One Down, the Second Started

I've finished my first Broken Rope Sock (AKA Racing Socks for watching F1).  I've started the second sock, but there's a bit of an issue.  A normal racing season begins in early March and ends in early December.  The month of August is taken off as a midseason break, but throughout the season there are occasional one or two weekends off.  Partly these are logistical because the season is all over the world and shipping takes time, and partly this is for the sanity of those who are part of this circus.  24 races a year, in every corner of the globe, has got to be exhausting.

I had planned to just knit socks through the 2026 season, ignoring the weekends off, just making sure that I had socks to knit on Qualifying and Race days.  However, due to the situation in the Middle East, the Bahrain Grand Prix and the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix have been canceled.  I completely understand the reasoning behind this and I think it was probably the right call (not that anyone really cares what the Pink Lemon thinks).  What this means though is that we have the Japanese Grand Prix this weekend at Suzuka, and then nothing until the first weekend in May for the Miami Grand Prix.  There's no racing at all in April.

So, are these Racing Socks?  If I set them aside for a month and didn't mess with them, they could be, but I don't plan to do that.  I plan to keep them for knitting when I need a small, portable project, but I feel like they won't be racing socks anymore.  I feel like they just became socks.  Not that that's a bad thing, to be just socks.  Most socks go through their entire existence just being socks, but these socks were cast on with the promise of being something more.  It's tough being a sock sometimes!

Racing Socks

I've made it past the heel flap and heel turn, and I've begun the foot of my first 2026 racing socks!  (These are socks I knit while watching F1 racing, the pattern is Broken Rope from Summer Lee in her Hello Sailor Sock collection.)  I would have been farther but I made an error on the leg and ended up undoing about 20 rounds of work.  It's a simple stitch pattern, but when you make a mistake, that simple stitch pattern makes it glaringly obvious.  Once I redid the leg and knit the heel flap, I messed up the heel turn (I've only done hundreds of those in my lifetime), and had to redo that.  I blame the good racing action!  There's no racing this weekend, so I plan to try to finish my Austin Hoodie. 

We Have Sleeves!

I've finished the sleeves on my Austin Hoodie and have begun the actual hood!  I have a little over two weeks to finish this sweater and submit it for the Happily Ever Hooded CAL at the end of the month.  I'm hoping the hood moves along pretty quickly, and I'm planning to start weaving in ends sooner, rather than later.

Next quarter's CAL is Circular Yokes (details are at the link above).  I've got a few possibilities, but I haven't settled on any one project yet.  I have started putting serious thought into it though, while trying to stay focused on my hoodie.  I'll be sure to let you know when I do make up my mind.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend! 

Still Life With Sock and Dog Toy

This is my racing sock - as in, I knit it during Formula 1 practice, qualifying, racing.  It's a simple sock that I don't have to look at while I knit it, but it gives my hands something to fidget with as I watch Kimi Antonelli wreck his car at the end of Practice 3, less than three hours from Qualifying. (So as not to leave you on a cliff hanger, I will tell you that he was fine, and they not only got his car put back together for Qualifying, but he qualified in P2, and went on to finish the race in second place!) 

The sock pattern is Broken Rope from the Hello Sailor Sock set by Summer Lee.  I worked a slight variation of the Gym Sock Stripe pattern - mainly, I added a third stripe and I only changed colors on odd numbered rounds so that there wouldn't be purl bumps showing.  The yarn is Potions and Purls Luna sock in Keeper of My Heart.  The accent color was included with the skein for cuffs/heels/toes/whatever.  I have used it for the stripes, and will probably also use it for the toe.

The dog toy is one of Obi's favorites - it's a Holee Roller.  Our house is covered in them in various sizes.  The smallest size is a great ball for fetch because he can breathe through it when he's running around like a lunatic, and the largest size is great for tug of war, general chewing, and sometimes it serves as a dog pillow.  Our first Holee Roller lasted nine months, with much of that being through his puppy teeth/furry land shark stage, and we were so impressed we've just kept ordering them for him.  The oldest one we currently have is over two years old.  No affiliation with the company, but just a very happy dog mom.

Progress!

It's sleeve time!  My goal was to be finished with the body of my Austin Hoodie by the end of February, but I was actually able to get started on my first sleeve!  I'm currently farther along, but our mornings have been cloudy which makes it hard to get good photos.  

I hope to finish the first sleeve soon and be finished with my second sleeve next week.  Then it's just the hood and front edgings.  I still haven't decided what I'll use to face the front edgings, but if I can get all the knitting finished by the end of March, I can submit it for the Hoodie CAL.  Facings can be finished later if I need to.

I'm knitting exclusively on this right now, but I'll be starting a pair of socks later this week.  It's finally Race Week - Formula 1's 2026 season kicks off in Australia this week, and I've learned (the hard way), that I need an autopilot type of sock to work on during Qualifying and the Grand Prix.  Without knitting, I'm just a mess, and anything that requires thought is going to be frogged to correct mistakes.  The yarn and pattern are chosen.  I'll show them to you later this week!

Progress!

Now that I've gotten my Mystery MusiKAL shawl finished (pictures to follow when I get the ends woven in), I'm focusing on my Austin Hoodie again.  I have finished knitting the lower body section and divided the front stitches from the back stitches.  I've completed the woven section on the back and I'm about to start the ribbing section.  I had played with the idea of using different stitch patterns, but I eventually decided that I really did like the stitch patterns used in the original pattern, with a couple slight changes.  I did not double strand the woven section because I'm using sportweight yarn instead of fingering weight, and I am going to reverse the ribbed section at the top by knitting where I'm supposed to purl and purling where I am supposed to knit.  This should give me a slightly more subtle ribbing and still match at the shoulders.

I'm hoping to really make some progress on this and be finished with the body before the end of the month.  I have to have the whole sweater finished by the end of March and I will have two sleeves, a hood, and front bands to do after the body, so I've got to get moving!

In other news, Mickael got me a robot vacuum (and it mops!) for Valentine's Day!  It's seriously amazing!  I was just sitting here this morning, drinking my tea, and writing to you while it went to vacuum and mop the master bathroom.  Obi barks at it occasionally,  but he really doesn't seem too troubled about it, he tends to follow it a little bit, but the barking seems to be more on general principal than because he senses any threat.  It did knock one of his squeaky balls out from under the sofa yesterday, and he was thrilled to get that back!

I'm Binding Off!!!!!

Yes, I'm binding off on my Mystery MusiKAL Shawl!  It has been a long road, but the end is in sight.  Sort of.  There are at least eleventy million ends to weave in when I finish with the actual knitting, but I'm getting there!  (I chose to work only one section of the brioche edging, but I made it wider than the pattern called for.  I decided the shawl was plenty big enough and I was starting to make stupid mistakes, so it was time to call it done.)