Works in Progress Wednesday

I can't think of a witty title for this post, so I'm sticking with a "WIP Wednesday" moniker. 

I have two things on the needles right now. 

Project number one is the Easy Half Circle Shawl. Pattern is put out by Lionbrand.  I'm using Shawl in a Ball yarn. 

The details, let's see ... 

Project: Easy Half Circle Shawl
Pattern from Lionbrand.com
Started: July 6, 2019
Needle size: U.S. 8, 5.0 mm
Yarn: Lionbrand Shawl in a Ball
Colorway: Wind Chimes - 305, various blues

I had a few false starts with this project. I'm currently on part five of the pattern. The progress marker is where I was on July 10.  I shared my progress in a few knitting Facebook groups. 

Things are going more slow now.  I've got more than 200 stitches to a row. I'm almost at the halfway point of this section. 

The other project is ... another vanilla sock. 

Project: Vanilla socks
Pattern: My own
Started: July 10, 2019, or so.
Needle size: U.S. 1, 2.5 mm, circular needles
Yarn: Knit Picks Felici 
Colorway: Surf's up, Mostly blues with a stripe of purple

This is strictly purse knitting. Well, truck knitting, when we head out to one of the lakes or driving to town and I'm passenger.  I don't expect fast progress. 

I'm trying a few different things with this pair.  I was watching a class on knitting two socks on two circulars and reading through Cat Bordhi's "Socks Soar on Two Needles" and I've like to give the tradition method of a sock on two circulars another try. A few of the patterns in Cat's book has you make the heel in a side profile, so the gusset decreases are in the middle of the needle, rather than at the end.  I'm not sure how to better explain that.  

My mind has been churning with projects I'd *love* to cast on right now.  I started following a few different Instagram hashtags and I'm seeing some very pretty stuff. 

In other news, the weather has been pretty steady with the warmer temps and the higher than usual humidity.  I'm not sure which direction this weather pattern is coming from.  The area has been under severe weather watches. Nothing is happening.  My guess is the big lake is drawing all the energy out of the storms. There is a storm to the north of us but it's heading in the opposite direction.