done with you

it seems a bit anti climatic now.   i am not sure what i was working on the last couple of weeks that prevented sharing of the FO's.  but it did.

the ridge cowl, purl soho

the cowl that never ends is DONE!  though i would have liked to have put it in a tub of soak to "bloom", my sweet friend was extremely anxious to have it keep her neck warm in the mornings.  so i let her.  and she loves it. she keeps it in her bag so she can whip it out at any given moment in order to wear it.  and i have to say, it looks great on her...

she wears it with a little more sass then in this picture, makes it a little more of her own.  however it is worn, it looks great and i am really pleased with how it came out.  the yarn is very light but warm and gives the cowl a lot of movement.  whenever she wears it i am  amazed at how great it looks.  but i will never make another one.

maybe i should qualify that by saying i love the pattern and i love the yarn, but i will never put them together again.  ever.

berroco foilo yarn, pearl and mount desert

the pattern called for a bulky yarn.  and though i like the movement this thinner yarn gives the cowl, i had my challenges with the yarn and the pattern as a unit.  i think if the yarn had been bulky the stitch pattern would have been easier to read and i would have been able to keep track better.  yet this yarn is so lovely!  lovely to work with and even lovelier to wear.  i still have a ball of each color way left over and i can't wait to figure out what i should use them for.

still, the cowl is done, my sweet friend loves it and i can move on to other knitting.

which i did.

neck and neck with finishing the cowl, i finished the first sock in the pair i am knitting for myself.  it is wonderful and i love it!

zig zag lace sock
colorway, nemo

the last couple of pairs of socks have been for the big guy and the best sister ever.  both pairs were short, sport type socks which means they were basically a few rows of cuff, an immediate heel flap and turn and then the foot of the sock.  just basic knitting.  i had forgotten how i love to knit socks with a lacy pattern.  something with a little interest and design.  especially when knit with a soft, squishy yarn, which makes it even more fun.

the pattern was one size fits all and i was concerned it would be a bit small, but it is really the perfect size.  i have already turned the heel and finished the gusset on the second sock.  which is very exciting since it means it is almost done.  which means i would then have a pair;  which means i can wear them!

the last thing i made was a baby hat.  i don't knit for babies but a friend of ours is having a baby in march and i thought it could use a hat or two.  so this is the first...

baby hat with top knot
sidar snuggly

this was a very quick knit.  it is easy to forget how small people are when they are born which makes their articles of clothing small.  as well as being easy and quick to knit.  hopefully she and the baby will like it.

my gauge was off a smidge on this one so it came out a little bigger than i planned.  i am thinking of knitting another hat that will be smaller.  different pattern, different gauge.

but it won't happen until next week, after the valentine knitting is done!

and i shall name them squishy...

i love knitting socks.  and i love knitting a sock with a little bit of a lace design.  it just makes me happy.

i recently started this...

the pattern is zig-zag lace pedi socks by michele bernstein (sorry, couldn't link the pattern, just the designer).  i thought i wanted a pedi sock for winter pedicures and found this pattern on ravelry.  simple (i can follow the lace chart, which is saying something!), easy to memorize and keep track of.  just enough design to make the sock fun to knit and pretty to look at.  my only challenge is remembering i have to purl in the "knitting row".

though i wanted a pedi sock, i chose to knit the full foot version.  why?  because of this yarn.  i fell in love with the yarn the moment i unwrapped it from its mailing packaging.  what is it?  kells sport from three irish girls, color way, Nemo.  yup.  it is warm and soft and squishy and lovely to work with.  the colors are beautiful and it holds the pattern well.  i rarely work with a sport weight yarn for socks but i could become addicted.  it makes for a much faster knit.  i am almost done with the first sock!  i can't wait to finish them, i want to wear them everyday!!

but, please, don't tell my sweet friend.  she wants me to finish knitting her cowl!

socks, socks, socks, socks...

i now understand why people love to wear hand knit socks. it is like walking on a little slice of heaven that keep feet and toes toasty warm.  there is a strong temptation to wear hand knit socks 24/7, which is good in theory, but.....  how do i know this, because after years of knitting socks for other people, i have finally finished a couple of pairs for me.  yeah. so excited. here are the deets...


the first pair is a short sock, knit from crystal palaces panda cotton print. this yarn is mostly bamboo, some cotton and a touch of elastic.  i came up with the pattern myself, and i am not thrilled with it.  one, the pattern is to big and the yarn is very soft and floppy which makes for a big, soft and  floppy sock.  two, since the sock is big, soft and floppy, it slips and slides on my foot, which is a bit annoying.  i even washed them by machine and threw them into the dryer for a few moments in hopes they would shrink up.  no such luck. they trick me into being semi-fitting, but once i wear them for awhile, turn back into big, soft and floppy.  and, since they are short, my ankles get cold.  but i learned a lot about pattern making, which i will hopefully retain for the next time i decide to punt on a pattern.

i got the yarn during the lys', "last month in existence sale", last summer.  for some irrational and un-explainable reason i thought one 170 yd ball of yarn would be enough yarn for two short socks.  i have no idea what i was thinking because if i had thought about it for more than two seconds, i would have realized this wasn't enough yarn and purchased accordingly.  as it was, i did not realize it wasn't enough yarn until i was rather close to the toe of the first sock.  since i no longer had the lys, i had to find a reasonable facsimile yarn.  to the web i went where jimmy beans had gobs of this yarn for dirt cheap (since it was being discontinued).  so i bought a bunch to make it worth the shipping charges.  unfortunately none of the colors matched what i had previously purchased.  so necessity being the mother of invention, i decided i would make the cuff and toe out of one color with the body of the sock out of the other color.  then i would flip the scheme on the other sock.  i have done this before with very cute results.  except it was better in theory then in reality for this colorway.  not real excited about it.  and though i like the feel of the yarn, it splits...a lot.  which can be a bit of a challenge when k2tog or ssk-ing.  so on the whole, i give these socks a 4 out of 10.


the second pair was on the needles for over two years only because knitting gift projects was more of a priority.  the yarn is a sockpixie merino sock and the colorway is collette.  i have to say, i love this yarn, as i love all of sockpixies yarns.  the colorway was from her french women writers series.  being a huge collette fan, i am thankful i answered the call of the yarn.  the yarn itself is soft and squishy, easy to work with, looks great when washed, durable (read below) and beautifully dyed, even when the colors pool (which i really don't worry about).  i am sorry sockpixie yarns are no longer consistently available, because i am a big fan.


the original plan for this yarn was to knit a pattern from charlene schurchs, sensational knitted socks.  since i had recently completed a 4 stitch pattern, i wanted to expand my horizons to a 6 or more stitch pattern.  so i picked a pattern, cast on, and knitted away.  the 2x2 rib looked GREAT in the colorway, but would lose its spirit once it got to the actual pattern.  so i frogged, picked another pattern and repeated above. i did this about five times, even consciously acknowledging on the fifth try that the 2x2 rib looked great while the pattern fell flat.  after the fifth frog, the light bulb went off...the colorway looks great in a 4 stitch pattern!  duh!!  so i picked a 4 stitch pattern and the socks came to life.


the openwork rib pattern was simple with a touch of yarn-overs for some interest.  plus it was easy to memorize and keep track of so i could take it with me everywhere.

i find that socks knit from this book are a gem.  their construction makes sense, they are easy to knit and the finished product wears well.  if there wasn't an abundance of amazing sock patterns available, i would be quite content to knit every sock pattern out of this book.  i would even consider learning the toe up method...well, not really.

i love these socks and find every excuse to wear them.  and since i am from northern california and can legitimately wear socks with my birkenstock sandals, i show these socks off every chance i get.  yup, being a sock knitter is pretty fun!

hello, hello...

so it's been awhile. life seems to be rushing by and all of a sudden it has been months since i have said hello.

so hello. i have missed you all and it is nice to be here. life has been full and there has been lots of creating, knitting wise, sewing wise, musical make-up wise, but those stories will come out in time.

in the meantime, i will share these...

socks for my sweet friend knit out of sknitches syncopation sock yarn; colorway, seriously.

yes, it is true, the two of us are addicted to the tv show grey's anatomy. because of this i joined ravelry's grey's anatomy knitters group, which led to me finding this yarn. sknitches had done this colorway, which quickly sold out. lucky for the group, sknitches was generously willing to dye another colorway batch, twice. this gave me the opportunity to buy a hank for myself. and when my sweet friend was disappointed because i had one and she didn't, i was able to buy another hank. whew!

so here they are... pattern, super simple short socks by meghann holcomb, found on ravelry. pattern was quick and dirty, but not real fond of the heel. the yarn came from sknitches. wonderful, wonderful, wonderful yarn. lovely to knit with and it wears well. sknitches has amazing colorways so check them out.

that is it for the moment. until next time, take care.

the great information...

in my haste to post about the big guys birthday, i neglected to post the specifics on his birthday socks. so in case you were wondering, let me tell you about them:...

the yarn....lorna's laces - shepherd sock in carmel (a colorway of a few years ago).

the pattern...lonnies sport's socks by rebecca mercier, available for free via ravelry (search patterns for sport or short socks) or at her website, whimsical knitting designs.

the purely subjective opinion....i really like this yarn. i have knit a couple of pairs of socks with this yarn and i love working with it. easy to knit with; the yarn feels great while knitting; looks great even after being frogged or unknit multiple times (important point!); feels great to wear and it wears well. i have laundered the cute husbands pair of socks (same yarn, different colorway), stuck them in the dryer for a moment or two then hung them until they were completely dry and they look great each time. my only dismay about the yarn is i do have a hard time finding it in any of the local LYS' around me so i purchase it online. this yarn was purchased at purl soho in nyc a couple years back.

i equally like this pattern. it is easy to follow, easy to memorize, fun to knit and the finished product looks great. though it can't be seen in the pictures, it is a slip stitch pattern that gives the sock some nice texture and a pleasing visual. it is a good "guy" pattern, though it could work equally well for girls. i was able to adapt it to knitting on two circulars with no problem. on the whole, it is a great pattern and i would use it again. which may not be for awhile since this designer has other interesting to me sock patterns which i would like to try.

so there you have it. if you are looking for a nice sock pattern for a male friend, take a look at this one and definitely take a look at this yarn. in the meantime, the big guy will wear his socks, hopefully in good health!

it was 20 years ago today...

it is cinco de mayo today. the neighborhood mexican restaurants are doing a brisk business and the bored local police are waiting in the wings.

and though i am mexican, this day has a different meaning for me, it is the big guys birthday. and today he is turning 20. a young man no longer in his teens. one who is striving to discover who he is and where he fits into this mosaic of life.

the evening was pretty low key. he wanted pizza for supper and had decided on a white chocolate raspberry cheesecake and raspberry sorbet for desert. not to bad.

and i would like to think his present from me wasn't to bad either. i realized last week i was very close to finally finishing his sporty socks and was excited at the thought he could have them by the weekend. then realized they could be a birthday gift. and so, after months of being on the needle, they are done. and he likes them and thinks they are comfortable! whew!

and though the small bundle that came into the world 20 years ago has grown to big to hold in my arms, he still has the ability to awe me. it has been and continues to be an amazing journey, one which i am honored to be a part of.

finally

the last few weeks have been chaotic. why? because of this...

yes, it is spring musical time again. and once again i am doing makeup. which is really a lot of fun. see the young man with the fake-ish looking facial hair on the far right? i made that beard and moustache so that we could put it on, then take it off, then put it on, then take it off, then put it on and he takes it off onstage. that may not sound bad, but when he is in the midst of changing costumes and i have to get a wig on him as well as the fake facial hair, time is very short! oi! but i wouldn't miss it. my sweet friend gets to play a ditz with a red wig and dance in every number. this is a really big production with lots of singing, dancing and set changes. but it is a great group of high schoolers to be involved with. they are so kind and respectful to each other that it is an honor to be part of it all.

and lest you think there is no knitting...ta da! a few finished items.

first off, after months of knitting (yes i do envy those who can finish a pair of socks over a weekend!) the first finished pair of socks for soldiers socks. these were knit out of knit picks essential sock yarn in buckskin. ok yarn. dont' think i will use it again. it is 13 inches of k2p2 ribbing with 12 inches of knitted feet (counting the toes), but they are done and shipped out to the young man from work who is currently in afghanistan. and to tell you the truth, i miss knitting them. they were the perfect go anywhere, able to be social in any type of setting knit. i mean, how can you go wrong with 13 inches of k2p2 or 12 inches of plain knitting. i am in the midst of swatching the second pair which i hope to knit two at a time a la 2-at-a-time socks. we'll see,

the next finished item is tudora out of kilcarra yarn that i won from cheryl. i was a bit concerned about this yarn, thought it would be a bit un-soft on the neck. that was until i started to work with it. let me tell you, this yarn is wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. i loved working with it. the pattern comes to life with this yarn. the cables pop right out. it is quite lovely. and the pattern is delightful. i was concerned i would fumble it up. but no, i just followed the directions and it came together quite nicely. amazing how that works! except for the buttonhole. i am truly lacking when it comes to knitting buttonholes. thankfully the button covers the buttonhole, so all is good. and my neck is fashionably warm!

now on to the next project. yay!

rhythm of the night

i like the new house. it has a lot of pluses. more pluses then negatives. but one of its negatives is a pretty big negative. for some reason the internet is down more than it is up. and, for me, that is a big negative. mainly because i am an internet junkie. i use it for everything: paying bills, making appointments, coordinating meetings, recipes, reference, reading, learning, connecting and of course, shopping. and so, since i am an internet junkie, i really don’t like that our internet is down most of the time.

though there is an upside. i am getting to sleep at a reasonable hour. i stay up late so i can be on the computer uninterrupted. but since the internet is down, i have no reason to dawdle, so i read a book and go sleep. which isn’t a bad thing.

but the most important thing i have re-discovered without internet is my knitting rhythm. after a frantic fall, on new years evening my knitting rhythm finally clicked into place...make supper, clean the kitchen, do a general pick-up and knit while watching a dvd with my sweet friend. it was a pretty perfect evening. she is finishing up a scarf, i need to knit on my sfs sock 30 min a day and then i knit on my other projects. not a bad rhythm. it suits me just fine. except now i am staying up way to late...knitting!

project info: socks for soldiers out of knit picks essential in buckskin;

knit grrl stripey scarf out of a trendsetter tonalita in raspberry shortcake.

...i walk the line

i am beginning to find my rhythm in the new house. though there are still boxes to be unpacked and there is the daily question of "...have you seen", "...did you check the box in the ...", i am to the point where i can unpack a bit and leave time for knitting, or walking or sewing, or baking.

so when i felt the call to walk on saturday morning, i decided to explore the path across the street that leads to the open space on the hill. and from the hill i could see this...














so i kept walking and walked through these,





walked down this,

looped about and saw this from the another hill. and for you east bay-er's, yes that is mt. diablo in the distance.

not a bad walk for the new neighborhood.

on the knitting front, i have finished one of two socks for soldiers. i am 1.5 inches into 13 inches of 2x2 rib for sock two. i am totally cheating on the xmas knitting. the plan is to finish up my sweet friends ruffle scarf (translation, i have to pick up a total of 594 stitches! yuck!) and to finish up the big guy's second sock. hopefully the plan will work and both of these will be under the tree on christmas morning.

and then there is the new year's resolution to learn to knit 2 socks at a time on a circular needle so it doesn't take me so bloody long to knit socks for soldiers!#! already have the book on the christmas list.

breathe...just breathe

so this is what i have been doing for the last month or so:

first it was the costume sweatshop where nine, count them, nine ranger jackets were made in one afternoon, as well as modifying some of the female gowns. then it was makeup. i am head makeup putter on-er so, with the director, i figure out which characters need what kind of makeup; then i experiment on some of the cast, get the directors feedback and finalize the "look" and what it entails; then we have a training day with the cast, show them what their makeup will look like, explain what it entails and have them run through putting it on themselves; then there are the musical run throughs and dress rehearsals where the makeup gets tweaked because it looks different under the lights and filters; then there are two weekends of performances. all of this around a 40hr + job.

i am a bit beat.

but instead of being able to rest, we get to pack because we are moving. yes moving. in 12 days.

the last few years have been a financial challenge for us and not having all of the expenses of owning a house will hopefully help us regroup. and so we are renters once again. of a house that is 400+ square feet smaller than our current one. which doesn't sound like much but it is. except for the fact it allows us to pare down, simplify, or, in essence, purge ourselves of 15 years worth of "collecting".

the important thing is the new house meets our stringent criteria of being within walking distance of my sweet friend's high school and allowing us to have the bbfd (big black furry dog). all of which i am grateful for, it makes the transition easier.

and so we weed through our various collections and we pack.

but i long to knit. and so i do. something mindless like the socks for soldiers. which fits the criteria of being lots of mindless knitting. thank heavens.

i have finished a couple of things though. the sweet little puffin hat for rachel and ryan's baby boy. made out of crystal palace puffin which is a delight to knit with. and will be very soft for a baby.

and i finished the bath mat designed by vyvyan at fishbone designs. i really like the way it came out. the picture doesn't really do it justice. honest. one of my goals this year was to do some color work. and though this is not really color work, i am color inept so i was a bit concerned how the colors would work together since the majority of this yarn was in my sugar n' cream stash. but it works. and i can't wait to use it in the master bathroom of the new house. oh boy!

rtfm

i finished the big guy's first sock. it came out really well. love the pattern, easy to knit, nice to look at. the sock fits him and he thinks it is comfortable. couldn't ask for much more.

so i was pretty excited to finish it. i knitted down to the needed number of stitches to bind off; kitchenered them up with a book for guidance instead of the usual knitting help dot com video (finally getting the hang of kitchener) and excitedly looked at the finished object as it popped off the needles. that is when i noticed something was amiss. how could it be? the toe seam was vertical to the sock. what!?! took another look, and my first assessment was right, the seam is vertical to the sock instead of horizontal. OI!

now i knit my socks on two circulars. and thanks to cat bordhi's great instructions, i can adapt any dpn pattern to a two circular pattern, no problem. whenever i came to a place that stumped me, out came the book for reference. but i knew what to do for toes so did not consult the book before i finished. which is why the toe seam ended up as it did. this is because each circular needle holds half of the instep stitches and half of the sole stitches. but as cat brodhi instructs in the book, all of the instep stitches need to be put on one needle and all of the sole stitches need to be put on the other needle. that way, the toe seam ends up being horizontal and not vertical. which i would have known had i read all the instructions in the book .

sigh. glad i discovered this now before more socks were needlessly maimed. and double glad that the big guy is a bit quirky so has no problem with the toe seam of his sock going vertical instead of horizontal. it hurts me to even think of it. sigh.

going around in circles

i did not get bit by the spring cleaning bug this past spring. usually i do the annual airing out the house after winter, but not this year. i am making up for it now though. i can not walk into a room in our house without cleaning, weeding out and rearranging things. my family, who does not understand my obsession with a clean house, is nervous. they never know what will greet them when they open a cupboard. oh well.

i also have been reading. granted i am re-reading the hp series, but i am mid-way into book six and cannot put it down. i know what happens. i mean, seriously. but i am gripped none the less and find myself reading a few pages in between chores.

and my sweet friend's fall musical is weeks away from opening. since i am head of makeup, there are workshops to conduct and rehearsals to attend; not to mention the costume sewing.

all of these things i truly enjoy doing. the downside is i have little time for knitting. coupled with the fact i am knitting mostly socks. i love knitting socks but not when it is the only thing i am knitting. so when i came across this rug designed by vyvyan at fishbone designs i went through my sugar 'n cream stash and cast on. but i long for a new shawl but don't want to cast on until i have finished a project, but there are so many other things going on and not enough time to knit and holiday knitting to start. and on and on and on...

if i were a dog trying to lay down, this going around in circles would be fine, but as a knitter it is not fun. sigh. at lease socks are portable!

cue madam dufarge

there is a young man at work, who, at the age of 23 will be starting his second tour of duty in afghanistan at the beginning of the year. this past spring, one of my nephews decided to enlist in the air force after graduating from high school instead of going to college. a former co-worker just informed me her 20 year old son just finished boot camp for the air force. and though i know all of these young men have consciously chosen this path, during wartime it gives me pause for concern.

how can i respect their choice when my view of what their options are is so very different? i knit socks of course. and knit into them all of my good wishes for their continued safety and good health.

while exploring “groups” in ravelry, i came across the group “socks for soldiers”. and though this is a ravelry support group of a much larger yahoo group, it inspired me to look into what it took to knit socks for soldiers. i discovered there is a regulation sock pattern to be knit out of regulation sock yarn out of various regulation sock yarn colors depending on what branch of the military is being knitted for. and you have to join the yahoo group in order to have access to these regulation items. so i joined the group and downloaded all of the various regulation items needed. thankfully knit picks is a big supporter of “socks for soldiers" so provides regulation sock yarn in the various regulation sock yarn colors. yay!

and though i am not really patriotic nor a supporter of the u.s. military machine, i felt the need to support these young men who are putting their lives on the line. and so i sit and knit socks. including them and their counterparts on my sock knitting list is the least i can do.

addendum 1:

the legion of honor sits on a section of lands end, which is a spit of land that overlooks the west side of the golden gate bridge and the pacific ocean. the views from lands end are truly glorious. after visiting the museum, i took a stroll along the eucalyptus lined parking lot just to see what the view would be at the end. little did i know, though d & t may have known, that one can walk from the legion of honor to the cliff house. the cliff house is at the end of geary street, perched on a rocky bluff, overlooking the pacific with waves crashing thunderously on the rocks below. it is really rather beautiful. and the views during this easy stroll were truly spectacular.

between the cliff house and the legion of honor is the uss san francisco memorial. this battleship survived pearl harbor, guadalcanal and some of the fiercest pacific sea battles of world war II. the memorial itself is actual sections of the bombed out bridge after the battle at guadalcanal. it sits on a bluff overlooking the pacific ocean toward the pacific rim it once fought in, surrounded by whispering trees. i sat in this injured bridge and knitted quite a few rows on the sock for the young man from work, hoping that the surviving spirit of this battleship would include itself in this sock and help this young man survive any challenge he may encounter.

addendum 1a:

that friday was a busy day. i went to the museum, did various shopping, then picked up my sweet friend and did various shopping with her. at the end of the day, while juggling various bags filled with various stuff, the bag containing the regulation sock and sock yarn disappeared. i did not notice it until saturday evening when i went to knit some on the sock. i searched all saturday night for it, sure that i had brought it in with the various other bags; i went through our garbage can with a flashlight, just to make sure it wasn't thrown out with one of the various other bags; on sunday, i retraced our steps, checking with the lost and founds of the various stores we had been to (you know you visit a store to much when the ladies at sephora know you and your knitting bags!). nothing. it seemed to be no where. late sunday afternoon, moments before i reached true despair, my cute husband found the knitting bag! it had been stuck under one of his heavy book bags he had placed on the love seat (which i had searched more than once) which had pushed the sock bag in between the cushion and the side. whew. my shining knight. and so the knitting continues.

feel the force, luke

i love knitting socks. this past spring i joined the ravelry socks of summer 08 group. and though i will never be able to finish socks as quickly as some can (how can knitters finish a pair in two days!?), i am having a great time knitting them and being inspired by socks others knit.

when i was taught to pick up stitches, the sock guru who taught me suggested not worrying about picking up the exact number of stitches suggested; she always said if more stitches were picked up then more gusset decreases would need to be done, no big deal; the main objective was not to have gaps along the heel or at the gusset. so when picking up stitches, i am always aware of how many stitches need to be picked up, but I am not locked into that number. i tend to pick up the stitches “by feel” of what is needed.

when I picked up the stitches for my cute husband’s second sock, I discovered I picked up more stitches on the first side then I did on the second. hmmm, interesting; did not think much of it, just kept knitting. after picking up stitches for the pair of sport socks I am knitting the big guy, i counted my stitches and realized I had picked up 10 more stitches on the right side then I did on the left. wow! sort of a big difference. though the second side did not look so bad, my scrupulous eye was able to spot maybe the smallest gap or two, but still nothing to frog over.

but it did make me aware that it would be a good idea to pay a wee bit more attention to the number of stitches i am picking up; that I may actually need to mix a little more logic to the “by feel” way of picking up stitches to make sure the sides were even.

sigh. where is yoda when you need him?

btw, discovered a couple of little gaps at the gusset where a stitch or two would have done wonders. rats.

and in case you are interested: pattern: lonnie's sport socks by rebecca mercier, found on ravelry; yarn: lorna's laces, shepherd striping sock, in caramel or harvest, not sure, from purl, nyc

second sock syndrome

i am not sure if this happens to you, but it happens to the fam and me. we go to a friends house that is miles away, say for thanksgiving supper. it takes F-O-R-E-V-E-R to get there. we spend all day visiting and eating, etc., and climb back in the car for the long drive home. but the drive home seems to zip by and in seemingly no time at all, we are home. it may have taken the same amount of time but it just feels like time zips by.

that is how i feel about knitting socks. today i finished the cute husbands socks. the first sock took F-O-R-E-V-E-R, the second one took seemingly seconds. seconds! the first one was started last october, i think, with hopes of finishing the pair for his birthday at the end of november. this obviously didn't happen. the second one was started about 6 weeks ago. yes i realize i am one of the slowest knitters ever, but this second sock did take a much shorter time. and, to my defense, i did finish a lot of other projects while i was knitting on these. really.

i signed up for the summer of socks 2008 where prizes are being awarded every two weeks for those who finish a pair of socks within the two week parameters. i don't think i will ever be able to enter their contests, because i am such a slow knitter, but i will have a great time trying! next up on the sock knitting needles is a pair of sports socks for the big guy and a pair of leg warmers (mac and me yoga socks) for my sweet friend.

in the meantime, here are the specifics of the socks!
yarn: lorna's laces shepard sock in chocolate, 2 1/4 hank
pattern: broken garter rib from sensational knitted socks, size big!

needles: two circulars, size 2

model: the feet of my cute husband

photographer: me

sunny saturday

today was wwkip day. at one point in time i had high hopes of doing one last hurrah at the LYS for wwkip day. but life has been so crazy and time consuming, it never really came to pass.

instead my sweet friend and i cleaned house for 2.5 hours, give or take, then took off for the beach. not an ocean beach where it is windy, cold and fogged in, but a beach on tomales bay where it is sunny and warm. where we could sit on our cool new beach chairs and soak up plenty of sun and the sound of families playing together. where my sweet friend was able to start reading t's just released book and where i was able to knit on my cute husband's sock to my heart's content.

i love sunny saturday's.

sorry, still no computer; still no pictures. soon, i hope!

5, 6 pick up...

second sock knitting was humming along quite well, and then i came to the picking up stitches part. this place in a sock always makes me pause, hesitate, question my ability. i gave it a try and failed. the stitches looked stretched and abused. i couldn't quite find my rhythm. i blamed it on the terrible lighting making it a challenge to work the dark brown parts of the yarn. so i ripped the stitches out and put the sock away, deciding it was best to pick up stitches during the day. which i did, the very next day. with no problem. figured out the stumbling blocks, found my rhythm and on went the stitches. now if i could just finish the sock by father's day...

sorry, no pictures. our computer is still out of commission.

knit of course

so what does one do when in between check-in's while chaperoning the daughter's h.s. choir trip to santa cruz and the santa cruz beach boardwalk? why, knit of course.

amazing

so this is my 100th post.

it is amazing to me that i have been babbling about knitting and various other things for 100 posts. and that there are people who read these babblings, for which i am forever grateful. i have been inspired, challenged, encouraged and well fed by some amazing cyber friends.

i always thought i would have a celebratory contest for my 100th post but the planning of it is just beyond me at the moment. perhaps by the time i am done babbling on this post, something fun and quirky will arise.

but until then, i think i will babble about what started this blog in the first place, sticks and string...

so i was very sick a few weeks ago. like fevers of over 102 and lying in bed doing nothing for 5 days straight. i was so sick, it hurt my head to knit. and at the time i was in the middle of knitting a garter stitch potholder that will be felted, which is knitting at its easiest. as soon as i could pick up needles again, i finished it. it is knit out of some blue paton's merino and a green cascade 220 i had in my stash. of course i did not want to knit 3 potholders out of the same colors so i purchased another skein of cascade 220 in an deep aqua blue that would complement my two stash yarns. (yes, the yarns in the picture are the same, the color is different because of the lighting, booklyn tweed i am not.) this project got derailed for a bit when my cp size 10 straights began to split at the tip. very annoying. i had already done the sandpaper and wax paper thing to no avail. plus, the needles are a bit short for the amount of yarn that needs to be on them. i thought brittany needles would be the perfect solution. of course the LYS has every size but 10 and none of the other yarn stores in the area carry brittany's. grrr. after much hemming, hawing and gnashing of teeth, i traded the cp needles in for another non-splitting, longer pair of cp's and i am off and knitting once again.

once the potholder was done, i went straight to the cute husband's socks and finished the first one, finally. this is out of lorna lace's shepard sock chocolate stripe colorway. can i tell you how much i love this yarn. i love this yarn. i love the feel of it, the way it stripes, how easy it is to work with, even in a darkened theatre. i cast on the second sock immediately and knit on it whenever i can.

the next item to be finished was the lace capelet out of ry cashsoft baby dk, colorway 502, sweet. it turned out pretty well. when i asked my sweet friend to try it on for size, she did not want to take it off because it was warm and soft. which i took as a good sign. i immediately frogged the boring ruffle scarf also being knit out of cashsoft colorway 517, donkey, to start the second lace capelet. these are for two very dear friends who i usually give the same type of present to. i found the pattern on ravelry and it is quite easy. my personal challenge with it was keeping the correct number of stitches consistent. for some reason, whenever i did the yarn over rows i would either lose a stitch or add a stitch. it was maddening. i frogged the finished capelet down to practically the beginning to correct this, just to have it happen again! i finally decided it was one stitch. it really wasn't going to make that big of difference. and, of course, it all turned out ok in the end.

still on the needles is my sweet friends short ruffle scarf. as you can see, i have picked up the stitches on the short end and added the ruffle, but the long ends has 297 stitches to be picked up which is a daunting task to me. plus, i was expecting the ruffle to be more ruffle-y. since i will also be making this scarf for me, i may experiment with repeating the ruffle pattern. and if i have enough yarn in which to do so. but i need the needles so i better get on with finishing this one.

there are babies. i had never made anything baby so i decided to do hats. the first one was for baby alison, a beautiful and amiable baby at work (i work at the local ymca where there are plenty of staff babies around). much to my sweet friend's chagrin, i decided to knit up the sprout hat pattern by leigh spencer which i found on mag knits. it called for mission falls cotton, which i had never worked with before. i really liked it. i chose colorways 206-peony and 404-indigo. the yarn was easy to work with and lovely when knit up; it complemented the moss stitch well. unfortunately i did not get a picture of the hat before i gave it to baby alison, so here are all the ingredients, you will need to imagine what it looked like. fyi, peony was the dominant color, indigo the accent; picture it in your mind.......ok next.

the second baby hat was for rachael and ryan's baby. they live in the city (s.f.) where the coldest part of the year is coming up, summer, so hat's for a baby are totally appropriate. while doing an east bay yarn store crawl, i mentioned baby hats to the person behind the counter at k2tog. she suggested crystal palace puffin, a bulky polyester fleece ribbon yarn. one ball makes a hat, and she provided the pattern. what more could i ask for? the colorway is dotty circus. and though i was a bit skeptical about the polyester once i started to knit it i was quite pleased. this yarn is so soft and will be so nice for a baby head. and it looks really sweet knit up. can't wait to finish it and give to baby callum.

in the way of yarn, this past januray cheryl had a comment contest on her blog. by lucky circumstance i won a couple of skeins of yarn from it. some beautiful crimson kilcarra in which to make a tudora; and some homespun yarn from craftspun. the original thought was to try my hand at dyeing and dye the homespun, which i would have then shared on the blog. but i am now leaning towards keeping it undyed. it is really lovely but i am not sure what to make. and to be the non-metric american, how long is 250 grams? so i shall see.

and though i have been trying to knit from my stash, temptation is strong, so very strong. so i confess i have been collecting sock yarns. i figure they are relatively inexpensive and one skein equals a pair of socks so it is not like going overboard...is it?

the first sock yarn purchase was via the grey's anatomy knitters group on ravelry. sknitches had a "seriously" colorway. if you are a watcher of grey's anatomy you know the various ways this word gets used. the colorway had sold out but sknitches was willing to dye a special batch for group members if they pre-ordered and pre-paid. score! had to have one! and i love it! seriously. i am hoping to score another one for my sweet friend. she would like legwarmers. we will see what happens.

the second sock yarn purchase was from sockpixie. this woman owned a lovely little yarn store in petaluma, the town above mine. if my LYS was not within walking distance of my home, i would have become a regular in her shop. she offered wonderful classes and beautiful yarns. then her husband was transferred to boston so her yarn store closed. she kept in touch through her blog which morphed into sockpixie, which offered sock patterns, and eventually sock yarn. she and her daughter dye a different colorway selection in various types of sock yarns each week so when the yarn is gone it's gone. this colorway came from the week she was inspired by famous women and named her sock yarn colorways after them. this specific colorway is colette, a writer i met in college, became enamoured with and have read over and over again. so, of course, had to have it; love it; can't wait to knit it up.

whew! i think that is the latest. and i am sorry to say, something quirky is still beyond my reach. perhaps at blog number 150! so stay tuned. many thanks to all of you who amaze and inspire me. it's a lot of fun.

(it is a bit sad that life is so busy this post took three weeks to put together! yeesh!)