Purly Queue

Yarn love

2008-05-15T08:58:00.005-05:00

Pretty picture....to completely distract you from the fact that it has been 19 days and I'm still about 20 rows from finishing my Rusted Root. One would think you could find time to knit 20 stinking rows in no time. Not with a cranky baby, new meds making you feel icky, and did I mention the cranky baby? Cranky is the kind word. Its more like throwing himself in the floor and screaming bloody murder that he is actually doing.

Berroco Love It - for a summer sweater
Noro Sock Yarn
Schaeffer Yarns Heather sock yarn

Ahhhhhhh yarn. Its almost better than chocolate.

Hopefully this weekend I will finish Rusted Root. It sure is pretty. And hopefully I don't run out of yarn. We won't think about that.

Summertime Tunic

2008-04-28T18:10:00.003-05:00

Summertime Tunic, Interweave Knits (Its a PDF)

Size: 33.5
Needles: Size 6 for body, size 4 for ribbing
Yarn: Valley Yarns Southwick, 7 skeins (probably a little less)
Color: Margari
Cast on: 4/11/08; Cast off: 4/25/08 - For a total of two weeks start to finish!

I love this pattern! And I looooove this sweater! The stockinette can get tiresome if you get bored easily, but I just watched some good TV/movies and knit while distracted. It flew off the needles. I hate the 1 x 1 ribbing on small needles, but after I got past that I was good to go. There was no seaming (bonus!) and whipstitching the casing down was a breeze. Love it, adore it, will wear it always. I'm glad I did the 33.5 even though that is crazily below what I would typically wear, so take heed if you are considering this pattern, it does run quite big. Its still a little big on me, which I don't mind.

So what am I doing now that this little beauty is done? Rusted Root. Oh yeah baby, Zephyr Style ROCKS! Think I can do it in two weeks?

What? Stop laughing! ;)

Finished!

2008-04-21T19:04:00.003-05:00

Caitlin is finished, minus blocking and seaming under the arms.

Its too hot now for me to worry about doing it this instant. But I will.

Why no head? Well. Because I needed a shower. Badly. And I couldn't bear to show a pic on here that is that bad. That being said, I put it on Ravelry. My logic is flawed I know.

Meanwhile.....

I started the Summertime Tunic!

I'm so much farther than this now, matter of fact I am about 15 rows from splitting the front and back.

I'm sad though, cause I'm cruising through this and my knitting partner (Kristin, of Caitlin KAL), is not cruising through it quite as quickly. I kinda feel bad for whipping through it.

But, then there is Nikki (Knitting Student, FPS!!!!) who is through the ribbing! She started on THURSDAY. THURSDAY PEOPLE!!!! So, I can't slow down. Or she will catch me and beat me! The student cannot beat the teacher.

See, this competition thing works out well for me ;)

Oh yeah....my mom said the sweater is "baby poop green." Can you slap your mom?

100 Things

2008-04-07T11:58:00.002-05:00

100 Things

Everyone seems to have this on their blog so I figured I’d put it up. Its kinda neat, makes you really think of random stuff you don’t usually think about yourself. Wonder if I can get to 100?

1. I’m a Christian.

2. I laid in bed last night thinking of what I’d put on this list. Now my mind is blank.

3. I love roller coasters.

4. I type 110 words per minute.

5. My favorite color is purple and always has been. I am also fond of green.

6. I have given birth to four children. Three girls and one boy.

7. I am the baby of the family. I have three brothers and a sister.

8. I am pretty spoiled. But I don’t think I’m a brat.

9. I still remember my first real boyfriend’s phone number. I’d never try to call him though.

10. This is obvious, but I love to knit.

11. I used to love to swim when I was little. I was even on the swim team. Now, you couldn’t pay me to get in a pool.

12. I am horrible with money. If I have it, typically I spend it.

13. I think my husband is the best looking guy I have ever dated, even if his Facebook picture is embarrassing.

14. I check Ravelry way too often.

15. I have a dog named Bella.

16. Yarn is Kellie like crack is to crack addicts.

17. I probably have more yarn that I could ever knit. That doesn’t stop me from buying more.

18. Unless its sock yarn, I won’t buy yarn unless I know exactly what I am going to use it for.

19. I hated high school. Now I’d do anything to go back and do it again.

20. My dad died when I was ten. And I miss him. A lot.

21. There are songs that make me cry every time I hear them. Even if I only hear a little bit.

22. I love to sing.

23. I used to be a worship leader.

24. My best friend for a few years was my ex-pastor and his wife. I really miss them.

25. I wish my old church hadn’t changed.

26. I don’t read the bible as much as I used to. And I intend to change that.

27. I try to be a good friend, but probably fail miserably. But my friends are so cool, they would never tell me if I did.

28. I worked as a teacher in the daycare at my old church. I wasn’t very good at it.

29. I’m still breastfeeding Wyatt, and have no intention of stopping any time soon.

30. I used to co-sleep and wish I still did.

31. I love to cook, but rarely do because I’ve gotten so lazy.

32. I’m Irish and I hope people can tell.

33. I want to be a Forensic Psychologist.

34. Patricia Cornwell is my favorite writer.

35. I want to learn sign language really badly.

36. I’m apparently OCD because I will want to arrange this list so that no subject occurs twice in a row. But I am too lazy to do it. So it will just bother me forever that I didn't.

37. I love to organize, but my house is a disaster organizationally.

38. I am a horrible housekeeper, but I have gotten better in the past few months.

39. I think that guys who stutter are hot. It that politically incorrect to admit?

40. I hate politics but I am obsessed with the elections this year.

41. “An Inconvenient Truth” scared the hell out of me.

42. I will buy something just because they donate to breast cancer research.

43. I worry about what the world will be like when my kids are older.

44. I think dogs are annoying most times.

45. We own chickens and I love them.

46. I have three tattoos. I’m thinking of covering one of them because I don’t like it so much. It was a whim.

47. It makes me sad that Chris can’t wear his wedding ring at work. And I know it shouldn’t bother me.

48. I have way more guilt about things that I should have about past things in my life.

49. I say I am sorry to everything and it drives my family nuts.

50. Chris thinks I am way more talented than I am, but I would never let him know he is wrong.

51. I love The Princess Bride.

52. I wish I knew how to be a better mom. I’d like to get it perfect, even though it is unreasonable to want to.

53. I want to learn how to ballroom dance.

54. I love Prince.

55. I have been on a cruise and would love to go on another one.

56. I got married in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

57. I’m way too much of a pleaser.

58. I love the Food Network, even though I don’t make a whole bunch of things I see.

59. I make a mean meatloaf.

60. I’m not a fan of smoking.

61. I hate to do dishes.

62. I love to vacuum.

63. I am scared to death of the dentist. I have no reason, I just am.

64. Even though I get burnt out on it, I really do like my job.

65. I had a crush on my middle school science teacher. He still teaches there.

66. I lived in Pennsylvania from 10-16 years old. I want to go back.

67. I love the snow.

68. I am not a big fan of the beach.

69. I hate thunderstorms. They scare me really bad.

70. I love cows.

71. The only peas I will eat are Leseur peas.

72. I mix my peas in my mashed potatoes, and that is the only way I will eat them.

73. I have to have toast with my eggs or I won’t eat them.

74. I love chicken wings.

75. I’m lactose intolerant.

76. I think it is adorable that Wyatt’s hair has so much red in it.

77. I think it is crazy that I have been driving a mini van since I was 22 years old.

78. I love celebrity gossip.

79. I use to have hair down past my bottom and sometimes wish I still did.

80. I have had to dye my hair since I was in my early 20s.

81. I love Barry Manilow.

82. The thought of speaking in public makes me sick.

83. If I am at a get together with more than two people that I don’t know, I can’t stand it and have to leave.

84. I was afraid to tell my mom I was pregnant all four times.

85. I love Dr. Pepper.

86. There are very few pictures of me which I would consider "good."

87. I want a completely flat stomach, but I am in no way, shape, or form considering exercising to get it.

88. I am (or was) a pretty good roller skater. I still have my skates.

89. I used to be able to bowl. But last time I went, my ex-husband whipped me so bad I'm considering never bowling again.

90. Typically, I do not find British comedy at all humorous, in fact I find it completely annoying most times. And I realize I am in a minority with that fact.

91. I just spelled "humorous" wrong in that I spelled it as "humerus" which is a bone. Bet you can't tell I work in the medical field.

92. I can do many crafts, but don't find myself to be particularly good at any of them.

93. I have very low self esteem, and think I am probably bad at most things.

94. My hands are always cold.

95. I think Pulp Fiction was pointless and stupid.

96. Rarely do I put ice in my drinks at home. I tolerate it when I go out, but usually drink it fast because the ice melting into my drink really irritates me.

97. I only drank water when I was pregnant.

98. I think orange juice with pulp in it is disgusting.

99. I hate beer, but love wine.

100. I miss my friend Brian from high school. We were always together back then, but I'm afraid to get in touch with him because what if he doesn't like me now that we are older?

Short row heel, check

2008-04-06T15:16:00.001-05:00

I managed to make it through my blind knitting session without a single problem. (knock on wood)

And I think it is safe to say that I very well may like it a lot more than I like a heel flap. I enjoyed doing it, I figured out the wrap and turns pretty easily, and it looks wonderful!!

See?

I'm still trying out this new camera. It is definitely not as good as my other one. Or actually, I definitely haven't sat down and tried to figure it out so my pics will be the best they can be LOL Laziness.

Here is the entire sock, as it stands just finishing up the heel.

I love this yarn! I wasn't exactly jumping up and down about a yarn that stripes, but it has grown on me and I am 100% in love.

More knitting for me!! Maybe I can finish this pair up shortly, in between working on my Monkeys that I am plugging along on as well. So many WIPs, so little time.

Update on Caitlin progress next time! WOOHOOO!

Just keep knitting!

2008-04-04T13:17:00.001-05:00

Geez. Sometimes I make this knitting thing really freaking difficult on myself.

My Rockin' Sock Club first installment socks have been on my needles for some time now. I stopped knitting cause of my elbow so they just sat. I decided to pick them up to see how I could manage with knitting them. I got all the way to the heel, which is a short row heel, read the instructions, and immediately commenced to freaking out.

I ran to Rav, searched for pattern errata because certainly it had to be wrong. All signs pointed to "just blind knit the pattern, it isn't wrong." DO WHAT??????? I can't blind knit! I have to KNOW what I'm doing!!!! How can I knit something that doesn't make sense? Why does it tell me to knit over 39 stitches but on the first row I only knit 35 of them then do a W&T?? What in the world?????? And oh hey, what the heck is a wrap and turn anyway?

Crap. Time to figure out how the heck to do a wrap and turn. I couldn't find it on knittinghelp.com. Ok, maybe I didn't look hard enough, but it wasn't out there with a big bold sign saying KELLIE LOOK RIGHT HERE!! THIS IS WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR OH IMPATIENT ONE!!!! But alas, despite myself, I found it somewhere. No clue where. Didn't believe it was just put the yarn to the front (or back if purling), slip the next stitch, put the yarn back in the back and turn. That can't be a wrap and turn. That wasn't a wrap. That was a strangling of a stitch. It should be called strangle and turn if that is what you are supposed to do. Ok so it appears as if this is really a wrap and turn so I can handle that.

But really, this pattern has to have an error. I can't be working a heel over 39 stitches but only knit 35 of them in the first row. It makes no sense. I went to the Rockin' Sock Club Blog. And I read their questions on heel help.

Suddenly, in the midst of scouring for information, as if slammed in the head with a 2 x 4, I thought to myself. DING DING DING...I think I get it. I'll just blind knit and see what happens! (Yeah, ok. So I'm slow.)

Then I did something, which impressed even myself. I put in a lifeline. Couldn't believe it, but I did. I am not a fan of ripping back, especially in the round, so I put in a lifeline *just in case* everyone was wrong and the blind knitting didn't work out.

But oh hey. It turns out that the pattern wasn't wrong. You just gotta blind knit and it will all make sense.

Yep. I'm rolling my eyes too. Its knitting people, not rocket science. I just try to make it seem that way.

Caitlin - the sleeve

2008-04-01T13:33:00.003-05:00

The thing that drew me to Caitlin was the colorwork on the arms. Its so beautiful!!! I was so excited to begin it. I did have a couple of false starts at first. I don't know why it was so hard for me to grasp the concept of how to do the colorwork in the round. I had to rip it out three times. All because I was double-knitting. Now I have never had the desire to learn how to double-knit, so it is pretty funny that I learned totally by accident. I can say two things about double-knitting. A) Its not as hard as it might appear when you are watching someone do it (a la Knitty Gritty) and B) I still don't want to ever do it. I was merrily knitting along thinking to myself, its really weird that this isn't ribbing like it should, I'm only seeing one color on the front and the other color on the other side, and man did I make a mistake in picking this pattern because these arms are going to be SO hot because this fabric is turning out really bulky. It was after I ripped out (for the third time, did I mention that?) that I realized I was doing it completely wrong and finally got the hang of it. After I got into it, goodness gracious did I love it all over again. Here is what it looked like when I finally got a little bit into the pattern.

I started out doing this magic loop method. I just wasn't willing to pull out the DPN's, and I wanted to try out magic loop to see how I liked it. I really enjoyed it at first. It was easier than DPNs I think, and similar to doing it on two circs. It just still seemed to be taking me longer than I had hoped.

I finally made it through the colorwork, with some minor problems with reading the colored chart. Some of the colors are just so similar, unless you knit in a brightly lit spot, it is easy to screw up the chart. I'm kinda sad, because I missed some of the pretty red down in the middle of the pattern, but I didn't get sad enough to rip it out and fix it. So I just noted on the chart what colors I had actually used so I could duplicate my error on the second sleeve. I will maybe toss in a bit of extra red in the yolk maybe, but I'm not completely sold on that idea either. But here is what it looked like almost to the end of the 50 some rows of colorwork.

Not too shabby I don't think. Goodness the ends I have to weave in. We won't speak of that again.

I really like the way it turned out. The colors are very me, with the purples and greens.

Of course, then the great fall of 2008 happened and my knitting came to a screeching halt.

My friend Kristin did her sleeves in the round on 12" circulars, which is a FANTASTIC idea. I swear, that woman is like a knitting goddess or something. When I tried to pick this back up to knit again (because I realized that I was becoming quite cranky and that the Ravatar that my friend Deb had that said "I knit so I don't kill people" is actually quite close to the truth for me), I found that the magic loop was killing my elbow. And DPN's were just not an option. Those really would have hurt me. I had to find a way to keep my right arm still and do all the motion with my left hand. I ordered myself four pairs of 12" circs. Yes, I only needed ONE pair for this sweater. But you know, a girl can never have too many small circumference circs I am finding. Kristin told me this, but I failed to listen immediately. I now know that what she says is probably true. So I ordered some in size 0 11", size 1 11", size 6 12", and size 7 12". I got them in yesterday and put the sleeve on them today. Again, I owe Kristin dinner. This sleeve is literally flying off the needles. I am probably 3/4 of the way done with it at this point, and in fact I can hold my right arm completely still and make my left arm do all of the work. We won't talk about the knot that I now have in my left shoulder. Its a small price to pay for sanity.

Caitlin

2008-03-31T12:58:00.004-05:00

Not a whole lotta knitting going on around here. But, I have a lot of knitting that happened while Chris was gone and no blogging got done. So I figured, hey lets play catch up. So I present, Caitlin!

I had Caitlin in my queue for a bit, when someone on Ravelry PM'd me that she had seen her on my queue and fell in love with her as well. Somehow it came about that we would do a knit along together on this project. I was so excited!! I had already ordered my yarn so Kristin ordered hers as well and we set a date of somewhere around the middle of March for a finish date.

I am doing her in the colors suggested, because I suck at matching colors to be quite honest. The only change I had to make, and Kristin had to make as well (basically because we were impatient and didn't want to wait another month to start), was instead of using Sea Spray as the main color, we substituted a slightly darker shade of blue. Turns out, neither of us are terribly fond of the darkness of the substituted blue. Its not ugly mind you, its just not as crisp as we would like. Although, I think that we would be complaining had we been able to get Sea Spray as it is a very light blue and would have shown all kinds of dirt it might have picked up. I still say we went the right route, albeit a bit darker than we had hoped.

The pattern is written to be knitted front and back separately, but Kristin and I both aren't too fond of seaming (case in point, my CPH is still being neglected, probably mad at me, with two sleeves being knitted at once, because I shutter to think of what it is going to be like when I am done with said sleeves and have to actually seam the sucker together. But, I digress). We decided (read: Kristin convinced me and has been dragging me kicking and screaming along the way) to knit it in the round instead. Smart move. That Kristin is a smart girl, and had to put up with a lot of "OH MY GOSH what the heck do I do here" text messages to get me through this. Quite honestly, I'm shocked the poor girl even answers my text messages anymore. "OMG Kristin, how many do I cast on??" or "OMG Kristin, which kind of increases are you doing?" or "OMG now what kind of decreases do I do?" Looking back, I think I owe her dinner. Or yarn. Something must be done to repay her patience. Its not that it is hard, I just had massive freak out attacks because I wasn't following the pattern exactly!

So, after a small bit of 1 x 1 ribbing (ICK!), some fun with pretend fair isle, and miles and miles of blue stockinette, I had the body of Caitlin. And just for the record, I didn't freak out when it was time to divide the front and back again for the arm hole decreases. I think I actually managed to figure that one out on my own. See?

GO ME!!

Arm hurting. Will post about the sleeve tomorrow. And note....yes, I said sleeve. Check the date. Its less than 12 hours away from April. My deadline obviously wasn't met. But, I will say that Kristin was able to pull it off. AND HERS IS BEAUTIFUL!!! Maybe she'll let me show you pics. ;)

Wanna do it in public with me?

2008-03-21T14:47:00.002-05:00

June 14th, is World Wide Knit In Public Day!!!!!!

I checked the site but there is no one hosting an official KIP day around here, heck in Virginia even, but I am sure that is bound to change.

Any of my local ladies wanna hook up and do it in public? ;)

My elbow should be better by then......

What knitting?

2008-03-18T10:43:00.002-05:00

It has been forever since I posted.

Chris came home on 2/16. We promptly went to the ER with him. Walking pneumonia and double ear infections.
Back to the doctor the next week, still messed up ears. Additionally, a sick Madison. Out of school for a week.
That weekend, a sick Wyatt. Stomach virus.
Chris is working 6 days a week.
Weekend before last, I was walking in to Target holding Little Man, little M walked in front of me and I did not see her. Down I went, holding Wyatt. Luckily he was ok. And I was shocked, still am shocked, that I fell outside of Target, right between the out door and in door, onto the concrete, holding a baby...NO ONE STOPPED to ask if I needed help. All in all I came out well, pretty bruised up knees, oh yeah and that pesky FRACTURED ELBOW.

No work.
Whats worse. No knitting.

Go back to the doc on 4/11.

Went in to town yesterday to take Little Man to the doc for his check up and one shot.

Cost of the visit to the doctor: $91 dollars. (damn deductible!!!)
Cost of two new tires when something jammed into the side wall of my back right tire: $250 dollars.
Coming home to find surprise yarn in the mailbox, a "get well soon" gift from my friend Kristin: Priceless.

We have two winners!

2008-02-02T21:21:00.000-05:00

Random number generator hooked me up! The winner of the knitted hat is: Celly B! YAY!!

And the winner of the skein of yarn from my stash is: Joy Michelle! YAY!!

Thank you to everyone who commented on my blog for the bloggy giveaway. It was a blast. Who would have thought so many people liked the idea of getting a knitted hat and/or sock yarn! I hope you ladies enjoy your prizes. I will have to be sure to do another contest soon.

Oh yeah, and anyone who commented and is interested in Forbidden Fleece, I'll give you free shipping on any order in the next two weeks, because I love that I had so many comments. Comments make me happy. :)

Don't forget to send me an email with your shipping addresses ladies! I will leave you a comment on your blogs with my email address.

And thanks again to everyone who entered!

Everyone loves free stuff, right?

2008-01-29T20:02:00.000-05:00

I decided I am going to play along with the Bloggy Giveaway Carnival! So, I present a "contest." And I promise, its nice and simple.

What could you win? Well something hand knit by me, of course!! A hat. A really cute little hat I might add. In neutral colors so as to match whatever!! The knitting is in progress (started about an hour ago) and I'm 1/3 of the way through it. So, it will be all knitted up and waiting on you to claim it!

How do you enter? In order to enter you need to visit my Etsy page at http://www.ForbiddenFleece.etsy.com and choose your very favorite colorway. Then, pop on back over here and leave me a comment on this blog, to this post, telling me what your favorite colorway is. And if you really want to be impressive, give me a suggestion of a colorway that you think I should dye up!

Oh, I should also mention, tonight I will be listing a bunch of new yarn, so you might want to check later on tonight before you decide on your favorite.

Details, details:

On Friday, February 1st at 11:59 PM EST, comments will close and a winner will be selected using a random number generator. The winner will be posted on Sunday, February 3rd.
Duplicate comments will be deleted. (Gotta be fair!)
This giveaway is open to bloggers and non bloggers alike.
The winner will be notified on Saturday, February 2nd via email.
The winner will have five days to respond with a shipping address. If I don't hear from the winner, another winner will be chosen by random number.
Feel free to comment whether you are a knitter or not, but if you happen to be a knitter and might want some free sock yarn, leave me that tidbit of info also because you never know, I might be giving away some stashed sock yarn also.

So there ya go! Simple as pie. See ya in the comments!

I stink at it, and I'm ok with that

2008-01-27T15:51:00.001-05:00

So..........felting.

I like the concept. Its a neat one. But out of five attempts, ONE has turned out decent. The first, well just research the blog to find that one. It was early in my blogging journey. And it was a KAL with some mommy friends. Lets just say......its tucked away in Maddie's closet. My booga bag, was a great success! Then Chris tried a double-sized booga. Not so good. Then he tried a regular size booga with non-Noro yarn. Again. Not so good. The other day I was going through my closet (read: trying to figure out what the heck to do with all of this yarn for sweaters that I *somehow* acquired), I found a bag that all I had to do was knit the handles and felt. This is my year to start what I finished so I spent two days finishing it and it just came out of the washer.

This is what it started out as (before handles)

Are you laughing? Stop laughing. Surely it would look better felted! Those pieces just hanging there at the top, well you just pick up behind all of those little tentacles and you knit the handles. Then you felt it. So surely, much better felted.

Um. No. I don't even have the heart to take a picture post-felting. My knitting ego is blown all to heck now.

This really sucks....cause I have the yarn for the Celtic Tote (Rav link here, non-Rav link here). Maybe I just need felting supervision.

Back to sweaters and socks for me.

First FO!

2008-01-19T21:44:00.000-05:00

So, I guess this is my first FO of the year! WOOHOOO. How sad....its January 19th and I have one FO. I should be more on the ball :)

Here is the FO......
Pattern: Fetching, Knitty Summer 2006
Yarn: Cascade 220 (Stash yarn even!)
Needles: Size 6 DPNs
Date started: Cast on 1/18/08 in the afternoon
Date completed: Finished 2nd glove on 1/19/08 in the afternoon

Sometimes you just need a little instant gratification. I wish I was that fast on socks.

Next time I will go down to size 5s or cut out five stitches. My hands are freakishly small. So they are just slightly loose at the cuff and fingers. I still love them. Will knit them again.
As far as my other projects go....

CPH - I am done with the back, left front, and right front. I am now stalled. I'm so bored with it probably because I'm not sure I love the yarn. Its ok though, I will pick it back up tomorrow I am sure. I have only sleeves, hood, and button band to knit. I will block the other pieces and seam a little bit in the process. I've never blocked before. This should be fun.

Wicked - It actually looks like a sweater, and I even put it on some waste yarn and tried it on. It looks small but it appears to fit. We shall see. Good thing Maddie will be able to wear it if I don't fit into it. It would suck to frog it. I love the pattern, love the yarn, love the color. Its one big wicked love fest.

I got my yarn for the Harvest Pullover, Kaitlin Pullover, and I also ordered some yarn for Thermal. I know. Yarn whore.

Today I dyed two skeins of yarn, one of which will make its way into the mail on Monday. The other is for me. All mine. Its so pretty. I believe it is destined to become monkeys. We shall see. I do have two other pairs of Monkeys that are slated to be knit as gifts, so those will of course take priority.

Also, in my stash, I found the yarn for yet another sweater! Go me! Stash yarn!! Who would have thought? See, sometimes I do check my stash. (Why mention that I also found yarn slated for two other Dale of Norway patterns, two other sweater kits, and yarn slated for three Lily Chin patterns?) Oh....and I listed a boatload of stash yarn for sale on Ravelry. Hey, gotta pay for those new sweater yarns somehow ;)

Socks? What are socks?

2008-01-08T09:23:00.001-05:00

Something weird has happened! I haven't picked up socks in several weeks! Instead....I have been working on sweaters.

I know. Its crazy isn't it? I thought for sure it wouldn't happen. But hey, there are so many great patterns, I couldn't resist.

On the needles:

(please excuse the bad picture)
Central Park Hoodie
Donegal Tweed, dark purple in color
Back is finished, and I also finished the left front just last night. That puts me at about 50% done. I LOVE THIS PATTERN!!!!!! Its so easy, but its so fun. Yes, I said a cabled pattern was easy. I told you, something weird has happened.

Wicked
Cascade 220, fantastically gorgeous amazing red
I just cast on last night after I finished my left front on the CPH. I wanted something knit in the round and I couldn't resist the red lusciousnesses of the yarn. I'm only on my second row. It looks to be a fun knit, and a quick one as its the worsted weight version. And I am doing the long sleeved version. Not a cable in sight on this one, just pretty twisted kinda stitch thing going on.

Also, I have Corsica on the needles.
Cascade 220 Heathers (noticing a fascination with 220???)
This one is going to be a bit more on the challenging side for me. I fell in love with this sweater the first time I saw it. It has an interesting construction to it as well. You begin with that cabled band in the middle, and the entire sweater is sort of built around it. I'm not finding it difficult so much as its just a lot of different stuff going on. So, this won't be mindless middle of the night knitting. This will be a Wyatt is napping and I have extra brain energy to burn kind of project. But it sure is pretty. I'm quite sure I won't be wearing it this winter though.

There are also two other sweaters in the queue with yarn on order for them (I'm such a yarn whore). This heavenly sweater, and then this equally delicious one (its the first one on the list). Colorwork and cables. Who'da thunk? The yarn was temptingly inexpensive so I was weak.

What else am I drooling over pattern wise?? Check these out!!
Olive branch - 2nd on the list
Glee
Poppy - this sweater makes me giddy!!
Equinox Yolk Pullover - cover sweater

Think I have enough ideas in my head to keep me busy for six weeks while Chris is away in Atlanta????

Holidays are too busy

2007-12-28T11:28:00.000-05:00

So its been a while since I posted. Quick update.

Currently on the needles (that have gotten *recent* attention):
Two pairs of socks for a friend. One pair of monkeys (cause her meanie head sock pal didn't come through for her in the Monkey Sock swap GRRR), and another pair just cause I love her.

One pair of socks for another friend. Monkeys. These are WAY over due.

Another pair of socks. Can't get motivated.

The Central Park Hoodie. I love this pattern, and its a relatively quick knit. I'm half way up the back, but distressed because my third cable is two rows too long. Chris says you can't tell. I know though. Will I rip back? I'm not sure. I'm not a big "rip it out" type of gal unless I am totally going to bag the entire project.

Yarn waiting to be knitted: (ok this is new yarn, so not addressing "the stash")
I have some Cascade yarn sitting by my knitting "spot" so that I can start Corsica. This will be a challenge and a half.

Yarn dyeing: We are in the process of dyeing up a wholesale order for a new shop that is opening up in the next month or so. We need to ship some yummies out to her so she has something to start up with, of course! I will, of course, provide a link when the page is up and ready to go.

On the home front: Chris - training in Atlanta for six weeks for his NEW JOB! YAY!
Wyatt and I are sick. What else is new.

Cool new friend news: My mommy friend had her baby on 12/21! A new baby boy to cuddle with for the holidays. What a joy. Congrats, sweetie!

I have been thinking a lot of about my goals for my knitting next year. I will be putting them down in a list so that maybe, just maybe, I can get some motivation to get all I want done. I do mean done. I don't mean 75% done then sitting on the needles for years on end. I have way too many projects like that as is.

I hope everyone had a fantastic Holiday! Bring on 2008. Lets have lots of good stuff happening this year, ok? I'm over 2007 :)

Fun photo meme

2007-12-06T10:07:00.000-05:00

So Leigh made me do it. It looks too fun NOT to!

Just type in the answers to the questions on google images. Then paste the first picture that comes up. Ready? Here we go!

1. Age at my next birthday (do I have to admit this number????)

2. Place I'd like to travel

3. Favorite place

4. Favorite object

5. Favorite food

6. Favorite color

7. Nickname

(Ok...googling "Kel" is weird. I had to go with one that wasn't weird LOL)

8. Place I was born

Mmmmm....yarn

2007-12-06T09:46:00.000-05:00

So I know I have been going on and on about my fantastic sock pal. And I know I have said she spoiled me. Truth is.....you can't even call it spoiling. I mean, this is down right over indulging me is what it is. Don't believe me? Ok fine. Here are some samplings of what I got in my package.

Dream in Color.....Smooshy sock yarn (Of course, I have been wanting this horribly)
Colorway: Dusky Aurora
Is it not the prettiest little thing you have seen?

Duet Sock Yarns
Colorway: I believe its Cowgirl
Know how I got this? I *mentioned* that I had missed out on it from The Loopy Ewe and it made me sad. She got it specially dyed for me. See? Spoiled.

Scarlet Fleece
Colorway: Antique Watermelon
Its embarrassing that I know the lady who dyes this yarn, but hadn't tried her Scarlet Fleece. My first pair of socks I knitted were done in her worsted weight yarn.

See. Told you. You might not have believed me. But, oh there is more. So much more. So much more, that I won't even put it all in one post. And it could take me forever to show you everything I got.

And speaking of wonderful.....have you seen this review of Forbidden Fleece? Awww shucks. I don't know when the last time I was speechless was <3

By the way.....that is a fantastic reference for those of you who are interested in supporting indie dyers. She painstakingly reviews the yarns...and she will definitely give an honest opinion. I might have been tempted (read: compelled) to buy yarn from some of the dyers based on her recommendations.

Ok, that is enough fun for today. I have yarn to skein and a baby to cuddle!

Speaking of baby.....my super awesome mommy friend should be having a new little bundle to cuddle herself in the next little bit. And I MIGHT have something for said little cuddly bundle in my house to deliver to her.

Spreadin' the love

2007-12-05T08:37:00.001-05:00

I have pictures today!!!!!!!

First, just in case you didn't believe that I never take these off. More pictures as proof!

I still love them.

Can you tell?

And then we have a WIP. Nope. I can't take credit for it. Its NOT mine.

Knitting student (also known as ... Nikki). Yep. A CABLED scarf. Isn't it pretty? She loves cables. She is a SUPER tight knitter. Those two things just don't go together in my mind, but it looks absolutely fantastic, and she is the one that has to work with those rediculously, insanely, super tight stitches. Not me. I thought I was a tight knitter. Wow. But. The scarf has taken a backseat to.....

This.

A) Isn't she the cutest thing you've seen?
B) Can you tell that is a sock in her hand?
C) She is done with that sock. She is on her match for her first pair of hand knitted socks!
D) She loves them.
E) Did I mention she is adorable?

Q: Who is this????
A: Knitting mom (Cindy)
Q: What is she wearing?
A: Her first FO! (Well, her first KNITTED FO....she is a crocheter)
Q: When was this pic taken?
A: A few weeks ago. She currently has a hat (almost finished) on the needles, a sock (probably not remotely closed to finished) on the needles, and a baby blanket (I think currently frogged) on the needles.

So funny. Nikki is very much like me. I skip project to project, have to have a bunch going on at one time to suit my mood. So Nikki has a scarf, socks, and is grumbling about wanting a sweater on the needles. Her scarf stays here for "emergencies" such as leaving her knitting at home....so she will always have something to work on while she is here. (I told you she is cute...AND smart!) Cindy. Quite the opposite. She has all that stuff *on* her needles, and she did make a valiant effort to be wild and crazy like Nikki and I. But, she has decided that she will work on ONE thing at a time. So, her hat is almost finished (if not already), she mentioned picking up the baby blanket following the hat, no mention of the sock lately (I'm kind of worried), and she also has yarn for a full-sized blanket as well as a sweater. So, she will have an out of control stash (like teacher like student) and a full queue of things that she has *planned* to knit (like teacher like student, again). But I kinda feel like she might actually work through her knitting queue. Unlike her teacher. ;)

I still have yet to snap a picture of Chris' sock. I think I am going to start him on blogging! We also might need to set up a blog for his *other* masterpieces...there are some pictures that just have to be shown.

Oh yeah. What is on the agenda tonight?

Maddie (my 10 year old) wants to learn to knit.

I'm determined knitters will take over the world.

Also, I will be reskeining some yarn. And Chris might be busy.....dyeing some.

Ummmm....oops

2007-12-04T18:22:00.000-05:00

Well, I never thought it would happen. But. I taught Chris how to knit SOCKS!!! YAY! He wasn't a fan at first. I though the was going to give up. But alas, he didn't. I was so excited! I sat down beside him on the couch and helped him clear up some pattern issues and then hopped up on my merry way, completely stoked that I had successfully converted him to sock knitting.

A GASP from the other room. What could it be? I run in to find out...and see him sitting there looking distressed. "Someone broke my needle!" There he sat, afraid to move, one DPN snapped right in half, little tiny loops just waiting to fall off the needle. I quickly ran over with another needle and swiftly grabbed the little loops mid air and got them safely onto another DPN.

It had to be the kids. The kids were clearly messing around, jumped on the couch, and SAT on his needle.

I guess my face had the "deer in the headlights" look. He looked at me and shook his head. "You sat on my knitting didn't you?"

I didn't know. Who sits their WIP on the couch anyway? (me, well and Chris too obviously) Who doesn't look where they are sitting? (me) Who could sit on someone's SIP and not realize they had snapped their DPN in half? (apparently me)

Stop laughing Pam. Its so not funny.

Ok maybe it is.

Oh yeah....check out this Etsy shop. Wonder what my announcement could be?

Monkey Love <3

2007-12-02T17:22:00.000-05:00

These deserved a post of their own.

Specs:
Pattern: Monkey socks, by Cookie A.
Yarn: Woolly Boully's, Neopolitan Colorway

I wear them all the time. Can't get them off my feet. They take too long to dry from washing. That makes me sad. They are Monkey socks, knitted by my kick butt Monkey Pal. I'm sad she isn't my *official* pal anymore, but she is better than that, now a lifelong sister/friend. She is truly a wonderful person.

She spoiled me so rotten. Seriously. I can't even tell you how spoiled I was.

Now, lets speak about Woolly Boully. My love for Jenny's yarn is beyond words. It is amazing. Her colors are glorious. Its like little pillows of heaven on my feet. I want to swim in her yarn. I am a member of her sock club, and as a result, each month I get even more slices of heaven that I continuously fondle and pet. I encourage others who come to my house to see my fantastic yarn, and sometimes even allow them to touch it. They can't fondle it though. That is not cool. Cause....yes, you know. The stash is sacred. No one will fondle my stash. Except for me. Certainly not my Woolly Boully yarn.

Oh yeah....The Loopy Ewe has Jenny's Woolly Boully yarn. But so does her Etsy shop. Check her out. Seriously, you won't be disappointed. If you are, send it to me. And I will pay for your first therapy session. ;)

So next time...I have pictures of knitting student and her mom. Their WIPs and an FO even! Also....maybe an announcement? We'll see. No........I'm not pregnant. Its related to yarn. That's all the hint you get!

Today is a good day!

2007-11-19T19:20:00.000-05:00

Well. I have known for a week that my sock pal package was coming. So, for the first time in a LONG time, I actually was looking forward to a Monday. It took forever to get here. But. Alas, it is Monday! YAY!!

Well, little did I know, that a phone call from Florida this morning was to inform us that Chris may very well be employed. We just aren't sure. Its funny! They said he was chosen for the January class. I think we are just so shocked that we can't grasp the fact that....he now has a pretty decent kick but job starting in January!!! WOOHOOO.

But, that wasn't my package!

Then, the mailman came. Chris looked at me as if I was walking in with my monkey package. Nope. I could carry this one! This package was from WEBS and was my yarn for my Central Park Hoodie!! YAY!!!!

But, that wasn't my package!

After stalking the door all day, I got on the phone with the ex to discuss some kid issues and my other line rang! Hmmmm, let me get that. Its from California!

Hello?
Hi, is this Kellie? (Totally sweet sounding gentleman, I gotta tell ya!)
Well, yes it is!
Well, I do believe you just got a package delivered to you!
I DID????
(I run frantically to the door)
OHHH I DID!!!!
You didn't realize that your package has arrived? Its been there for about ten minutes!
Oh no, I have been waiting all day long! (I am frantically waiving for Chris to get the package in the house because.....I couldn't lift it!)

My sock pal's "Hubster" had called to let me know my package was here! So cool!!! Then my super fantastic awesomely wonderful amazing best ever sock pal got on the phone!! And we ripped into the box together! It was so much fun! I was amazingly spoiled. We have spent months talking very regularly in email, getting to know one another, without me even knowing who she was. What is funnier, is that unbeknownst to me, I had forged TWO relationships with her. See.....remember when I might, maybe, could have possibly bought some yarn from Pam? Well, I emailed Pam every now and again, and we even commented on each other's blogs at times. Imagine my surprise when I learned today, after talking on the phone for some time and opening some pretty darn fantastic and well-picked out packages, that my sock pal was in fact Pam! I was shocked and surprised, and giggled hysterically at the fact that there were days when she responded from her secret email account and her regular email account because I never caught on that Pam and my sock pal were the same person! TOO FUNNY!! How she kept it straight, I will never know. And I even joked that Pam was probably sick of hearing about my sock pal, and my sock pal was probably sick of hearing about Pam because I did nothing but sing the praises of one to the other.

I am so lucky, I have forged a fantastic relationship with a fantastic woman, and I just don't even know what I have done to deserve such a wonderful friend.

So, my dear not so secret sock pal, I am so very lucky to have met you. Thank you for being a wonderful friend over the past few months and walking with me through some truly trying times in my life. I'm so lucky that everything aligned just right for you to be my sock pal, and even more importantly, a wonderful friend.

<3

Pictures later...

A quicky

2007-11-10T23:25:00.000-05:00

I just got back from knitting student's house. They were having some people over, and they said come on by. So we wrapped Mr. Wyatt up and headed over.

Knitting student's mom greeted me at the door with squeals of delight. And then she showed me....her scarf that she is KNITTING! Knitting student taught her how to cast on and how to knit. She is addicted. She is wanting to come over on Monday so that we can knit together. So she can watch me.

I was astounded. We spent about 1 1/2 hours talking knitting. She was giggly. She was excited. She was intrigued. She wants more. Knitting student told me of her cabled scarf. She has had to start over for the third time. She loves cabling. She just missed three rows of the pattern and *had* to rip it all the way out. Clearly, must teach knitting student how we rip back a few rows instead of starting over.

Pretty cool!

In my knitting news, doing a little test knitting, doing a little finishing of a second sock, and I got Knitscene fall 2006 for the Central Park Hoodie pattern. And ordered Donegal Tweed to go with said pattern. In a color suggested by the husband. Clearly amazing that I got to purchase yarn and that he was interested enough to pick out what color since I clearly couldn't decide which color of yarny goodness would suit me.

Good day! I wish every day could be that full of knitting excitement!!!!

Off to knit some socks!

Thanksgiving sock

2007-11-07T20:18:00.000-05:00

I finished it!

One Thanksgiving sock down, one to go. Not too shabby, fantastic pattern, I love the yarn and it fits perfect!

So, I need to start the second one. I might do that tonight. Right now, I have company.

My new knitting student is here. She needed some help with her pattern. And....she wanted to learn more so we pulled out another beginning scarf. Here is her progress on the first scarf.

I grabbed it and snuck away with it to take a picture. She wouldn't understand why one needs to document such events. One day she will learn. Don't want to push it.

Isn't that fantastic? She did all of that by herself!!!! She wasn't sure what the pattern abbreviations were to get any further than that, so now that she is clear, she is sitting in my living room casting on for another scarf.

Yep. The addiction is holding. Fantastic!

More when my company is gone and I have some of my own knitting progress to report.

Socks rock!

2007-11-04T22:11:00.000-05:00

So lets see. I am working the gusset on my first Ampersand sock. FANTASTIC pattern. Can't say enough good about it. And I forgot how quickly sport weight socks work up! I'm loving it.

So...when I was knitting my monkey socks for my sock pal, Shanidy, we had a friend and his girlfriend over to watch movies. Well, she saw me working on a sock, and she was interested, but not all that interested. She wanted to *touch* it but didn't want to put it on. I was offended. How could someone not want to put on a knitted sock? But I gave up. Clearly, the future was destroyed. Here I was, with a 17 year old in my house, who did NOT want to try on a hand knitted sock.

But...I persisted. I continued to knit in front of her. She comes over frequently. I showed her the finished pair. Still, interested, but not TOO interested. I knew that somehow something had to get through to her.

Started working on the previously unknittable socks. She was interested. Pretty yarn! Wow, look at that pattern! So neat! How do you do that with all of those needles? Hmmmm, my plan seemed to be working.

Then, Friday I had new yarn and had casted on my Ampersand socks. She came in, and immediately said OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHH pretty yarn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes....the yarn is very pretty. Do you want to....touch it? YES!

I was taken aback! She touched the yarn. She petted the yarn. To be honest, I think she even fondled it. She looked at the sock that was just starting. Interesting. And then she said....

Kellie. Will you teach me to knit?

No words. I literally had no words. Within seconds, I had the swift out and ball winder in motion. She had needles in hand. Long tail cast on? A breeze. Knit stitch? Simple. She left with the yarn and the needles.

Returned today. And said: Kellie. I'm ready to learn how to do more. Purl stitch. Piece of cake. We moved on to yarn overs and K2Tog. Tonight, I showed her my sock yarn stash. I let her touch it too. I'm sure she doesn't realize that the stash is sacred. That no one else has gotten to look at much less pet my yarn.

The kicker......she wants to learn how to knit socks.

Just when I thought it couldn't get any better.......then she said....Oh yeah!! My mom said that she wants you to teach her too!!

There is hope for the future of knitting after all.

SIP

2007-11-03T11:00:00.000-05:00

So, I figured I'd show some progress. Probably, if I just buckled down on ONE project it would be more impressive. But, I like to have a sock for the mood and here they all are. I have offered to be a test knitter, so if that happens, be prepared for immediate sock knitting progress to stop to allow full attention to said test knitting. I'm so stoked! We'll see :)

Anyway we have:

Pattern: Ampersand
Needles: Two cirs (gulp), size 3
Thoughts: I love this pattern!!!! And, seeing as I just started it, its obviously a quick knit :) The circs, I love them!! I'm sure there is a better way than I started, but I'm waiting for a book to show me the "right" way to do it.

Pattern: Thelonious
Needles: Size 1
Yarn: Louet Gems Indigo
Thoughts: Of course I'm a Cookie groupie, so I love the pattern. The chart is a little new to me, but its going well. I'm not sure I'm sold on the yarn is the problem.

Pattern: Southwestern Socks by Wendy
Needles: Size 1
Yarn: Chewy Spaghetti Saghettoni. This is the previously unknittable yarn. Its being nice, so I guess I'm making it happy.
Thoughts: I love this pattern SO much. And I love the toe up knitting I've got going on. Pretty fun!! And check out those stitch keepers!! Got those from a sock club!!! FAN-FREAKIN-TASTIC I tell you. Chris keeps telling me that he is going to yank the needles out because I'm not supposed to be knitting this yarn, as evidenced by five false starts, so this makes me feel better, just in case he is serious.

Also cast on, but not officially started, my Monkeys for my mommy friend. I just casted on and let them sit there. Nice Kel. Real nice.

And, I have picked out this pattern for my Woolly Boully sock club yarn. No pics of that though, cause you know its a club yarn and all. I feel better about having the yarn if I know that I have an *idea* of what I am going to end up doing with it.

So there we go! Fun times in Casa Fulton. The spirit of Soctober continues into November. You know, its always socktober here.

Quiet weekend, please?

2007-11-02T19:17:00.000-05:00

Monday...doctor with Chris and Wyatt.
Tuesday...hospital with Wyatt (for dehydration, he is ok now :))
Wednesday...doctor with Wyatt.
Thursday...Interview for Chris (please please please please hire him)
Friday...Mailman with sock club yarn...in Thanksgiving colors.

I immediately wound and cast on for the Thanksgiving socks. I'm using the Ampersand pattern by Susan. And..........in case you noticed.......that pattern is done on two circulars. And. I'm doing the socks on two circulars.

Alert the media!

More later...trying to get little man to go to sleep. So I can knit. Or sleep. There has been so little of both these days.

October what?

2007-10-29T20:41:00.000-05:00

I can't believe that it is the 29th. This month has flown by without me even realizing it.

My sock pal got her package.

And she said she loved it!

And, the socks fit.

Yay!!

She also loved her other hand made goody, which I will tell you is a double-pointed needle case that I sewed. It was fun, and I tried to make myself one and it didn't turn out nearly as well LOL Glad she got the prototype that turned out ok.

And, a few other goodies that I threw in. I won't bore you with the whole package, just a few things that I sent off for her.

Currently I have:

1) Three socks in progress.
A) Thelonious from Cookie A in my Indigo Louet Gems. This one will take me a while.
B) Southwestern Socks a la Wendy of Wendy Knits. Knitted in the previously unknittable yarn from my Holidays Sock Club. As of now, it appears to be behaving and I may have found a pattern that it likes. We shall see.
C) Monkey socks, done in Colinette Jitterbug. For a mommy friend.

2) A hubby still lacking a job, but newly acquired bronchitis.

3) A baby with an upper respiratory infection and bilateral ear infections.

4) Two full-time jobs that actually want me to do full-time work. What are they thinking?

5) Three tax bills in the mail today (shoot me now).

6) Absolutely NO Christmas shopping done.

7) Some absolutely fantastic sock yarn from the Woully Boully Sock Club. I think what has happened with this yarn, is that I have moved from a yarn addict to a yarn molester. I cannot keep my hands off of this yarn. I snuggle it up to my face, I smell it, I pet it, I look at it, I ask it what sock pattern it wants to be knitted in to. Woully Boully WILL be on my list of sock yarns that will regularly be purchased and knit. (Don't tell, but I think it has passed Lorna's addiction level).

8) Complete lack of sleep.

9) Discovered that selling yarn on Ravelry and Ebay, is very profitable!! I had some sitting around that I was never going to use, and lo and behold, people bought it! Of course, I've not been looking to recoup my money I spent on it, just to get a few dollars here and there and send some yarn to someone who will enjoy it. Its going well, it occupies my free time well with something constructive, and I'm meeting some really cool new people.

Its been a busy but surprisingly good month. And of course, my sock monkey pal who is knitting for me is back from vacation. YAY! I've missed e-mailing with her while she was gone. Knitter friends are the best!!

And lastly, baby eye candy. His new trick, which he showed me on Saturday pre-feeling crabby and fussy. I'm glad it wasn't a tape that I enjoyed listening to. Thank goodness all my stuff is on CD now, huh?

Monkeys, Birthday, and Unknittable yarn

2007-10-15T14:38:00.000-05:00

What a busy few weeks!!!

First, I am addicted to Ravelry. Enough said.

Second, I had a birthday. I'm 29 (read 35). I had a great birthday! Now if I could just get that hair dye out and fix the Cruella De'Ville look I have going on, I'd feel better.

Third, I went to the post office today!! I mailed STUFF! Monkey sock package on the way to its intended sock pal! I can't wait for her to get it. I won't post pics until she does, but there is more than one handmade thing in there, some other things for her, and even something for another person in the house! I hope they fit! I hope she loves the STUFF! A whole two weeks before the deadline. WAYYYY better than I did with Sockapalooza!

Fourth, speaking of Sockapalooza, I signed up to be a sock savior. However, my designated pal is no longer blogging nor answering my emails. What a bummer. She must be AWOL. I have emailed Alison to see what to do.

Fifth, have you ever had yarn that just didn't want to be knitted? I have some. I don't know what the deal is. I have frogged twice. This time, I did exactly what I should have done, exactly the right number of stitches, exactly the right needle size and its as if I am making socks for someone with football player calves. I just don't get it. I don't care WHAT I do with this yarn, it will not knit up to save my life. I'm going to re-rip (I'm pissed cause I had tried the picot cuff for the first time and looooved how cute it was) and take the hint that I don't need Halloween socks. I'll just get another yarn from my stash and start something else.

Sixth, still no news on the job front for Chris. That stinks. He did have an interview, and it went well, but no job until January if they hire him. Uggggg.

Seventh, its been entirely too long since I have purchased yarn. Need. Yarn. Badly. Not because I have none to knit, but because I must be addicted to yarn. But, I do have some new sock yarn that was put in the mail today! I'm SOOOOO EXCITED! Oooohhh maybe I can wait for that to arrive and just start socks with that yarn. So many options.....

Eighth, I have two mommies who have given birth already and one about to pop any second. All packages successfully sent off today. I also have one awesome mommy friend having a boy in a very short while and there might be something in progress there but I would never tell if there was. What is with all these people getting pregnant?? I have one friend having twins, two others that are right around 20 weeks, another around 13 weeks. Its craziness.

Ninth, Wyatt is 10 months old today. Where has the time gone?????

Ok, that is more than enough to get you caught up. Pictures of my sock pals socks hopefully next time. And also, pictures of what I made for her other than Monkey Socks. I'm proud. Hopefully its as cute as I think it is.

WOOOHOOO!!!

2007-10-05T15:26:00.000-05:00

I got my Ravelry invite!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Add me (whatever the heck that means, I will figure it out when I am done with work)

Knitstergal

Just a day shy of two month wait LOL Awesome!!! I can't wait to play around with it.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh Lornas

2007-10-04T22:46:00.000-05:00

I got a package in the mail!!! Again. But, this was expected. It is a happy birthday to me gift. Well, I picked it out, mom paid for it. And it came from the lovely Pam. I now have proof, she really is the Yarn Goddess. See what I got?

That is one mass of yarny goodness is it not? See, Pam is destashing a buttload of yarn. I snagged some of her Lorna's. But fear not, she has more. LOTS more. And she has Opal. And she has a mass of others as well, so hop on over and check out what she has. Girlfriend will totally hook you up. Ahhhh Pam. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Happy birthday to me!!!

For those of you who are counting....that is TEN different colors of Lorna's. I have pictures taken of them individually, and I will gladly show those off. But just not in one post. I'm such a tease. Eight of these are slated for sock gifting purposes. Two are for me. I'm certainly one lucky girl!

I also got my very first yarn club offering. Its from Chewy Spaghetti, Khris' holiday yarn club yarn. Check it out. (I don't mind showing cause I've had it for just under a week, and not many people read my blog anyway so I won't spoil any surprises LOL) Here is what I got from her.

Adorable packaging, no? And it smelled yummy too, cause she had a good smelling candle in there mmmmmm

I refused to open the yarn quickly for anticipation sake. I checked out all the neat little goodies that she packaged along with the yarn. The yummy candle, a cute little bottle cap necklace that I am QUITE sure that Maddie is going to want to steal as soon as she sees it, and an adorable little pumpkin stitch marker!

Check that baby out!! My Halloween sock yarn!! How cute is that? I think I am going to make myself some cute little plain stockinette socks with a picot edging. Now that my Monkey socks are done (YAY!!!!), I can start on these! I better get cranking if I want to be able to wear them in time for Halloween!

Not a bad start to Socktober, huh?

As far as the Monkey swap goes (Oh, and I can't mention Monkey swap without mentioning how much I love my Monkey Sock Pal cause she ROCKS!), socks completed tonight! Now, I have some sewing to do for one of the goodies to go along. I have yarn and pattern waiting, and a few monkey gifts as well! If I can knock out my sewing this weekend, I am planning on popping the box in the mail on Monday. I LOVE MONKEYS!!!!!!!!!!!!

And, finally, good thoughts on Tuesday please!!! There might be something in the works that would be really good for us. That's all I'm gonna say for fear of jinxing :)

Its...........SOCKTOBER!!!

2007-10-01T16:03:00.000-05:00

YAY!!! I have been waiting an entire year for October to come around. Not just cause its my birthday month, (this year, I officially start counting down not up BTW) but because I can officially be part of Socktober. I couldn't last year cause I was pregnant and Wyatt wouldn't let me knit, and the year before that I didn't have a sock obsession.

I am so stoked!! And, thanks to a super fantastic kick butt sock pal, I have new yarn to start new socks with. And thanks to a few sock clubs, I will have other new yarn to knit with. And I have asked everyone that I know for gift certificates or money for sock yarn for every foreseeable gift-giving occasion from here until I am 147 years old, hopefully I will continue to have much yarn to knit through Socktober and beyond! (I feel like Buzz Lightyear for some reason)

For my new yarn from my sock pal, I have this in mind maybe. Or the Firestarter socks found here. You will also find the Southwestern socks there, which are on my to do list.

And, I am finishing up my Monkeys for my sock pal, just past the heel decreases now. Then, when I am done with those, hopefully in the new few days, I can pop those in the mail. No more pictures! And no pictures of the goodies I am sending along, not until she posts them on her blog. Don't want to spoil the surprise in case she blog hops.

What is on your to do list for Socktober????

A friend stopped by to visit today

2007-09-28T12:47:00.000-05:00

Chris yelled from the other room earlier.....

"The mailman brought you a package today! What are you expecting?"

I ran to the door all excited. Could it be the Lorna's that I might have bought? Or maybe I didn't buy any. Could it be yarn club yarn? What could it be?

It was a package alright. In an Amazon box. I was perplexed!! I haven't purchased anything from Amazon!

So I ripped into the package (I'm heck on Christmas morning, too)

And here is what was inside.

Carefully packaged. NOT from Amazon. Sneaky little gift-sender she is!!!!

Is he not the cutest thing you have EVER seen?!?!?!?!

And LOOK! He has presents for me!!!!!!!!

Beautiful yarn.........I mean beautiful!
The most delicious smelling soap a girl could ever imagine.
And a sock monkey card with the sweetest little message ever.

Another picture just cause he is so darn cute. Look at that yarn.

Who could it be that loves me so???

Mrs. Monkey Friend, of course!!!!

I love Mrs. Monkey Friend. She is the best, anywhere!

This is the best Friday EVER!

The cuteness just never stops

2007-09-27T17:16:00.000-05:00

Lack of knitting progress pictures makes me post something so much sweeter.

Just cause

2007-09-26T19:09:00.001-05:00

Just cause I'm a yarn ho....

Pretty red......

Pretty teal/blue....

Ahhhhhhhh multicolored yarn rules........

All from my stash. Just cause I wanted to pull them out and see them again.

Im so gonna start decorating my house with yarn.

For the love of the Monkey

2007-09-20T16:16:00.000-05:00

Wanna see my finished Monkey? You have competition. See?

Oooohhhh Mommy! What is this????

I just wanna....touch it. (Wonder where he gets that?)

Can I have it??

Nope. Sorry buddy. It belongs to my monkey pal. I hope she loves it!! I know I do. For sure!!! Its resting on my homemade sock blocker that my hubby made for me.

And I couldn't resist putting it on my foot. Just to see. And feel. I didn't wear it for long. Just long enough to be jealous.

Speaking of being jealous. Check out Pam's blog. She is the Yarn Goddess. Her link is on my side bar. She is selling an obnoxious amount of sock yarn in an effort to destash. Its beautiful. I might have bought some. I might not have. I'll never tell. hehe

Now I'm hungry. I better go raid the the kitchen and figure out what I am going to make for my family.

Oh...I hope you had a great International Pirate Day yesterday! I did. Argggggggggggggg. Where's me Lorna's?

Comedy of errors

2007-09-18T21:45:00.000-05:00

I would not believe this week if I hadn't lived it.

Had a surprise party for my hubby. In my travels, I fell down my front step and beat myself up pretty badly. Its a comical story, but alas my comical mood has flown the coop. Because....

Today he lost his job. This sucks big.

Good thing....I love Lorna's laces. I want to bathe in it. I finished a monkey sock. Pics to follow.

Hope ya'lls week is way better than mine is shaping up to be!!!

Where does time go?

2007-09-09T09:43:00.000-05:00

Between work and kids back to school and completely redoing the kids rooms, my week has flown by. I swear I need more time in a day. Just me, no one else. Just an additional 8 hours for me to work without interruption on all the stuff to get done! Then maybe, just maybe, my life will be somewhat "normal."

Thanks for the comments on my question last post. I knew my girl Manda was a fan of the short cuff on her own socks. (Yes, I do stalk her blog. She was my kick butt Sockapalooza pal, so why wouldn't I?). After all, she lives in what I imagine is a hot climate...If I remember correctly (boy I hope I'm not mistaken) she lived in Texas and moved to Cali. I'd wear shorter cuff socks too. I was glad to see that she wasn't scared of the purl stitch either. I really had begun to think it was just me. And my friend Pam also commented and had good things to say. She loves her the socks as well, you know. If her recliner would just stop eating her needles. And as a side note, I am concerned that Pam is going to turn into an English muffin with ham. Might be hard to knit then, sweetie.

I will say that I have been considering trying out socks on two circulars because maybe it will help me feel better about only having two places to worry about loose stitches instead of four. Funny, I always worry about that but I don't think you can see in my knitting where there are any ladders or wonky stitches. I might just worry too much. So my sock knitting friends who use the circs.....is it harder or easier than DPNs? Or do you just knit exclusively on circs? Wendy has recently switched. I'm thinking if she can be converted, maybe I should give it a try. If I ever find time to knit again.

I'm shamelessly without pictures again. I am just organizing and not knitting. I am almost done with the heel on the monkeys and moving to the rest of the foot. I am so excited about this yarn I want to see what it will look like when it is finished. I need to get in gear. I hate waiting until the last minute. I have just under two months now. Yikes.

I am thinking of joining a destash group. I have some stuff that I have to get rid of. It just irritates me that it is sitting in my stash and I will never knit it. I have six skeins of Knit Picks Essentials, three different colors, that I know I won't knit. I have two other skeins of two different colors, but not sure if anyone would buy just one skein of that so those I may be stuck with. The matching skeins have already been knitted with so I won't try to get rid of those. And I think I have some Knit Picks Dancing in there that I will be getting rid of also. I am going through my stash from the kids closet. I have a bunch of Knit Picks Parade and Knit Picks Simple Stripes but I think I will keep those to use for gifting of socks. And then there is an entire tub of non-sock related yarn to be sold. Then I can get my Options and some more sock yarn!! And Hubby will think I have done something great by getting rid of some yarn. Its a good thing all the way around. Anyone have any experience with the destashing site?

OK....it is back to the rooms for me. I have much to do. I have promised to have it finished today. Have a great weekend!!!

I just wonder

2007-09-03T20:43:00.000-05:00

How many people stick to a pattern? Of late, I have noticed many people have been shortcutting perfectly good patterns. Its really starting to get on my nerves. Case in point:

Monkeys.

They have six pattern repeats on the cuff. But I see a lot that are only four. Why? Maybe people like shorter cuffs, I dunno. Maybe I'm just being petty. But....I am working on my monkey socks for my pal and got to the end of round five and found myself thinking....I could totally do the heel. I immediately put my knitting down because I knew I was just tired and didn't want to end up doing something I would regret.

No purl stitch monkeys? Ok, now that is way beyond shortening the cuff because you like shorter socks. That is just, well its just wrong to me. Why do people hate the purl stitch?

My diamondbacks were one diamond short, mind you. I did it in an effort to not spend 40 dollars on yarn. But I still ran out of yarn. Then I was just ticked because had I know I was going to need two balls anyway, I would have done three diamonds like the pattern said. Lesson learned. Still, they ended up being as long from heel to cuff as they were heel to toe. Pretty darn long socks. Another diamond would have made them almost knee socks, fine for me but I wasn't sure how my sockapalooza pal felt about knee socks. (Not that I've heard back whether she even received them, much less liked them, but I digress)

I dunno, maybe this is a baby-always-somehow-attached-to-mommy-and-driving-her-bonkers-
so-I'm-extra-moody-post and really is pointless. It just really struck a nerve for me today when I saw a pair of socks made for a sock pal that were two pattern repeats short on the cuff. Maybe their pal requested shorter socks and I'm being crabby for no good reason. It could be my fault.

Maybe I need wine.

Details, details

2007-08-31T10:28:00.000-05:00

Ok...first of all. Yes, I am a button thief. But Pam told me to do it. So now I have buttons to show off my addiction. And I also have a button so you can click to her blog from mine. One day I am going to figure out all this cool blogging stuff. Like how to get my very own button. Not that anyone links to me, but its still cool to have a button. Or like how to get some of those nifty little progress bars that knitters seem to have. Can't figure that out either. Oh well...I'm a yarn ho, not a blogger queen.

So.....details on my sock yarn that has me drooling. This is it. Try to control yourself when you see it. Its amazing, and unfortunately the pic does it not nearly the justice it deserves. Ready?

Is that not the most fantastic thing you have EVER seen in your life? The colors in ... person? yarn? Well when you get the yarn in your hands, its fantastically beautiful. I swear, I didn't even have any chocolate yesterday this did so much for me.

Stats: Lorna's Laces, Devon colorway

This confirms for me that I will definitely possess some of this (after I'm off of my no more yarn rule due to swaps) and quite possibly some liberty yarn too that I have been wanting in Lorna's. There are other colors too, but one has to start somewhere. And just when I thought it couldn't be more beautiful. It looks just as pretty in a ball!

Although, I'm not sure the pictures really show off how pretty it is in fact. I guess I need to figure out the whole picture taking thing as well huh? Darn rookies.

Here is how far I got last night. Wyatt had a rough night. Teething. It sucks. And just a helpful note to mommies. If you decide to give numbing gel (which I will never, ever do again) be smart, unlike I was, and give the Tylenol FIRST. Numbing gel numbs everything, and they can't swallow the Tylenol if you do it last. It causes a horrible choking fit. Sometimes, I am concerned about my lack of common sense.

Have a great weekend, and enjoy the extra day off!!!

I have a serious addiction

2007-08-30T21:18:00.000-05:00

NEVER have I just freaked out over yarn. Until today. I got my Loopy Ewe order in with my pal's yarn.

Oh. My. Word.

I won't post pictures just in case she blog hops. But. I want this yarn. I seriously do. I have it in my lap at this very moment. Its so pretty. And I'm going to wind it in a minute. I just keep petting it and telling it how pretty it is. And it calls out to me. Buy some for you. Buy some for you.

I will resist. Because my kick butt monkey pal made a good point. Don't go buying stuff before the swap ends. You know, she is right. Cause that is like buying yourself presents before Christmas or your birthday. Just not cool. She's really a smart gal, my bestest sock pal ever ever on the planet.

So. I will resist. But, it will not make me love it any less. Have I mentioned I love it? The colors are exceptional. Just freaking amazing. I can't say enough. It looks pretty no matter where I put it. I could buy some just to sit around as decoration.

I'm going to have to find a 12 step for yarn. Seriously. I've got it bad.

How you know you are addicted

2007-08-29T15:31:00.000-05:00

Ok so you know I love The Loopy Ewe, right? Well. They have their sneak ups. Apparently they USED to tell people when they were, but now she just puts them up there without so much as a word! That is fantastic, because it makes for much excitement. But, today it has made me become OCD. I keep checking. Must see the new yarn. Must buy new yarn. Only three orders away from being a Loopie Groupie! And of course, probably in that amount of orders I will also reach the ability to be considered a frequent shopper and get some goodies that way (I refuse to divulge if I am already a frequent shopper or not, I just won't tell). I am waiting for mail to show up in my box that would have the Loopy's name on it, containing sock yarn for my sock pal along with her Cookie pattern. I'm so jealous of the yarn I got for her. Its so pretty.

I am plugging along on my other monkeys, but the little fella has been teething, and that makes for little knitting time. Sooooo, no pictures for you because the progress is not terribly exciting. Now, progress on my hubby's new project? THAT is exciting! He is almost done with his second ball of yarn. He was knitting the other day and his friend came in. He looked like a deer in the headlights. His friend said "What on earth are you making?" Being the fast thinker he is, hubby says "Ummm, a hunting vest." His friend replied....."Uhhhhhhhhhhhh its pink, dude." Busted.

I am also closely eying Blue Moon Fiber Arts.....to make some Socks That Rock of course!! I've not tried STR yarn yet, and I think it is about darn time I do! We'll see. It depends on what Sheri puts up. If I go broke buying from her, the STR might have to go on a wish list for my birthday and Christmas!

Oh....and Hi Sock Pal!!!!!!! I am sure I haven't mentioned that my sock pal ROCKS! I don't know why I have failed to say that. hehe

Facing reality

2007-08-26T09:17:00.000-05:00

So after searching some sock-lover's blogs, I had to face a harsh reality. I am but a rookie. Not that my ability is lacking, or that I do not take on fantastic challenges in my sock knitting. But...my stash. Well. Its embarrassing. See:
I know. Its bad, huh? Its in my dresser. So what do I have in there? On the left, front is Collinette Jitterbug. There are two bags behind it which contain one skein of Opal yarn, two skeins of Regia yarn, one of my Louet yarns and my Lorna's (obtained from the Loopy Ewe not too long ago). Beside it...my Louets and panda cotton obtained from the Loopy Ewe the same time as I got the others. Under that is my Apple Laine that I got from my Sockapalooza pal. Beside that is my Colinette Jitterbug and my Cherry Tree Hill that I got at the beginning of Sockapalooza. And one skein of Tofutsies that I got to knit some "Thanks for training me" socks for DH's trainer at work. Enough for 14 socks.

There you have it. That is my "good" sock yarn. I do have some of the other stuff in the closet in Maddie's room (none of this is the *good* stuff) but its Knit Picks dancing (which BTW I hate), some Knit Picks essentials (which again BTW I hate), Knit Picks Parade along with some other worsted sock yarn, and some other self striping yarn that I will never use because I hate self-striping yarn. Oh yeah I have four wound skeins of some sock yarn that I got off of ebay about two years ago. The end. Period.

To a non-sock knitter (ie. my husband) this sounds like QUITE the stash of yarn. But sock knitters know, this is just pathetic. And compared to my "regular"yarn stash, this is just a drop in the bucket. I have so much "other" yarn I could open a yarn store. So I was thinking.....maybe it is time to destash some of my other yarn in order to make money to buy a ridiculous amount of sock yarn. I need sock yarn. Desperately. And even more saddening, I just made an order from Sheri at The Loopy Ewe. And none of it was for me. It was all for my super lucky monkey sock pal! I love the colors I chose for her and hopefully she will love them equally.

And, on the monkey sock pal front, I still have the best sock pal EVER. I'm beginning to feel guilty, because I sincerely believe that no one could have a better pal than I have. She is quite possibly the coolest knitting chick ever. She sends me frequent emails letting me know she is knitting for me, thinking of me, and wishing me well. Clearly, this is the beginning of a fantastic friendship.

Oh and speaking of monkey sock pal swap.... fellow sock swap member Pam posted a comment on my blog! Check out her page. She is one bad-butt sock knitter. She really is a yarn goddess! I love her blog!! She has a pretty fantastic stash it appears too. I'm insanely jealous....so I will live vicariously through her and her stash. One day, my friends. One day.

Did you notice the other yarn in the picture? That is cotton yarn for dish cloths. That was donated by my mom. I have a dish cloth in progress, and as you know DH knitted one. Oh and apparently the pictures do not show clearly that the dishcloth has a dragonfly on it? Not a pot leaf. There has been some confusion amongst some mommy friends on this point HAHAHAHAHA!

And here is my finished sock. One lone sock. Why one lone sock? Because. Its knitted in Knit Picks Essentials. Did I mention its not my favorite? I love Knit Picks yarns, usually. I think I have just fallen in love with the other stuff so much that I've been spoiled.

It is the Breeze pattern from Knitty.
Nice little pattern. Works up pretty easily. Probably not a good choice of yarn color because it doesn't show the pattern very well. But I didn't mind knitting it. And its an anklet so it works up pretty quickly. I imagine it works up faster on yarn you like. I think I'm harping. Sorry.

Here is the heel. Pretty cute!! I am totally into socks that have patterns on the heel. These were to be for me, but I think I will see if one of my mommy friends wants them. I'm not a big anklet kinda gal.

And I have a monkey on the needles. Just to keep me busy until my sock pal yarn comes in.

I won't say what yarn they are. Cause that might be harping. Different from the anklets though.

See the pile of books? Those are from the library. They laughed when I checked out five knitting books, three of them being sock related. More sensational knitted socks (they didn't have the 1st one, odd), Socks soar on two circulars, Knitting Vintage Socks, Itty-bitty hats (I have 8 pregnant mommy friends, you know), and Cables untangled. The library really needs to up their knitting collection, because they do not have enough. We need Cat's new book, and the first Sensational Knitted Socks, and there are many others I would like to read too. Fitted Knits maybe? Get with it tiny little town library. Knitters have needs.

I'm a lucky girl

2007-08-23T11:48:00.000-05:00

First, I will apologize for the moodiness that was my last blog post. I had just found out that a friend of mine passed away from cancer. I was very angry, very upset, very a lot of things. I'm feeling a little better, and I wanted to apologize for being so blue.

And in the midst of that, I got the SWEETEST e-mail from my Monkey Swap Pal!!!!!!!! She could NOT be sweeter!! It brightened my day immensely. Thank you super fantastic amazing secret pal! I hear rumors of spoiling and I am sooooooooooo excited! A pair of Monkeys made by a super cool secret sock pal? What could be better? I can't think of a thing!

I also got my sock pal information. I sent her out an email as well just saying hi and all that good stuff. I'm excited to see if she responds back. This whole sock swap thing is fantastic. I'm completely excited, can you tell? I am on a search for some beautifully bright variegated sock yarn because that is what she likes. And I tell you, she has one serious stash. And in there is......Socks That Rock sock yarn!!! Oh can you imagine? I don't even have ONE skein of that. This girl has no less than a gazillion. Ok so I exaggerate but in looking at her blog, its a heck of a lot of STR yarn. And Lornas. And oh, the sock yarn is abundant. One day I will have a sock yarn stash like that. Not that mine isn't impressive. But when I was considering knitting socks, I bought a lot of sock yarn that I probably wouldn't buy now. And its sitting in my stash just marinading but I'm not sure I see working it up any time soon. I bought a lot of worsted because I thought that knitting socks on "regular" sock yarn would suck. I like it better. Shhhhhh, don't tell the worsted sock yarn because it is awfully pretty and maybe someday when I'm wanting a quick knit, I will whip it out and knit something up. But....The Loopy Ewe is in my sights. I am trying to control myself. Last time I did a ridiculous order...remember? This time, I will try to contain myself, but you know I have to order at least $75 so that I can get free shipping. Its very frugal of me to do that, you know. Not selfish at all. Besides, I have to order some to make my socks for my pal and get her some sock yarn to make the Cookie pattern that I buy for her. There is three items right there.

In Sockapalooza news....I have heard nothing from my pal that I knit for. That kinda stinks :( I hope she liked her socks and goodies. Maybe she is super busy and will post or email later. I also signed up to be a sock savior! Hopefully no one gets bailed on to need one, but I'm ready and waiting in the wings should there be a need.

More later.... I have a finished sock to show! Just need to take pictures.

Another swap!

2007-08-21T09:53:00.001-05:00

I am in a horribly somber mood today, so I will apologize ahead of time.

I had so much fun with sockapalooza......I joined the Monkey Sock Swap 3! Sign ups are still going on, but you only have until 8/31, so get your little butts over there and sign on up! It is guaranteed to be a blast.

Without any further ado (and because I don't feel like being peppy anymore) here is my questionnaire!

Monkey Sock Swap THREE Questionnaire

The basics:
Do you consider yourself a beginning sock knitter, an intermediate, or have you been doing this so long you could probably knit a pair in your sleep? I cannot consider myself a beginner anymore, so as scary as it might sound I think intermediate is what I would be.

The measurements:

Shoe Size: 7
Foot circumference: 8.5 at the ball of my foot

Foot length: 8.75

Yarn Preferences:
What colors do you love? Purple is my favorite, but I am drooling over a yarn that has brown/purple in it and I also love the orange/pink combination. However, my very favorite colors at the moment has to be brown/pink. I don't know why, but everything these days must be a combination of those colors.

Do you prefer solids or variegated? No real preference, I guess variegated is more interesting, but if you have a nice pattern to a sock, it should be solid to show it off probably.

Do you prefer wool, cotton or acrylic yarn? Wool or cotton for me.

What colors would you never wear? Cant think of a one!

What are your favorite brands of yarn? Louet gems, Collinette Jitterbug, the apple laine I got from my sock pal is fantastic, Lorna's laces, Claudia.

Are there any new brands you would like to try? Koigu, Duets sock yarn (I totally missed out on the cowgirl colorway that The Loopy Ewe had listed and I am heartbroken!

Cookie A. Patterns:
Which of her patterns have you already knit? Monkeys of course, and the pattern that she did on Knitty Gritty.

Which pattern(s) would you like to knit and don’t already own? I have been drooling over the Twisted Flower pattern for entirely too long. I also do not have Flicker, German Stocking, and Millicent.

Other pertinent information:

Would you be willing to have an international Monkey Pal or do you prefer one in the US? I would prefer US, just for shipping reasons.

Do you have any allergies? No

Will your knitting be exposed to smoke or animals? No

Are you on Ravelry yet? If you don’t mind having new friends, what is your Ravelry name? Talk about depressing.

You are #23563 on the list.
13735 people are ahead of you in line.
3838 people are behind you in line.
34% of the list has been invited so far

A whole lotta knitting goin' on

2007-08-20T16:47:00.000-05:00

So there has been knitting.....and you know it has been sock knitting for me. But.....this is a la my darlin' hubby.

I will be back...with picture of a finished sock from me!! Had to share, because I'm so proud of my sweetie!!!!!!!!

Sockapalooza!

2007-08-15T15:31:00.000-05:00

It has been said before. But....I am correct when I say that I have the BEST Sockapalooza pal ever!!! These are my socks!!

Are they not the most wonderful things you have ever seen? I love them! LOVE LOVE LOVE THEM!!

Stats: They are "Periwinkle Socks" (available for free on the Crystal Palace website). They are knitted in Crystal Palace Panda Cotton in the Strawberries-limes colorway.

They fit perfectly! And included in my package was this....

A lovely note from my sock pal, three different kinds of wool wash, what little left over sock yarn she had for "darning purposes", some adorable post it notes, a really cute retractable tape measure, and the most fantastic sock yarn I could imagine!!! Just look at it....

Apple Laine sock yarn in the Funny Girl colorway!!!

I am the luckiest sock pal ever.

Thank you Manda!!!!

A tale of a sock

2007-08-13T09:37:00.000-05:00

Ahhhh the story of the sockapalooza socks. What a tale it is.

Here is where I was......looking as if I might make it on time!!

Certainly I could make it!! I was excited. Rounding the heel....starting the 50 rows leading to the start of the toe. Sweet anticipation.

Then suddenly.....I realized.

Here is where I was.......and I had 50 more rows total to go. And here is what I saw when I looked at my yarn.

Surely this was a joke. No way I was going to get 50 rows out of that bit of yarn. This was not acceptable. Quickly emailed my pal, hey the socks are a gonna be a little late but don't worry I'm not ditching you (so I'm paraphrasing). And I start calling my LYS in the area.

Got any Collinette Jitterbug in Blue Parrot? No. No. No. And finally, another No.

So....I ordered some on line and got it in the mail three days later. Now we are a week late on the date to send out the socks.

Yarn received on Thursday, knitting done on Sunday (I had "family issues" on Friday and Saturday, of course, it figures. When it rains....). And so....here is the status o' the diamondbacks.

They are freakishly long on me. I sure hope my sock pal's feet are way bigger than mine. Her foot measures a good 3/4 inch longer than mine, so I made the socks as such. And the heel was a little longer than needed for mine. I'm worried that these will be a flop, but lets think positive and say that they will fit perfect!

Next issue....can you see where I joined the new yarn? I was worried about the hand dyed yarn not matching but it looks (to me) like you can't tell. I am hoping again that this has worked out in my favor.

Here is the pattern on the back of the sock. Its soooo pretty. I love it!!!

Here they are, all snuggled up in their sock ball band. I'd hide her name, but hey she will get them in a matter of days and I doubt she will track down my blog and find her socks before then. (Fingers crossed)

Here are the goodies that I sent along with her socks. The ball band for the free jitterbug pattern and washing instructions. The socks (duh!), a sheep measuring tape (everyone needs one, mine is black as is appropriate for me being the black sheep all the way around), two balls of sock yarn with some bright colors and blues, and a gift certificate for an official sockpalooza 4 bag. And then, all of that got settled into this.

I made her a bag, a blue bag of course (man she is going to be sick of blue) and pretty lime green contrasting fabric because I thought it was pretty. All of this in an effort to make her forgive me for being late, and forgetting that I could very well be a sockapal-loser.

I hope you love them sock pal :)

Next time....MY SOCKAPALOOZA SOCKS!! I <3 my sock pal........

So its been a while....just a quickie

2007-08-06T17:12:00.000-05:00

This rating was determined based on the presence of the following words:

porn (2x)
sex (1x)

Now that....is funny.

I'll be back....soon with updates and FOs!!!

One down.....

2007-06-26T16:59:00.001-05:00

Well here it is. The completed Diamondback. What do you think? It is freakishly huge on me, but its ok cause my sock pal has feet one inch longer than mine. Hopefully they will fit her. I wish I could have her try it on. I am concerned I won't have enough yarn. Oh that will upset me.

Think she will like them? That is the best pic I could get of the back. The toe seems really pointy to me. But, it may just be me.

I have decided to make monkeys for my mommy friend. Here were the yarn choices.

I polled some friends and they all agreed that the multicoloreds were the way to go. So now I will start my first pair for the Summer of Socks......Monkeys. My mommy friend deserves only the best, and Cookie A. is the best.

I miss my knitting mommy friend.

Here she is!

2007-06-25T08:35:00.000-05:00

The booga.....

I wish this represented the true colors. But, alas it doesn't. The brown looking stripes are really a mossy green. The pink isn't so bright, neither is the purple. Its way more muted than this picture shows.

I LOVE IT!! Chris wants to make me one double the size. He too was disappointed at how small it turned out. I still love it nonetheless.

I am making myself start some new socks today for the Summer of Socks. My blog reader is super cool, I loved checking out her site. You should check it out too! I am already realizing that in no way, shape, or form would I ever win the "most socks" contest. There is a person with already two pairs finished. I wish I got that much time to knit!!!!!!

In addition to starting some new socks, so that I will have progress to show, I have got to get my first Sockapalooza sock done. Its been sitting on my needles probably wondering why it has been neglected. I wanted so badly to finish a project so my booga took priority. I will now make myself work several rows a day on my pal's sock. Want to get it done. I have until August 2nd, but the longer I procrastonate, the more likely I am to push it to the deadline. I refuse. And, if that is hanging around on my 2s, its harder for me to start more socks for the SOS. See, I'm finding motivation. I also got some from a mommy friend. She made Wyatt the CUTEST wall hanging with a frog on it. So now she gets socks as a thank you. Those pop to the top of the list!

Next time....a finished Diamondback!!!

The Booga Boogie

2007-06-21T15:06:00.000-05:00

Well, I finished the booga last night. I have no pictures because I am a dork and forgot to take pre-felting pictures. Right now, it is upside down blocking on a box. It is soooooo pretty. I heart felting now. After my last felting fiasco, I am so glad that this turned out well. It will dry in 1-2 days and I can put the I-cord in and take pictures!!

I am up to the toe on the first diamondback sock. Its been slow going because the past three weeks have been insanely crazy. Too much going on. The kids are out of school. Need I say more?

Wyatt has two teeth, is sitting up by himself, and is really freaking me out by attempting to get up on his hands and knees to crawl. Not cool. My baby is disappearing before my eyes.

I joined the summer of socks and I have plenty of friends who have requested them. I hope to get caught up on the plunge this summer. I also have a gazillion pregnant friends who need baby knits. I AM STOKED!!! So far we have one we aren't sure the sex of (she didn't find out, how crazy), two girls, and three more that are unknown yet because they aren't far enough along. I love babies. Gives me baby fever.

Ok, no pics, I am a loser. But in the next day or two there will be picks, there will be knitting content to show off and discuss. I have socks to start, socks to finish, a booga to enjoy, and I even started on a summer top. I'm such a knitting ho.

What I have been up to

2007-06-07T12:45:00.000-05:00

It has been a while!!! Sooooo sorry :(

Chris made me a swift. And he bought me a ball winder!! I've been busy winding.

I've been knitting too.

Sockapalooza sock 1 nearing completion!!! Like the pattern? I'll take one in better light soon.

And.....the oh so late booga!

I love it!!!

I am behind with the plunge, darn it!

I have so much baby knitting to do all of a sudden!!! Five preggo friends including my awesome knitting mommy pal!! I'm so excited!!!!

And, I made something for a mommy friend, but failed to take a pic. I mailed it off today, so maybe she will take pics of it being used!

The one where there is yarny goodness

2007-05-24T11:52:00.000-05:00

Yarn porn, Yarn porn!!!!

Courtesy of......The Loopy Ewe. Ohhhhhh anticipation. It is so sweet. I ripped the box open to reveal.....this.

And inside that little plastic bag?

THIS! Three........oh three is my favorite number. Oh what is behind that teasingly almost see thru tissue paper?

Lets find out, shall we?

Panda Cotton. Soooooo squishy soft.

I do believe one of these may be Monkeys. And the other....maybe Anestasia.

Louet Gems. Those are for my new Cookie patterns.

Red for this one......indigo for this one.

Another Louet Gems (on the right). For, big shocker here, another Cookie pattern.

And then....Lorna's laces. No clue what this is for. Its just sooooo beautiful I had to have it.

Next month....Knit Picks Options. I am SO excited.

Lets talk about The Loopy Ewe. Order from them. I insist. Along with that order of massively amazingly soft and beautiful yummy delish sock yarn....I got this.

It is a hand written note on my receipt (which I cleverly covered up the total on so that you would not know exactly how embarassingly much I spent on sock yarn) from Sheri along with cute little cards to keep track of my needle stash with and two sample cards of Regia sock yarn. She is a very, very enabling person, that Sheri. Those sock yarns WILL be on my next Loopy order.

I have no pictures, but rest assured my friends that there is very good progress on the sockapalooza socks. I will be taking pictures soon to share. I still love them, maybe even more so than I did before. Yes, I am in sock yarn heaven.

The one where I am in love

2007-05-20T09:47:00.000-05:00

This.....is what I have been working on. See me and my messy desk? There is enough space cleared off for my kick butt Jitterbug sock yarn, my SIP, needles, pattern, and pen. Otherwise, its a disaster area. And I just cleaned it off!! Anyway, these are the Seize Diamondbacks for my sockapalooza pal.

Here is an up close view. Beautiful blue yarn. Beautiful SIP. I am IN LOVE!!!!!! This pattern is fantastic, and believe it or not, I would call this a very quick knit. I just cast on last night, before we went to dinner, got the ribbing done (can I just mention this quick little opinion......1x1 rib is evil. I hate it.), and this morning I started the pattern part of the sock. It is amazing, I love it, I love it, and in case I haven't mentioned. I <3 it.

Sure am glad I picked myself up my own Jitterbug yarn to make me some :) A few things to say. Jitterbug yarn. Knit with it. A lot. I LOVE IT!!!!!!! Its so soft and way fun to knit with. Minus the 1x1 rib. As far as the Diamondbacks. Buy the pattern. Make lots of copies because you will make many pairs of socks and if you write on your patterns like I do, you will want fresh copies for your next pairs. I can't say enough about this pattern. Seriously. Buy it. And encourage others to also. They will love you for it.

Moving on.....this is going around the net like crazy, so I figured I'd put it in here too. It will be a neat reference a year from now to see how much I have progressed.

Here's the key: Bold for stuff I've done, italics for stuff I plan to do one day, and normal for stuff I'm not planning on doing.

Afghan/Blanket (baby sized) (though, in progress)
I-cord (will do on the booga)
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn (HUH?)
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting (modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Continental knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Knitting to make money
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dyeing with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cozies…) (just joined a dishcloth KAL!)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn (Maddie got me some for Mother's Day!)
Knitting with DPNs
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dyeing yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener
BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Baby items
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm warmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair (Seriously, someone has to be kidding)
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

Boy I have much to do :)

And just because I can't resist showing this adorable little face. I <3 him too.....way more than to socks, though. A lot of bloggers have their kitties....I have my Wyatt.

Oh yeah....a look ahead. I will have yarn porn. And lots of it. Hopefully by Tuesday or Wednesday. Check back. You will be jealous. I CAN'T WAIT TO SHOW IT OFF!!

The one where I get tagged

2007-05-18T13:49:00.001-05:00

I got tagged!! I was a tagging virgin until now. My awesome mommy/knitting friend tagged me. She apologized. It was really cute, but I am not at all wigged out. I think meme's are fun!!!! So here we go.

Here are the rules:
Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those tagged need to write in their blogs 7 facts, as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag seven others and list their names on your blog. You have to leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they have been tagged and need to read your blog.

7 Random Facts about me

1) I have been crocheting since I was little. Like weeeee little. My mom taught me. I don't like it as much as knitting, but I can do it.

2) My husband and I met at a truck pull. Seriously, there is such a thing as a truck pull and there was a time that we frequented them. Yep, redneck central up in my house.

3) I have a huge phobia of meeting people for the first time. I am always afraid that I won't know what to talk about or will look stupid to them. Thusly, I don't do well in large crowds. Especially if it is a large crowd of people that I don't know well. By large, I mean more than three people all together. I totally wig out.

4) You can't make me eat a carrot, I just won't do it. Just thinking of eating a carrot or squash....it makes me queasy. YUCK!

5) I passed the real estate licensing exam when I was 18 years old.

6) I type 110 words per minute.

7) The only way I eat peas is a) Leseur peas and b) they have to be mixed in my mashed potatoes. Otherwise, won't touch a pea.

Now....do I know seven people to tag? Probably not. I guess it wouldn't be good for me to tag people like Cookie, Stephanie, Kathy, Wendy, or Vickie.....oh well. I'll see who I can come up with and I'll edit later.

I, however, will NOT be posting on knitting progress. Cause I have none. No booga progress, no sock progress, nothing. I've been working and napping as much as I can because Mr. Wyatt is on a strict no sleeping policy these days. I was up with him from 10 last night until 2:30 or 3. Then he was up at 7. I'm sooooooooooooooooo sleepy!

And to my super cool sockapalooza pal....read my comments a few posts back. I answered you, I just didn't see your post until today :(

The one where I jump on the bandwagon

2007-05-15T17:03:00.000-05:00

So I was reading my super way cool knitting mommy friend's blog and saw her yet again doing 10 on Tuesday. This week is of particular interest, so I figure, what the heck. So here we go:

Ten songs that make you sad:

1. That's My Job - Conway Twitty. My dad died when I was ten. This song reminds me of him. I bawl like a baby EVERY time.

2. Hurt - Christina Aguilera. This song says exactly what I would want to say to my dad if ever given the chance.

3. You'll Never Walk Alone - The Righteous Brothers. Jordin sang it on American Idol this year and I just cried and cried. It was amazing.

4. In My Daughter's Eyes - Martina McBride. This song is so amazing, and with three little girls of my own, it truly hits home. My oldest loves that I cry when I hear that song.

5. Go Rest High on the Mountain - Vince Gill. I sang this song at a very close friend's funeral.

6. Love Can Build A Bridge - The Judds. I've often thought of sending this song to my brother one day.

7. God Blessed The Broken Road - Rascal Flatts. This song is definitely for me and my hubby.

8. Baby Girl - Sugarland. One line in there does it every time....."This time I'm gonna make our dreams come true. Well I love you more than anything in the world. Love, Your Baby Girl." I know I feel that way about my mom and I just hope my little girls will always feel that way.

9. You'll Always Be My Baby - Sara Evans. I really believe if you are a daddy's girl, a believer, and/or you have a son, there is NO way this song can leave you unaffected. It's amazing.

10. What Hurts The Most - Rascal Flatts. See #1.

The one where there is #2

2007-05-14T05:57:00.000-05:00

Fuzzy socks. Yummy. They don't match. I didn't even try to make them match. This was my second sock ever, but I had only finished one. So I pulled it back out and I think it was very happy that I did. So the sock started a year ago finally has a mate. It is funny how much my knitting has changed in a year. I learned how to bind off looser (the first sock can be tricky getting on with the tight bind off) and my kitchener has improved. A non-knitter will appreciate these socks!

Obviously Maddie likes them.

Although she has a bit of an unconvential way in appreciating them.

She is strange. A tween. What can you do with them? Apparently make them socks to play with. No, you can't have them. My feet need knitted socks right now Mad. Yours are coming.

And in booga news. This is how far I have gotten. The bottom is done, stitches picked up, and I am on row 5/64. Can I say....I LOVE THIS COLORWAY?!?!?!?!?! Its amazing.

So now, I work on booga, and I start sockapalooza pal socks. Lots to do, and I want to do it all NOW!

Oh.....and I went to Chris' mom's house this weekend. We passed a sheep farm who has a yarn store on premesis, makes sense right? Their sign said open M-Sat 10-5. It was Sat. So we went up to the door, opened it, and stepped inside the door to the most amazing wool heaven EVER. No one was there. I had to leave all of that store unshopped. Talk about disappointing. But I did learn that I can leave yarn behind, unloved, uncuddled, untouched, and not have a heart attack. Only a minor panic attack. MUST. SEE. THAT. STORE.

The one about sock yarn

2007-05-08T08:04:00.000-05:00

This will be a rambling post. I can tell. Its an effort to get my sock yarn thoughts on paper, because obviously I am going to drive myself bonkers until I get it down.

So Cookie A. has all of her awesome patterns, and I am going to purchase five, yes I said five, of them. I want Flicker, Gothic Spire, Mona, Thelonious, and Twisted Flower. Now, that isn't to say I don't want the others. But. The others. They are knee socks, my friends. No knee socks yet. I gotta see how I do with the regular socks first. Knee socks, well, they scare me. But, I want some eventually so I will work up to those. With these patterns, I'm going with the suggested yarn. And I'm getting it from the Loopy Ewe. Free shipping after 75 bucks. Why not? We won't even get started talking about all of her patterns on Knitty. Those are on the must do list also. I'm a Cookie Groupie. I'll admit it now and we can move on.

I have tried Sassy Stripes, and that leads to a discussion on self-striping yarn. I'm kinda over it. I thought I would like it, but these daggone Horcrux socks that I did, really convinced me that I'm over it. The stripes just really mess up any semblance of seeing the pattern. So, note to self. Self-striping yarns are nice, just use them for non-fancy patterned socks. And, don't fall back into the Moda Dea Sassy Stripes trap again.

I have to try Cat Borhdi's Coriolis socks that she did on Knitty Gritty. That uses Austerman Step, one I am DYING to try. But, it is self-striping. I know. But she is so awesome, she takes care of that by double stranding. I love it. No stripes in site. That rocks my world. And, I'll also get to try out two circulars, which I am wanting to do. That will rock!

I am doing an order from knit picks and I am going to hook myself up with some Gloss. That will be interesting. Going to use that for Thermal though. I have three different colors of essentials, but not sure I love it as sock yarn. I also have dancing, parade, and simply stripes from Knit Picks too. None of which I have tried yet. I know, I'm a loser.

I am dying to test out the Jitterbug and the Cherry Tree Hill I just got yesterday. I also want to try out some Lorna's Laces, Koigu, Claudia Handpainted, and Panda Cotton. I have some Opal and Regia in my stash already, just one color of each.

So, that is my feeling on sock yarn. Now I feel more organized in my head.

The one where there are two

2007-05-07T14:01:00.000-05:00

Here are the Horcrux socks, cute baby for effect.

Here is what irritates me. Two rows shy of being perfect matches. Next time I will count rows from the heel. It urks me. To no end.

Chris said they were ugly. Well, he didn't SAY it. But he *said* it.

The shorter sock decided to console the bigger one.

I'm ready to move on.

So I got myself this little goody. WOOOOHOOOO!!!!!!

The first pattern may well be Anniversary Socks by Nancy Bush. This may well make it so that I require Knitting on the Road by Nancy Bush also.

And now.....YARN PORN!

This is for my booga bag! Noro Kureyon #148. Too beautiful. Now my awesome friend and I can start on our KAL.

And this, my friends, is Cherry Tree Hill Super Glitz DK weight, Tropical Storm colorway. Need I say more? Its freaking AWESOME! All those specks? Glitter my friends. Glitter. Glittered socks. I am a princess. Its official.

Colinette Jitterbug, for Seize Diamondbacks. On the left, Lagoon colorway for ME! On the right, Blue Parrot colorway for my super secret sockapalooza pal. Yeah buddy, all the best for her. She likes blue. But not pastel blue. So, I thought this was PERFECT. I will be starting after I purchase the pattern, probably tomorrow!

The one where I'm SO EXCITED!

2007-05-02T05:50:00.000-05:00

Did you see it? Did you read my comments? My sockapalooza pal left me a message. The sneaky one *they* are. Is it a he? Is it a she? Local? Far away? It is so exciting! My Palooza buddy is making ME socks! Isn't that great? If you didn't join, :( but.....this is Sockapalooza 4, so I am SURE there will be more opportunity after this one. In the meantime, watch and see all the fun. I'm so excited. And....I commented to MY pal too! I have to pick a pattern, pick some yarn. I may need help. I want to do THIS pattern cause it is beautiful. But. I'm scared. I'm afraid the magical stuff you need to do to make those diamonds is too tough for me. We'll see. I have until August 2nd. That is plenty of time, right?

Meanwhile back on the farm, I have completed my one Horcrux sock.

I started another one in a solid color because I wanted to see the pattern better. Waiting on yarn for my booga bag.

And just to show off, I will leave you with this picture, cause its pretty. I took that at my MIL's house last spring. Just pulled it off the cam. Talk about procrastination, huh?

The one where there is one

2007-04-25T06:33:00.000-05:00

Well here it is. In all its glory.

First sock done.

Here is the stitch pattern, as best you can see.

Side view.....its so pretty.

I made it a little shorter than I was supposed to. There were two reasons for this. One, I was kind of scared I would run out of yarn. And two, I am so bummed that these are a little big, I just wanted to get them casted off to see if it would work itself out. It didn't. Oh well.

Details

Yarn: Holly Spring Homespun hand dyed by Kathy
Needles: Size 4 DPNs
Pattern: The Knitty Gritty Cookie A. socks

What I loved: I really, really enjoyed knitting this. The pattern for the lace was real simple to memorize so it made my first attempt at lace really fun and easy. And they are Knitty Gritty socks. And even better, Knitty Gritty Cookie A. socks! Need I say more? I didn't think so.

What I will do differently: When I make myself a pair, I will use STR in a lighter color so that it shows the stitches better. That's it. Oh, and I will do one more pattern repeat at least for mine.

And more sock news......I worked on these socks.

The Horcrux socks. Got to the toe on the first one.

And then I remembered these little guys.

See why I joined the 52 pair plunge?

The one where there is a heel

2007-04-18T17:22:00.000-05:00

Welp, now that I have gifted the first felted object to my daughter, I must make one for myself. I hope mine turns out half as beautiful as my way cool Felting Queen friend's did!!!!

Here is what I have been up to since deciding that the fun fur was not for me (although, honestly the more I see it the more I get used to it).

Socks. I love you so.

I just could not wait to get to here.....so that I could do this. (see my Virginia Tech jammies?) But.....why?

Why, why, why? I followed directions. I listened. I even played back Cookie on Tivo repeatedly so I would do it right. Why are you too big?

I still love you. I still have hope. And, just in case you do remain too big after completion, rest assured my beauties, that you will find a good home. I will gift you to a deserving person with big feet. I know a few. I am just not one of them. I hear you if your original intention was to be for one of those big footed lucky people. And I also understand that it would only happen in that way so that I could re-make your beautiful pattern in some Socks That Rock yarn. Oh how I love you so, my beautiful Knitty Gritty Cookie A. socks. You are so on my must do again list. And again. And again. Have I mentioned I love you? Well. I do.

The one where it is done

2007-04-17T08:44:00.000-05:00

First of all.......What in the world is going on these days? Please remember to stop during your day and say a prayer for the vicitims and families of the senseless tragedy at Virginia Tech yesterday. I have no words, there just aren't any that are sufficient.

So.....here it is!! It was still wet in that picture. Kinda looks like a drown rat doesn't it?

Here it is dry, sitting in my glider rocker.

And here it is, beside cute baby for effect.

Maddie loves it, she wants me to make her one. I may give her this one. I'm not loving the fun fur. I have enough left over to make one minus the fun fur, and like my friend said, it was a quick and easy knit!!! She is felting hers today. I can't WAIT to see it. And I'm still waiting for my other friend's hubby to find her camera so that we can see her progress!

I see more felting in my future. I really did enjoy this project. Might have to hook up with the runner up in this KAL. I really wanted to do that bag. I mean if it is this easy, why not?!?!?!

Also........look at this, from Knit Picks.

Oh my. I'm in so much trouble.

The one where I felt

2007-04-16T12:26:00.000-05:00

Well....here is how knitting has been this weekend.

I got to here on my sock. I love it!!! It has started to look much better. Much less wonkiness. My friend was right. Patience, my dear.

And then.....I finished my KAL bag.

I did stripes!! With fun fur thrown in here and again just 'cause.

And so I did this.

And then I reluctantly put my little friend in his felting vessel.

And then I stood there for ten minutes with the bag about here.....

And then I closed my eyes and dropped the little guy in the hot water.

I checked it about five minutes ago and I shreeked....IT FELTED!! Well no duh, huh? I don't know why I was shocked. But I was none the less. So it rinsed. And when done......I will have my very first felted bag.

Alert the media.

The one where I'm unsure

2007-04-13T11:55:00.000-05:00

Well, here is my progress on the piggies.

I think its a pretty interesting color. Hope it shows up all this lace I'm fussing with. You won't believe what I did. I went to start another round, was paying no attention, grabbed a needle and......it was a working needle. Yanked the dang thing right out. On a lace pattern too. I picked them up, but we'll see how it does. I refuse to frog.

So here is two pattern repeats. Its a really pretty pattern. I just hope I'm doing it justice. This is why I'm concerned.

Left side.....

Right side.....Right side appears a bit wonky to me. The left side looks fine. What in the crap is that about? Oh well. Maybe I'm just being paranoid.

I like the back. At least I know I can knit in stockingette pretty effectively.

So....is it just me? Does it look ok? I know the pics are blurry. Maybe I'll be happier after more than two pattern repeats. I sure hope Cookie isn't reading my blog (As if, huh?). She would be embarassed for me.

The one where there is a toe

2007-04-12T18:55:00.000-05:00

You are looking at the 92nd member of the 52 pair plunge knit along! I'M SO FREAKING EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So in honor of this accomplishment, I give you the following.

I did this last night.

Sans ball winder. I was SO proud of myself for creating my very own center pull ball without a ball winder. All I needed was a pill bottle, my knees, and my yarn. Pretty crafty, if I do say so myself.

My sheep seemed to like the new ball.

So then I started knitting. And I knitted what I thought was a toe. I sat it down last night, went to bed, and then this morning I picked it back up. Luckily at some point, I realized that what I had was not a toe at all. I was doing the increases all wrong. (Notice a pattern with me and my increase issues??) So, this is what my needles looked like this morning.

So I sat down, TIVO remote in hand and I watched the knitty gritty episode with Cookie. I watched her do it, then I casted on....Tivo on pause....then she knitted the first row....Tivo on pause while I knitted my first row.....you get the idea. So....this is what I have now.

I give you.......my very first toe a la toe up socks!!

Not too shabby, huh? On to the lace. I'm scared. But I am woman.....I will knit....and I won't be afraid.

Meanwhile.....back on the farm. This is the newest development in my house. 21 baby chicks. I'm a redneck.

The one where I put the brakes on

2007-04-10T07:49:00.000-05:00

Ok so my mommies haven't started yet. Oops.
So I'll hold until they get their yarn and catch up :)

This is what I have been occupying my time with. Things that I am wanting to put on my "to do" list:

"Thermal" from Knitty's Winter 2006 edition.

It is knitted in Knit Pick's Gloss
which is a fairly inexpensive yarn (I love Knit Picks!). I can make the sweater for about $32. Check......add that baby to the list.

And speaking of Gloss yarn, I must have an extra hank for these little beauties!

A free pattern download from Knit Picks. Aren't they the sweetest things you have ever seen???

I am also 100% in love with this pattern. I've never done lace though.... I can't figure out if I would be tackling too much to try it or not. But again, the yarn for this is inexpensive. Another project for less than $10!!

Also, Knit Picks has this new yarn for the summer and I want to do this pattern.

The Sexy Knitter's Club has a KAL going for it right now. People are whipping right through this sweater! And, again. Inexpensive project, it would cost me less than $15!

And of course, when you order from anywhere, gotta throw in the obligatory sock yarn. After all, I did e-mail to join the 52 pair plunge, but haven't heard back yet. What was I thinking? 52 pairs of socks by April 1, 2008? It will be fun trying!

Ok so there ya go. What I've been doing this morning, instead of working. Better get my butt to it, if I want to put in a big ole Knit Picks order. Maybe I can even throw in the Options for being such a good girl. I think I deserve it!!!

The one where the KAL starts

2007-04-09T15:15:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure how my mommies are doing on their bags, but.....I have obviously started.

I am to the point where I am putting brown stripes, with fun fur mixed in for....well, fun! We'll see how it looks.

I think this will be a quick knit, probably because of the big needles. But, I did make one boo boo. See?

I didn't fully catch on with the "make one and knit through the back loop" and this is what you get when you don't listen. Yikes. It will be ok though, I think I can fix it with some minor surgery pre-felting.

Don't I make a big mess when I knit??? I know its blurry because of the sun, but wow, no wonder people hate when I knit.

And now, just for some things I want to get off my chest. All this hype is getting me down so.....

a) I'm sick of hearing about Anna Nicole. Although, that being said, I'm dying to know who daddy is. My husband said it was him. Without a moment's hesitation, I said "GOD I HOPE SO!" I can use the money.

b) Sanjaya. Go away. You are really starting to tick me off.

c) Heather. I want you to go away too. You look ugly in green.

Ok that's it. I can't wait to see the progress on the other bags in the KAL. YAY!!!!

The one where I show lack of progress

2007-04-06T14:08:00.000-05:00

This is how far I've gotten.

I have decided on the yarn, realized that my size 4 needles are occupied on two other projects, so one of them is gonna get put on hold. I just can't find the one I want to hold! That is how you know you have WAY too many WIPs.

The yarn is from Holly Spring Homespun, my LYS. The color is black cherries and blue berries. I sooooo love this yarn :) Its yummy soft and knits up quick. I can't wait to start my socks!!

Can someone send a message to my hubby and all of the kids that mommy time is important? Maybe this weekend!!

The one where I get brave

2007-04-04T17:00:00.000-05:00

I'm going to do it. Yep, you heard me right. I'm going to try it. Toe up socks. I watched knitty gritty today, and Cookie A. was on doing one of her patterns. I must do it. She made it look too easy not to.

When I fail trying to cast on the figure 8 cast on, I am going to do my KAL bag.

Wish me luck.

The one where I restart

2007-04-03T07:38:00.000-05:00

Ok....so its been a LONG time. But come one. I've been enjoying this.......

Wyatt Eugene. Isn't he the cutest thing ever? I think so.

Anyway, I have lots going on. I am working on this...

Its a gift for my friend who is having her baby in three weeks. The hat is done. The blanket isn't. I am only 1/3 of the way done. Oops.

And, I have been working on these.
Remember how I said I never made my socks to match? Well look! Can you see it? OMG they match!! I'm so proud!!! It wasn't hard, really. I can't wait to see them both done. And, I casted on for both of them to avoid one sock-itis. We'll see if I now end up with two non completed socks. I hope not.

They are Horcrux Socks! Susan did them as a sock knit a long, kind of a mystery sock deal. Here is where the tutorial begins!

And alas.....the reason that I am starting over on the blog. I now have a KAL in progress with some mommy friends!! Yay! We are doing a felted bag. Here is my yarn.

The main color will be the beigy color, with the dark brown probably around the top. I'm thinking of tossing in some fun fur in there randomly just to add some interest. We'll see how it goes. I'm waiting to start, cause one of our mommy friends is waiting on her yarn from knit picks. I can't wait to see how different each bag turns out!

Ok so there's the scoop! I have another sweater that I have the yarn for that I MUST do....and I am purchasing yarn for this too. I have to, cause the yarn is only 3.99 on sale at Webs!! I'm such a loser.

And hey, can't forget. Thanks to my way cool mommy friend for creating a blog and getting me off my butt to restart mine. You rock!

The one where I admit it

2006-12-05T08:03:00.000-05:00

Ok, I know. I admit it. I'm a loser. Look at it. Just look! The 21st of November. Hello, today is the FIFTH of December. What a slack butt I am. I have already failed in my "I will blog regularly" promise. Geez. Oh well, move on.

Thanksgiving flew by pretty quickly, then it was a doc visit, and a week of you know what with contractions, contractions, contractions. Contractions that are doing NOTHING. Whatever that is all about.

I started a hat. Not just any hat. A cabled hat. Irish Hiking Hat, Version 2. Why version 2? I dunno, just cause. I had some brown Lion Brand laying around and I figured I'd made DH a hat. So, I started it. I'm not enjoying it like I thought I would. I think its cause I'm scared of the cables. They aren't hard. Just sound scary I think. We'll see how it turns out. I've done several cable repeats so far and they look good I guess. You never can tell with brown. I'm never happy with anything until I finish it so I am sure it will be ok. I have little faith in my cabling abilities obviously ;) Super easy pattern to follow though, so again its a knitter issue.

I also still have 92342934723423 sock patterns that I want to do. Two of my KALs just posted their December/January patterns. TOOOOOOOOO CUTE!!!!! And DD wants a pair of socks. I really have to finish hers that I started!! My neighbor's socks? FROG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ripped 'em right out. Yeah. Ugly color yarn. What was I thinking? I have a new pattern with a thicker gauge yarn for her picked out now. We'll see what they end up looking like. The pattern looks super simple. I also need to make a pair for my mom. Now that I am off bed rest, I am going to take my bag o sock yarn and head into the living room for some new scenery and knitting. It doesn't look like I'll be birthing a baby any time soon. Tonight is a full moon though, so hopefully..........

The one where I talk about the knitting that I haven't done!

2006-11-21T12:44:00.000-05:00

Did you see Knitty Gritty yesterday? They did the cutest little felted purse! I want to do it. It has swiss darning involved, though. I wonder if that is really as easy as she made it look. I've never felted either. I would probably have to make the purse a little bigger. I just never can see the point of a small purse.

I haven't been knitting because yesterday I had a docs appointment. He said baby could come any time! Cool beans, but that means no socks are gonna get finished if he comes early! Oh well, just means I will have to knit while he is napping! I'll get into the flow of things I imagine. Then I found out that work is way behind. I used to be glad that it was so busy because it kept me occupied for the endless weeks of bedrest. Well how am I to knit if I have to work? Don't you hate when real life interferes with knitting? :) But.........the more I work, the more money I have, the more money I have, the more yarn I can buy!!! YAY!!!

The one where I start

2006-11-19T14:03:00.000-05:00

So here it is. My official attempt at a blog. I have NO clue what I am doing, so keep the expectations low, please. At least for a while. I hate when bloggers don't blog often (ok so I'm addicted to reading blogs, sue me), so I will promise to try to blog regularly. If anyone reads. Oh well, if not, I'll have a nice little diary documenting all of my knitting escapades. For now, I'll shoot up some pics of stuff I have done so far. Don't look for WIP pics any time soon. The camera is packed in the "off to the hospital baby bag" and I refuse to bring it out because I don't want to be birthing a baby minus my camera :) So, here goes. The stuff that I have photos of that I have knitted recently (or not so recently).

My first socks!

Too cute huh? Well, I think so. They were knitted with hand-dyed yarn from my LYS. (I just loooooooove her dyed yarn!! Check this out.) Knitted on size 5 needles, I used Kathy's pattern called "Simpley Socks." And I finished them both! (You will see that I do have a big case of one sock-itis). If you search her blog, she has a great instructional KAL to help if you have never knit socks!

Another pair of socks in progress......and this is where you will see my problem begins.

Yep, just one finished. That sucks. The other one is completed down to the heel, and I just cannot make myself pick them back up. I last worked on them on my honeymoon (hey, we had a long drive!). That was in January, 2006. They are in Moda Dea Sassy Stripes with the top in Rasberry Lion Brand Fun Fur. Size 2 needles (therein lies my problem). They are VERY warm and comfy. Well, at least this one is.

I am now bothered by the fact that I did not even remotely try to "match" the second sock. Apparently, I am the only one on the planet not worried about my socks not being identical! That sucks, too. Now its going to drive me crazy. I refuse to frog the mate. I will just have non-matching socks. Its a "design feature."

Almost Argyle pattern, by Susan Lawrence (if you haven't checked out her blog, do it! Love her!) These are a little further along than in this picture; however, they will be frogged I am afraid. Not that its a bad pattern, I'm just a bad knitter who can't figure out how to get it to look right! Love the pattern and the socks are cute as all get out, I just need a little more experience under my belt first I guess. Knit on size 2 needles (see, told you the size 2 is my downfall), Knit Picks Essential, pumpkin color.

Finished.....Christmas presents for my girls for last year. I can't take credit for these all by myself, hubby did help me! Yep, he knits too. Or at least he did. I'm sure when things calm down here, we'll both get back into the swing of things.

And here I am:

Knitting this
little beauty....

Its the Bobble Snuggle pattern by Kathy at my LYS. Scroll through her blog here (Tuesday 29 November, 2005 blog post), and you can see it on. Too cute. I knitted three obligatory scarves when I started knitting a little over a year ago, and then I did three more for my kid's teachers. Not even a thank you note! Good thing we don't knit and give for the glory. I also made myself a pair of fingerless gloves, and a pair for my mom for Christmas. Made my sister a pair of anklet socks for Christmas and a pair of fingerless gloves. I can't believe it would be time to start (HA! Should have been, more like it) knitting for Christmas presents again. Not gonna happen this year, baby takes priority. No deadline knitting for this chick :)

I also completed a beautiful Dale of Norway sweater, but failed to take a picture before I packed it away. I have the yarn for two more DON sweaters also, I assume those will get started after the baby is born and when its cold enough to knit with Ara again. Also currently on the needles, but away for post baby knitting, this beautiful Lily Chin pattern (first picture). I'm almost done with it really. Did the front, the back, and I have either a sleeve or that very top peekaboo part on the needles. Quickly to follow those, with the yarn just waiting are these patterns: Sweater girl, Sleeved poncho and bolero in Nolita (1st and 3rd pictures).

I know, my stash is insane. I so need to go on a yarn diet. I guess I technically am, its not like I have purchased recently. Right now, I am knee deep in a sock obsession. And this is my WIP for my middle daughter. Size 3 needles, simple stripes yarn from Knit Picks. And.....I am going to start my Wyatt socks. Those are going to be the socks that I finish out my next 13 days of bedrest with. I don't know what pattern I am going to use, I am overwhelmed with sock patterns and I want to do them all. But, hopefully having all these patterns in the queue will help me knock down my sock yarn stash. We won't even go there. Not today at least. Shortly, I will be starting my first toe up socks! I joined a cool new KAL and I can't wait to get started. They look like a pretty cool group of people.

So that brings us up to date. I promise, it wont be this long and boring every time I blog. Just had to bring us all to the same playing field.