the long and short of it...

is...i'm late! nuthin' new for me as it seems to be my usual mode of operende! time just seems to slip, slide away.

anyhoo, speaking of long and short, here are my socks from the past three months.

july:
pattern: bmfa - "summer of love lace socks" designed by jc briar.
yarn: regia bamboo - 45% bamboo, 40% wool, 15% polyamid

a soft and comfy (thanks to the bamboo) pair of anklets with a fold down top - perfect for a chilly summer morning or evening! these little cuties were knit from the top down starting with the lace border.

 august:
"a manly sock" - a plain vanilla, top-down number with a knit2,purl2 rib. 
a subtle, nondescript sock, perfect for a guy that isn't into anything flashy but wants a sock that feels good on his feet - these are 'the bomb'!
the yarn for these has been in my stash for way too many years! it is brown sheep 'wildfoote' luxury sock yarn (75% washable wool/25% nylon) in the colorway: tom cat. perfect for cattin' around!!

september:
a plain vanilla toe-up sock that just goes up and up and up! i used my favorite gusset heel that i can now knit from memory - thank you very much!! 
i'm really getting tired of small wads of left-over yarn from socks with normal leg heights of six inches, so i threw caution to the wind and decided to knit the entire skein to see what i'd end up with. and...there you have it!! almost knee high but not by the 4th of july!
one small caveat...skeins sometimes don't have exactly the same yardage! surprise! surprise! fortunately, by chance i picked the smaller skein for my first sock instead of vice versa as i had about 5 yards of yarn left over once my second sock matched the end of sock one! i wouldn't have been a happy camper had things gone the other way!
yarn: marks & kattens clown; 45% bomull (cotton), 40% superwash ull (wool), 15% nylon

so...what to do with those extra sock leftovers? well, knit a hat, of course, and make it a small one!!

here's another one for a new baby knit out of fingering weight leftovers from a sock i knit earlier this year. 
this is how i did it:
cast on 90 stitches on size one (2.50mm) needles, place marker and join to knit in the round.
purl 4 rounds, knit 3 rounds; repeat and then purl 4 more rounds. change to stockinette stitch (which is actually just knitting when you are working in the round! a kewl deal!) and knit all rounds until piece measures 3 1/2 to 4 inches from beginning.
begin the top of the hat as follows:
knit 13 stitches, k2tog, pm; repeat 5 times to end of row.
knit 1 round.
next row: knit to 2 stitches before marker, k2tog, slip marker; repeat to end of round.
knit 1 round. 
repeat these two rows until there are 3 stitches. with these 3 stiches knit i-cord for approx. 3 inches (enough length to tie a knot in end), cut a yarn tail approx. 6 inches. thread yarn on a yarn needle and pass through stitches and pull tightly. thread yarn down through i-cord for a couple inches. tie i-cord in an overhand knot.

voila! a toasty cover for a new little head! oh, happy day!