Blue Monday Socks!

Phew! Just in the nick of time as usual for me! ;) My January entry for the Socktopia KAL! Also counts for SAM 2!



Widdershins (the plain version) pattern from Knitty, Toe up with heel flap.
Lorna's Laces Sportweight in Denim. I must say, 1 skein would have been enough. I have enough leftover for another pair. I almost made these knee highs..but nah, too hot down here for much knee high usage, plus I would not have finished them in time...knee highs...well 1 pair coming in the future anyway, just cause I wanna! ;)

Started around January 20th
Finished January 31
US 3's for sock body, US 2's for cuff ribbing
EZ Sewn cast off

Once I finished with the toes, I moved them on the 2 circulars and away I went. Had a few times I used the wrong needle, thus the need for dpn's to help correct. The heel flap was done in reverse, very interesting!! I got lots more practice with wraps and turns! I tried them on numerous times and had to decrease the stitches around the ankle 2 times. I didn't want a repeat of the Anastasia socks (they'll be revisited at a later date!)


See! Don't they look great on my skinny ankles!! Wished other parts were skinny like these baby's!

I like the 2 circ/2 sock method a lot! These sure went a bit faster. Howevah, when doing patterns, lace, etc...might make me a bit nervous if there is R and L patterning...but still may try! :)

Oh and a shout out to pal Trillian42 for helping me understand 2 socks on 2 circular needles better! Also to Cristi for helping me with some math issues!! Thanks ladies! :)

PS. Many have asked about the broom vac. So far so good! It'll be good for those small jobs. You sweep, then varoom all the sweepage stuff up or just turn it on and sweep, then empty! It just beats bringing out the animal ;)

Almost FO's and a bit of fun

Hi! Thank you all for your comments on my latest YPF/Calorimetry post! I really appreciate it!

I've been knitting like crazy and getting somewhere...well almost! So a quick post to let you know I'm around!


Blue Monday socks 2 at one time on 2 circs. A first for me, more on this tomorrow when I finish! Yes, I have one more day! And surprisingly a lot of yarn left...so could be almost knee highs ;)

Noni Skinny Baguette bag further along!
Pre-felted 25"
Post-felted 17" long
I was a bit worried as the hot pink/darker one is Paton's Classic Wool and the rest is Cascade 220. 2 trips through the front loader and it all felted fine! Whew! Zippers have been ordered as I cannot find them locally at the length I need! And since I couldn't decide, I ordered pink and green!

What can make a girl more happy? Handknit socks (my first pair 1 yr old already), comfy shoes, and a new toy!

Gotta go!

YPF-The Soy Kind.....

Paton's SWS in Natural Geranium! 70% Wool, 30% Soy! So soft and easy to work with and is just like working with Lamb's Pride yarns. It is easy to split as it is not plied, but I likey! :)

So, as you can see above, the SWS in knitting progress. But what could it be??? It could be a Calorimetry!

Paton's SWS in Natural Geranium

US 6 Denise Circs

Started 24 Jan 07

Finished 25 Jan 07

Frogged 2 times (do not try to knit while chatting at skate nite...you can't remember what you did, so you fix it...and do the same thing...duh!)

No Mods, except for going down 2 needle sizes as you all know I'm quite the tight knitter...I've wanted to do this for a while, but a lot of people were having problems with their fit, so I just waited, and did my million and one other projects! Thank you Cristi, because after your post, I just did it, started with 7's and it was going fine, gauge was off about 1/2 stitch or so, but since..ahem I had to frog, I went down to 6's and glad I did! The striping was the best on the first go around, but heck I didn't want to stress out over matching, at least on this one as I didn't know how much yarn it would use using 6's. Now I know...

It fits well! Not loose at all, very soft and comfy!

Interesting top of the head shot...not bad for taking these myself huh? ;) My lovely assistant was fast asleep! I hear it'll be really cold today and this is knit just in time! Go ahead, make one...you know you want to!! :)

P.S. If anyone knows how I can #1 get the pictures to stay centered in the middle of my posts if I choose to or how the heck you can put the picture on the left side and write along side of it #2 why my lettering looks bold in some areas and not in others..please let me know. Thanks!!

ETA: when I see this page in html, all the codes are there as in center align and etc. Just not sure why it won't show up centered??

Two toes and FO's!

Hi! Should I have named it FO's and 2 toes....or...well nevermind, I can't be too witty this early! LOL! Below is a pair of toes that will become my 2nd ever plain stockinette socks. The first being my first pair about 1 year ago. Little did I know then that I'd learn a few ways to knit them, let alone *cough* love collecting yarn to produce them!

Lorna's Laces Denim in Sportweight, but let me tell you, it feels smaller than sportweight I've used in the past. No matter, I'm actually getting gauge and I love the Magic Cast on! Luckily, I happened to have 4 circs of the same size so I can do them both at once. I have 1 40" circ of this size and wanted to tackle 2 at once on 2 circs, but I think a 40" and a 24" wouldn't be enough. Am I right? Or could I have done 1 side with the 40" circ and the other sides with 2 24's..hehe then it would be 2 socks on 3 circs...hmmm. But, let me tell you, the circs on the left toe, Inox express, I love them! So light and the points are perfect for picking up any size yarn! Anyhow, they are for my Socktopia Challenge for Blue Monday...more on that when they are done...before the 31st...

One more shot of the Red Scarf in the wild!

MIL's Cascade Fixation ankle socks.

Less then 1 ball! Size 3 dpns for ribbing, size 4 circs for the rest. I knit so tight, that doing the ankle and foot part was just not stretchy enough. MIL's feet need to breath, so being a bit holey is ok. Same with mine.

Oh, didn't you see these in the WIP pile..you didn't...well...um..this is only 1 out of 2 pairs I didn't show. Finished sock 1 on Christmas, sock 2 on Saturday. Pattern courtesy of Cristi! It's pretty much like the way I've been making them, just a different heel and toe. I didn't do the S1, K1 heel as Mom has no feeling in her feet and I thought the ribbed part of it would aggravate it so I went plain. You know me, I can never have more than one way to do some things. ;)

Oh...what's this you say....Could it be a Noni??????

Yeehaw!!! I listened to a few comments and decided just do it!! So I did it! The directions on the tube ends are kind of confusing, but I made it. Oh, but those ends you see in the pile above...geesh! I had even learned to knit some of them in while doing the body. Thanks Aija for that! I'll be felting it soon and will let you know more on the size stats, etc.

Green Friday Pr0n

Hi! Well I figure some of you that stop by, are thinking or hoping of something Green about right now! ;)

So here's some green eye candy just for you!


Peace Fleece Worsted in Hemlock! These are the true colors, dark yummy green!

Give the yarn a bit of light, and you can see the yellow and blue hues (bits?) in it! You don't notice it as much unless you are around brighter lighting! Makes it look tweedy to me and I love it! :)


I'm using it to make this cardi! Swatching will commence soon!! I want to make a sweater that fits...soon! This will be my first knitting with PF, I do remember reading a lot about the blooming, so I need to make sure that the swatch gets a good bath! I don't mind it roomy, but I don't want a potato sack either!! (remember Brown Gable!! grrr!)

Have a great weekend everyone!

Wonder knitter vs. DPN

Ok, so you may remember the too short I-cord I made on the bag below. That cord was knit using the wonder knitter. That came out to 60" of I-cord, about my height. Thought it would be enough, but it wasn't.

So this time, I used 2 dpn's as the wonder knitter, fun, cute, object that it is, hurt my wrist. All the picking up and over action killed them...so I knit it, and it really wasn't so bad. ;)

90 inches of I-cord pre-felted


68 inches of I-cord post-felted

I am quite sure this length will be perfect. I do know that the wonder knitter's gauge was looser than the dpn gauge. hmmmmm At least I know what length to make it next time!

Do You Have One of These?

Last year I had fun doing the ABC Along! I did the Knitty version, not the whole blogosphere version. But it was a great way to learn a lot more about people, make new friends, plus gave me something interesting to post!

So onto this year, and I've found another blog along called Do You Have One of These. Stacie is hosting it, and she gives us assignments to post. Sounds like fun! I also see a few familiar faces ;)





So here's my first assignment! It's not the first stop sign when I leave my house, it is the second one. It is a memorable one! Memorable because I've lived in my house for 17 years. That particular main street into the subdivision was the right of way. The cross streets have all the stop signs. Well they built a school a few blocks away about 8 yrs ago, then all of a sudden, put the stop sign up on the main thoroughfare! No notice, no "stop sign ahead warnings...nothing!!!) I think I drove through it the first time...I mean, for 9 yrs it was just drive on through.

When I did notice it, I freaked and stopped in the middle of the street. Whew, no one was around so I didn't hit anyone...but geesh!!!

On the knitting front, I-cord is done and about to hit the washer!! Pic's and deets on that later this evening or tomorrow! Onward onto other projects!

Whew! for a WIP weekend!

Unfortunately...they weren't all knitting projects, as much as I would have liked them to be! :) But I did get a lot accomplished!

These are still my knitting WIP's...I do have a bunch of wanna be's, but they aren't on the needles yet so they don't count! I've been good, I haven't touched any new projects until I got the scarf and bag done. Now once I get the i-cord done, I'll be home free...well, I'll be knocking out some of these below!

The lower left project (ecru yarn) sitting on the light blue scoop has been frogged, as has the Kyoto sweater in cream/white yarns in the middle by Yorick. (you can click on picture for notes!)


Red Scarf 2007 done in Cascade 128 Tweed from Little Knits!

I love this yarn, very soft and I'm so glad I have some black in the stash! Bamboo Stitch Scarf from Knit Simple Winter 2006

Size 11 straights! Yep, I used straights ;)

Finally, after well..we won't say how long..

Winter Thimbleberries Quilt Club 2003

I finally sewed the binding and hanging sleeve today!! I'm also glad it's a Winter quilt, not Christmas, so I can hang it until March or so!

I also got a lot of organizing, cleaning, hanging of new curtains (after re-heming) in the Kitchen. (which I've only had since...well when my new floor was done, they so needed to be changed!) tons of laundry...darn, wished we had disposible clothes...hmmm!

First 2007 FO!

Ok you guys! You've all been as patient as the recipient of this bag!

I present the It felt Random Bag courtesy of Cristi!

Pre-felted

I really like how the pooling happened on the top area.

Post-Felting

So you can see it shrunk quite a bit! It went through 2 cycles of my front loader.

Patons Classic Merino in Regency

3 skeins and a walnut leftover!

Size 10.5 KP options and Clover bamboo. I knit wool sometimes faster on bamboo as I did on this. I like my KP Options, I have some cords and some tips (most frequently used ones) but in this knit, the yarn and stitches moved much better with the bamboo.

I modified the size of the bag making it bigga! ;) and needed 128 rows to make it symmetrical. I got to row 87...and look right below to see why I only got to said row... It made the bag more of a rectangle, than a square, but still quite useful..hmmm I want one now!

On the left, close up of the grommet! I scored these today at wallyworld! The last set. I wanted grommets, but was hoping to find one other than silver for this bag. These were my first grommets and I'm scouring the house to find something else to grommet...who knew it would be so cool to do this. I've seen them on the home improvement shows being put on various things, but never tried until now...I did well, fingers and hands are fine...however, on the first one, I um..realized it wasn't "set" enough so I wacked it a couple more times!! Then I couldn't get the grommet tools apart..they stuck there on the bag...I thought geesh, I have only 7 more to go..how am I going to do this if the tool is stuck. After a bit of wiggling between the tools and grommet..I won and finished all 8!

Oh, and remember I said it was the neverending bag.....

Does something look a bit out of place to you? hmmm.. BTW, isn't the pooling action at the top cool or what! Give up yet.....??? Well, um..something is a bit too small, and thus said thing being too small/short...well the bag kind of crinkles up when you carry it around. So..guess what I'll be doing this week? Yep, i-cording along. I made it 5 feet long pre-felted...don't know the

post-felted size, but as you can see, it doesn't work! So I did what any other knitter would do in my predicament....grabbed a 40% off coupon, grabbed another skein, then made sure I had the matching colors of said new skein in the stash for a felted bowl or something...as I'm sure I'll have quite a bit leftover this time! ;)

The recipient loves it, and had to hold on tight at our knitting group tonite as a few onlookers were coveting it! One so much so, that she got her skeins of yarn and needles tonite. Once she has mastered the garter stitch for the base, she wants to go forward and make her own!

But, before I start the i-cord, there will be sock and vest cast on and knitting...I love the colorway..but need a breather for a day or two!

Thanks for stopping by!

YPF!

Ok, I'm a bit behind today, so I had to edit this post I already had ready....but don't have the FO totally ready! So I give you a preview of the IFR Bigga Bag yarn!

You know how red/pink tries very hard not to be photogenic!

Upper left, lengthwise view, Upper right, a closeup of the pooling effect I got on the top of the bag. I had just changed to the last skein and used the outside as I was using the inside for the i-cord. I like it though! And I wasn't going to frog either.

I wanted this to be one of those valley shots!

This is Patons Classic Merino in the Regency Colorway!

Pre/post felted pics later this evening or tomorrow!

Just in case that didn't show up well! I give you Lisa Souza Merino sock in the Lime & Violet Colorway!

Sorry it's late...was impatiently waiting for the bag to dry! Now you'll have to come back tomorrow! (heh, it's the first time I'm late...so just minor detention this time ;)

The neverending bag....

Is about finished!!! I'm almost done with the last skein and will post pic's later today!

FYI: Bradyphrenia :) It's Patons Classic Merino in their new stripes/variegated colorways. This color is called Regency! They have some nice new ones and all coordinate with their solid colorways. It's our only local 100% wool and good thing I love to knit with it!

until later.......

This is the.......

Purse that never ends (sung to the tune of "This is the Song that Never Ends" from one of my kids tv shows...cannot for the life of me remember where (and since my kids are teenagers now, still have no clue from where!)...but I remember some of the words...)

ETA: Bezzie thanks, its Lambchop!!! I loved that show! I don't think my kids ever watched it either..so ignore what I said above! (we won't talk about how long ago it was that I used to watch it either!!! ;)


I feel like I've been knitting this forevah! It's the It Felt Random Bag from Cristi, that I'm dubbing the It Felt Random Bigga Bag! heh! I added a few more rows to the bottom and Cristi being the math whiz...well she informed suggested for me to knit 128 rows so it will be symmetrical. Wellllll....you see that skein to the right..that's the last one and one end is being used to knit the purse and the other end......



Is seeing I-cord action! Now don't get me wrong, I love some I-cording. Heck, I've even done 9-stitch I-cord. But the prospects of knitting 5 feet of it on 2 needles...well right now...um...not!...


So I did what any other sane knitter would do.....grab a 40% off coupon to your local craft store that hubby actually remembered to get a gift card there too (yay for the correct store this year!) and got myself a Wonder Knitter! This is awesome, half of what you see I made on Friday nite at our knit nite. This sure brings back memories of the spools with the nails my grandmother or mother or someone used to make! The best part is that the little side doohickey thingy holds the yarn...so all you do is move the disc to the left, yarn is ready for you to pick and flip over!
(who knew a little gadget like this could make my day!) :)

Oh yeah, so back to the lone skein of yarn. I'm on row 60, waaaaaaaaaaa!! only 68 more to go, and I doubt there is enough. Hoping our local craft store that we knit at still has some in stock. I agreed to make this bag for a fellow Knitwhit and she's been pretty patient....but I still want to be done...socks and sweaters are calling my name...cables, short row toes and heels....ahhh!



This swap package from Knitpastis arrived this weekend! She was one of the winners in my Blogiversary Contest and since I was already sending her prize, we worked out a secret swap..hehe...starts with P and 2 words later ends in E... ;)

Well as you can see, I got some of her hand-dipped pretzels (bag on the upper left...) which are no more! A really nice Angel pin (made in Maine, woot!) and some Lush samples...which BTW, I gotta get that Dream Cream! Wow, talk about softening the skin in one application with absolutely no oily feeling later! We are now talking 12 hrs later and no oily forehead!
She also knit me this beanie! Which I love! Geesh, it took like a zillion pics to get one I kinda like!

Anyhoo!! I got the best news from Hubby today......he's 1 year out, and still cancer-free!! Woot!

It's Friday!!!

Oh my gosh, I am so super happy for this day let me tell you!!! 3 day work weeks, although short...not really...as we cram 5 days worth of patients into 3!! Whew!...well...onward to the pr0n!

As you may remember, I was going to try to show pics of yarn pr0n in progress or just pr0n, whatever is on hand.



Blue Sky Alpacas 100% Sportweight. This stuff is soooo soft! I can't show you much more of the WIP, but soon, you'll see! Red..hmm sorry, we all know it's hard to do! I could enjoy a blanket made of this..hehe...but you won't see me knitting it though, whew!

Happy Friday Everyone!

Just Froggit..or not?

Yeppers...after reading Scout's post the other day...I wondered if I could do it...I mean could I really do it and not feel sick to my stomach. They weren't bothering me...but they also weren't being knit! So I give you the ... BEFORE:


Upper left: Aloo scrubby; 1/2 Yorick in cream; felted striped bag from one-skein in brown..oh you so could tell it was that couldn't you?
Lower left: duck blue?? Cutaway sweater; and to the right Kyoto sweater...So I held my breath and....
AFTER:

I did it! I froggit'd it! Ah-hah! I've been looking for my other 10 1/2 24" circ... let alone a few of the other needles. The brown, I'll use with the pink noni bag leftovers for something (maybe Center Square Hat from knitty) The blues are KP shine...just put away for something (although I may make Cutaway soon...I mean this summer, but no sense in 2 rows sitting on a needed needle huh?)

As for the Aloo yarn..it smells, but I bet once knitted would make a fine exfoliator...I have 1 skein and partially frogged one if anyone's interested. Oh...something is missing you say...Yes, 1/2 Yorick was given a pardon. DD saw him and really wants me to finish..so I will..

She also saved me a big headache. She's more into reds/blacks so glad I didn't get more into Kyoto. I just happen to have some Sinforia in red...now to find the same in black and to work on it this year sometime and finish it before she grows again! 12 going on 16!! Yikes!

I do feel better! It may not have been a lot and I still have a few saved WIP's that will be finished this year! I invested a lot of time in them, albeit not recently, but I really want to finish them!

Noni- knit end circles, felt, make a lining and other finishing
Mini Clapotis-finish it!
Pink lace scarf-do it!
Scoop- 1 front and sleeves...I can do it!
Weekend getaway satchel-intarsia (eek!), bottom, sides and strap; felt and finish

That's it! I thought it was worse!

The feet are a....

Fuzzin'! Happy New Year everyone!

My first felted post of the year. These were knit in 2006, but felted yesterday. They are fast, man I got 2 pairs done in a little over a week, which for me is good! Gotta check up on SIL to see what she did with hers!

Patons SWS in Natural Blue only found 2 knots in one ball! I know not to wash more than once though!! My arms are still killing me from stretching them to fit DD! She likes them! I guess mine will work only 1 time through the wash. Beware! SWS felts quickly! ...where are mine you ask..still in the skein LOL!

Well, I'm off...purse and red scarf calling my name...along with laundry, ironing, dishes....and so on...and so on....