Cashmere for Baseball, or...adding a little style in the midst of a lot of dirt.

Little League season has started, and now both kidsters are playing.  Kidster #1 is on an instructional team, Kidster #2 is making his debut in T-ball, and of course Hubster is coaching both teams.  Today was downright cold with gray clouds tumbling in and just enough of a wind to chill you straight through.  So even though it's the end of April I cracked out the winter coat and finished casting off this cashmere cowl.  The yarn is reclaimed from a sweater that met an untimely demise.  I held two strands and knit on size 1's.

I'm not much of a cowl person for a couple of reasons.  First off, I haven't found a yarn soft enough not to be irritating after an hour or so.  And I hate having something too tight around my neck (I almost never wear turtlenecks!), plus there's the messy-hair-putting-it-on factor to deal with.  But I am happy with this one.  It is stretchy enough to avoid the hair issues, and not too loose or too tight on the neck.  The result is just right for tucking behind a coat collar and is super soft on the skin.  

Although I have to say that I won't be sad when the weather warms up enough that I have to put it away for the season!

Little socks

Sock minis?

Sockinis?

Sock midgets?

Gee, I hope that wasn't politically incorrect or anything.

Whatever you want to call them, they are little socks.  From the Ballet School Dropout Sockettes pattern, I knit mine with a shorter heel and the regular (not cleavage) toe. 

I knit them specifically for these shoes.  I would prefer to wear them without socks, but they rub right at the inside of the ball of my foot.  So the socks are getting the job done as far a preventing blisters.

It has occurred to me that if I am going to make socks in the future, I need to stick with a solid or semi-solid color.  Trying to match up the stripes was just that, trying.  And having mismatched stripes?  My brain doesn't work that way.

Shrug it off!

My sweater woes have past. 
Spring has finally sprung (today broke 50 degrees, just barely).
And my Retro Redux Shrug is complete. 

Not perfect, but good enough!