together, but the room needs some help to make the color work. So... the Lizard Ridge, which I really wanted to knit anyway.