Thursday, September 27, 2007
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Just cause
Thursday, September 20, 2007
For the love of the Monkey
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?
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Comedy of errors
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!!!
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Where does time go?
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!!!
Monday, September 03, 2007
I just wonder
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.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Details, details
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!!!
Thursday, August 30, 2007
I have a serious addiction
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.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
How you know you are addicted
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
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Facing reality
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.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
I'm a lucky girl
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.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Another swap!
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
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
Monday, August 20, 2007
A whole lotta knitting goin' on
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Sockapalooza!
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!!!!
Monday, August 13, 2007
A tale of a sock
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 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........
Monday, August 06, 2007
So its been a while....just a quickie
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
One down.....
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.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Here she is!
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!!!
Thursday, June 21, 2007
The Booga Boogie
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.
Thursday, June 07, 2007
What I have been up to
Chris made me a swift. And he bought me a ball winder!! I've been busy winding.
I've been knitting too.
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!














