finished objects

**Giveaway details here**
Its been so much fun reading everyone's comments on their dream vacations, I can't wait to send this package off to someone special.

I've been on a productive streak this week, finishing up projects that have been sitting on the back burner for several months.

This pair of socks was meant to be my hellasgood08 knitting project; the yarn perfectly captures the colors of a Greek sunset, so it was the only new project I packed.  I cast on during my eight hour layover in Frankfurt.  I was sitting at some random gate, trying not to fall asleep, when a tiny elderly woman wandered over and settled in beside me, pulling some beautiful beaded lacework out of her bag.  The first sock saw early morning in a German airport, sunsets on Kalymnos, an evening performance of Turandot at the Herodeon, and a handful of EuroCup football matches.  And once it was finished, the yarn, pattern, and needles were packed away and all but forgotten.  I pulled it all out again this weekend and set about knitting like a woman possessed.  So now I've got a wonderful pair of socks, just in time for a hot and humid North Carolina summer.

This dress hung on the wall over my book cases for about eight months, abandoned because it was irritating me.  I'm not sure why the designer thought giant pleats on the back of a shift dress would be flattering, because the whole thing balooned out horribly.  So last weekend, I ripped out the back seams and replaced the pleats with simple gathers, and then finished the hem off with coordinating bias tape.  Its the perfect simple dress for summer, but I'm hoping to find a less fiddly pattern before constructing the rest of my seasonal wardrobe. 

~RLM