Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Socks #68

Well the 12th pair this year is not a secret. (Whew! It was getting really boring around here!)



The pattern is one written by Sachi and is Jaywalker-inspired, with Grumperina's permission. She'll be releasing it soon. The yarn is the Opal I won from the 200sox KAL.

Pattern: Simple Chevron Socks
Yarn: Opal - oops, I lost the ball band!
Finished: 2/27/07

I knit these for the "Laissez les bon temps rouler!" theme in Socktopia this month. It translates to "Let the good times roll!" and is a Mardi Gras type theme, and what better for those colors?

I also don't know if I've mentioned it, but I'm doing the Lime n Violet sock marathon, basically the idea is to keep track of the amount of sock yarn you knit. Since I have (had?) a full marathon of sock yarn I figured this was especially appropriate. So far I've knit 2.43 miles of sock yarn since the beginning of the year!

Don't forget! You only have through midnight (Eastern Time) tonight to enter the contest.

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posted by Unknown at 7:03 AM 4 Comments

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

I got my sock exchange socks!

Today I got my package from my Knittyboard sock exchange buddy, String Bean! Along with the beautiful socks she included chocolate, hanging stars, a rock star (heh heh), a swimming ducky toy, and some bath fizzies!



I managed to take a picture of the socks on my feet, but let me tell you it's not easy to do alone!



They fit great! Thanks so much String Bean!

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posted by Unknown at 10:15 AM 5 Comments

Monday, February 26, 2007

No socks here!

I've actually finished two pairs of socks in the last couple of days, but they're both test knits so they can't be shown on the blog just yet. Total is now 67 pairs.

Instead I have some yarny goodness for you! First off, I got my package from a sock yarn swap today and received this lovely Sweet Georgia yarn, along with some chocolate. :) This is especially great because she won't be dyeing for a while and I didn't have any in my stash.



On Sunday I got to try my hand again at spindle spinning. When I first tried I hated the drop spindle, then I bought my wheel. This is the first time I've used a drop spindle since I got my wheel, and I made a nice little skein of yarn:



I also got to ply on a spindle for the first time! The fleece is Shetland. I probably won't be spinning much on a spindle in the future either, but it's nice to know that I can turn out decent yarn.



Remember! You only have through midnight on the 28th (Eastern Time) to enter the contest. If you already answered and would like to change your guess you can do that by deleting your original comment and leaving another, but no changes after the 28th.

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posted by Unknown at 5:27 PM 1 Comments

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

A Secret Project Unveiled

Since Adelle received her package, I can now post about my SSS Swap Sock!

Adelle was the mastermind of this swap, in which you knit one sock and send it along with the yarn and pattern for the second sock to your buddy. In return I will be receiving a single sock sometime soon! The deadline to send is 2/28, but I finished the sock a while ago and couldn't wait to get it out.



Pattern: Oblique Openwork from Sensational Knitted Socks
Yarn: Knit Picks Gloss
Started: 1/29/07
Finished: 2/6/07

I think the socks turned out great, and I enjoyed working with the Knit Picks Gloss, even though I'm usually not a big fan of silk. The pattern is very easy to memorize and made good TV knitting since I didn't have to pay too much attention. I will definitely be knitting the same socks for myself.

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posted by Unknown at 7:01 PM 6 Comments

Monday, February 19, 2007

SP Gifties!

I got a fabulous package from my SP today.

Since Alexis was over I had her take a picture of me with my box.



Then I dug right into the goodies, including this amazing card!




The card is shown HUGE so you can read it. Isn't that the coolest thing ever?

And all the contents:




My SP put so much thought into this package, it's really great. I got my very own cookbook of Norwegian recipes (I studied abroad in Norway during college), a pack of little Almond Joy bars - my favorite! - yummy lemon and lime tea, which looks great, and another skein of Cherry Tree Hill Superglitz to be my "malestress" (that's a male mistress, coined by my supercool pal) - CTHGSY is totally jealous. Plus each item was individually wrapped and said why it was better than a man. :)

And a little closer to that yarn...



Thanks so much pal for my "Sweet & Single" Valentine's box. :D

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posted by Unknown at 7:27 PM 3 Comments

Friday, February 16, 2007

Sock Madness

Have you all heard about Sock Madness?

Well if not go check it out, and if you want in you've gotta sign up quick. :) It's still open, but only until they hit 128, the desired number of participants. It sounds like it's going to be a blast, all those patterns, all together. The blood, the guts, the glory...

What? I'm in it to win!

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posted by Unknown at 10:02 AM 3 Comments

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Secret Cupid

So, first of all, last night did not turn out how I had planned. Shortly after posting I got an IM from a friend suggesting we go out for dinner. So I put on my shoes (really should have worn my snow boots!) and headed out to the North End to meet him. The weather was pretty bad yesterday - lots of snow-ice-rain-slush all day, and everything was so quiet it was really unbelievable. We got right into our favorite pizza place which always has a line and then went out for coffee and dessert at my favorite cafe - there were about 8 people there total!

But getting back to the title of this post and the knitting....

A few of my knitting friends decided to have a little swap for Valentine's Day where we would knit for each other and call it Secret Cupid, and tonight was our reveal party. Let it be known that I already had figured out who my SC was since everyone seems to trust me (no idea why!) and I knew who everyone's pal was!

However, the project she knit for me was still totally unexpected.



Yes, the fab Catherine was my partner and she knit me a star pillow! The yarn is for some Norwegian socks that she also gave me a pattern for.

And she also knit me mittens!




And this is what I gave:



Pattern: Cable Twist
Yarn: Artyarns Supermerino #106

You can see I had a little problem with the colors, one of my three skeins was missing the garnet and had purple instead. But Alexis likes them anyway. :)

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posted by Unknown at 9:25 PM 1 Comments

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Anti-Valentine

I was supposed to go to an Anti-Valentine's Day party tonight with some friends, but one of them is stuck in another state due to the snow/rain/ice we're having so that's off.

I've got the kitties and some test knitting projects to keep me busy tonight, and I ate my STARBAR - different, yet delicious.

But hey, there's hope for me yet!



Listening to: How Soon Is Now? ~ The Smiths, Anywhere With You ~ Saves the Day

posted by Unknown at 11:56 AM 2 Comments

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

The first ever contest!

I keep telling myself I'll have a contest, but then I never do. I was waiting for something significant to happen.

Well it has, this is my 300th post!

So here's the contest:

You will guess when I will finish my 100th pair of socks - obviously I don't yet know the answer, but when the event does occur the person with the closest answer (or a randomly selected winner if more than one person guesses the correct day) will win a pair of socks knit by me! Just leave your guess in the comments with the date that you think I'll complete my 100th pair of socks.

I'll give the winner a few choices of yarn from my stash, or if they don't like any of those they are welcome to provide some of their own yarn and I'll knit it.

So get guessing, the deadline for entries is 2/28.

My current sock count is at 65 completed pairs as of today, and the sidebar is up to date with all socks in progress.

Listening to: Sanzen ~ Dredg, You Vandal ~ Saves the Day

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posted by Unknown at 9:15 AM 44 Comments

Monday, February 12, 2007

Feeling the Love

When I checked the mail today I was amazed by the generosity of my knitting friends. I had not one, but three Valentine packages! These people who hardly know me - most who haven't met me - are sending me little presents in the mail and brightening my day!



This one, from the blogless Zuma, came in a cute little box covered with star stickers!



This one, from Knittyboarder blu roux, came all the way from Canada and included treats for the kitties as well as for me. :D

And last, but certainly not least, a little package from my Knittyboard SP, rockstariel!





A STARBAR! How perfect! I've never heard of these, but I will savor it on Valentine's Day and let you all know how it is. Peanuts and caramel, sounds promising.

And a little random story, just cuz... You may have noticed the card from rockstariel has people reading Plato in Philosophy 1o1.

When I was in high school I attended classes at a local community college and took Philosophy 101, which I really enjoyed. Each day I would take the bus from my high school to the college, and there was a guy who would always be on the same bus, a student from a different school taking the bus to community college. This guy is now my very best friend Brian (he's the guy in the hat in that entry). When we were talking about how we met he mentioned that he remembers his first impression of me was that I must be really smart because I was reading Plato on the bus. :)

Listening to: 3 Libras ~ A Perfect Circle, Death of Seasons ~ A.F.I., Cherub Rock ~ Smashing Pumpkins

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posted by Unknown at 11:48 AM 7 Comments

Sunday, February 11, 2007

All this knitting and so little to show for it...

Well I've been knitting at about the usual rate, but due to a lot of "secret" projects I haven't been able to post pictures.

Here are a few teasers to prove that I really am knitting:







ETA: Nope, no beads in the red one. No idea why it looks like that, it's just lace.

Yup, all socks.

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posted by Unknown at 5:37 PM 4 Comments

Sunday, February 04, 2007

Not Socks!



Hey look at that! That's a hat, knit with less than a skein of Berroco Plush. It's all plain ol' stockinette and it doesn't even roll at the bottom, which is why it's folded up. And it's for a very good cause! Dana Farber is collecting hats for kids with cancer - you can drop them off at A Good Yarn.

The blog might be a bit quiet in the next few days as I'm working on a couple of secret projects - including a little bit of designing...

And now to answer a few reader questions:

LadyLungDoc asks:

I love that colour too - is it an optical illusion that the knitted part looks bluer than the rest, or is that part of the colourway?

The yarn (Jojoland Melody from the last post) is somewhat similar to Trekking in its subtle variegated colors, so yes the knitted part was a bit more blue.

Batty asks:

What size needles are those? They look... tempting!

Mine are size 1. I'm enjoying them, the decoration in the middle of the needles helps keep stitches on there securely while I'm using another needle, but the tips are smooth for easy stitch movement while I'm knitting.

Abigail says:

It looks as if socks will always rule the roost around here...and you said you would diversify this year!!!

Look, a hat!

I know, I know. But with the amount of sock yarn I have, maybe it's better that I'm knitting so many socks...

Listening to: Crawl Away ~ Tool, Look What You've Done ~ Jet

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posted by Unknown at 5:53 PM 2 Comments

Friday, February 02, 2007

Still life with DPNs



Last night in Knittychat I realized that I had 7 socks-in-progress on my desk! (2 pairs and 3 singles) plus yarn for another pair. Now that's a bit out of control! But one of them is the one pictured above, which I just had to start knitting. I've had my DPNs from Celtic Swan for a while now, but I haven't used them yet. I'm a little obsessive about my socks being *exactly* the same, which is why i usually knit them 2 at once using magic loop. However, the sock pictured above is going to be a single - what better opportunity?



I also got this picture of Java enjoying her favorite activity - sitting in my lap while I knit! She sits there while I knit and doesn't do anything to the yarn which is bouncing around right in front of her face, in fact the only reason her eyes are open is that she heard me turn on the camera. Sometimes she flicks her ear when I start hitting her with the yarn.

Listening to: Face of Melinda ~ Opeth

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posted by Unknown at 10:43 AM 7 Comments

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Hey, socks!

My last (and 7th) pair for January. Yes, I realize it is February at the moment, but I finished these last night in front of the TV, and I couldn't very well stop watching House to take a picture of socks in the dark!



Yarn: Henry's Attic superwash hand dyed by me
Started: 1/20/07
Finished: 1/31/07

These are big socks. My partner for the Knittyboard Sock Exchange is String Bean and she is one of those people with... big feet. So these socks have 10.5"-ish long feet and nice long legs as well. In fact, you can see in the picture that they almost cover the whole sock blocker!



Mmmm... yummy stitches. I'm very pleased with how the yarn knit up.

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posted by Unknown at 12:52 PM 10 Comments

Sock Yarn

    A quest to use sock yarns:

    Yarns I've had:
    * means I really liked it

    4-ply Soft
    A Piece of Vermont*
    Alpafina
    Artsygal*
    Artyarns Supermerino*
    Austermann Step
    BMFA Sock Candy*
    Black Bunny Fibers*
    Brown Sheep Naturespun Sport
    Chinese Mystery sock yarn
    Claudia's Handpaints
    Conjoined Creations Flat Feet
    Crystal Palace Maizy
    CTH Supersock
    Dicentra Designs
    Dorchester Farms
    Fabel
    Fearless Fibers
    Fixation*
    Gloss (KP)
    handspun
    Inspinknity*
    Interlacements Beibi Seda
    Interlacements Tiny Toes
    Interlacements Toasty Toes
    Jarbo Raggi
    JKnits*
    Jojoland Melody
    Koigu*
    Kona Superwash
    KP Essential
    KP Merino
    KP Palette
    Limbo
    Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock*
    Macek Designs
    Madelinetosh
    Magic Stripes
    Mega Boots Stretch
    Microspun
    Nature's Palette
    Noro Kureyon Sock
    Opal
    Panda Cotton
    Paton's Kroy*
    Peru DK
    Peruvian Quechua
    Regia Bamboo*
    Regia Cotton
    Regia Strato*
    Ruby Sapphire
    Sockotta
    Socks That Rock*
    Star (Classic Elite)
    Stitch Jones
    Sunshine Yarns*
    Three Fates Cauldron Sock*
    TOFUtsies
    Trekking*
    Wick
    Wildfoote*
    Wollmeise*
    Wool Ease
    Yarn Pirate*

    In Progress:

    Perchance to Knit
    Regia
    Vesper
    Yarns in the stash:

    All Things Heather
    Ancient Threads
    Apple Laine
    Araucania Ranco
    Artyarns Ultramerino
    Autumn House Farm
    Baby Ull
    Ball and Skein
    Baywood Yarns
    Bearfoot (Mountain Colors)
    Briar Rose Fibers
    Brooklyn Handspun
    Cavyshops Handpaint
    C*eye*ber Fiber
    Cervinia Calzetteria
    CTH Superglitz
    Chasing Rainbows Dyeworks
    Chewy Spaghetti
    Classic Elite Alpaca Sox
    Colinette Cadenza
    Colinette Jitterbug
    Country Classic Yarn for Sox
    Crash Into Ewe
    Crown Mountain Farms Sock Hop
    Curious Yarns
    Done Roving
    Dream in Color
    Duet (A Swell Yarn Shop)
    Dye Dreams
    Ellen's Half Pint Farm
    End of the World Farm
    Fashion Trend Sportivo
    The Fiber Denn
    Fleece Artist
    The Flock Bransonas
    Fortissima
    French Hill Farm
    Froehlich Blauband
    Fyberspates
    geeyouknit!
    Gjestal Silja
    Great Adirondack Soxie
    Greenwood Fiberworks
    Jaeger Matchmaker
    Jarbo Mini Raggi
    Jawoll
    Jawoll Cotton
    Just Our Yarn
    Knit Purl Natural Collection
    Kona Superwash
    KP Dancing
    KP Essential Tweed
    Lime & Violet
    Lisa Souza
    Louet Gems Pearl
    Luxe
    Mama Llama
    Merlin the Cat
    Meilenweit Cotton
    Meilenweit Trend
    Mind's Eye Merino/Tencel
    Mirasol Hacho
    Misty Mountain Farm
    The Natural Dye Studio
    Neighborhood Fiber Company
    Over the Rainbow Twinkletoes
    Peterle
    Pigeon Roof Studios
    Pine Woods
    Posh Yarn Lucia
    Prism Saki
    Pucker Brush Farm
    Regia Surf
    Reynolds Swizzle
    Reynolds Soft Sea Wool
    Rio De La Plata
    Royale Hare
    Roz Houseknecht
    Schaefer Anne
    Scout's Swag
    Sheep Shop Wensleydale
    Shelridge Farm
    ShibuiKnits
    Sockenwolle Unipo
    Spirit Trail Fiberworks
    Spunky Eclectic
    Steinbach Wolle Sockenwolle
    Sundara Yarn
    Sweetgeorgia
    Tess Designer Yarns
    Twisted
    The Unique Sheep
    Universal Ditto
    Valley Yarns Franklin
    vanCalcar Acres
    White Oak Studio tvyarn
    Wisdom Yarns Marathon
    Wool in the Woods
    The Woolen Rabbit
    Yarn Botanika Radiance
    Yarntini
    Ysolda Yarn
    Zen Yarn Garden


    To check out:

    Pippikneesocks
    Sophie's Toes
    The Spinning Bunny Yarns BFL

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