O is for......

Ocean Socks! Yay they are done, and not too bad a job if I say so myself!! (modeled by DD as the pictures do come out better...only problem is..well she can wear them too!) Done mainly for the Mystery Sock KAL where you knit a sock without a picture! It was a little difficult at the start as I stated before, and the second one didn't want to go too smoothly in the midpart...guess I was too excited to get done in time for the Sock a Month KAL2 September sock! (which I did, Yay!) Thanks again to my pal Cpurl for helping me out when I needed it!

Yarn is the Storm Colorway from Heather in a light sportweight I think. It knit really nice (well when I didn't have to tink quite a bit on the last one LOL!!) Used my Brittany size 3 dpns. They fit well and are pretty comfy.

So, now to Socktoberfest socks! I hope to knit a cabled pair, Anastasia socks, and possibly another pair. All socks all the time LOL! (well probably not) I'd love to knit at least 2 pairs we shall see.

OK! Now for the Knitty Blogstalking assignment. I didn't do last weeks, as well, we get our movies from Netflix and have a small amount...so..oh well!

Take a picture of your oldest UFO!!! and here it is! The Scoop du Jour from Chic Knits, which I started in July 05! It isn't a hard project, I just got distracted by so many other things (one being the knittyboards LOL!)

Cottonease in Ice Blue, you can see the back and the left front 1/2 way done on the left and the tiny, tiny start of the right front. Just need to finish it..soon I will...this is my first sweater and it's not done...hmmmm. I have a project that is 2 months younger than this....but another time for that! Have a great weekend!

YPF!!!

Yarn Pr0n Friday! It's here, and gonna make you...drool (or not ;) Sknitches has a limited edition sock yarn with each update. When I saw this one, my mouth started drooling and probably won't stop even after it is knitted!

I couldn't wait to receive it in my hands, and once I did, I promptly went out and got some sad excuse for Macintosh apples...sniff...sniff....one things I miss dreadfully about leaving Maine..each fall, these apples. Now I can get them locally, but not as fresh as can you say it...right off the freaking tree!! Used to get in trouble all the time during our cross country training runs near the orchard because of these apples...ok...back to reality!!

Posed atop some not too bad Mac's. Look at the colors...see what I mean! Perfectly matched!

These shots were all taken outside, but this one reveals a little more reddish/yellowish tint and still looks yummy enough to eat.

All of the many colors that represent the Macintosh apple truly appear, thus for the afore mentioned drooling... ;)

Um...still drooling here!

Gratiutious aerial shot here, and I'd better go get a bib, cause I'm still drooling here!

Off to get my shaker of salt (don't worry, I don't use a lot!) , a knife, napkin.....and of course..an apple! Thanks for stopping by! :)

N is for....

My new love....It's a Namaste Messenger bag in brown corduroy. Normally, I make my own bags/totes or have been lucky to be gifted some. I've been looking around online, in the very few real, live LYS's I get to visit, and fellow bloggers to find the bag I wanted. Found lots that are nice and work for the person who owns them, but none that caught my eye! Until now...

Outer view with strap (very adjustable!)

The zipper on the front is in the flap and is perfect for those patterns you ..um..don't want to fold, etc.

Nice stripes! Two deep front pockets with magnetic clasps! Knitters Fuel aka..um..food in the right pocket! ;)

Inside are 1 center zip pocket (currently holding a pink scarf in progress (PIP!) with a knitpicks chartkeeper (which is cool!);Upper pocket holding sockfish with pink fixation ankle sock; Front pocket with sockmonkey bag holding Ocean socks and tiny xray animal bag with knitting tools. This has a zipper back pocket behind the sockfish and 3 huge inner pockets in the front..sorry you can't see them..um..due to things in the way.

It holds quite a bit surprisingly and still can be unzipped in the bottom to make it even wider. Which is good as we all know I can't just have 1 WIP! Now I can carry them all around, even in their own sub-purse/bag. I wore it to work today and it was very comfortable. I likey my brown and it was on sale! Love that 4-letter word. I got mine here, super service! Thanks for letting me gush...and thanks to Scout for posting about it so other peeps could get one too! ;)

Oh, and have you seen this yet!

ETA: changed the title to N as I am a bit behind on the ABC along...and my Noni bag is not being paid attention to right now...so O, P, Q and R to follow in the next few days! :)

The Mystery.....

Is 1/2 over! (plus a tiny bit more!)

The Mystery Sock KAL, find a sock pattern with no picture and knit it! Well, easier said than done IMHO! Being a very visual person, this kind of irked me, but thanks to my pal CPurl17 for encouraging me on. I joined and luckily (oh, how lucky I was) she chose the same sock as I did!Ocean Socks

After a brief meltdown as how to do a baby cabled rib stitch, Cpurl17 was her amazing calm self and after a few emailed pics to her of what I was trying to explain (do you know how hard it is to take pictures of your hands knitting by yourself LOL!) I "got" the stitch...shhhhh please don't tell her, all I had to do was look at the Knitters Companion book she got me...duh!!! (and a knitter's bible I had, and like 2 other books too, but didn't realize the stitches were in there..um..until later!)

She'll have her pair up sometime this evening, check hers out! I can't wait to see hers.

Here is my 1 completed sock and less than 1/3 of the 2nd sock LOL! Wonder if I can finish it by Saturday midnight?? Check back later this week!

All Things Heather Storm colorway. I wanted something blue and oceany, but now I'm thinking maybe a solid would have been better, what do you think CPurl?

Oh..and TrixieG!!! I just couldn't wait until Wednesday, when I am sure your's will be at your door (sorry to spoil the surprise!) Don't you love her colors she picked out? I almost forgot **cough** to mail it! ;) Thank you for your patience!!!

Yarn PrOn Friday...the first

For me that is!! Bear with me as I am nervous...wondering if I'll pass muster..and I know I'm not the only one! Our Mistress of Yarn PrOn will be inspecting and ensuring that good photography skills are being used on the yarn ;)

Yarn is Water Lily from Knitting Sunshine! I just love all the colors! I am a color-o-holic I think!! I just love mixtures of colors!

On the knitting front, Mystery sock #1 is going well (never fast enough for me!), pink scarf #2 is going, ok, darn me for picking a lacey pattern...I have to remind myself...double check stitch count after theYO rows!!! Ya dunce...it would save yourself on tinking!!! (which yay, thanks to Turtlegirl, um..goes much quicker now ;) and Noni bag is getting closer and closer. These are, believe it or not, the only things being knit right now. I need mindless, challenging, and counting (heh, me and math, ick!) projects going on at the same time.

As for sewing...a bit of that too, pics next time ;) TrixieG..watch out! ;)

Library

This weeks blogstalking assignment. Library, so here we go!

Um..well since most of my fiber activities take up their share of the house...I have this tiny corner of a very large bookcase for my knitting books. This is the first row.

Here's the inner row, mainly copies of patterns filed by type in the binders, magazines, small pattern booklets, and receipts in the cardboard file. ETA: hehe no, Bezzie, they are not all yarn receipts, LOL! ;)
DD's mini library, we packed away much more. I just love the blue on her walls, I won't tell you the patching I had to do...1000000000's of tiny holes courtesy of push pins...not allowed anymore, only poster putty! :)
Below is my quilting library and a few containers of small bits of fabrics. Top right is patterns inbinders and a magazine holder. Bottom right is file box with patterns and lower left is binders full of...um...yep you guessed it quilting/sewing projects.
Finally, my small literary (ha!) library courtesy of my CASP#2. I don't usually purchase books, I borrow from the library as space is limited. But in 2 years when my son moves to college (insert evil hand rubbing here) um...his room is partly mine! 4 huge shelves.

Well, not going to show the cookbooks..um..I do collect them and have quite a bit. But sadly, packed since I had the floor tiled in April...only a few remain in the house. Off to knit and do laundry!

The Summer of SP

Comes to an end! Makes me a little sad, but my brain sure loves it! I was um..er.. a little bit busy with them..so I tried not to confuse each SP I had. (4) Almost made some mistakes...well I did LOL! I did comment on my CheapA$$SP's blog in my own name, then deleted it, and didn't realize it would leave my name, then tried to lie my way through it...LOL! Oh well! I had a lot of fun torturing a few of them too (sorry Fiberfool! ;) It's all Yarner's fault, she trained me well!! hehe! I enjoy giving much more than receiving, not sure why, I think I take after my Mom. Although I am not complaining, who doesn't love yarny/goodie packages in the mail!

So I present my One-Skein Final package! My Pal is Laura and I want to thank her for introducing me to 3 yarns I have never tried before! 2-I've seen and heard of (Karoke and King Tut) and 1-I never knew existed (Numei Silk Haze). I know it must have been hard for her to find me something other than Lambs Pride (which I found out she loves as much as me!) or sock yarn! Yay!! Maybe one day I'll move next door to that plant. Think of the mill ends... Ok, onto the package which arrived at a perfect time. I came home, so beat, I could barely keep me eyes open, and opened my package....

Flowering Herbs lotion from Bath/bodyworks, a discontinued scent which is hard to find, only when they feel like putting it out there LOL! Karoke yarn, and a orange citrus candle which was put into use, moments after opening.

But this to me is the best part! The Felted Clutch from One-Skein in Lamb's Pride! (see us LP junkies stick together ;)! It is perfect, can't wait to use it, and check out the buttons, they are soooo me! I've been meaning to knit myself one, but you know how it is! Thanks again Laura for everything! :)



Now for knitting content! A new fixation ankle sock! I tweaked my pattern with a little help from Karen at the KAL! I had commented on the fact that I liked how she did her toe decreases, it made for a more rounder and better fitting toe for me I must say! This is my 3rd (well 2 1/2) pair of ankle socks and it is the best fitting one so far! I used my US 3 Brittany birch dpns for this and it may be a bit before you see it's mate. You see I've had this sitting around for a few weeks, then realized I needed the dpns for my Mystery Sock KAL sock!(as I want to knit them both at the same time, and yes I want to use dpns for these) I am knitting these with my pal Cpurl! I've already had to email her pics because I can't figure out a stitch she's already done (in fact, she's probably done the first sock by now LOL!) So it isn't cheating LOL, and she gets a sneak peak at my yarn. Plus I really need the help interpreting the stitch. See what happens when visual me can't see the picture of the sock..challenging and I'm only on the 4th row!!! Yikes!

:)

This is my final Cheap A$$ SP package! My SP was Yarnit! What a great package! So, just when I pass on some of my stash to others...um....they pass some to me! Local coffee assortments, candies, lip balm, and woooool! (well, some silk and soy too! :)
(did you see the LP bulky leftovers!!!)

Thank you Yarnit for all the goodies and cards! It's been fun!

Even better, she made ME a felted bowl. We were actually felting bowls on the same day. For other people LOL! I love it! Red! Had to photograph outside as reds just don't do well inside.

And this hangs above my sewing/craft corner...dining room..area. Hubby got it for me on his last trip to Maine! I'll show you the other one another day!

He knows me a little too well ;)

My brush with celebrity........

Knittyheads! I missed last weeks tools assignment, but didn't want to miss this one!

So off I went out of town to a medical conference yesterday. When I first found out I would have the afternoon off, I contacted Cristi immediately hoping we could get together for a few hours! Stephy joined us too! They both are pretty active on the knittyboards, and are fun there, but even more so in real life! After a yarn crawl, that I must say we behaved ourselves, especially at the 50% off store, we headed back to Cristi's place for some knitting and gabbing! I even got to meet Morris and Ripple in person too!

The center yarn is a Vesper colorway that is always sold out! She um..er..knows I like my pink and browns! I love it! I saw this shade of Lorna's in Sommerset that the internet does not do justice to! So sportweight was purchased (wanted the worsted...but had to behave ;)

Then she made me a cute stitchmarker with my favorite things, shoes, pink, and brown...And I am not done...she patiently taught me how to magic cast on for toe up socks. Some things I can do by reading, but others I need visuals! So after about 2 frogging's due to operator error (I was so tired) I think I got it! I can be quite the entertaining knitter as I mess up the count, what row I am on, um..pull out the wrong needle for magic loop.......hehe!

Oh and above is Turtlegirl's guide to measuring your foot! hehehe! Thanks to Stephy for modeling for us! ;)

These two rescued me from sitting in my hotel room knitting alone! Thanks you two I had a great time!

Do you think.....

That I somehow like these colors???

This is the Nest Egg colorway from sKNITches .

Sportweight superwash merino

And, um...doesn't this look a lot like the previous one? LOL! STR in Lucy, lightweight. Well the decision was easy for me...I like it, not as much as the Nest Egg and the blue isn't as dark as I had hoped it would be, which happens with hand dyed yarn sometimes. So, it will be on it's way over yonder to a very happy recipient who is about to get her first skein of STR. Me...oh don't worry about me...um...er...I'm getting some very nice yarn in trade ;) Everyone is happy! :)

Oh...sniff...and now for some bad news. I did a huge boo-boo...I washed Brown Gable....something furry was in the washer???? lint that flew in there??? sniff...so I popped it into the dryer to become lint free.....sniff...it ain't lint free, stretched out to fit 2 of me...sniff......sniff....I am letting it air dry the rest of the way and I sure hope that I can use a lint roller brush...sniff...all that work....sniff.............................I should have just frogged it....now I have ruined the yarn!!!!

OW!!!!

As you can see, I didn't injure myself with a needle LOL! This is how I spent my morning, in the waiting room knitting and almost finishing the pink scarf #1. Notice how the elastic colors, match a certain FO recently ;) She's a real trouper! It hurts, but she's loving the multiple milkshakes and soft foods!

Off to check on the patient! :)

A bit of sewing

Well now I can show you the latest batch of bags as they have been received by my friend and I won't tell you who, in case she gives them as SP gifts...neener, neener, neener ;)

These are Amy Butler Designs. No I didn't get the pattern there, but it is the best picture of both bags....off to sew some more...and knit...and sew...and knit...sleep...eat...hehe!

But before I go... I need to show you the cutest bag I swapped for recently. A sock monkey sock bag (well shhhh...don't tell my current dishcloth KAL it's in a sock bag ;)

Trek makes these cute bags in lots of colors and styles. AND, ahem, before you say I could have made one...I have to confess 2 things....#1. It would require me to go online and buy the fabric and we all know (well some of you know) ahem..that more fabric would have been ordered and I have to be a good girl right now; and point #2... It was so nice to have someone else sew something for me! So thanks for a great swap Trek! :)

P-I-P's

AKA Projects in Pinks! Since finishing DD's socks, I needed to knit on a bigger sized needle for a break until the next pair of socks!

So I give you, my current projects in Pinks!

a purl scarf for Think Pink Challenge
on size 15 needles
and a fixation ankle sock in progress

My Noni bag in progress (size 11 needles), which was supposed to be my Spring purse...but..oh well..you know how it is! ;)

Some sewing projects to post soon!