YPF-the Sockapalooza 4 Version

Hi there! Yes, this weekend is the start of my Sockapalooza 4 socks. As the family is going out of town next week, I should have lots of free time to work on them! (no cooking, and mild cleaning, hardly any laundry, and only the animals...peace man, peace...well I do have to work which is why I can't go!)

My pal has feet a few sizes bigger than me and I pray that I'll be knitting them with at least a size 1 needle. I'm gonna swatch...can you believe it, I'm gonna swatch a sock!! Cripes!



Wollmeise Sockenwolle
Versuchskaninchen Colorway
German for Guinea Pig

Going to be knitting Math Whiz Socks ***ok, pattern ?? when the pattern states the sizes (s-xl) and then tells you fits feet measuring 9-10.5" and your pal's measurements are 10.5 from heel to toe, am I correct that I need the XL?*** please help before I cast on! Thanks!!






Awesome colors and from what I hear, a ton of yarn in there! Phew..I'll need it!

You can order directly from Wollmeise in Germany, from what I hear the shipping isn't too bad however, The Loopy Ewe will be selling it in late July.

*stumbles off to finish needlecases*

WIP Wednesday-The sick version!

Ok, you guys..minds outta the gutter! ;) I woke up with a sore throat, sinuses flaring and guess who I am supposed to be seeing today (only been waiting 6 weeks) my ENT Doc. Perfect timing I guess huh. So no work for me, but I was only going in for a couple of hours anyways.

Update: Feeling better, thanks! We found out why some of my sinus meds aren't working, deviated septum makes it hard for meds to get where they need to be! So..um..may be having surgery in the next month or two..glad he'll leave my nose alone on the outside...I kinda like it ;)

Onto the Wip's!

When last we saw this sock, it was heel-less, partially anyways. I did have only 1 stripe at the heel, due to the original YO short row heel planned. I "said" I wasn't going to frog...I'd deal with it huh...well..um..not! I frogged it again and have gotten this far. (I wonder how many of you thought, heh, she's gonna frog)

See that tiny ball o'yarn? All that is left for this sock, but with all the cutting I've done so far (this sock has 3 due to striping formation *cough* perfecting) I'll have plenty with the 2nd sock if I need to make longer, but DD may just like what I have now! They are long in the foot! Yikes, good thing she'll grow into them! Hoping to have them done by the movie premier, I have started the toe of sock 2 and can't wait to have them both in mindless knitting sections.
Add about 2 more inches since first posted. Doc's office was a bit behind today! :)


Oh, lookee here, she started another sock!! How dare she when I'm not done!! Sniff!

Yes, I knew I was not going to get the above socks done for my various sock monthly KAL's and it would be the first time in a year...and being the type A person that I am, I couldn't have that! So Gryff socks are good car/appointment knitting and these I hope will be done before Friday!
Esprit from Elann, and Cristi's Fixation Ankle Sock pattern. More deets at the FO time!

Well back to bed for a few hours....later!

Birthday Meme

July 7th! Hey, I never tried this before! Thanks Sherrill! Hey and besides, this year it's a landmark day in many ways! Lots of people will be getting married and I like history too!

The rules are to go to Wikipedia and type in your birthday month and day only. Then post 3 events, 2 births and one holiday that occurred on your birthday, then tag 5 friends.

3 events:
1915 - World War I: End of First Battle of the Isonzo

1983 - Cold War: Samantha Smith, a U.S. schoolgirl, flies to the Soviet Union at the invitation of Secretary General Yuri Andropov. This one is special to me as she lived in a town near me in Maine. Sadly she passed away just as her life was taking off.

1947 - Downed UFO believed to be found in the Roswell UFO incident.
EEEEK!!!!

2 births:

1940 - Ringo Starr, English drummer and singer (The Beatles) Yay Beatles!!!!

1963 - Vonda Shepard, American singer** Heh! Vonda and Zonda born on the same day!! how weird is that!!!!

1 Holiday:

Japan: Tanabata --very interesting!!!

I tag:
Cpurl
Carrieknits
Anna
Isela
Shannon

Ladies, feel free to pass it on...or not ;)

As to what I've been busy with lately.... Most have been sent out to their new owners...a few are still here!
FYI: Knitting Needle Cases

Yarn Pirate Friday

Yarn Pirate
Patience
100% Superwash Merino Wool
Fingering weight
480 yds





It reminds me of McIntosh Apples, which I just love!!! I also have a similar colorway, can you tell I love these colors! Both will make excellent socks!

Have a great weekend everyone!! Hoping to have an FO or two and a bit of a sewing break after the weekend!

WIP Wednesday!

Well Cristi knows that I've been holding back! I'm not showing you last weeks again for the 3rd week cause the only progress is the turned heel of Gryffindor sock 1.

So here you go! My hidden WIP's

Mini Clapotis in Noro silk Garden...I admit, I lost it, hehe, found it last nite looking for a set of size US 4 dpn's, which I found btw! Hoping to work on that sometime soon!


Mary Poppins Bag -It's wool, it's intarsia, it's hibernating till fall!







Scoop du Jour-my oldest WIP!! In August (red-face here) it'll be 2 years old. Is the pattern hard? Nope! Is the yarn bad?? Nope it's Cotton Ease....Well, WTH!! I have the back and 1 front done, all it needs is the other front, both sleeves, seaming and button bands. I like the pattern..I guess other things got in the way...hoping to remedy that soon as well!

Hey, Zonda, this isn't a WIP!!! Nope! It's a Sunday Dulaan Cupcake Recipe Hat!


Gjestal Naturgarn in a purple color, combined with a multicolor Mohair mix! It is so soft and I love it! The purple yarn is the leftovers from the Avalanche Vest I finished earlier this month. The mohair just adds so much color to the plain boring purple yarn. I bet this will be one super warm hat!

Another one in Magellenes multicolor and Lamb's Pride Bulky in blue (thanks cheapy SP!)

I started and finished these 2 this week, (yeah, I know you never saw them as WIP's, but I needed to get them finished to be mailed off tomorrow).

There may be 1 more hidden one...hmmmm if I can dig it out, maybe next week!

On a serious note, my goal is to really finish these WIP's, I do want them. I frogged the ones I was never going to finish...

Handspun Monday-the Only Edition!

Here's my only handspun to date! I have a spindle, I even have some fiber, but I don't have the time, space, or real desire to spin at this time of my life. HOWEVER, I love seeing everyone else spin, their handspun and I cannot wait to go to SAFF in October, and see all that live fiber!

So, it's ok, you can laugh!! I do!

I think they call it overspun, extraspun, humongous spun! ;)



The roving is from Heelside Farms in NC a Romney- lincon cross I think! It came with the spindle. I think they'll be at SAFF too! They were at MSW.

On another note...um..had to go back to the fabric store today.....

OOOPS! Not good when you have at least 4 more needlecases to sew in that colorway! Yay for thread at 50% off this week too! They are coming....very soon! ;)

Alive in a pile of fabric!

Yeah, I'm still alive out here and relish a few minutes here and there online!

Geesh...I shouldn't even be smiling!! Eye Doc figured out something on Friday! *cough* my eyes are a bit, well, they needed more help. So now, I have to wear glasses ALL the time. Hey, I'm not getting younger, but geesh, I was hoping to hold off on bifocals until like I was 50 or so! These glasses...meh...I wanted something a bit more rectangular, but due to the darn B's had to get something a bit bigger. Good thing there is a 30 day guarantee...I still may change them.

ETA: Interesting, I thought only older eyes got bifocals, I'm finding out different! Thanks for sharing! :)


But these! Are me! They are staying! I love these!

So, if you see some person stumbling getting around out there, walking off the curb wrong, backing up and hitting a post, heck dropping stitches left and right and not noticing....well that's probably me trying to get used to these darned things!

PS: The headaches have decreased immensely! :) Eeek, maybe it wasn't the hair???

YPF :)

Sundara Multicolored Sport Merino


Meridian Colorway
100% Superwash Merino
225 yds






The blue looks a bit darker than I can show it! It is interesting yarn, and I like it. Should be interesting to see if it'll be socks or something else...who knows!!

Sorry, no time to chat....my sewing machine is calling me!
Have a super weekend everyone! =)

WIP Wednesday

Heh! You may see some familiar things here and something new. I am doing this, not to bore you to tears, but to keep this in my face and get me moving on them.. I did complete 3 things this week and well, I'm a bit busy right now! hehe.

Nope....nada progress
Peace Fleece Everyday Cardigan --in time out, not that it's bad, just wool and too hot right now..well until I need that size 8 needle! I'm not putting it on holders. I have about 8 -12 or more inches????


Aha...a new one..well new to posting LOL..yeah, I'm going to do that too..someone out there knows I have more WIP's then I'm telling! I knit these in November, but had severely baggy ankles. They have been frogged and I did attempt one reknit, but going from the size 3 to 2's was too much difference, it looked...well..ugly, so refrogged and will work on decreasing the ankle with the 3's.

Yep...no progress
Karen's Sugar Free Socks -I attempted 2 at one time on 2 circs..but a pain...heh, they look familiar..at the same stage as last time. Well, not too much longer as I need the circs!

Ahem...there is a bit of progress!!

DD's Gryffindor sock. Can only be knit in secret! I frogged the heel 2 times...1st time, tried YO Short row heel, and you know what happened. 2nd time, tried w&t..can't see the darned things.
Update: YO short row heel isn't strong enough for DD! So I am using the pattern from Wendy Knits for the Fingering weight toe-up with gusset heel sock and it is going great! Almost to the heel flap, then bombs away. Sadly, when I cut the yarn for the original heel, I left a bar. Well unless I have to frog again (please no!) it'll be a design element! She won't care and I'm hoping my "particular" self won't either....sigh!

Nope...nada progress

Sadly....only 1 petal....5 more to go...wish me luck..I kinda lost the mojo on it! but I need it back cause I need the needles!!

Oh, my CT turned out to be normal..which is good, but man, despite the ton-o-hair removal, still with headaches, which is another reason for the slowness on all projects here. So please be patient with me! :)

FYI! RE: ordering needle cases. I plan to set up a separate temporary blog to take care of this batch when they are ready, hoping to set up an Etsy shop in the future. I'll let you know all details as they happen. In the meantime, any questions, please email me: zknitterAT gmail DOT com. To be fair to the people who are already on my e-list, I'll contact them first. Sorry if you have been trying to get in touch with me, I did post about it here and I also have my email in the upper right corner of my blog. If you ask in the comments, and there is no email (darned blogger) I can't get in touch with you. Sorry!

Busy Weekend

Well, I told you I'd have some FO's from some WIP's! Well here they are! You didn't see this one on WIP Wednesday, as by the time I posted, it was done.


Daughter's Gryffindor Hat from the Charmed Knits KAL.
Plymouth Encore Worsted in Burnt Sienna and Butternut
Size US 6 & 7 circs. Nice yarn, but I miss real wool. For her this yarn is a good choice.

No progress on her socks, in fact, had to frog the heel. I had some issues with it, and then realized just how hard she is on her heels(I want the socks to last more than 1 month!)..so I'm changing to a heel flap...maybe by next week! She still has no clue! ;)

Mason-Dixon bibs


Left: Pink Lemonade
Right: Spring Meadows
US size 6 circs.
My first ones, not the last ones, but for a while they'll be! Hey, for those who have made them...I mean, finding a needle to thread the yarn through for the button..geesh!

I had lots of errands to do this weekend, so portable knitting got done first. Did you KIP on Saturday! I did, while waiting to have my first CT Scan for my sinuses...hehe..I see people getting these all the time at work...you know, it's hard to hold still LOL! Hoping visit to ENT at the end of the month will figure headaches/sinus stuff soon!

Oh, I got about 2 lbs. of hair cut off too! Well, maybe not that much, but it felt like it!! With such thick hair as mine, wearing it in hair clamps and pony tails, didn't help the headache factor, so off with some hair!

Yes, the needle case factory is in full swing. I have over 20 cut out and in various degrees of finishing. Have I mentioned before I hate to change thread colors back and forth, etc. So I do sew by color group..weird huh, but what can you do! I can be particular about my sewing too, and it's going well, not as fast as I'd like it, but I do want them to look good you know!

zee sewing corner


Cases in progress AKA WIP's!
Sneak peek for ya!
Hoping to have these all done by the end of the week, as I have even more fabric and orders to do. I like making them, more than I did the other cases! Thanks for letting me babble on about it!!! I promise I won't always be babbling about them!!

Yarn Pr0n Friday-The Copycat Edition

Today's YPF installment was due to a case of intense liking of Julie's Big Ball Chunky Sweater she had knit this winter!

So I emailed Amy at Spunky Eclectic and chose a colorway I wanted, and the rest is history! If you click on her link, you'll see the sweater I'll be knitting. Closer to the fall of course!


Big Ball Chunky Sweater Yarn from Spunky Eclectic
Custom dyed Dogwood Colorway
370 yds Peruvian Wool
3-3.5 sts per inch

I love the browns, etc. in here! But there is something hidden...something you can't see the way the skein is presented....

See, there is more color in there!! Just hidden until you wind it. I love the different ones and can't wait to knit it...although I have to!

SnC for size comparison!
PSA! Do not, I repeat, do not use your normal everyday ballwinder for this...(Amy warned me!) See how big that thing is!!! I did use my swift as it is a table top one, and just walked around, winding it into the ball you see. Unless you know someone that has a super-duty ball winder like Pam does (wonder if it would work on it)! Heh..maybe I need to visit her soon and just happen to bring the extra skein! ;)

Gotta go, the iron is calling my name and Heh! I finished a WIP yesterday...not telling you what until Sunday...yep, yer gonna have to wait to see just what WIP's I do finish! I need to behave and chained to the sewing machine this weekend! But I do take breaks and will need to knit too!

Have a nice weekend everyone...supposed to be too hot to go out here or stormy...

WIP Wednesday

Well, these are the only ones you are going to see LOL! Truthfully, I only have about 4 others...really...not bad for me! Heh! I even had to scrap a picture as I have only 1 row of a hat for DD finished!
Mason-Dixon Baby Bibs My first ones, for baby that's getting Pink Petal Blanket. Mom's on maternity leave, so I'll mail or give to her when she returns. I also attempted 2 at one time on 1 circ. Pain in the butt..so I separated them...they threw a fit for a minute, but all is well...except for bib on the Right is a bit jealous of Bib on the Left...stating color favoritism or something like that! Great mindless knitting in the car/docs, etc.!



Peace Fleece Everyday Cardigan --in time out, not that it's bad, just wool and too hot right now..well until I need that size 8 needle! I'm not putting it on holders. I have about 8 -12 or more inches????


Karen's Sugar Free Socks -I attempted 2 at one time on 2 circs..but a pain...heh, they look familiar..at the same stage as last time. Well, not too much longer as I need the circs!

DD's Gryffindor sock. Can only be knit in secret! I frogged the heel 2 times...1st time, tried YO Short row heel, and you know what happened. 2nd time, tried w&t..can't see the darned things. So now that I can do the YO SRH, in the midst of it! Need to get done by the movie/book release for her! Hat will be done later tonite!


Sadly....only 1 petal....5 more to go...wish me luck..I kinda lost the mojo on it! but I need it back cause I need the needles!!

Wish me luck that something from here is done by next week!

EEK it's June!

Where the heck did May go!! I've been on leave since the 1st and have been accomplishing things slow but sure!

2 years worth of shredding from the file cabinet! Ick job, but I had to get it done! I "found" quite a few things...mainly son's shot record...sniff! He's got his first job! A lifeguard at our gym. The same gym that DD has summer camp at. Neither one is too keen that each other will be there part of the time..oh well!


I frogged this sweater (not knit by me..bought in a store before I learned to knit!) as it was a turtleneck..well I live in NC..don't need no stinkin' turtlenecks...sigh...so here you have it. Hehe..been like that since last August! See..I've been doing some yarn rearranging too and found this.

2 rows of single crochet and voila! I can cooly wear it now!

Kind of a close up...you know how red is!

Avalanche Vest for the Dulaan Project .
Gjestal Naturgarn No. 1 in purple
Size US 11 & 13 circs/dpns
I got this yarn in a swap. Great way to try new yarns. Not as soft as LP though! It was my first time picking up armhole and buttonhole stitches! Not too bad...

Still Alive!!!


Finally, I leave you with 16 needle cases...cut out! I have a few more that need lining or interfacing on and I'll probably have 20 or so available soon! I have a bit more fabric on order too.

Tomorrow is WIP it Wednesday...off to get some progress done on something!!