An FO Parade and a Finish or Frog it Query

I feel like I have a lot to say today so please bear with me. First, I have some older projects that didn't get blogged because I hadn't blocked them. Then I finally blocked them and didn't bother to take pictures. I'm remedying that today.

First up: The Eleanor Cowl

I believe I did blog about it but not blocked. It's knit from some Gritty Knits Merino handspun.

One of the things that held me back from blogging this is that it's very difficult to take photos of yourself wearing a cowl that are not horrible.

You can see how just a soak and a lie flat really made those twisted stitches pop too. I can't wait for the weather to get a bit colder so I can wear it again. I really love it and I am considering knitting another one in a more solid yarn.

Next I have a pair of short summer socks. These are just plain socks knit with some lovely nom yarn, also from Gritty Knits

I just wanted some short socks for the summer in case my toes got cold. I really like the way they turned out.

Just 15 rounds of 2x2 ribbing, 5 rounds plain knit then right into the heel flap. It's an eye of Partridge heel and then down to the toe, nice and plain. They work wonderfully well for keeping toes from being cold in over air-conditioned places.

Whew! As if that weren't enough, I also finished the National Gallery shawl I was knitting for a shop sample for CJKopec Creations. (A quick note here. It currently says her shop is on vacation for the Michigan Fiber festival but I heard a rumor she will be updating with sock yarns for sure this week.) I blocked it and mailed it off already but I did take some photos first.

It's a really unusual stitch in the middle and I wasn't sure about it but the lovely colors that CJ chose really looked lovely. The edging is knit on sideways when you're done.

I had a little trouble with the edging because of the way it was described in the pattern and the way the chart was laid out, it didn't seem intuitive to me so I'd recommend that you are comfortable and familiar with knit on edgings if you're going to knit this pattern. I loved the finished product though and it was a little difficult to mail it away.
Keeping up with the parade of finished things I went on a trip out of town to see some family this weekend. I traveled with my mom and she prefers to drive so I had tons of knitting time. It was awesome! I got so much done!
First, on Friday as we were traveling there; I finished the Lotus Heart Socks

I was really glad to finish these because I had some trouble with them. It really was no fault of the pattern, the pattern is very well written and lovely. I had issues with myself. First, I didn't read the pattern correctly, then I mixed up the pattern, then I made them too small, etc. etc. I love the finished product though.

The yarn (as I've mentioned before) is Zarzuela's sadly discontinued Chromatic base in the Sprout colorway. I knit them on size US 0 needles and had to modify the pattern accordingly. Check out my Ravelry Project page if you are interested in what modifications I made as I put the notes there. I'm also glad these are finished because they are a part of the Summer of Socks 2012 and I wanted to get their photos posted to be eligible for the prizes. The pictures are up and I'm ready for the next goal. More on that later.
Also on the drive up, I finished the baby blanket that was meant to be the gift for the 1 year old's birthday party I was attending so I was happy to be ready for that as well.

Here is the lovely birthday girl enjoying her blanket. Isn't she a sweetie?
That's not all though! On Saturday evening while sitting around with my cousin, her little one and my uncles and aunt, I finished my purse socks!

These have been languishing for a good long while because I only took them out and worked a few rows when I had a few minutes. I really wasn't in a hurry, but I was getting so close that I was excited to finish. The yarn is handspun Fiber Optic Yarns that I purchased from a destash in the color Sweet Georgia Brown.

I've already worn them too. I was just too excited to be finished! Handspun socks are the best! I split this braid into stripes, spun it and Navajo-plied it to make lovely gradual color changes. I loved the yarn but the socks are even better!

I was going to talk about all the new things I've started but I think this is plenty so I'll just sign off with one thing. Today marks the start of month 3 for the Summer of Socks 2012 and I got to cast on the third project. This month's pattern was chosen by vote by those of us in the group. The winner is the Simple Skyp Socks
so I went and dug out some lovely nom yarn and got it all wound up and printed off the pattern. I read through it last night so I'd be ready.

Here is the yarn I chose. It's the Dusk colorway and it was a club colorway in June, I think. It should be very interesting in this pattern. I got up this morning and realized today was the day! I went ahead and cast on and knit myself up some ribbing. Here's what it looks like.

Now, here's the problem. I was apparently more tired than I thought last night when I read the pattern because for some reason I thought it called for 10 rounds of 1x1 ribbing. I really prefer at least 15 rounds and I greatly prefer 2x2 ribbing but if it's going to be 1x1 I'll do twisted ribbing so it's a little bit firmer. I knit 15 rounds of 1x1 ribbing, then I went to the pattern to make a note of the changes I made. Um, yeah. It calls for 2x2 ribbing. The real question is, keep going or frog it and do the 2x2 that I usually prefer anyway.
So, here it is, my very first finish it or frog it. I need to get going on these so leave me a comment by tomorrow at 5:00 pm Central time. Let me know whether I should keep going or frog them and start over. I'll be waiting.