Four Pairs Down, 48 More to Knit

I finished my 4th pair for the month of April. Only 48 more to go for the 52 pair plunge challenge. The socks are based on the Horcrux pattern by Susan Pierce Lawrence, but I made major alterations to it. No pictures yet because these socks are for my Hogwarts swap pal. The original pattern, knitted in worsted weight yarn, is available on Susan's blog. A fingering weight version is available to members of the Six Sock KAL Yahoo group. Anyone can join this group. It's a great group of socknitters who knit original sock patterns bimonthly.

I started this pair last Sunday and finished them today. One week from start to finish! That might be a new record for me. In order to keep up with the 52 pair plunge, I'm trying to cast on for sock two as soon as I finish sock one and keep knitting. Usually I start a new sock project when I finish sock one and come back to sock two after working on a few different designs. This helps to alleviate the boredom factor and makes the pattern fresh again.

I also finished another sock this week and made some beaded stitch markers. I got a multicolored bag of silver lined seed beads, and my DD makes macrame beaded necklaces, so she had some larger beads to add to the mix. She pressed some white mother of pearl beads on me, which I used to make a rainbow set. Each marker uses a pearl bead and two beads of a rainbow color. I think they are my favorite, but I've always been a sucker for rainbow colors. I'm using the turqouise beaded marker on my new sock project. I also got some oval Czech glass beads to use for my Hogwarts sock swap partner, so I made some Gryffindor and some Slytherin markers. Some of the Czech beads were purple with red, green and pink swirls, so I added pink or red seed beads to them. I think I made about 25 sets of 5 markers, and I have lots more beads to make new designs. I'll post pictures when I figure out how to use the camera. I haven't done my laundry yet and I need a pair of pants to wear to work tomorrow, so I'm off to fill the washer.