The Knitting Dance

The Great Disguise

2011-11-24T11:15:00.001-08:00

My son's class performed Moses before the Thanksgiving break while they were learning about the history of the Hebrews. The play was excellent and I loved the songs performed during the play. My son and two others played two parts, the hebrew slaves and the 3 shepherds. My son told me he needed a beard and his idea was to cut his hair and glue it to his face. I told him not to worry, I would come up with something that wasn't as permanent.I remembered seeing the Instant Beard pattern before Halloween and thinking, if I ever have a costume where I need a beard, I'm making one of these. They only took a couple of hours and turned out absolutely hilarious!

This is son #2 modeling beard #1.

This is son #1 modeling beard #2.

And Shepherd #3. I made his beard a little longer so they didn't all look exactly the same.

Once I made those three, his teacher asked me if I could make one for Moses. I didn't follow the pattern for this, I just cast on a few stitches and increased on each row until I had enough stitches to go around the face. Then I cast off for the mouth and re-cast the stitches on the next row for the mustache.

Here's the whole 3rd/4th grade cast of Moses!

I'm not a big fan of wearing facial hair for costumes but I really liked these beards. They can be taken on and off easily and the pattern cups the chin for a great fit. I've worn a couple of "man" costumes that have involved the use of mustaches and beards and I'm a little uncomfortable in that role. I tend to stick more to the "girly" costumes. But maybe if I had a pink beard...

Working on my Seaside by the seaside

2011-11-21T16:33:00.001-08:00

Day One of Thanksgiving break! The boys and I got to go to lunch with a friend and then for a walk on the Carlsbad seawall. They enjoyed watching the Pelicans while pretending they were Pokemons, and I got to work on the border of my Seaside Shawlette. I've only got 3 more rounds to go before binding off and I can't wait to block it. I saw so many different ways of doing it that I'm excited to see what mine wants to do. A wonderful way to start Thanksgiving vacation!

Swatching

2011-11-19T09:50:00.001-08:00

Here's swatch #1 for Labyrinth washed and blocked. I'm so glad I decided to proceed with the washing because my gauge was spot on before. Now it's just a little too loose. I'll make another one and go down a needle size. I dont mind swatching when I get to use such a luscious yarn as Malabrigo!

A gap in my yarn knowledge

2011-11-17T20:09:00.001-08:00

I have been so excited to start my Opposite Pole sweater by Joji Locatelli. I've had the pattern picked out for awhile and even had my bag of purple Malabrigo yarn waiting to be swatched. I balled up about half of the skeins and started the swatch. I quickly realized that the yarn I had, was too thin of a gauge for the pattern. No problem I thought, just need to do a little research, because I'm positive the pattern called for Malabrigo, and I'm positive I have a bag of Malabrigo. I've finally gotten a chance to sit down and look at the yarn and Ravelry together and have figured out what's wrong.

I have Malabrigo "Silky Merino" which is a dk weight and the pattern calls for Malabrigo "Merino Worsted" which is a heavy worsted yarn. That shows me I have a huge gap in my knowledge of Malabrigo yarns which must be corrected immediately, by using more Malabrigo.

I'll be heading down to my LYS tomorrow to see what can be done about my education.

I think I have another idea for the Silky Merino yarn already. A long time ago I bought a couple of patterns from Stitch Diva and one of them was a sweater called Labyrinth by Wendy Bernard. I had also bought the Giselle pattern at the same time and had made that one first. I didn't really like the format of the patterns because the font size is too small and everything is squished together on a few pages. They are really hard to read and I won't be buying anymore patterns from that website because of the response I received when I requested that the patterns be more legible. The extra cost of a page was too much to consider even if the pattern was difficult to read (which is absolutely ridiculous if you ask me, we're talking 1 or 2 pages here in a downloaded pdf file). I felt that they didn't care about the quality of their patterns and that they are not very customer service oriented, so I would not be buying anything from that website again. So the patterns I bought - Giselle, Labyrinth, and the Simple Knitted Bodice were put away in favor of patterns I could actually read without a magnifying glass. I had left the projects in my queue and when I was looking for what I could do with my Silky Merino, Labyrinth popped up. It really is a beautiful sweater and I still would like to knit it. I guess I'll just have to suffer through the poor formatting of the pattern and see if I can get a cool sweater out of it.

Fwd: A pretty butterfly

2011-11-16T18:44:00.000-08:00

I've always been drawn to butterfly motifs and the beaded one on the Social Butterfly socks is my favorite! I've made these socks before out of purple hooter yarn, and they were just as beautiful.

Prepping for Vogue Knitting Live!

2011-09-22T03:49:00.000-07:00

I'm getting ready to leave for Vogue Knitting Live in LA this weekend and I'm almost ready. One of the things I wanted to bring is a bunch of stitch markers to trade. I made special Sock Summit shrinkydinks, and I want to do something similar for Vogue. I was having a hard time picking out a picture for my charm and then I thought of this.

It's a QR Code with my blog embedded. But will it work on a Shrinky dink? I'm not sure! I thought it might be kind of fun, so I'll give it a try. But I'll probably bring some other ones, in case people don't have a reader on their phone.

Sock Summit 2011

2011-08-07T10:44:00.000-07:00

My trip to sock summit went so smoothly it was incredible. I walked into the airport, checked my suitcase in the short line because I had already Checked In and went to my terminal to knit for a few while I waited for my plane to board. I got off the plane, got my suitcase and hopped on the Max right as it closed its doors and rode to the convention center. Not a hiccup in the trip! When I got to the convention center I found Wendy and Judy who were assembling the display. It was lunchtime so Judy and I went to grab a sandwich before putting out the merchandise. Lori showed up right after lunch and we all got started. Here's how it looked before the marketplace opened on Thursday.

We found out that the line to get in the marketplace had been forming for a couple of hours and it now looped around the convention center. It was very exciting! When the doors opened at 4:30, the knitters flooded the marketplace. Some knew exactly what booth they were headed to and some were trying to get their bearings. Everyone had kind of a dazed look in their eyes.

One of the booths by the front door was the Goth Socks booth. I had been by their booth to check it out, because I had heard about how popular they were for the last sock summit. They were indeed mobbed, and the convention center staff could be heard yelling down the aisle. "Please form a line! Clear the aisle way!" I was standing outside of our booth and could see the small mosh pit around their booth, and that's when I saw a skein of yarn fly out of the booth over everyone's head. It was really wild. I don't know if they had any yarn left after Thursday night, but they didn't have a lot there to begin with so I wouldn't be surprised.

I didn't have a lot of time to stand and gawk, because I was armed with Sockaholic tattoos and I had a mission. I tattooed many Sockaholics in those two hours including the fabulous Cookie A who was there teaching nonstop all weekend. After the quickest two hours of the show, the Sockaholic Four (Me, Wendy, Lori and Judy) headed out for dinner and some sightseeing. We went to an Irish pub named Kells, had some drinks and a little dinner while we listened to a live band.

Portland was really hopping for a Thursday night because of the Oregon Brewers Festival that had started. I was watching all of these people who had just come from a beer festival, continue drinking and partying. I thought I would have been crawling if I had done that. Until we went on Saturday night to see for ourselves. But first we had to make it back to our hotel that first night. We started walking back to the train when we were distracted by the neon lights of Voodoo donuts. It was about midnight or a little after and we got in line to get our breakfast. The weather was warm and the atmosphere welcoming, so I didn't really notice how tired I was. Here was our pink box of goodies.

Saturday I had a lot of fun meeting people, learning about the classes they were in and slapping on tattoos. My mission was to meet the Yarn Harlot and give her an official Sockaholic tattoo. I was so happy to meet her in person and thought she was a lot of fun. I've been a big fan of her blog and books for many years.

Around 5pm the marketplace emptied onto the square of the convention center for the surprise flash mob. My favorite video is this one, because I can see me, Lori and Judy pretty well for a few shots. There were many video takers around and about 600 participated. I've always wanted to participate in a flash mob and had it on my list of things to do. I think I'll leave it on my "list" for future opportunities because it was really fun! The silliness of all those knitters dancing around with their skein of yarn has me giggling every time I think of it.

There were a bunch of book signings going on and although I didn't bring any of my books to get signed, I waited until Cat Bordhi and Cookie were done to snap a picture with them. As a side note, Cat has a new e-book called Sweet Tomato Heel Socks with a really nice wedge heel construction. I'm definitely going to get the instructions and try it. It looks like it could be a neat alternative to short-rows.

Saturday was a long day and we were all pretty tired, but we decided we couldn't miss the beer festival while we were there. It was then that I understood why people were able to attend a beer festival and then go to a pub and drink. There were so many people there! There were refrigerated trailers setup with taps and the lines to get a beer were at least 25 people deep. You could finish a beer and stand around for five more minutes before getting to the front of a line. It was pretty crowded.You'd have to be very ambitious and committed to actually drink enough beer to have to crawl home.

We got one beer and found a seat next to the river to relax. We decided to hunt down the German vendor that was there and I had the best pork and apple sausage with sauerkraut ever! It was totally worth the wait and the lines.

Sunday was the last day of Sock Summit. There was much excitement as the Fleece-to-Foot Challenge started with 3 sheep being shorn inside the convention center.

Spinners and knitters formed teams of five and each team was given a chunk of freshly shorn fleece. They had to card, spin, ply and knit a complete pair of socks. None of the teams were able to finish the pair of socks, but the one who was the closest won. There was a fun article in the local paper about the challenge. Here is one of the teams with their very own cheerleader Ann.

This is the area where the finals for the Fastest Sock Knitter challenge was held. Our booth wasn't too far away so I could peek around and listen in on the contest.

One of the really fun things I participated in was the Stitch Marker Swap. I had made about 70 stitch markers with the Sock Summit logo on them. I came home with 53 new stitch markers, all with personality. I had a lot of fun going through them when I got home while trying to get back into normal operating mode. I think I'm going to get a chain and make a charm necklace out of them. It was a lot of fun meeting people this way. A couple of people weren't doing the swap but wanted my stitch markers anyway so they traded me a button instead. And I just gave away a couple too.

My trip home wasn't quite as flawless since my flight was delayed for about 45 minutes. It turned out not to be that bad though and I made it home safe and sound.

Projects Update:
Unfortunately I didn't finish my Lavaliere for Sock Summit, but I did cast-off last night and will do the final blocking today. So I'll be able to post pictures later. I've turned the heel on my Fences socks from the most recent shipment of the Rockin' Sock Club and am working down the foot. It could be another week and half to two weeks depending on how much time I have. I bought yarn to make my first pair of Prairie Boots and have starting swatching. Only about a month left of carefree summer before school starts. :)

Almost time 4 Sock Summit

2011-07-24T16:11:00.000-07:00

I'm leaving EARLY thursday morning on an airplane with some clothes, some money and some serious excitement! And with these...

My stitch markers to trade at sock summit. Wendy brought it to my attention that people bring stitch markers and trade them during the convention. How fun is that!?! I've made about 60 which seems to be a good number since I'll be there all 4 days. I decided to make some earrings for myself and the other girls that will be working the Knitters Brewing booth. I don't think they'll read this before Thursday so it should be a nice surprise.

I was also able to finish my Bridge of Roses socks with a couple of days to spare. They came out so beautiful and I really enjoyed embroidering the roses. BOUILLON!

This beautiful package came a few days ago. Good thing I just got a pair of socks off the needles.

I do need to cast something on before the trip so I have some knitting to take on the plane. Still thinking about what project I want to start so I have something to work on at Sock Summit too.

Tour de Fleece went well for me. Today is the last day and I feel like I accomplished a lot. I had finished the first batt of fiber I had started and moved on to this Merino/Tencel blend I had from Chameleon Colorworks.

I bought three 4 oz braids of the same colorway and the plan is to spin them each on their own bobbin and ply them together to make a 3-ply. Two are the Merino/Tencel blend and the other is Optim. I've never spun Optim, so I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

Even though Tour de Fleece is over I think I'm going to leave my spinning wheel out so I can keep going. Even 15 minutes a day, I'll take it! I forget how relaxing I find the activity of spinning and I really think it helps keep me in a calmer place.

Tour de Fleece 2011

2011-07-03T10:59:00.000-07:00

I've joined the Tour de Fleece and as of today (Day 2) I'm still right on track with my goal. The Tour de Fleece is a fun fiber game to play along during the Tour de France. They spin, we spin! The purpose of the tour is a challenge, so I've challenged myself to spin 20 minutes a day throughout the tour. I think it's an achievable amount, and I'm pretty sure that I will end up spinning longer than that once I've sat down. I've joined a wildcard team called Team Sasquatch. I heard about it on the Knitmore girls and when I checked them out on Ravelry they looked really organized. It's a team full of podcasters and I do love my podcasts!

I'm starting with a batt from Crosspatch Creations that I got at Torrance Fiber Festival in 2009.

I had spun about half of it, bulky-like, onto one bobbin, and started another bobbin with a much thinner spun single. I like the thinner a little bit better so I'm going to finish spinning the batt that way.

I'm not quite sure how I'm going to ply it or what I'm going to do with it, but it's more about the journey than the destination. I've made a few hats recently and have discovered I really like them. They're quick and easy and perfect for some quicker gratification knitting. And this yarn would make a hat just like I like them, funky!

Guidelines (NOT RULES):

1. Spin every day the Tour rides, if possible. Saturday July 2nd through Sunday July 24th. Days of rest: Monday July 11th, Monday July 18st. (Just like the actual tour)

2. Spin something challenging Friday July 22nd. (The Tour’s toughest mountain stage over the Col du Galibier for the second time, and finishing up on Alpe d’Huez.)

3. Take a button if you want one. Then we can use the button on our blogs in show of solidarity. Take it from here or grab a clean one from the flickr pool.

4. Wear yellow on Sunday July 24th to announce victory. Why not wear yellow on any day you feel particularly successful? (Yellow is the color of the race leader in the Tour - but here we are all ‘race leaders’)

5. Other colors if desired: Green (sprinter - think FAST), Polka-dot (climber - as in uphill), and white (rookie)

Teams: Join one, or many, or none. Sign up in the Ravelry group. The teams are inspired by the actual Tour de France.
- Peloton (The main group. Everyone is in the peloton at some point)
- Rookies (first years)
- Sprinters (fast and/or high mileage like lace)
- Climbers (conquer mountains, big personal challenges)
- Breakaway (Art yarns)
- Lantern rouge (You will participate as much as possible but you may skip days here and there. Cheerleaders welcome.)
- Wildcards (This is for people who want to form their own team. This includes sponsored teams, like those affiliated with a specific fiber shop or people who live in the same town, etc.)

If you are a spinner (or a hand-spun yarn lover) you should definitely check out the Ravelry group online, the pictures of what everybody is spinning are absolutely beautiful. So inspiring!

School's Out!

2011-06-10T15:18:00.000-07:00

We will be experiencing a change of rhythm around my house very soon. Today was the last day of Son #1's third grade year and now it's time for summer! To get myself back on track with blogging and to organize my projects I'm going to write one big blog post with all the things I haven't been able to record and start from there.

What I've Finished

Hang Ten Socks by Wendy Gaal

We had some nice warm weather for awhile and I was able to really feel the summer surfin' while working on these at the beach. The pattern was a fun knit and once I was past the cuff, I was able to surf right along.

Merry Socksters by Irishgirlieknits

The second shipment of the Rockin' Sock Club this year. Really fun colors and the pattern went perfectly with it. These are definitely happy socks!

What I'm working on

Parallel Twist (the left sock) by Jeannie Cartmel

Lavaliere by Cecily Glowik MacDonald - I don't have any pictures of this WIP yet because it just looks like a blob at the moment. But it's a really cute top-down cardi worked in my Sapphire Blue Road to China Light yarn that my Best B got me for my birthday last year. I love knitting with it so much I'm trying not to hurry but the project is actually going pretty fast because it's the one I pick up the most.

What I'm going to be working on very soon

3rd Shipment from the Rockin' Sock Club - Transition Point by Star Athena

Bridge of Roses sock kit by Wendy Gaal from Knitter's Brewing Co.

This is the 2011 Fundraiser for the Susan G. Komen foundation. It is themed for Portland because we will be at Sock Summit this year!

After Hours Shawl by Wendy Gaal. I have already made one of these as a gift but would really like one of my own to go over my summer dresses. I picked out Sweet Lavender for the color. This project only took me a week before so it'll be a quickie.

My Gift Knitting Boot Camp Update: I've finished 6 projects so far that were on my list with 5 left to go. I think I'm going to make it!

* DONE! Hubby - Zauberball Socks
* DONE! Hubby, Son #1 and Son #2 - 3 Rasta Hats
* DONE! Son #1 - Hang Ten Socks
* DONE! Son #1 - Burnin' Hot Hands Gloves

Son #1 and Son #2 - Sep - Scarves
Son #2 - Sep - Fingerless gloves
Son #1 and Son #2 - Christmas - Prairie Boots

So thankful summer is here! I have my boys all to myself and lots of fun planned. Lots of hiking around, laying around at the beach, and lots of knitting!

Very Busy

2011-04-28T15:08:00.000-07:00

Working on my Hang Ten socks. It does NOT suck to be me!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Gifts given

2011-04-02T18:24:00.000-07:00

Here are my husband's finished Zauberball socks. I'm very happy with the way they turned out and I think he is too, since he's already taken possession. I tried to say that they were a gift and that he was going to get them when a "gift exchange" was necessary, but he wasn't too keen on that idea. He pretty much called me a tease and a hold-out and threw in the conversation that he would NEVER do that to me. It made it kind of hard to take them back. Which is fine with me, because now I have his exact measurements and I could truly knit him a pair without him knowing in the future. I'm not very good at holding out anyway, it's just not my style. Especially against pressure like that.

The Burnin' Hot Hands gloves were gifted to Son #1 last weekend and I think he liked them. I've seen him voluntarily grabbing them to wear twice so I don't think he's doing it just to make his mom feel good.

I also got him a Trindle and some fiber and will be teaching him how to spin as soon as time permits. He did pick out this Yak/Merino blend from Abstract Fibers so it wasn't a total surprise. We're lucky enough that our LYS carries a good selection of fiber so he could browse in person. Of course he picked the most colorful one he saw. The more color, the more he likes it. I'm pretty lucky that he appreciates color as much as I do.

I don't think he is as excited about it as I am, but his younger brother (son #2) is extremely interested. When I was practicing with it to get the hang of it, he was sitting there watching me fascinated. He came over and would keep the trindle spinning while I drafted and he's got a good knack for it. I might try to teach him too, since the interest is there.

Speaking of color, Son #1 was very interested in this when it came. The second shipment of the Rockin' Sock Club. This is smile-inducing yarn here. It's quite electric and you can't help but laugh when you see it. It's called Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. I wasn't sure which of the two patterns I wanted to make, because I liked them both. So I had to get some help from my other half and he settled it for me. I'm going to make the pattern on the right, Merry Socksters.

This is a project I had started about a week before the shipment came. It's called Parallel Twist by Jeannie Cartmel and I've been thinking about these ones for awhile. I saw the pair Cupcake made out of her Vesper sock yarn and decided right then that that was what I was going to do with mine. I am really enjoying the stitch pattern and love the way it jags the stripes.

The only thing I would change about this pattern is the heel. It's a short-row heel done over 31 heel stitches and I think it pulls too tight across the ankle. Lucy Neatby teaches to turn a short-row heel over 60% of the total stitches and this sock is only using 48% of the stitches. I made it the way the pattern says because I usually have always followed Lucy's advice, and I wanted to see if there was a reason this pattern was written this way. My conclusion is that the fit would be better over 60% of the stitches and I might have sacrificed a little of the stitch pattern at the top for the heel turn to make sure these fit better. I'm going to see how they fit Son #1 because he has much skinnier feet than me, and they are almost as long. The socks may be a little long for now, but I'm sure he will be my same shoe size very soon. He is not as keen on this yarn as he is my psychedelic shipment from Blue Moon Fiber arts, but he said these were okay too. :)

A quiz for knitters

2011-03-24T17:50:00.000-07:00

If you've ever wondered what kind of knitter, or more specifically sock knitter, you are, then this quiz is for you! I've broken the four different categories and all you have to do is answer some questions to find out.

Take the Sock-aholic Quiz here.

I hope you get a good laugh and enjoy. It's a bunch of silly fun!

Calling all new sock knitters!

2011-03-20T15:34:00.000-07:00

Learn to Knit Socks Knit-Along has officially started!

Get your diploma in sock knitting with this pattern specifically designed for a beginning Sock-aholic. You might even win a prize!

Description: This basic toe-up sock allows the knitter to tailor the width and length to the wearer's foot size for a perfect no-fuss fit. Step-by-step tutorials are included to help you with the techniques used, and video support is available for this project, too! This pattern is written for the Two Circular Needle method, so grab a pair and get knitting!

How to Play Along:

1. To sign up, Click Here to find our Ravelry Group discussion thread for this KAL. Just reply to this thread to let us know You're In! All KAL related chit chat, pattern support, show and tell, and prize awards will be managed through this Ravelry group.

2. Our KAL will be using the Straight Up Socks pattern by Kelie Oreb. This pattern will be posted as a free Ravelry Download during the KAL.

3. No purchase is necessary to participate in this KAL, however the Grand Prize will be awarded to a knitter who uses Knitters Brewing Company Sock-aholic Solid or Sock-aholic Sweet yarn. KAL Sock Kits are available below in 31 colors! Knitters who use other brands of yarn are eligible for all other prizes.

Kits Include:

1. One skein of Sock-aholic Solid or Sweet yarn in your choice of 31 colors shown in the color charts.

2. One commemmorative Diploma project stitch marker to remind you that being a sock knitter is a great achievement.

3. An official Certificate of Achievement to show all your friends that you are in fact a pedigreed Sock-aholic.

4. The Straight Up Socks pattern by Kelie Oreb.

Prizes!
At noon (Pacific time) April 29, 2011, the names of all participants who have posted a photo on the discussion board of at least one completed sock will be entered into the random drawing for prizes.

Runner Up Prizes (2 to be awarded): One skein of Knitters Brewing Company Yarn in the winners choice of color. (Retail Value $20 each)

Grand Prize (1 to be awarded): One skein of Knitters Brewing Company yarn in the winners choice of color, and a Knit Happy Project Bag. (Retail Value $39.50)

The Moderating Brewmistress also reserves the right to add any needed guidelines that she may have overlooked. She is blonde, you know.

What You Can Do To Prepare:

1. Purchase your kit here, or decide what yarn you are going to use and check your gauge.

2. Gauge: 32 sts = 4" in Stockinette Stitch using recommended needle size US 0, 1 or 2.

3. If you don't purchase a kit, you will need to get a skein of fingering weight sock yarn (at least 375 yards).

4. Standard knitting tools will be used, plus a blunt-tipped tapestry needle to weave in ends, and a stitch marker.

5. Practice the techniques we will be using that may be new to you. We will be posting some training videos to help you on our Ravelry discussion board during early March.

Good Luck and Have Fun!

Happy Spring Equinox Eve

2011-03-19T16:24:00.000-07:00

Ready for Spring tomorrow! Well these were a fast satisfying knit. I think I may have been procrastinating and avoiding some things I was supposed to do this week and that's why these were completed so quickly. Oh well, at least I've got a pair of socks to show for myself.

Name of Project: Spring Forward by Linda Welch
Yarn: 1 skein of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock - lightweight in colorway Lemongrass
Needles: Size US 0 (2.0 mm) Knit Picks circulars
Pattern Modifications: I made these toe-up with JMCO, increased for the gusset, used a gusset heel turn and worked up the leg. I worked a 1x1 rib until I was almost out of yarn, then bound off using Judy's Surprising Stretchy Bind Off.

I do think the yarn was a little to variegated for the pattern. It's hard to see the subtle lace texture with the green and yellow color changes. I think this pattern would be better suited towards a more solid color. But they're still beautiful to me!

Springing Forward

2011-03-13T23:15:00.000-07:00

These are the Spring Forward socks by Linda Welch from Knitty, Summer of '08. I've had them in my queue ever since then and have even had the yarn, but the stars just have never aligned. But today I went with my boys for a 2 hr and 15 min drive, to a BMX track, where I spent the day lounging under an Easy-up watching my boys race. Usually I would stay home and get some personal things done during this time, but my boys were insistent that I be part of the family and come with them.

I didn't want to bring the Burnin' Hot Hands gloves because I am very close to finishing them and I didn't want Son #1 (the recipient) to be checking them out until his birthday. The Zauberball socks were also left home because they are such a good purse project that I kind of want to keep them on the needles. I like that I can get a few rounds done while waiting for the boys to get out of school. If I finish them, I'll have to cast on another pair for that purpose. But I knew that I was going to have A LOT of knitting time today. So I went with something simple, something springy and something I had in my stash.

The pattern is very easy to cruise on, I mean, look how much I got done in a day. I had cast on for the toes last night, but only got about halfway before falling asleep. So most of the work I got done today, which I like! I also like the fact that I'm working on my Spring Forward socks, the day that we have to Spring Forward an hour with the time change. I didn't plan that, I've had these pulled out for a week or two, but I guess that's all I needed for the stars to align. Yeah!

Too Hot to Handle

2011-03-08T21:35:00.000-08:00

Oh yeah, these are going to get that "you are so awesome mom I love you" reaction. And I am already started on the other glove with over 2 weeks left until Son #1's birthday.

I named these Burnin' Hot Hands because you know, the flames and stuff.

I used the chart from Melanie Gibbons' Hot Rod Socks. Here are my notes on how I made these: I used two circular needles with 32 stitches on each needle.

Using Black, cast on 64 sts, knit 12 rows in 1x1 rib in black
Knit 1 round
Work the chart from top to bottom for the wrist
Knitting only in red, knit 32 sts, place marker, increase (I used a right leaning increase), knit to end.
Knit 2 rounds. Knit to marker, increase (I used a right leaning increase), knit to last st on first needle, increase (I used a Left leaning increase), knit to end.
Repeat previous 3 rounds until there are 19 sts after the marker.
Knit across 32 sts, slip marker, work 1x1 rib across 19 sts, knit to end. Repeat this round 3 times.
Knit across 32 sts, remove marker, bind off thumb sts (I used Jeny's Super Stretchy Bind off), and knit to end.
Work the chart from bottom to top.
Knit 1 round in black.
Work 4 rounds of 1x1 rib, Bind off using Jeny's Super Stretchy Bind Off.

Really fun knit, and it actually didn't take very long. I might need to make some of these with pink flames for myself!

And for another finished object, the Marigold Bear from Fiber Trends.

This was a commissioned project for a newborn baby girl. The shaping is amazing and the pattern was pretty easy to follow. I’m not a big toy knitter and I’m not too fond of felting, but this turned out very cute. It took about 10 hours to complete, including felting. Good to know if I'm thinking about a gift. Everybody loves teddy bears!

As well as those two projects are going, I'm sad to say progress has completely stalled on my Swirl Shawl. Knitting one swirl a week seemed like a reasonable goal until I take into account certain factors that are prohibiting me from making any headway. One factor is that I need 45 minutes of sitting time where I am not doing anything else besides watching a cool science fiction series (which was the case a few times but that hasn't been an opportunity lately). The other factor is, I need to put down the other cool projects that I will actually finish in the near future and not 6 - 7 months down the road. The swirl shawl just doesn't have any motivation going for it right now. It is not the kind of project that fits into my current schedule/lifestyle and I just need to accept it and put it on hold until it's a more do-able project. I think I'm throwing in the towel on my Dreaded Knit commitment. Don't judge me...

Looking forward to podcasting tomorrow! Search Yarn on Tap on iTunes to find the podcast.

Skate Park fun

2011-03-03T15:20:00.000-08:00

I'm getting a lot done on my socks while the boys skate around. I saw a guy roll up on a Harley with a skateboard strapped to his back, which was funny to me (I don't know why). Back to knitting!
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Social Network

2011-02-23T22:30:00.000-08:00

I got the first Rockin' Sock Club shipment on Valentine's Day and now, 9 days later, I've got a new pair of socks. These are Social Network by Lucy Neatby.

I've been a big fan of Ms. Neatby's work for a long time and these definitely held up her status of sock knitting goddess. I own her Sock Techniques I and II dvd's, that I used when I was first learning how to knit socks. They were invaluable to me as a beginner and I still like to watch them for a review. Her dvd's are by far the best video instruction I've seen, and I hope to have her whole collection some day.

What first caught my eye about this pattern was the cabled colorwork. I thought about how fun it would be to watch the colors as they traveled back and forth and decided that these were definitely for me. I learned how to cable without a cabling needle from Grumperina's website. With these socks, I found that holding the contrast color in my left hand and the main color in my right, was fastest for the cabling and I was able to zoom right along.

They turned out very warm and cushy, and I feel like I'm walking around on pillows with them on.

I'm thinking about ordering more yarn to make another pair, and maybe trying a different color combination. They were just so quick and the result so funky and cool that I don't think I can stop at just one pair!

Knitting Supercross Style

2011-02-19T19:45:00.000-08:00

You know it's raining in San Diego when you have to break out the Easy-up to barbecue at the tailgate party.
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Love Letters for Valentine's Day

2011-02-17T17:29:00.000-08:00

Every year I ask my husband to write me a love letter for Valentine's Day. I have a collection of very cute handmade cards and notes that he's given me since we started dating. I come across them when I'm going through my drawers or looking for something in my closet and they make me so happy when I see them.

We counted it up and realized that this was our 16th Valentine's Day together and wondered how long it took us to realize, that going out to dinner on Valentine's did not suit either of us. I know we tried for several years, because it seemed to be the thing to do. But we realized that both of us would be grumpy by the time we got home because of the crowds of people, bad service, bad food and a generally rushed feeling. And that wasn't the way we wanted to spend time together. This year I made a cozy dinner at home and we had a fun time looking through all of the handmade Valentine's day cards that the boys brought home from school. And I got my husband's love letter.

Return address - Blue Moon Fiber Arts, Rockin' Sock Club

He really knows how to send me a love letter! And he actually kept it a secret for two weeks! He's the one that always gets the mail, so he stashed it until dinner that night. Which is really unusual, because neither of us can keep a secret from the other to save our lives.

After carefully examining both patterns, I've decided I'm going to knit Social Network by Lucy Neatby. It's got traveling cables in colorwork and looks so cool. I think these will have to be my new spinning socks when I get them done because they are going to be sooooooo cozy and warm.

Pretty Toes

2011-02-13T21:35:00.000-08:00

What a beautiful sun shiny-day to finish my Pretty Toes socks!

And I started my husband's Crazy Zauberball socks so I would have some portable, auto-pilot knitting.

I wanted to get these started so I would have something simple to knit on during my sewing class that I'm taking on Saturday mornings. Yesterday was the second class, and we STILL have not sewn anything. I'm pretty sure that this teacher is not my preferred style but I'm hoping to just get through the rest of the classes without stabbing myself with my knitting needles out of frustration and impatience. There doesn't seem to be any actual outline or guidelines of what she's going to do, she just kind of wings it. And she does a poor job explaining why she is doing things the way she is. For instance, she is really into basting for some reason. She will have two pieces of fabric pinned together, but then will baste it and remove the pins. A couple students were trying to ask her why you would bother if you already had it pinned (because it seems like an extra step) and her answer to all questions of that nature is "you are beginners, I teach you the beginner way." Which is the fastest way to lose my respect as a teacher. If you can't explain why you are doing things a certain way, then you don't understand it well enough. But that's kind of weird considering she's been doing it for 40 years. I think this might be one of those instances where the teaching style is just not to my taste.

A few others in the class have signed up repeatedly, so they must see what I don't. But that leads me to think, why would you have to sign up repeatedly for a beginner sewing class. Shouldn't you leave the beginner class with the basics? Shouldn't you be bored in a beginner class after gaining those skills and hearing them again and again? Which also makes me think, it's not the beginner class over and over again. She's teaching what she wants, at the time, and everyone just soaks up what knowledge that they get. Once again, my expectations have set me up. At least I'll get a ton of knitting done! And who knows, maybe learn something by osmosis.

Accomplishments of 2010

2011-02-08T20:19:00.000-08:00

A little recap of last year to check in and see what I have to show for myself. (All of these are in my project pages in Ravelry, so I didn't bother to link them.)

From Smallest to Largest:

12 Washcloths - I learned how much I really loved hand knit washcloths in almost the same way I learned how much I really love hand knit socks. I got to use one. They feel so nice to wash my face with and I also use them in the kitchen.

3 Hot Water Bottle covers - This was one of those projects I never really thought about. It kept coming up though, in podcasts I listened to, in people's project pages on Ravelry, so I jumped on the bandwagon and thought I would try it. Hot water bottles are awesome! I love to put one in bed before I get in to warm it up, I put them in my kids' beds and sometimes I just like to sit with one. They're super cozy and really comforting.

4 Pom Pom Square Hats - These snow hats were a commissioned item and I thought they were so cute I made one for myself. They're kind of silly but so am I and mine keeps me super warm.

4 Pairs of Hand socks/fingerless gloves - One pair for my offspring, and the other three were gifts. I definitely got the hang of these during the year and am glad I finally have a pair of my own that I've recently finished.

2 pairs of Baby Booties - My go-to pattern for Baby showers. These are still the cutest things ever and incredibly popular amongst my recipients.

24 Swirls on the Swirl Shawl - A ravelympic challenge that I'm happy to say I completed. They were entered in the Free Dance category because I didn't actually finish the shawl, I just set a goal for how many swirls I would try and get done during the events.

2 Shawls - The beautiful Sweet Lime After Hours Shawl that went to a friend, and my Starry Starry Night that Wendy brought back from Stitches for me last year.

2 pairs of Socks - I only completed two pairs of socks last year? This is a true shocker. A pair of Chiefs socks for my sock-worthy husband, and a pair of socks for myself. The ones for myself were the Mystery Sock II: Girls Night Out socks. Wendy dyed the beautiful orange colored yarn especially for me to match one of my favorite skirts.

2 Sweaters - a Wonderful Wallaby for Son #1 when he started school, and my Cardigan Azure. I made the cardigan based on a design I saw from Blue Sky Alpacas called Lacy Cardigan. I used Wendy Bernard’s book Custom Knits to work the design from the top down, putting the stitch patterns I saw from the Lacy Cardigan in place. It truly fits me perfectly and I’ve worn it every time I’ve needed a sweater to keep warm.

One of the things I had thought about last year was how little knitting time I had. Apparently I was able to squeeze in more than I thought. I'm counting 32 projects!

With my projects planned out for this year there are only 12, which I think leaves me a lot of room to be creative and do a lot more sock knitting. I've got 3 pairs of socks planned, 3 hats, 2 scarfs/cowls, and four pairs of gloves. Definitely do-able!

My very own Hand Socks!

2011-01-31T19:20:00.000-08:00

Finally a pair of my own! I made these from two tightly wound balls of unknown origin from My Best B. I thought there wasn't a lot of yarn on the balls because they weren't very big. So I cast on for my hand socks and was going to keep knitting until I ran out of yarn. I turns out I would have had enough to make a pair of socks! But I'm okay with it because these are really cool and I really like how long they turned out.

These were my purse project and I would work on them whenever I had a few moments in the car, or for instance at a Monster Truck Rally. I like to have this kind of project always on the needles, so now I'm going to have to figure out what to stash in my purse next. I'm thinking of starting a pair of Zauberball socks for my husband because they will just be a basic pattern and they should fit in my purse for awhile.

And one other Finished Object...

A 560 piece puzzle that I worked on with my boys. It took us a couple of days and we all enjoyed it a lot. The four of us gathered around and took turns complaining about the amount of black pieces. I definitely like puzzles with more color in them. But this goes back to my days as a Titanic collector when the movie first came out. I saw it at least 7 times in the theater and then when it came out on DVD I probably watched it 100 more times. I guess that phase passed because I haven't yearned to watch it for years. But it was fun while it lasted. I even started a Titanic cross stitch, but that didn't last long. It was black floss on a dark blue canvas. I bought an Ott lite for the project but even that wasn't enough to keep me from losing interest. Don't laugh, I know I wasn't the only one obsessed when that movie came out.

Completely Backwards

2011-01-28T18:01:00.000-08:00

To participate in the Gift Knitting Bootcamp, I made a list of the few people I wanted to bestow my highest honor on. Then after they made it on the short list, I picked out projects that I thought would be fun to knit and also exciting to the them. Naturally the next step would be to pick out yarn to use, hopefully from my extensive stash.

I go into my closet which is where I keep most of the good stuff (Beckey, you know the other spots), and enjoyed a few hours of sorting through, pulling out, and completely loving on my yarn. The problem is that I'm having trouble picking out a yarn that I have, that will go with the projects I've chosen. To me, it seems that I should have gone and picked out the yarn from the stash first, then picked projects, then decided who was going to get what. I may still do this if I can't get it together.

I've never really felt divided feelings about stash before. It's always been good for me to have stash. Every couple of months I go through, pull some stuff out, organize it, move it around so it can make new friends and it's always a big pick-me-up. But this time, I'm feeling a little trapped. I don't want to go buy a bunch of yarn to make the projects I've picked out, because I already have so many cool projects here at home. And I want to make use of what I've got. But...if I didn't have all of that stash, I would feel completely free to search out yarn for any new project I wanted. It's a weird feeling, but I'm sure I'll get over it. The other part of the stash that makes it a little more complicated is, I didn't buy most of it. About once a year yarn finds it's way to me through people who are looking to get rid of it. It's always a really fun experience to get these sometimes small, but sometimes big packages. But it definitely complicates the process of putting together a project, as most of the time, it's one or two balls of something.

Stash diving got me thinking and I might have a touch of Startitis (which usually doesn't affect me). I'm usually good if I've got a pair of socks on the needles, and one or two other projects going. But I've been thinking now about just starting a few more things. Like starting a small bolero jacket for me with my luscious Road to China Sapphire yarn My Best B got me for my birthday. Or what about the few skeins of handspun? Something should be done with it! And the yarn that I tried to make Jeanie with, but it was too variegated to show off the stitches. It needs to be a Citron shawl! And my beautiful kits from the Rockin Sock Club 2009. I have 4 that are just gorgeous that I need to complete!

A sidenote about the Rockin Sock Club 2011. Even though I have 4 kits left from the year I joined, and major plans for socks this year already, the thought has entered my head that I shouldn't miss out on the cool colorwork that's going to be going on this year. BUT I WILL RESIST! I lamented to my husband about how I was in complete conflict with myself about it and he helped talk me down. Also, the stash diving has helped because I have awesome Socks That Rock in there.

What can I say? Hello, my name is Kelie and I'm a sock-aholic. I guess I'll just start there!

Knitting Monster truck style

2011-01-22T19:27:00.000-08:00

Very exciting!
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All Kinds of Excitement

2011-01-21T18:26:00.000-08:00

Well, first of all I wanted to let everyone know about our new podcast Yarn on Tap from Knitters Brewing Co. Wendy received podcasting equipment for Christmas and enthusiastically got us started on our show. I have to admit I was pretty nervous at first. I absolutely LOVE knitting podcasts. I listen to them almost daily. But I never thought I would be on one. But after a shot of courage I was able to relax and have fun. I'm really glad we did it and I'm looking forward to our next one. The shows are going to be bi-weekly so the next one will be up a week from today if all goes as smoothly as last time.

Second of all, I got my Knitting Boot Camp list figured out.

Who - When - What
Hubby - Fathers Day 6/19 or Bday 8/3 - Zauberball Socks
Son #1 and Son #2 - Start of School sometime in Sep - Rasta Hats for when they’re feeling funky, or maybe Hill Country Hat or a Cabled hat for when they’re feeling more mellow
Son #1 and Son #2 - also before school starts - Burberry Cowl or Big Cabled Scarf like Cora but not girly
Son #1 and Son #2 - Mar & Sep - Fingerless gloves probably similar to the Zombie gloves I made him before that we can’t find now because everyone wanted them
Son #1 and Son #2 - Socks, for Christmas
And for Me (or somebody) - Whenever it happens
Parrotfish Hat with matching Mermaid Gloves
Spirogyra Gloves
Buttoned Cardi
Bolero

I'm pretty excited about this because 1) I like lists, 2) I like lists about knitting, and 3) I like lists of things I get to knit!

Another activity I've joined in on is a thread about Dreaded Knits. A few Ravelers have decided to band together and work on long-time WIP projects that have been hibernating on their needles but they would like to finish. I have a long-time project but it definitely isn't Dreaded. It's just Neglected. For no reason other than I can't work on it unless I have an uninterrupted chunk of time. And let's face it, the only uninterrupted chunk of time I ever usually have is when I'm asleep. And even that's not a guarantee.

The poor beautiful shawl has languished since the last Ravelympics so I've committed to working on it once a week for 40 minutes. That's one swirl a week. There are 82 swirls in a complete shawl and I’ve made 43. That leaves 39 to go. Should be done sometime during the middle of October of this year at that rate. But at least it’ll be finished! :)

5 Reasons Why TNNA Rocks

2011-01-08T22:39:00.000-08:00

There are more reasons than this, but I thought I would share some of my highlights.

1) I got to see Cookie A. and get a signed copy of her new book Knit. Sock. Love. She was charming as always and remembered me because of my cool pimp huggie bear jacket that I wore when she came to teach at Common Threads January of last year. Her new book is a compilation of 19 patterns, 12 which are previously published and 7 new designs. The book is beautifully made with breathtaking pictures and is an inspiration to flip through. I do admit, I am biased and Cookie will always be amazing to me even if she decides to design a sock shaped like a potato sack.

2) Meeting the Knitmore Girls in person! Jasmin was very easy to spot with her pink hair, and yes, her mother Gigi was within arms length. I was immediately greeted and hugged with warmth and kindness. It is a little weird to feel so comfortable with a person you've never met, but I felt like an old friend. I LOVE listening to knitting podcasts and I listen to quite a few. But there are 2 or 3 that I will always listen to first when I see there is a new episode on my Ipod and theirs is on that short list. I'm a big fan and always enjoy the show.

3) I got to have my picture taken with Ravelry Royalty, Jess, Casey and Mary Heather. Try to visualize the picture not blurry.

Like this one...

4) Seeing the nice ladies from Mountain Colors again. Not only do I love their yarns, I think they are super sweet people. When I entered their category in the Think Outside the Sox contest 2 years ago and didn't win, they sent me a consolation prize with a skein of yarn, a tote bag and free pattern. I didn't feel like such a loser after that!

5) Seeing the latest and greatest the yarn companies have to offer. One of the new exhibitors that really stood out was Arctic Qiviut. They have a sock yarn blend with 65% Merino, 25% Qiviut, and 10% Nylon. I think it's the most luxurious sock yarn I've ever beheld. I highly doubt any skeins of that gorgeousness will be in my near future, it sells for around $84 a skein. Now that's a fancy pair of socks! I was also lucky enough to obtain a sample of Sterling Silk & Silver by Kraemer that I will dye and knit up. It is 63% Superwash Merino, 20% Silk, 15% Nylon and 2% Silver. REAL silver! I've always liked my bling.

It was a very exciting day in my world!

2011 Knitting Boot Camp

2011-01-07T21:49:00.000-08:00

Knitters Brewing Company has started 2011 Gift Knitting Boot Camp!

I'm working on making up my wish list of knits but have not yet completed it. I spent a couple of hours tonight going through my magazines, looking up patterns and searching through Ravelry to get my list in order. I'm almost done, but have some fine-tuning to do. If anybody else is interested in joining up, here is the info:

THE KNITTING IS DONE WHEN THE TURKEY IS DONE!
Gift Knitting Boot Camp is for anyone who would like to avoid the stress of last minute gift knitting (know any people like that?) The intent of this exercise is to keep gift knitting in your mind (and on your needles) all year long instead of pushing it out to the third or fourth quarter. Our ultimate goal is to have all gift knitting done by Thanksgiving! Each month, we’ll assign you an Action to perform and Report on, and if you succeed, you’ll be awarded that month’s Virtual Badge of Honor!
JANUARY
Action: January’s assignment will be a little bigger than other months since this is our most important planning month. Don’t be scared - it’s all good! Boot Camp is supposed to be a little challenging, isn’t it?
This month’s action is to build a gift knitting plan. Don’t worry about having it perfect this month, we’ll continue to fine tune it as we go.

On some paper or on your computer, create a table with three columns. Label the columns “Who”, “When”, and “What”.
In the “Who” column, list all the folks who you would like to knit gifts for this year. If they are super lucky people that you will knit for more than once, then list them more than once. It’s OK to put yourself on the list, too!!!
In the “When” column, list the holidays or dates that you would like to give gifts to each of the names on your list. Below, I’ve posted a list of this year’s most common gifty holidays that might be useful.
In the “What” column, list the pattern or item you want to make for each gift if you know it.
Pat yourself on the back - that was the hardest part!

Now take a look at your list - what things could you do in January to make progress on that list?

Which gifts are due the soonest?
Have you finalized pattern selections for the gifts due the soonest?
Do you need to do some yarn shopping? (oh no - not that!)
What could you start knitting?

I’ve posted a this little Gift Guide that might be helpful for you as you decide what knitting to do this year. You can use it to record your plans, and keep it in your knitting bag, or carry it with you to the LYS. Just click here to download the pdf. If you print it two-sided, you can fold it as shown in the photo.

Report: To earn your January Virtual Badge of Honor reply to this thread by 1/31/11 (after you complete your action) and tell us briefly about your progress.

How does your list look? Is it feasible?
What patterns are you thinking about making? By sharing ideas we can help other undecided knitters to finalize their selections.
What’s the first project you are going to start on, or have you already started? WIP photos always appreciated!

Good Luck, and Have Fun! From Wendy the Head Brewmistress at Knitters Brewing Co.

A New Year, A New Moment

2011-01-02T16:49:00.000-08:00

I'm looking back on 2010 and thinking about the good, the bad, the crazy.

The Good:
Son #2 started preschool in September and has been doing very well and loves his teacher. I feel very fortunate that he's transitioned as well as he has into school life and that both my boys are at a Waldorf school which I have worked very hard to keep them in. A lot of my efforts have been centered on getting them into a good school situation, maintaining a good relationship with the teachers, and keeping the tuition payed. I spend a lot of time volunteering and learning about Waldorf education and I think it helps me be a better mom. I've learned a lot about child development and really feel like I've found a piece of my community. I get to be the handwork assistant on Tuesdays and Thursdays which has been a really amazing experience for me to work with the children. It's given me a perspective on how people learn, not just children, and has really helped me develop my own handwork skills and abilities and how to teach others.

I started working for my friend Wendy at Knitters Brewing Co as the official Production Babe hand-dyeing yarn. It is as cool as it sounds, but even cooler when you consider the way it has fit perfectly into my life. I drop the boys off at school, head over to the dye studio, dye the yarn, package the orders, and pet Buddy the cute kitty supervisor until its time to go pick up the boys from school. My schedule molds perfectly around when the boys are in school, when they are on break and special occasions when one of them has to have emergency dental work. At the beginning of 2010 I asked for this in its entirety. I told the Universe that I wanted to go to work while the boys were in school, but that it had to be something I enjoyed doing, working for good people, with a flexible schedule that would allow me to still be the best mama I could be. I am thankful and grateful that this opportunity has entered my life and I'm looking forward to the exciting things that are planned for 2011.

I took a Mindful Based Stress Reduction Class at Scripps that started in October and lasted for 8 weeks. It was life-changing. The course was taught by a Neurologist and his Yoga/Massage Therapist wife who were amazing teachers. The class helped me establish a meditation practice as well as cultivate my attention of moment-to-moment awareness. I feel like a little turtle who has just hatched out of an egg and is running for the unknown, but knowing I'm supposed to go there. I've tried hard to continue my daily meditation practice, but part of this new awareness has brought to light the busy schedule I've imposed on myself and my family. I've done many things this year to correct this like: de-cluttering everything, finishing up projects and obligations, meal planning, and discontinuing certain activities that are adding to the proverbial crazy.

I learned how to make my own Kombucha and Sauerkraut. Both are fermented foods with many health benefits. I took the plunge with the Kombucha, not knowing if I was going to make myself sick or not (I knew I wouldn't kill myself) and it came out good. I'm very excited about all of the tea I've been making and I drink it everyday. I truly believe it is part of the reason I've managed to make it through cold and flu season with only a touch of a cold that went away within a week. The sauerkraut was more of a leap of faith because without knowing exactly how to make it, I purchased a 10 liter crock in the hopes that I was going to know soon. Within a week of the crock arriving I found a friend at the school who has been making her own sauerkraut for years and invited me over to show me how to start it up. The first batch was a beautiful success with purple cabbage and the next batch will be ready in the middle of January. I gave away most of it for Christmas, and am definitely bummed I won't have anymore for a couple of weeks. I was eating it everyday with some crackers spread with tahini and it was delicious. Another reason I think I kept my health so well. These were both huge goals for me and I feel very accomplished now that I've produced some good batches of both.

The Crazy:
I would have to say the only real crazy was our schedule. There was just too much on it after school and on the weekends so that was one of the things I've been working on simplifying. My boys both were in gymnastics the second half of 2010 and Son #1 got moved up into an advanced skills class. This would have been welcome except for the fact that now their classes were not at the same time, and now Son #1 was in two classes on Mon & Fri at 5:30 - 7. Definitely not conducive to the relaxed family dinners I was organizing and planning so hard for after a long hectic day. We decided to take a break at the end of this year, to be continued at a later date. Usually if the boys don't have this outlet of energy they start doing flips off of any high surface that they can find, which is usually not as well padded as the gymnastics center. Which leads to chiropractic bills, craniosacral therapy and other timely, costly measures. So I will definitely have to add something back into the schedule for them, but I'm enjoying the time off now.

The Bad:
I saved the Bad for last because that's where it deserves to be. I don't feel like I have anything to complain about, but also feel like certain things were big enough to be acknowledged. 2010 was the year of Medical and Dental expenses for us. Both my boys have had lots of dental work done, costing us over $4,000 in total. It seems that the food we eat and genetics have greater power than I. My boys don't eat a lot of candy and our diet is relatively healthy, and I have brushed their teeth daily. But their teeth are disintegrating before my eyes. I've changed our diet and the teeth brushing ritual to help, but I can only do what I can do. I'm scared to go get my teeth cleaned because of the dental bills I'm currently paying but I know I've only got a few months longer before I have to schedule the appointment without risking major work. If it's not already too late.

The Medical bills belong solely to my motocross racing husband. Not solely, but I'm not going to count my acupuncture and chiropractic checkups in the Bad category. That was just maintenance. On Veterans Day in November he knocked himself out on the racetrack, and took an expensive ride to an expensive trauma unit in an expensive Emergency Room. I feel very lucky that the only drawback to this incident is that we have to make payments to the hospital and that I'm not married to a vegetable (arguably). He's had a little trouble remembering things since which has frustrated him a little but that's pretty much it. Very lucky if you ask me. I don't know how I would have handled the whole ordeal if I hadn't been learning about being aware of my stress response and noticing the physical signs associated with it. I was able to better control my response to the situation instead of just reacting and freaking out.

I feel like I've got it pretty good and I'm definitely "living the dream" (hee hee, I love that saying). I'm happy that I acquired so many new skills in 2010 and look forward to using them in 2011. I'm excited about spending time with my family and friends and continuing to be aware of the moments of life, good, bad or crazy.

Letters

2010-10-10T12:16:00.000-07:00

Letter to my Daughter by Vicki Bell

I just wanted to post this link so I'll remember to say this to my sons when they are gone at college. I feel like I tell them these things now, but I'm never sure what they hear.

I Heart Judith

2010-10-09T22:29:00.000-07:00

I ordered Judith Mackenzie McCuin's dvd The Gentle Art of Plying with some money I got for my birthday this year. I finally got a chance to watch and I got so much information out of it! I loved the way she described how to hold her hands to ply and just getting to watch how she spins was helpful.

One of my favorite things I learned was how she joined the yarn in while plying. I had no idea how to do that, and watching her break the yarn, add new in, and smoothly spinning it through was wonderful. She uses joining to change colors, to add in plies or start a new bobbin. If I ever get a chance to take a class with her in person, I'll definitely be in! Her teaching style is right up my alley too. She seemed very open to other ways of doing things, while at the same time describing why you would want to do it the way she's telling you. I'm always receptive to that kind of explanatory non-rigid style of teaching. Obviously there are many ways to do something, but if you're good at what you do, I want to know why you do it that way. But not have you tell me it's the only right way.

My spinning wheel is coming out tomorrow for some serious spinning. I'm going to start with one of the batts I got for my birthday from Shelly. And Shelly, you totally need to see this video!

How to send love

2010-09-29T21:04:00.000-07:00

A friend, and a mom in my son's class recently gave birth to a still baby boy. While initially processing the shock and grief I knitted a shawl for her.

It turns out, the knitting wasn't the hard part. I needed to attach a card. What do you say to a mother going through this? I sat down and after a long while, was able to say what was in my heart.

Dear Heidi,

May this shawl keep you warm on the inside as well as on the outside. It also works as a tear-catcher, as I found out while I knitted it for you and your little Bodhi James. Each stitch was made with love in my heart for you and your family. May it also give you strength to carry on and remind you of the love that surrounds you.

Love,
Kelie

Our motorcycle is home!

2010-09-25T19:55:00.000-07:00

Oh yes, you've heard right! One of our dirtbikes has found its way home to us after two and half years of being in the care of a criminal. Special thanks to the Carlsbad Police Department for its service and commitment to the citizens of Carlsbad!

A before:

An After:

And our letter of thanks to the Carlsbad Police Department:
Dear Police Chief Morrison,

We are writing to you to let you know about a great experience we’ve had recently with the City of Carlsbad Police Department. This past week, we had a very customized, special motocross dirt bike recovered for us by Officer Steven Tashoff. It was because of his willingness to help, his diligence and special skills regarding this kind of crime, that we have had our property returned to us.

We faced many obstacles with this case. Before we made contact with Carlsbad’s Police Department, we were dealing with an indifferent officer from the Encinitas Sheriff’s Department. During the case, we had an incompetent officer from Ramona Sheriff’s Department almost ruin our chances of recovering the dirt bike. It was only your officer, Detective Tashoff, that was able to facilitate the case in a competent, confident way and as a result, our family can put this difficult and stressful time behind us.

It might amuse you to learn a little bit about the background of the case. In May of 2008, we had our toy hauler broken into and two custom dirt bikes stolen. One was a Suzuki motorcycle, and the other a Suzuki LTZ400 quad. The toy hauler was kept at our parent’s house in Encinitas. At that point in time, the officer at the Encinitas Sheriff’s department filled out his paperwork and filed it away. We felt that leads about the workers that were doing construction on the private road that our parents live on, were not followed up on, and that it was too much of a burden on the Encinitas Sheriff’s department to help us. Ever since then we have had problems with the DMV because according to them, one of the bikes were never reported as stolen and that is the responsibility of the police department. We tried to follow up with the officer and he was very aggressive, rude, and indifferent, and told us it was the DMV’s problem not his, nothing should be done on his side. After speaking with his Sergeant, we thought the problem had been fixed with the DMV, but we have continued to get notices to pay the registration for the bike, including collections notices that we have spent many hours in the DMV trying to resolve. It was insult to our already hurt hearts after having our special property stolen.

This past August, while browsing pictures of friends who were riding at Barona Oaks MX track, we discovered pictures of our stolen motorcycle. We were able to look up the rider on Facebook, and sure enough, there were detailed pictures of the dirtbike, positively identifying it. We were able to see through Facebook, when and where he would be riding next. We took this information to the officer in Encinitas, and he told us to wait until the guy had the bike at the track, and call the Sheriff’s Dispatch number so they could send an officer to check the vin number on the bike. We were told that it was pretty much our only chance of recovering the bike, and that a warrant could not be issued based on pictures because no judge would give one with that limited amount of information. No information about a Regional Auto Theft Task Force was given to us nor any other resource that would possibly help us.

Feeling very discouraged, we sought counsel with the City of Carlsbad Police Department. I, Kelie, spoke to a Community Service Officer about the case and asked if truly, that was our only option. She was very kind to me and took my information and later that afternoon I got a call from Officer Beronda. He told me that he would like to forward my information to an officer that they have on Regional Auto Theft Task Force, because he believed he would be able to help us. I was very thankful to him for reviewing our information and for helping guide us to a resource. We were in touch with Officer Tashoff within a few days and from there we felt confident the case was being followed up on and handled correctly.

Officer Tashoff reviewed the photos, talked about the options and was on top of everything that was going on, communicating with us the whole way. This past Saturday before the motorcycle was recovered (about a month after first seeing the motorcycle on Facebook), we learned that the suspect was going to be riding up at Barona with the motorcycle. After leaving a voicemail for Detective Tashoff, we called the Sheriff’s Dispatch number to send an officer to the track. The officer proceeded to incorrectly identify the vin number and tip the suspect off as to how he was being watched on Facebook. That very day, his profile was locked and his profile picture was changed from him riding the stolen bike, to him riding his old bike. We felt like we had really blown it by not being patient and waiting for Officer Tashoff to handle the confrontation correctly. We were sick to our stomachs over being so close and having it end by the incompetence of the officer, and we felt bad that Officer Tashoff had been so willing to help us and now it had all been for nothing. It was a very stressful and emotional time for our family. Despite this setback, Officer Tashoff responded immediately by obtaining a warrant, went straight to the suspect’s house and recovered our motorcycle. It was only because of his diligence, and incredible skills in dealing with this case that we were able to see our motorcycle again. There are many more details to the case, but the commitment of Officer Tashoff is obvious.

Despite all the obstacles facing us, Officer Tashoff had our complete confidence and we are truly grateful to him for taking on our case and coming through for us. As citizens of this great City of Carlsbad, we are happy to know that the Carlsbad Police Department employs such wonderful people, all who care about the people in their community. It would have been easy for the Carlsbad Police department to say, “Sorry, that’s not our jurisdiction”, but instead showed us how a truly great Police Department operates and takes care of its citizens.

As the new Police Chief for Carlsbad, congratulations on being part of a truly wonderful community and the excellent Carlsbad Police Department.

Sincerely,

Roger and Kelie Oreb

Cc: Officer Steven Tashoff

My Fairy Name

2010-07-21T19:54:00.000-07:00

Found this on someone's Ravelry page and thought it would be fun to see what mine is.

Your fairy is called Hex Elffilter

She is a cheerful sprite.

She lives in places hexed and tainted by black magic.

She is only seen on midsummer's eve.

She wears black feathers and rose petals. She has delicate green wings like a cicada.

Get your free fairy name here!

I definitely like Roger's fairy. I think I'll just take his.

Your fairy is called Fire Rainbowfilter

She is a fortune bringer.

She lives where fireflies mate and breed.

She is only seen on midsummer's eve.

Her dresses glow with fiery colours. She has multicoloured wings like a butterfly.

Going home

2010-06-22T20:04:00.000-07:00

This has been a productive ride home! Aren't they beautiful? I think I strung this project out for so long because the yarn made me so happy when I looked at it. I'll write a better, more informative post when I'm at my computer at home. I just had to post these because I'm so excited to have the pair!
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Our favorite Rider

2010-06-20T16:25:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day! Here he is all ready to take the track for practice. The weather is beautiful today and we're hoping for another race day like yesterday. No crashes and no bike malfunctions. He finished 20th yesterday against guys who pay for their houses with cash doing this for a living. You know he's doing well when he doesn't get lapped by the leader. The 1st (and sometimes 2nd and 3rd) place guy usually catches and passes half the pack because they are so crazy fast..

We were pretty tired when the races were done yesterday, so we just went back to camp and hung out, had dinner, and went to bed. We have to be up @ 6 am to get into the pits, even though he doesn't actually need to be here until 10. It makes for a long day. Good thing the race is sponsered by Monster Energy and they're passing them out for free. As many as you can drink. And as some of my close friends know, it's my drink of choice when I need to get my caffeine on. I've seen someone drink 3 in a row before but I'm pretty sure you're asking for issues by doing that. What kind of issues, I don't know, but I'm not doing that experiment.

An interesting thing I've seen out here is a guy named Nick Pappas. I was standing over by the start line with the boys and I see a guy in riding gear roll up to his motorcycle. In a wheelchair. His friends lifted him up on his bike and proceeded to strap his legs to the bike frame and strap a seat belt around his waist. He is paralyzed from the rib cage down from a motocross accident 16 years ago, and is still racing. His pit crew stood with him on the starting line and when the gate dropped he took off with the rest of the riders. The only way you can tell, is when he's going around turns he doesn't put his leg down like the other riders. He just uses balance. Crazy!

It was a rough day for some people yesterday. I figure, to race the Mammoth Motocross, you've got to have 3 things:

One - You have to get here. Some guys who are lucky enough to get an entry, don't make it here for one reason or another. This is usually, 5-10 guys who aren't on the gate for their 1st moto.

Two - You have to keep your bike together and running optimally for the high elevation and conditions. This usually knocks out another 3-5 guys out of the race because their bike will have some random part break and they won't have the ability to fix it before the next moto, or they'll hit a rock with their tire (it can be a really rocky track) , or somebody will run into them and break something. Or over them...which brings me to #3.

Three - You have to keep it on two wheels and not crash out. This knocks out about 8 - 10 guys, or more. This requires you to use your head and not try crazy stunts that will make you not finish at all.

An example of how tough it is to stay in the race, here are some stats I found out today on my husband's 40 Expert class. 38 guys signed up for the 40 open spots. I'm not sure why they weren't all filled, probably had something to do with the Road 2 Mammoth races that didn't go so well for most people. On day 1 (Saturday), 29 guys made it to the 1st moto. 26 were on the gate for the 2nd moto. On day 2 (today), 22 riders were on the gate for the 1st moto, and (surprise, surprise!) all 22 were on the gate for the last moto. That always makes me glad, you don't want to be watching people get carted off in the meat wagon all day.

It's kind of a shame it was more of the slower guys than the fast ones that dropped out, but I guess that's what happens when you don't have your own mechanic out here wiping your butt.

Roger ended up finishing 15th today, without getting lapped, hurt, or breaking his bike which made this an awesome race weekend. He has bragging rights that he's raced against the likes of Ty Davis, Chris Young, and Shaun Palmer (who only has 9 or so Gold medals for X-Games etc, not even counting the silver). He made us all proud and now we get to take him out for Father's Day dinner to celebrate!
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Snow in June

2010-06-18T19:13:00.000-07:00

Here I am getting setup for a snowball fight at Lake Mary, 48 degrees warm, almost 9,000 feet high. You really have to work for the geocaches around here. There are few park and grab's, you need to hike a little ways and really look. Every single one has been worth the effort. We've been rewarded with breathtaking views of nature and wildlife. There was an incredible waterfall and we even saw a wolf! He was large, white with gray and just beautiful. He saw us and moved away too quickly for us to take a picture, which was just fine with me.

Practice went good this morning, tomorrow's the race!
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Adventure Galore

2010-06-18T09:38:00.000-07:00

Wednesday night after we were done fishing and were back at camp, I decided to superglue my cut, to help keep it closed up without my thumb being taped to my forefinger. As you can see, the superglue has helped it heal nicely and it doesn't even hurt anymore. I had always wondered if that would really work.

After the superglue had dried I proceeded to clean the 3 fish we had decided to keep after fishing that afternoon. We actually caught 10, but kept the 14-16 inch big ones. It was my first time cleaning a fish, and after a few phone calls to our expert fisherman neighbor, we went to work. My husband held the wiggly fish down on the cutting board while I chopped off the head, slid the knife down the middle of the belly and cleaned all the insides out. I think if we are going to clean fish in the future, we'll need to invest in a good sharp fishing knife. It was a little unwieldy on the slope of a creek, with just an okay knife, by the light of a flashlight. I might have had more use for the superglue had it gone awry. The boys sure loved every minute of it and were so excited when we would catch one and then let it go back in the stream. Son #2 decided it would be easier to just go in the stream and pick one up with his hands and was actually successful! So we think he's part bear and are not concerned about running into bears now, because we know they'll recognize one of their own.

Yesterday we started off the day with some yummy breakfast burritos (cooked by me) before a quick stop at the visitors center. We found out that a lot of the lakes are closed due to snow and ice and that it snowed the previous week.

We decided to head south of Mammoth a few miles to a little place called Wild Willies Boardwalk. You drive down this gravel road about a mile, then walk down a wooden boardwalk to a natural hot spring. We spent the morning soaking in a very warm bubbly pool with a view of the snow covered mountains. I got some good pictures but they're on our other camera and will have to wait until we get home.

The next part of the day wasn't as relaxing. We decided to go check out McGee Lake (which was close by) and find a few geocaches. One of the geocaches was located at an abandoned mine at the top of a dirt road on a hill. The truck got stuck about 2/3's of the way there on a sketchy incline, with the back end sliding off the hill. I got out, gave my husband my opinion about his judgement of the road and the truck's ability, grabbed my kids and proceeded down the hill for some help. Some county officials were just coming up the main road and were able to help us. They had a friend with a truck and a wench, that would be able to help us. They gave me and the boys a ride down to a fish pond while we waited. It was a stressful couple of hours and we went down to a cafe called Tom's Place afterward to celebrate the rescuing of the truck with a couple of beers and food. There was no damage to the truck at all and everyone was safe, so in gratitude, I will let go of my negative thoughts about the situation, and enjoy the rest of the trip.

Today is practice day for the Mammoth motocross. Afterwards we'll pick a short hike for the afternoon, and then finally barbecue the fish.

I finished the hot water bottle cover, and am working on my Dancing Ladies socks. I'm almost down to the heel and hope I'll be able to finish it by the end of the trip. Then I'll finally have my beautiful socks done with the memory of them in the wonderful setting of Mammoth. They sure did save me yesterday!
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82 miles to Bishop, CA

2010-06-16T11:24:00.000-07:00

Turns out you don't need your left thumb to knit.

Note to self: I don't care how much someone begs you for it, don't cut apples on the road with a sharp knife in a bumpy truck.
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On our way to Mammoth

2010-06-16T07:20:00.000-07:00

A quick update on my cleanse...I feel great! My body feels healthy, my mind feels clear and I've lost 14 lbs. It far exceeded my expectations and I'll definitely be doing this once a year with some shorter cleanses quarterly. Its helped me learn more about nutrition and to pursue more natural remedies to the ailments that do pop up. For example, I suffer from migraines during certain parts of my cycle. I didn't want to break my cleanse, so at that time of the month I went to an accupuncturist. I felt like I had won the lottery after that first treatment. I went one more time and since then have not had a migraine. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for next month, because they might not come back. :) Woohoo!

I'm knitting a hot water bottle cover on the road. The truck is not the smoothest ride and it's not good for knitting anything fine gauge. I've made one like this for my friend's birthday and I've wanted one of my own for awhile. The drive should be long enough to bust it out by the time we get there!

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Clean

2010-05-22T08:24:00.000-07:00

My year of health continues...

In addition to my yoga 3 times a week, my organic food and periodic chiropractic adjustments, I've decided to Cleanse. A couple of the mom's from my sons class have tried this Clean Program. After watching them go through the detox and the cleanse, I am convinced it's what I need. The transformations that I've seen in my fellow moms have been wonderful. Their energy, their skin and 8 or more pounds have dropped. In the matter of a few weeks.

The book explains it all and really makes sense. I've spent about a week on the Elimination Diet to help my body prep for the Cleanse. I thought the biggest challenge was going to be giving up my coffee/caffeine. But I haven't had any since Tuesday and I'm doing okay. I had a few times where I felt a little tired in the beginning but not the whole "oh my god, I have the flu and shakes and I'm dying" thing. Which is what I experienced when I cut my Mountain Dew habit before getting pregnant with my first son.

I'm so excited about the prospect that I will have natural energy, and feel better than I have possibly ever felt that I am not bummed about giving up things that I like to eat. It's for a mere three weeks and I'll feel better and look better just in time for summer!

The Escondido Renaissance Fair was at the end of April and we went on Sunday, both weekends.

The first weekend I went dressed as a lady and the second as a gypsy. My boys always go dressed as pirates. We bought my husband a blue pirate shirt with black pants to get his costume started. The next thing he needs are some pirate boots, then a hat, then a sword. I figured if we just added to it a little at a time, then it won't be too much of a burden cost-wise. But what I really want to get him eventually is a Pirate Coat from Samiah. That's not actually the one I want for him, but it's not on the website. He's tried a specific one on every year and it's actually quite a bit more (double) expensive than the one on the website. Which has made it quite unattainable for our income. But someday...

I have been knitting a little here and there. To learn and research about things (food and cooking, homemaking, handmade things) I want to know about is time consuming. It is totally worth the effort and my other hobbies that I feel like I actually have a handle on can wait on the back-burner until I figure some of these other things out. I've made 3 hot water bottle covers for gifts, 2 for Mother's Day gifts and 1 for a friend. I've made a little progress on the sweater and sock I'm working on, just not enough to take new pictures.

That's it for now, time to go finish reading A Handmade Life by William Coperthwaite before heading off to the farmers market with Shelly. My research books are starting to accumulate faster than I can read them!

Anyone else think that building a yurt would be really fun and awesome?

Closing Ceremonies

2010-03-01T20:35:00.000-08:00

This was the best time I have EVER had watching the Olympics. I had never really gotten into them before. They would come and I would catch the headlines and the medal count, but I usually wouldn't sit and watch the events. With the Knitting Olympics and the Ravelympics happening this year, I was motivated to set a goal and see if I could finish it within the 17 days. I completed my "project" and received my Free Dance medal from Ravelry and my Knitting Champion Medal from the Yarn Harlot.

My project was to finish 24 swirls on my Swirl Shawl, which at the time seemed like a whole bunch. I anticipated having to push everyday to get that many done, and come sliding over the finish line right at the end. But I finished a few days early and had enough time to leisurely weave in the loose ends.

Which makes me think I didn't set the bar high enough. Not that I think I should have stressed myself out about it, because I hardly had enough time or ability to get the 16 more swirls done that would have made another row on the shawl. But I feel like I underestimated how quickly I would memorize the pattern and how much faster I would get at knitting the swirls. I was able to cut 30 minutes of time off of the knitting of one swirl. When I started it took me 1 hr and 15 minutes to finish one. By the time I was finished with the two rows, I was busting them out in about 45 minutes. I'm just saying that I might set the bar a little higher next time. :)

But seriously, I really, really enjoyed watching the Olympics this year. I didn't get enough sleep and was a little cranky after the nights where I had to stay up until 11:30 or later, because I just had to see who won the gold, but other than that, the world felt a little smaller to me. People are basically the same all over the world, whether they are jumping up for joy to celebrate their victory, or crying into their coaches shoulders from defeat. It made me feel good to see that countries all over the world can come together and represent their best. I'm looking forward to the Summer Olympics now! Go Team Sock-aholic!

Ravelympics 2010

2010-02-12T09:41:00.000-08:00

Now I'm committed! After much indecisiveness about whether or not I could commit to a project I've made up my mind. It helped that women (I'm looking at you Wendy and Janelle!), who have a lot more commitments than me this month, are not be wussy and making it happen.

My project is the Swirl Shawl from Jojoland. My goal: To complete 24 swirls during the Winter Olympics. Right now I have 9 swirls done. If I can complete 24 swirls in the next 17 days, I will have finished the first row of the shawl and completed the second row. That's about 1.5 swirls a day, which is going to be very challenging because it takes me about 1 hour and 15 min to make one swirl. And to take the time to knit one and two swirls a day is going to be a real commitment and require me to neglect some other aspect of my life. (Housecleaning, I'm looking at you!) At the end of this goal I will have 30% of my shawl completed and probably be able to keep going to finish it sooner rather than later. I'm guessing I will have the 16 round pattern memorized and have sped up the actual amount of time it takes to finish one.

GO TEAM SOCK-AHOLIC!

The Best Kind of Therapy

2010-01-29T09:25:00.000-08:00

Yup, I'm still knitting washcloths. Everywhere I go. My other projects stay at home and watch with envy as my little Ravelry bag of Sugar ' N Cream cotton gets to see my day. I've got to start more mornings off like this!

The Pink Collection

2010-01-25T20:08:00.000-08:00

I have several projects on the needles right now, way more than I have usually. I'll usually have a pair of socks, a sweater or other big project and maybe one other small thing. But I am having trouble focusing on one and have a bunch of little and big ones all over the place! Part of it is, I have fallen in love with hand knit washcloths. If it's possible to believe, I never had one until my birthday a few months ago. And ever since I have been busy knitting them, with no plans to stop until the kitchen and bathrooms have all the washcloths they can hold. I've knitted about 7 so far and the fun of it isn't old yet.

Here is my pink collection for the kitchen.

The pattern I started out with is Grandmother's Favorite Dishcloth and I think there are several other patterns out there that are the same. I used a size 5 needle and got busy. I made a couple of white ones and then started working with the pink. The gauge for mine is 5 sts/in and know that I know, I'll be able to customize some towels for myself.

So the first washcloth (using garter stitch) ended up about 10" x 10" and is just the right size for me.

Then I made one stockinette to see which one I liked better. It obviously was elongated compared to the garter stitch and not really the right shape for me.

The next one I made was a towel and I wanted to see how far one ball of the Sugar 'n Cream yarn would go. It measures about 12" x 9" and is a nice little hand towel. I think if I made more of these like this, I would use two balls and have a longer hand towel that would hang nicely.

One of the more exciting projects I have going right now are my Girls Night Out Socks by my very talented friend Wendy. We're up to Clue 3 and this is how they look so far. I did her first mystery knit-a-long back in May and ended up with some very cool purple butterfly socks. I'm having just as much fun with this one as I did the last one and I can't wait for the next clue. It comes out in a few days!

I'm still working on my Cardigan Azure, and am about halfway through the body. It's not one that I like to carry around with me and so it doesn't get worked on unless I'm at home. The swirl shawl is also an at-home project and hasn't seen any love since Christmas. It hasn't been moved to the closet though and I plan on picking it up again soon.

Knitting has been my lifeline lately and I'm so thankful I have my handwork in my life. My MIL has been sick and I have been doing all the grocery shopping and cooking (dinners only and a few prep things for breakfast and lunch) for her and my FIL. It's been good for me to work on eating healthier and also feeding those I love healthy foods. Everyone has been very considerate and thankful for my hard work and it's made me feel good. I am in a place in my life where I am ready to step up and learn more about healthy living and be more conscious about the foods I let into my (and my family's) body. A couple of my goals have been to eat almost all organic and no foods with chemicals in them. We're not completely there but each baby step gets us a little bit closer and I'm having fun playing the game. And it's kind of funny when Son #1 sees me get a vegetable he doesn't want to eat. He'll say to me, "I think that has high fructose corn syrup in it." :)

I've also started seeing a holistic chiropractor who has been very helpful in showing me how the adjustments she makes will help me. One of the things I really love to do at the gym is yoga and it's been really hard for me for a long time. I have a burning pain in my wrists while I practice, and I just thought it was my carpal tunnel acting up and I've had inflammation in my wrists during certain times of the month also. But I only get the pain in my wrists when I put weight on them, it's never when I'm knitting or anything horrible like that. And my back, I can just straighten up with a little resistance in my shoulders and the whole thing pops. It's kind of weird and I just though that after I had my second son, everything didn't tighten back up the way it was supposed to. The Dr. has helped me to understand how with some adjustments and healing, I will build the strength I wish to have. I'm really excited about it and have high hopes even though I've only seen her twice. I'm going to keep my thoughts positive and know that this is my year of health!

Law of Attraction

2010-01-19T20:00:00.000-08:00

I think it's pretty obvious to most people who know me that I like to knit. Even if they aren't knitters themselves. They've either seen me wearing my hand knits, or actually knitting in public. I think that's why I'm usually the recipient of unwanted yarn and fiber related goodies. So the following event happens to me about once a year. A friend who I know through my son's school sent me this email about a week ago.

"I hope you’re having a good new year so far. I am in the midst of clearing out, streamlining and getting ready to pack. I haven’t even started actually packing and we’re moving Wednesday!

Anyway, do you want some yarn? I don’t have anything that amazing, but some interesting varieties, mostly wool. When I got into knitting I started collecting yarn like crazy. I need to get rid of a lot before my husband finds out how much I actually have. I was literally hiding it in my closet! I even had to find new hiding places temporarily once when we cleaned our carpets. But, I don’t think I’ll get away without him noticing how much I have if I don’t get rid of some. Plus, I’m not knitting that much anymore, and I’ll have to buy all matching yarn when I (if I) ever get around to doing more projects. Since you knit so much I wanted to offer the yarn to you."
After I finished laughing about how we ALL hide yarn around the house I immediately emailed her back to let her know that I would LOVE to have her yarn and anything that I didn't want to keep I would find a good home for. So here it is in all it's glory before I started organizing it. Although she did already have the different fibers separated.

The Whole Collection

The Wool and Angora Collection

The Alpaca Collection

The Mohair and Suede Collection

The Cotton Collection

The Novelty Collection

I've gone through and catalogued a lot in Ravelry and I'm just going to put it away for now. But in the future I'll be pulling some of this stuff out and seeing if I'm actually going to knit with it or give it away. I really feel like I win the lottery at least once a year!

Cookie A.

2010-01-11T09:16:00.000-08:00

Last year when Sock Summit was announced, I put my name on the waiting list for the announcements. When it came time to register for classes, I was ready. I had the class numbers, the days, everything ready to go not once thinking that I wouldn't be able to get the classes I wanted. Well, I think everyone is familiar with what happened when 30,000+ knitters tried to do the same thing as me at the same time. I could have taken the disappointment of not getting all my classes I wanted, if I had only gotten one class. But the class had to be Top Down Sock Design with Cookie A. I wasn't going to go through all the effort to get up to Portland, spend the money on travel and expenses, if i wasn't going to get the one class that I felt really would help me with my sock design. So I didn't make it to Sock Summit.

Lucky for me, and maybe unlucky for some, I proceeded to tell my knitting friends (and a whole lot of other really confused people who didn't know why I was telling them this) about how Sock Summit wasn't to be for me and how badly I had wanted to take this class. That's when Nancy looked into having Cookie A. come to Common Threads and teach her wonderful Sock Innovation class.

Last Wednesday, January 6, I had the privilege of learning from one of my favorite sock designers, the method to her madness. Cookie started the class off by having everyone introduce themselves and say how they felt about charts, and tell an embarrassing story about themselves. It was pretty funny hearing about what embarrasses people and opened up the mood. The things that stood out in my mind that have embarrassed me all had to do with my kids, so that's what I told. How they like to fart in grocery store lines, moon random people in public, those sorts of things. When it came around to a lady named Gretchen, she told us about how her son recently mooned the bus driver and how she got a phone call to come get him. And that wasn't even her embarrassing story! It was really funny!

The next part of the class she talked about stitch patterns and how she starts designing her sock. I think the thing I took away most from the class, was the ability to gauge how stitch patterns will interact with each other, especially cables. It is invaluable to me to know how to adjust the number of stitches to accommodate how the cables suck in and make it fit into a sock. I haven't knitted a lot of sweaters yet, but I know this knowledge with come in handy when I start learning more about sweater construction.

After her presentation, it was time for us to put our new knowledge into action and pick out a stitch pattern to work with. I had started with one and after struggling with it for awhile, decided to ditch it and try something else. That's when I found this one and got busy. I practiced all afternoon, looking at different cable crosses, and how I would adjust the number of stitches to accommodate each one.

I also spent a lot of time eavesdropping on other people getting help, so I could learn from what they were working on also. I really learned a lot and felt really comfortable with Cookie's teaching methods. It made something that seemed complicated more accessible and I feel like I could take some ideas I have floating around in my head and actually execute them into a sock pattern.

Here I am at the end of class with Cookie A., wearing my new jacket I got for Christmas. My friends have nicknamed the jacket my Huggy Bear jacket because it is definitely P.I.M.P. It was a little chilly in the class room, but I could only tell because other people wanted the heater on. I was nice and toasty in my Huggy Bear jacket.

Cookie A put the Huggy Bear jacket on and struck a pimp pose for a picture. Yes, some pimp socks are in my future!

Here are my girls after the class, all of us deliciously exhausted and feeling good. My Best B is already half-way through her first sock that she started in the class and it is AWESOME! She started ripping through the design and was on fire the whole time. I can't wait to see the finished sock, it's going to be cool.

Thank you to Cookie, for making the trek down to San Diego and thank you to Nancy, for bringing Cookie A to San Diego! I'm so lucky to have wonderful friends to enjoy my passion of knitting with. What a way to start off the New Year!

Working Out

2009-12-29T14:17:00.000-08:00

This is what you can do in 1 hour and 10 minutes on a treadmill. And barely even notice the time!

Who believes in Santa Claus?

2009-12-28T15:54:00.000-08:00

I do! I do!

Merry Christmas 2009

2009-12-25T14:32:00.000-08:00

It's been a good year and I am in my happy place! I hope to carry this feeling forward with me throughout the rest of the year, even if things don't go the way I want. I'll be able to remember the feeling and keep my spirits high!

I did decide to knit a few gifts this year for Christmas presents. I usually agree with the No Knitted Gifts movement, but sometimes I just can't help myself.

I made two pairs of slippers for the in-laws. These were for Nana.

These were for Bompa.

When I was first learning how to knit, a friend taught me this basic slipper pattern. I made a couple for family members at the time but haven't since that first year. My father-in-law made a special request for these this year, because they are just like the ones his mom used to make. I've heard that from other people too, I guess this used to be a pretty popular way to make slippers. They are a pretty quick knit and are really cozy. They don't look like much but they sure feel nice on when it's cold!

The other knitted gift I made was a pair of fingerless gloves for my sister. I drew her name for the family gift exchange and thought right away to make these.

I had found this yarn, Schoeller+Stahl Fortissima Socka Mexiko Color and really liked the colors in it. Since the gloves didn't take a whole lot of yardage I think I may have enough to make myself a pair. They are a perfect purse project. I was actually able to knit on these while walking on a treadmill at the gym. Sure I got some funny looks but I think it was just something a lot of people don't see a lot. I feel pretty good walking and knitting. I just listen to an audiobook on my ipod, put the ball of yarn in the cupholder and start walking away. 45 minutes will go by before I get tired and notice the time. It's a fun way to stay fit if you ask me!

One little present I bought myself was a set of Signature needles. I had bought a Swirl Shawl kit from JoJoLand when I was at Stitches West in February. I had made one swirl just to see what it looked like. Then when I got home, it got put with the stash so I could finish my lace shawl for my sister's wedding. One of the reasons I hadn't picked it up yet was I didn't have size 6 double pointed needles. I had tried to do the swirl on circulars and it was just to much messing around. So I had made up my mind to look into getting some nice double points. One of my needle preferences is a super sharp tip. The sharper the better! That's why I love Knit Picks needles so much. I have some things I could say about their quality, but I won't because what they lack in quality they make up for in customer service. And that's an okay trade off for me. Anyone who says Addi Lace needles are just as sharp, hasn't compared them. They are obviously NOT as sharp, which is okay if you prefer bluntness. The more blunt the tip on my knitting needle, the more sloppy my work looks.

I have always been intrigued about these Signature needles, but have never had an excuse to buy them. They are very pricey and they don't make circulars which I use almost exclusively. So lucky me I had this project to have an excuse to buy them. I bought a set with 5 needles and it set me back $60. They are not slick but have the sharp point I like (I bought the stiletto point). Which is working out for this project perfectly! I can see myself sitting down and making a couple of these every day and having the shawl done in no time, because they are really fun to make.

One last thought I wanted to put down. Just because it's a nice thought and makes me think there is hope for all of us. In Christmas of 1923 Rudolf Steiner wrote this: "The regularity with which the Sun moves through the seasons, the regularity manifested in the growth of plants and in the life of animals - this regularity was once chaos. Harmony has been attained at the cost of great travail. Humanity stands today within the same kind of chaos, but out of the chaos, there will arise a harmony modeled in the likeness of the harmony in the universe."

Merry Christmas to Humanity!

In Season

2009-12-21T19:15:00.000-08:00

The latest finished object in my World Domination Tour 2009. This was the July pattern for the Rockin Sock Club. These took longer than a normal pair of socks due to the fact that I carried them around in my purse, and only knitted on them when I was waiting around for something somewhere. They were the perfect project for waiting because after the leg chart and the heel turn it was basic sock knitting, no pattern needed.

Name of Project: In Season by Melissa Morgan-Oakes
Yarn: 1 skein of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock - lightweight in colorway Garden Daze
Needles: Size US 0 (2.0 mm) Knit Picks circulars

I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again. I LOVE Socks That Rock! It still is, hands down, the most fabulous sock yarn I've ever used and I've tried quite a few different kinds of sock yarn. It just reinforced it for me when I put on my Timberline Toes socks that I made almost 2 years ago and they still look like the picture I took when I finished them. I've worn them a lot and they've held up. No pilling , no holes, not even signs of wear. Now that's a good investment to me!

One of the announcements I need to make is that I won't be joining the Rockin Sock Club for 2010. The main reason being is, for the last two years, I've only been able to finish four out of the six kits that have been shipped. Which leaves me with four, completely fabulous (oh my god, I can't believe I haven't knitted these yet) kits. Which I feel is a good enough reason on it's own to hold off for a year. I have four to hold me over (not to mention the "other" skeins of Socks That Rock) for the whole year. But I have other projects I've really been interested in trying and I think 2010 will be a good year to explore some of those. Hopefully I'll be able to post about what my ideas are next week once I've had time to set some concrete plans.

So don't think I'm abandoning my Sockies that Rockie and the gift that keeps on giving all year long! I'm just going to take this next year to catch up and I'll be back for 2011!

ItShe Love

2009-12-21T18:45:00.000-08:00

Someone who has been there to support and love me unconditionally is worthy of handknits. And it's just another perk that she's a knitter. One of the things about my Best B (aka ItShe) is that she has a knack for giving gifts, and it's an attribute I've tried to pick up on. So I'm always on the lookout for something to show how important she is to me. When I decided to make this felted knitting bag in March, I picked out colors that she would like, and got started knitting. It was exactly what I wanted to give her for her birthday in November, and I needed a head-start if I was going to figure out how to finish it.

Name of Project: Knitting Basket by Lucia Tedesco
Yarn: 3 hanks of Manos Del Uruguay
Needles: Size US 10 (6.0 mm)
Pattern Notes: I think that the bottom could be knit in the round instead of back and forth, then you wouldn't have to sew up the seam. I also worked a couple of purl rounds to make the turn after the base a little more pronounced. For the handles, I cast on double the amount of stitches to make them longer. It will easily be carried on the shoulder and keep your hands free.

The bag before felting:

The bag after felting: I turned it over on a stockpot and let it dry for a couple of days.

And here it is completely finished.

I found a thin flexible plastic at Jo-Ann's that is commonly used for a quilting template. I used two of them for the bag. I sewed a tube out of the lining fabric to slip the plastic through, then sewed it to the dimensions of the bag. Then I sewed the tube containing the plastic inside the bag, and cut a round circular piece of plastic to fit the bottom. The result is a totally sturdy inside, that holds the bag to its desired shape. This was my first experience making something like this and am so please with the results, I already have the yarn to make another. I need one too!

The next gift giving opportunity was Christmas. This one actually had it's start in February, kind of. When I was at Stitches West in Santa Clara, I found the Abstract Fiber booth and they had the most beautiful blend of Cashmere and Silk fiber. I've never knitted anything with my hanspun before but decided this was the perfect reason to try it.

This is my own top-down fingerless glove pattern. I made a little gauge swatch, determined the amount of stitches to cast-on and got started. My handspun only got me as far as the wrist so I added a little Blackstone Tweed from Berroco to finish the length.

They did turn out like I wanted which I consider a victory! The handspun was a little thicker than I had envisioned because I did a 3-ply, but in the end it still looked great. I pictured ItShe wearing them while walking her energetic Chloe dog. Who wouldn't want to have a pair of Cashmere/Silk gloves to walk the dog?

Torrance Fiber Festival 2009

2009-11-12T14:28:00.000-08:00

Two weeks ago was the Torrance Fiber Festival put on by the Southern California Handweavers' Guild. We started the day off by meeting for breakfast, then seven of us carpooled up together (thanks for driving Edina). As usual it was fun to go and check everything out.

These were my purchases for the day. One crazy looking merino/cotswald batt with purple and green in it with some sparkly stuff. Reminds me of Wicked, and anything associated with that, makes me smile. It is a One of a Kind from Susan's Kitchen and I'm really excited about spinning it to see how it comes out. Could be bad, should be good, won't know until I do it. It's that kind of suspense that keeps me going.

A Triple Play Roving from Crosspatch Creations. I bought one of these last year and had a really fun time spinning it. Some crazy yarn resulted and I'm not sure what to do with it yet, but that has never been the point. We'll see how this one comes out, it has to be good with these crazy colors.

And a sweaters worth of Malabrigo Silky Merino in Blackberry. I got this at a discount, which is why I went for it. It wouldn't let me leave without taking it home and I'm really glad I did. It is so beautiful that I may just fondle it for awhile before I decide to wind it.

After exhausting ourselves shopping, we went to an area noodle house where we were joined by knitters from Orange County whom we have met before at Stitches events.

And as if being with like-minded, fun friends wasn't enough of a treat, I received two birthday presents. My beautiful stranded socks from ItShe, which are so beautiful and fit perfectly. I had seen them on my birthday, but they had been re-possessed for finishing.

And Cupcake surprised me with The Harmony Guides 101 stitches to Knit. Son #2 and I had a fun time at the library where I was laying them out so I could plan a project. These two were his picks. I told him to hold them up for the camera and he put on his excited face for the picture.

These two were my picks, but I have a hard time going against good taste, which son #2 does have.

For more pictures of the festival, Wendy wrote a great post on her blog about it. I'm definitely on the wagon for next year's festival!

First things first

2009-11-06T12:07:00.000-08:00

Since I haven't been able to blog since I started having blog-worthy news, I'll just start at the beginning.

I finished the Meditrina fingerless gloves and they turned out so cool I could barely part with them. The Mountain colors yarn turned out amazing, the colorway is Moccasin Trail. I started them from the top because I knew I would probably run short on yarn and have to finish the cuff in another color. Yeah for two-at-time top-down! I was able to finish them off with some black fingering yarn with a little ruffle. They look a little girly, but a little punk rock at the same time.

I joined a mini sock swap on the Knitters Brewing Co Sockaholics group on Ravelry and it was my first swap ever. Each person had to knit a mini sock and send it to their swap partner by October 31. I checked out some of the ideas floating around, and people were putting little things inside their mini socks and adding little things to their packages. So I was very surprised when a box arrived at my house on Halloween afternoon with all of these goodies in it.

Chocolates, coffee, Burts Bees chapstick and Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream, 3 skeins of yarn, a notepad, and yes, my mini sock. It was really neat to get something from my swap partner's part of the country and now I wish I would've included something "San Diegan" in with mine. I'll know for next time!

And on Halloween night, my vampire family hit the streets for some Trick-or-Treat fun. I have to say, this was one of the best Halloween's yet. The kids have such a good time with it and we enjoy watching the show. We get together with a few other families, have dinner and hit the streets. There were kids everywhere, all dressed up, people in their driveways with firepits passing out candy (or running out, there were so many kids) and we had an ice chest in a wagon filled with adult refreshments. We went as long as the kids could go and when they finally crapped out and were loony from their sugar highs we went home.

It was a good night! And the next morning I woke up bright and early to attend the Torrance Fiber Festival.

Our mornings @ Moonlight

2009-11-02T18:47:00.000-08:00

I guess having to stay out of the house in the mornings could be worse! The little figure by the water is Son #2. He likes to chase the birds. :) Have many things to post about, hopefully tomorrow.

Fraggle Squiggle Socks

2009-10-16T19:13:00.000-07:00

These were the May 2009 shipment from the Rockin Sock Club. Like I've said before, just knitting with this yarn makes me happy. I don't think I've ever not liked anything I've made with it (other than the cursed Chapman Springs which we shall never speak of again). Because of the stitch used in these socks I came very close to running out of yarn. Every sock so far this year has been top down, which I usually don't mind, but this time it made me kind of nervous. I wondered if anyone else had come close or not.

Name of Project: Fraggle Squiggle Socks by JC Briar
Yarn: Socks That Rock Lightweight, Colorway Pepe Le Plume
Needles: Size US 0 (2.0 mm) Knit Picks circulars

I need to bind off the Meditrina fingerless gloves and then I'll be done with those and will have nothing on my needles. Just the thought of it really freaks me out so I'll be winding some yarn tonight after the kids go to bed.

Meditrina

2009-10-04T09:09:00.000-07:00

These are toe-less, heel-less socks of my own design. The recipient suffers from arthritis and has acute chronic pain in her ankles. Meditrina is a goddess associated with healing and I hope these help heal. I used my beautiful skein of Mountain Colors Barefoot that I received for entering the Think Outside the Sox contest last year. They are definitely her colors and I know she's going to love these. (Although they were my colors too!)

I started with a Channel Island cast-on from Lucy Neatby's book Cool Socks Warm Feet. I love how it puts the little nubbies at the top. I worked for about 5 inches in 1 x 1 ribbing, then bound off half of the stitches using a tubular bind-off.

I casted on (long-tail) enough stitches to accomodate her extremely swollen instep, continued the 1 x 1 ribbing, and did a few decreases to fit them towards the toe. Then I used a tubular bind-off at the end. I've already cast on for the matching pair of fingerless gloves. I'm going to knit them from the top of the hand down the wrist so I can go as far as the yarn will let me in the same 1 x 1 rib pattern. It's so pretty and gives more stretch then plain stockinette. It's a perfect project to carry around in my purse because I can pick it up and put it down whenever without having to reference a pattern.

The other project I'm working on is my Fraggle Squiggle socks from the Rockin Sock Club.

I've turned the heel and am working down the gusset. I've said this before but I'll say it again. I love Socks That Rock! When I start a project with it and am knitting, I'm happy. Just plain happy! I love the way the yarn feels in my hands, the way it feels when I'm knitting with it and the beautiful colors it comes in. I'm a little backed up on my shipments due to other projects but I know I'll find the time somewhere. I just got this in the mail last week.

Gorgeous colorway with a wonderful Cat Bordhi pattern. Does it get any better? I think not.

In spinning news, I've finished my beautiful SeaWool Fiber that was a gift from Cupcake. I love her motto of knitting (or spinning) the nicest stuff you can afford. This is definitely some nice stuff! It's from Creatively Dyed Yarn and is 70% Wool, 30% Seacell. The colorway is Key West.

I started spinning this back in February. It's taken me seven months to spin this. I am a very slow spinner and 8 ozs is a lot to me. My singles filled up to bobbins and were pretty skinny. This is navajo-plyed. I wasn't sure if I wanted to have a 2-ply or 3-ply but after a little sampling and swatching decided on the stronger colors with the 3-ply. Plus, navajo plying is really fun. It's just a big crochet chain and has a rythym that I love. There is a cool video from Sarah Anderson on Navajo plying that I like, although it's not exactly how I do it.

I'm really excited about swatching a little with this to see what kind of fabric it wants to be. I'm thinking about trying a small top-down cropped sweater to wear over some of my dresses.

And lastly, for Son #2's birthday, the Three Little Pigs. His preschool teacher does a puppet show with that story and she has her own knitted pigs that she uses. Son #2 loves them so for his 4th birthday I gave him his own.

My new hobby of geocaching has cut into my knitting time quite a bit, but it's so fun I can't stop. My boys and I have gone every day this past week!

Another cute baby sweater

2009-09-10T19:57:00.000-07:00

My baby shower gift all ready to go for Saturday. I bought some onesies and socks to go with it and it's almost cute enough to make me want more. Almost.

The pattern for the sweater is a Lion Brand pattern called Naturally Nice Baby Sweater and I chose it because of the top down construction. I've made it before and will likely make it again because I was able to fit it into my knitting queue without a whole lot of shuffling. I like that in a project!

The hat I made to go with it has a rolled brim and a fancy pom pom on top. It started out with matching trip on the cuff of the hat but it was so bulky I just cut it off and made it a rolled brim instead.

I think she'll like it and can't wait to give it to her!

Football season officially started tonight. I've got some bets rolling on them but doubt I will do very well. Unless my husband is sitting there doing the picks with me, I pick based on whose uniform colors appeal to me at the moment, or whose name I like best. Not very scientific. I think it'll be a good time!

We had our first day of second grade this week too. The routine and rhythm has started and is falling into place. Here's to another year of wonderful education!

Purple Hooter

2009-09-08T15:34:00.000-07:00

I am proud to present my finished Purple Hooter socks! I think they were actually renamed Social Butterfly which is very fitting.

Name of Project: Mystery Sock from Knitters Brewing Company
Yarn: Knitters Brewing Company Sockaholic in the Purple Hooter colorway
Needles: Size US 0 (2.0 mm) Knit Picks circulars

Here is a closeup detail of the butterfly lace pattern. It has beads that outline it and you would see them better if I splurged on some of those cool wooden sock blockers. Unfortunately my money goes to the sock yarn, but if I ever have money burning a whole in my pocket...

This was my very first mystery knitting project and I loved it! It was fun watching the pattern emerge and not knowing what you were going to have in the end. I've always wanted to try the Mystery Shawl KAL, but haven't wanted to commit to a project that big. After making these, I think I've found my favorite kind of mystery project. There were seven clues and each one was started and stopped at a perfect spot.

The only project I have on the needles right now are the yoga socks for my mother-in-law. I'm using Mountain Colors Bearfoot and it's so beautiful. I'm a little more than half-way done and am looking forward to working on some of my Rockin' sock club shipments next. I've gotten two that I haven't had a chance to knit up and I think the next one is due at the end of the month.

Cat Bordhi Rocks

2009-09-07T21:29:00.000-07:00

This is a preview of Cat Bordhi's new book, "Personal Footprints for Insouciant Sock Knitters".

I am so excited to see this new book and I hope to be able to take a class with her when she's touring around.

My Sister's Wedding

2009-08-18T11:53:00.000-07:00

Everyone knows how much time and effort it takes to pull off a big wedding. There's always some kind of glitch and one can only hope that it's a minor one that can be overcome. Luckily, we had some notice about the glitch for our event. I get a phone call from my mom on Thursday, telling me that no one (the wedding coordinator, his secretary, the wholesaler he bought flowers from, etc.) has been able to get a hold of the florist, Alan Welder, since Sunday. We talk for a moment so I have the story, which isn't much, and I drive over to the warehouse where he works off of Avenida Encinas in Carlsbad to see if I can find out anything. I walk in and see the man who had alerted the wedding coordinator that something was wrong, standing there talking to a few of his co-workers. He proceeds to inform me that yes, Alan is missing, no one has been able to get a hold of him, and no, he most likely did not take the money and leave. He had ordered and paid for most of the flowers, and something was seriously wrong for him to not be at work. I was advised to speak with another florist, also a friend of Alan's, who would be able to come in and try to fill the order the best she could. She would have one day to pull a gigantic order of arrangements and bouquets. It would have been a lot different if no one had known that the florist was missing until Saturday before the wedding. I felt very thankful that we had known at least a little bit ahead of time, and that there were people who were willing to help make it happen. The people at the warehouse were extremely caring and nice and were all very concerned about their co-worker and friend. As far as I know, Alan is still missing and hasn't been heard from.

After that stressful day on Thursday, the rehearsal dinner on Friday was a little more relaxed. Of course it was complete chaos, otherwise it wouldn't have been a wedding rehearsal, but having a wonderful dinner afterwards was really nice. Here are the boys for the rehearsal dinner.

I'll admit, I've been waiting for an excuse to put them in suits. It's just so fun! They did a wonderful job and I was very proud of them. Saturday was the big day and here I am all ready.

Me and my beautiful husband.

Holding the long train, getting ready to walk down the aisle.

I'm on the far right, watching my sister walk down the aisle.

Here were the boys beforehand, getting acquainted with Noni, the flower dog.

My sister and her bridesmaids, I'm on the right side of her.

My brother-in-law with his groomsmen. My brother is to the right of him, with my boys in the front.

The complete wedding party. Looking damn good if I do say so myself!

And the married couple posing for the photographer.

The reception was beautiful, classy, and whole lot of fun. It turns out that Son #1 is quite the dancer. We watch So You Think You Can Dance, and he had picked up a couple of moves from the street dancers.

Later on he ended up busting a move on the stage with the band! Everyone thought it was so cute and were all taking pictures of him.

It ended and everyone went back to a few rooms for the after party. The next day we loaded up their loot in the cars and drove to their house for the gift opening. They received many nice things and are definitely ready for their married life together.

The shawl made it through the whole weekend with no mishaps. It didn't get lost, snagged, ripped or anything else. :)

It's Tuesday and I'm still recovering from the weekend. I'm hoping to feel back to normal by tomorrow and get back on my routine. This Saturday is my 12th wedding anniversary but after this last weekend we're going to keep it low-key. I'm thinking about dropping the boys off with nana and having some time alone with each other. That would be a perfect way to celebrate for me!

Mermaid Sweater

2009-08-11T20:12:00.000-07:00

It started with this gifted yarn from my blogless friend Belle. She gave me 10 balls and I thought, that looks like enough to make a sweater! At 44 yards to a ball, I knew it couldn't be a long-sleeved, full length sweater so I had to really think about how I was going to pull it off.

This is a better picture of the yarn. All I could think of when I saw it was how it reminded me of a mermaid. See how the background of the blue green pops with the light pink and purple scales?

I went through my books, and a sweater called Wrenna in French Girl Knits caught my eye. It's knit from a very chunky yarn and I thought that I might have enough mermaid yarn to complete the design. It's knitted from the top down, has a wide collar (which would save on yarn), and I would just stop when I ran out of yarn. And hopefully it would be close enough...

I had exactly enough yarn to bind off the bottom hem with not an inch to spare. I quickly ran some white ties through it to close it for the picture but I think I'll change that later. I'm thinking a tan leather tie of some sort, or if I can think of what a mermaid would do. WWMD?

Here's a quick picture of the back. It ended up being about the right length, I don't think I would have gone much longer. The sweater is kind of heavy and it's pretty warm where I live right now so I haven't gotten a chance to test drive it yet. I might have to run some reinforcements around the top so it doesn't slip down off of my shoulders but that'll have to come after I get a chance to wear it around.

In other news, I've dyed my very first roving! Jeri from FluffysGarden, who was very generous with her time and knowledge, walked me through the process and I came out the other side with 4 ozs of a beautiful merino/tencel blend.

My goal is to someday dye enough in one batch for a sweater, spin the yarn, and knit the sweater. I've wanted to do this ever since I saw Yarnhog's project that she did back in October of '07. Yep, I've been eyeballing that idea for a long time. If I could only re-prioritize something...

I get to wear the Shawl in four days. The wedding is this Saturday!

My Etsy Lives!

2009-08-01T14:16:00.000-07:00

Football season has started gearing up and I thought it was about time to get my Etsy store www.dancingknits.etsy.com going! I've dyed these yarns so they will self-stripe when knitted in five different team colors. If you are a sports fan, you can show your team colors while watching the games. I love knitting while watching the games with my husband, it's one of my favorite times of the year.

Of course I had to do the San Diego Chargers, seeing as how I'm in San Diego and all.

But my guy is a Kansas City Chiefs fan, so I had to do one of these...

And here is the Oakland Raiders, which I really liked the color combination.

Then we have the New York Giants, the Buffalo Bills, or the Houston Texans (I got lucky that they all three have the same color scheme).

And the New England Patriots, which is a cool color scheme too.

This project has been a long time coming and I'm happy to have finally posted them and have it out there for the fans. Yeah football!

Baby Love

2009-07-26T23:45:00.000-07:00

I have two friends who are pregnant, both with boys (yeah boys!) and I want to make something special for both of them. One of them is due now, and the other is due in October. So I'm hoping to send this sweater off this week so my friend can have it before her baby comes.

I was trying to find a pattern that would take too long, and be in a familiar format to me (top-down). I found this pattern on the Lion Brand website called Naturally Nice Baby Sweater. It was simple, fast and came out totally cute!

My gauge was smaller than the pattern called for so mine came out newborn size (0-3 months), instead of the 9 months size but that's more what I wanted anyway. One more to go! I would also like to make a matching hat and socks, so maybe I'll be able to add those to the next gift.

No more guilt

2009-07-26T23:18:00.001-07:00

Ever since my husband informed me that he thought my knitting love was not being fairly distributed, I have been working on a pair of socks for him. The gauge was 9 st/inch and they took me a long time. Only a little bit less time than my wonderful River Run shawl. But, it wasn't my only project in progress, I had kept them in my purse and worked on them on the fly.

I used Cat Bordhi's Upstream Architecture as a template from her book New Pathways for Sock Knitters. I've used this one before and I really like the way it fits on the foot. I do have plans for making more socks for him, but probably after I get caught up on my Rockin Sock club shipments.

A River Run for me

2009-07-21T20:34:00.000-07:00

Yes, the knitting has been completed for the most beautiful thing I've ever made! I've finished the River Run shawl that I bought from Stitches West 2009 in February. It does sparkle like the sun on the sea, and the beads feel like little drops of rain on your skin. It really is that gorgeous!

Here it is unblocked. I really like the way it drapes and it feels very silky. The yarn is 100% Tencel and I really loved working with it.

I laid it on the blocking board to try and get a feel for the size it was going to be. I did not do a gauge swatch for this. I'm sure it could have been a tragedy, like a shortness of yarn or a cape down to my ankles, but it turned out very nice. It's a little bit smaller than the dimensions given on the pattern.

After a quick dip in a sink full of Eucalan, I began the pinning. It didn't take me as long as I thought it would, only about an hour. Behold, the blocking shawl in all it's glory! Of course I'll leave it drying for at least a day. I don't want to have to block this project again anytime soon.

Here is a detail shot...

I had read on Ravelry that a few people had run out of beads for this project and had to call and order more. I was trying to finish this in time for my sister's wedding in August so I panicked at the thought of running out of beads and called to get more. They were sent right away so I didn't worry, but I ended up not needing them anyway. I had a little bit left from my original kit so I was totally covered.

The only thing is, Will I be able to refrain from wearing it until the wedding? I really want to wear it, but it seems like whenever I touch it I risk snagging it with my ring or something. It would be upsetting to say the least if this wasn't in perfect condition for the event. Just because I wasn't patient enough to wait for 3 1/2 more weeks. I will try to restrain myself...

I am going to bind off the cuff of my husband's socks tomorrow and I've started one of the two baby sweaters that I need to do before the end of the summer. I'll finish my Purple Hooter socks next then work on one of my Socks That Rock kits that I have waiting for me also. I've gotten a little backed up on them since I was trying to bust out this shawl. No shortage of projects over here!

Stitch N Pitch 2009

2009-07-19T21:17:00.001-07:00

Son #1 and I headed down to the ballpark today for Stitch N Pitch 2009. We hopped on the train in Encinitas and joined our friends Wendy, Marc, Robin and Matt for the ride down.

There was of course Wendy's patented Stitch N Pitch Transit Margaritas that no train ride to the ball park should be without.

Thanks for the wonderful refreshments Wendy! And I would like to give a shout out for her dedication to the sock knitters. She wore the socks I made her for last years game and it was really warm today. Really warm. I don't know how warm, but it was definitely warm enough to question a person's decision to wear anything that would keep in heat (i.e. socks).

Here we are at the game, Edina is being shy. From left to right, Edina, me, Son #1, and my very Best B.

And on the other side was Greg, Nancy, Marc, Matt, Robin and Wendy.

Unfortunately the Padres were not inspired by us being there. They lost 6 - 1, which was painful, but not as painful as their loss on Thursday which was 10 - 1. It took less time for them to lose today. It's hard watching your team lose, and anything they can do to shorten the process is appreciated. I still had fun though! Thank the universe for knitting and friends!

No Autographs Please

2009-07-17T21:03:00.000-07:00

I was invited to go to the Padres game last night to help promote Stitch N Pitch 2009. I thought it would be fun to take Son #1 to his first baseball game. And it's extra memorable now that he was on the Padres pre-game show. Click here for his very first television appearance!

I think I've found a baseball fan. He really enjoyed watching the game and asked a lot of questions that I'm really glad Nancy was there to answer. I don't really go for the "sport". I like people watching and my favorite part is when they start pointing the fan cam around the stadium and people start dancing for it. It never gets old!

I worked on my husband's socks and got a measurable amount done on the cuffs. You can't see that part in the picture but I've tried them on his feet and he says he only wants about an inch more. So that's about 12 more rounds. I definitely think I can get that done at the Sunday game.

I'm still working hard on my red lace shawl and it is, without a doubt, the most beautiful thing I've ever made. It is silky and soft, beautiful in color, and sparkles like the sun on the sea. I only have about 20 more repeats to go for the border so I'm hoping to have it finished by the end of next week. Then I'll do the blocking just in time for the August 15 wedding date. I am loving it!

My fourth shipment of the socks that rock club came and it brought a smile to my face. It is bright and loud and I wasn't quite sure what to think of it at first.

As usual the bold, ostentatious colors won me over and I'm thinking that it was a perfect match for me this summer. I've started my very own garden this year and have been taking pictures of the progress. I hope to have them posted very soon.

If you're going to be at Stitch N Pitch on Sunday look for me! I'll be the one working on socks. :)

The Odds

2009-05-30T15:53:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday registration opened for Sock Summit 2009. If anyone hasn't read the Yarn Harlot's post on this yet, go check it out. It's pretty mind-boggling.

I was on top of this one. I had gone through the class list the night before, picked out the 3 that I wanted and wrote everything down. Then at 9:55 am I was on the site waiting for the registration to open up. At 10:30 am I had to leave to do the carpool for my son's class and got home at 11:45. I tried to sign up again but no luck. The classes were totally full and I had to resolve that it just wasn't meant to be for me this time.

I've read that classes may still open up but I'm pretty much okay with it. I wasn't sure how I was going to get there anyway, where I was going to stay, and all of the details. But that kind of stuff would've fallen into place if I had just been able to get into the classes.

I guess I can say, at least I was one of the 30,000 that helped crash the server! :) And by reading some of the comments in the Yarn Harlot's post, not everybody who wanted to register was on right then. That means there were more than that! Sock knitters unite! Crazy...

Oh Come On!

2009-05-22T19:07:00.000-07:00

Is this some sort of universal bet to see how many socks I will cast on at once? Even I wouldn't bet on that one. If all of these cute sock patterns and this beautiful sock yarn keep finding their way to me I will be forced to take advantage of the situation.

And I'm even feeling proud of myself for knitting this hat in less than a week for a friend who's going through chemo. I'm going to sit down this weekend and write her a letter and send out a package next Tuesday after Memorial Day.

Name of Project: Shedir
Yarn: Rowan Calmer, one ball
Needles: Size US 2 Knit Picks circulars
Estimated Time to Complete Project: almost a week
Pattern Notes: I skipped some of the plain knit rows at the top to conserve on yarn. I didn't think the ball was going to make it for the whole hat and it seemed big enough anyway.

I am going to try to finish one of the sock I already have on the needles before I start these but I've already got them prepped. Pattern is copied (I don't like to mess up my original), skein is wound, and the needles are ready.

Rogue Roses

2009-05-17T14:46:00.000-07:00

Second shipment of the 2009 Rockin' Sock Club has been completed! And before the next shipment came too...
Name of Project: Rogue Roses
Yarn: Socks That Rock Medium weight, colorway Gertrude Skein
Needles: Size US 1 (2.25 mm) Knit Picks dpns
Estimated Time to Complete Project: 6 weeks
Modifications: Did not include the yo "bubble trail" increase next to the rogue roses chart. Instead I did a mother/grandmother increase so that it wasn't visible. Also I did not carry the purl background all the way to the end of the toe.

I think these came out beautiful (finally) and after a few small hiccups (my own fault) they went very smoothly.

Other project updates:

I've finished clue #4 on my purple hooter socks from the Knitters Brewing Co Mystery Sock KAL and those are looking very cool!
The very cool part about this knitalong is that none of the clues have been a repeat of what you have done before in the pattern. You started with the toe and some lace for it, and instead of just more of the same for the instep, it was a fun butterfly with beads! I such a sucker for anything with butterflies and adding the beads to it gives it that extra bling (that I always love). So I am very excited about the next 3 clues. It also gives me an excuse to have multiple socks on the needles at the same time. I can't go anymore until I get the next clue, better have something else to work on!

The other socks I have going are His Worthiness socks. I decided to name these for my husband because he's been so deserving of a gift like this.

One project that has jumped unexpectedly into my WIP's is the Shedir hat. I've found out that a friend that I used to work with is battling lung cancer and I wanted to make her something. Janelle told me she has made several of these for friends in similiar situations and has gotten back positive reviews about the pattern and yarn.

I'm hoping I can get the hat finished in about a week so that I can give it to my friend as soon as possible. It's going pretty smoothly so far, so I don't think it'll be a problem.

Priorities

2009-04-14T09:09:00.000-07:00

I started a pair of socks for hubby last night. He was walking around barefoot, saying how nice it would be to have a pair of hand knit socks for his cold feet, like everyone else in the family has. I had to drop my project I was working on and start something right away. I mean, how does it look? The man that buys me my sock yarn not wearing any hand knit socks. It's just not right.

I immediately pulled out my box of sock yarn so he could pick out his yarn.

This is what he picked out:

It's Berroco Sox number 1425 John Moores color. This is one of the reasons I love him. He bypassed a plain blue, a grey and a few other really boring colors and picked this one. He's always had a great sense of style and color. I don't like to go shopping without him because when he's with me, my clothes we pick out together are always my favorites. I will definitely have fun knitting these and I think they will go relatively fast (considering his feet are size 13). I'm going toe-up, probably with a short-row heel, then ribbing up the leg so they stay up nicely.

Queen of Beads

2009-04-10T16:29:00.000-07:00

Name of Project: Queen of Beads by Sivia Harding
Yarn: Socks That Rock lightweight, colorway: My Blue Heaven
Needles: Size US 0 (2.0 mm) Knit Picks dpns
Pattern Notes: The hardest part about these was stringing the beads on.

I love the way they turned out! The pattern has a really nice fit and they look stunning on. On to the next shipment, Rogue Roses.

My Purple Hooter

2009-04-09T16:28:00.001-07:00

The Knitters Brewing Company is having their first Mystery Sock Knitalong and I'm ready! The details can be found here. Beaded sock kits are available on the website, mine is the Purple Hooter.

I'm going to try and finish my Rogue Roses before the mystery starts on May 1. So excited!

Bunnies and a gift

2009-04-06T10:56:00.000-07:00

I've got some sort of wicked flu/cold thing and have been feeling horrible since Friday afternoon. It was a real pick-me-up when my husband brought me this package while I was laying in bed. A tote bag, a skein of yarn, a pattern and a letter from Mountain Colors. The letter expressed appreciation for my entry into their category in the Think Outside the Sox contest. Now I don't feel like such a loser! I've met Diana and Leslie a couple of times now, and they've always been so friendly and enthusiastic. It's awesome to see these ladies that really love what they do. Thank you guys so much!

I've been wanting to make these Knitted Bunnies ever since ItShe made some last year for her nephews. I put my socks aside for a little while and finished a couple. I still have a few more to finish, but that's the easy part. Actually, it's all kind of easy. What a great pattern!

I have to admit I did cheat a little. I used my knitting machine to make the square and only hand knitted the ears.

But, if you're way lazier than I am, and don't even want to knit your own, I have an alternative for you. There is a wonderful lady named Kathy that I first met at Stitches West 2009, then found her at the Vista famers market off of Melrose on Saturday mornings. She has some of these made up and for sale at her booth, made out of her own animals fiber. If you live in North County and haven't made it to the farmers market in Vista yet, make the effort. They have a really nice selection of food, plants, and many other things.

Giselle

2009-03-31T11:42:00.000-07:00

It's taken me awhile to post about this sweater for a couple of reasons. It didn't live up to my expectations as a finished object and therefore I was not satisfied with the pictures I was getting of it. These were the best ones after several attempts at photographing it.

Name of Project: Giselle by Marnie MacLean
Yarn: Tilli Tomas Plie and Tilli Tomas Voile de la Mer from Dreamweaveryarn.com
Needles: Size US 7 (4.5 mm) Knit Picks Interchangeables
Estimated Time to Complete Project: 2 months

A few things I would like to say about this pattern. I loved the thought of it. It looks so renaissance and drapey and beautiful. I was a little disappointed with the end product because of a few things.

The yarn called for in this pattern is silk. It had absolutely no structure when I took it off the blocking board. I had to reinforce the entire neckline and waist-join for it to not fall off of me. I slip stitched with a smaller crochet hook to reinforce. I wish I had thought to take a picture of the before.

I took the yarn into consideration when starting this project, and I made the small. I am not a small woman. I’m 38 inches give or take with a DD cup. I should not technically fit in a small. I know wrap sweaters are VERY forgiving in fit so it’s a little hard to gauge. I feel like the gauge should have been tighter for this yarn to hold shape and size better. The loose knit gauge just added to the unstructured nature of the yarn.

The other part that I had a hard time figuring out was how to tie it in the back without the side front gaping open. I searched and searched for a picture of the back that could show me how people had done it, but was unable to find a satisfactory fix. I ended up weaving the ties in and out of the crochet joins.

About the pictures of me - I’m wearing a corset under the sweater. It was the only thing that would hold the sweater up on my body.

In other news, my lace shawl is still progressing. I am loving working on it, but am having a hard time finding the time and places appropriate to work on it. I'm carrying the Queen of Beads socks around in my purse and am working down the foot towards the toe. They are very close to being finished. I was hoping I would get them done before the next shipment came, but no luck. Which is a shame, because I wanted to start these right when they came.

Rogue Roses by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. Oh Yarn Harlot, how I love thee. This colorway is called Gertrude Skein.

I think I'm so lucky that I have so many cool projects to knit. It's a constant source of happiness and entertainment.

Tricks and Trades

2009-03-21T18:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was spinning day at Common Threads! I'm working on a SeaWool (Ocean) Fiber from Creatively Dyed Yarns that Cupcake gave me for Christmas. It's exactly what I like to spin - a silky, slippery, colorful fiber.

I've also finished the curtains using my knitting machine. It was really neat seeing them hang in the window when I walked in.

It's funny how different it felt to use a knitting machine. I put beads on with a crochet hook 30 stitches apart, every 10 rows. It really slowed me down putting the beads on. The two curtains took about a week to make. If I had hand-knitted them, it would've take months. The perspective changes when using a knitting machine.

They are a little uneven, but I think some blocking would help. I did block them, but they got a little ruffled up in the ride there. I think they like to hang free. I finished them around the edge with a crochet chain stitch.

St. Patrick's Day was fun this year. As always, we remember to wear green. But this year, I told Son #1 how one year, I caught a leprechaun. My story was about setting out a trap of fake gold, and sitting perfectly still to wait for the leprechauns to show up. When they finally did, I grabbed one around the mid-section with my hand. He spoke some sort of Irish to me, then bit me on the hand. I dropped him and he ran off, along with my fake gold I had set out. So both the boys and I setup up a little leprechaun trap the night before to see if we could catch any.

We made a bunch of gold coins out of yellow beeswax and put them inside these little birdcage tealight holders I had found at Michaels. We left a few out on the table, so they would have a trail to follow to the actual "Pot O' Gold". It was really fun to put this together with them. They loved talking and asking questions about Leprechauns while we were working on it. And the leprechauns did come! They took all of our beeswax gold, and left two lollipops and a note that read "Dear Son #1 and Son #2, Thanks for the gold, see you next year. Love the Leprechauns". We came home and it was there and they went nuts! I didn't know the Leprechauns left candy, I've only been bitten by one. :)

Our next project will be with this wool I picked up at the Vista Farmers market today. I plan on doing some felting with them, possibly making some eggs for Easter.
It's from a farm in Fallbrook called Rancho Borrego Negro. I met the lady that lives there completely randomly at Stitches West. I snuck into the end of a friend's class and saw her working with some Wensleydale locks. Of course I had to get a feel and asked her if they were from her own sheep and she said yes. That's when she told me she was at the Farmer's market almost every Saturday morning with her fiber and handspun. I was able to visit for a few minutes last weekend, but this weekend I spent a little more time and walked through slowly, checking everything out. Shelly went with me and we have some planning to do! So many great things to look at. Organic food, plants, flowers, clothing. And there was live music that we both had to get the CD's before we left.

The New Addition

2009-03-19T19:11:00.000-07:00

It struck me as I was putting together strips for a very special baby blanket, that 12 different people had a hand in making it and it came together perfectly.

The intended recipient for this project came about two weeks early, and we weren't finished with it yet. It was finished shortly after, but we had to wait for the happy mama to be ready to come back to knit night.

Baby Joanna is six and one half weeks old, and attended her first knitting circle. She is such a beautiful baby! And she looked so good wrapped up in our beautiful blanket.

The specifications for each strip were:

The strip should be 4" x 30".
Start and end the strip with 6 rows of Garter stitch.
You may use any stitch pattern as long as the total width equals 4 inches, WITH 3 garter stitches on each side.

I crocheted the strips together and crocheted a border around.

I was lucky enough to be able to feed her a bottle while she was there and burped her the same way my boys liked to be burp. It totally made my day!

Welcome to our wonderful knitting circle Joanna, we love you!

Beyond my Expertise

2009-03-11T15:02:00.000-07:00

I have come into possession of a very cool machine.

This is a Brother Electroknit KH-940. It's really fancy. It has a plug, some sort of computer interface and I'm not really sure how to work it. I know it uses fingering weight or smaller yarn and I know how to cast-on and cast-off.

A friend of mine gave me this knitting machine a few months ago and I made a swatch on it, but stopped there. One of the first things I realized, was that it wasn't going to work on the kitchen table. It needed to have a proper setup to work efficiently and correctly. So I put it away and kept thinking about what kind of setup I should make.

I decided to fashion a table out of some wood my husband had in the garage that was leftover from a construction site he had worked on. My husband helped me cut, sand, and drill until I had a thin tabletop. All that we needed to figure out were the legs. While we were thinking about it, I found some wood stain in his stack of paint cans. It definitely started looking a little more like a table after that.

I didn't want the table too high, that way I would be comfortable sitting on a chair in front of it. We went to Home Depot and checked out our options. The table legs are in the moulding section. I found the leg I liked, but they only had three. Then I spotted an incredibly dirty, dusty box on the bottom shelf with a cart in front of it. I got down on my hands and knees, and pulled out a pair of folding table legs. Perfect!

We attached the legs and hauled the whole thing up to my bedroom. It was so tall! We thought about cutting off the bottom of the legs, but I was kind of over it (working on the table) by then. I just sat on my bed and looked at it. Then I scooted to the end of the bed and sat in front of it. It was just the right height! I put the knitting machine on top, clamped it down and cast-on. It was the perfect height, and I could sit comfortably in my room, on my bed and watch my shows.
This is going to be a beaded curtain to cover a window, for the friend who gave me this wonderful knitting machine. I need to make two, but I made all of what you see above, yesterday. I think I can have them finished by the end of the week. It's going to be a very fun distraction...

Shop Hoppin'

2009-03-10T12:40:00.000-07:00

The Coastal Creative Shop Hop 2009 is underway. Saturday morning, my friend Shelly and I met up with Edina and started our crawl across north county and down the coast. It took us all day starting at 9:30 am, but we managed to make it to Common Threads, our last stop, by 5 pm. We turned in our full passports, happy and tired.

The information for the Shop Hop

Participating Shops are:

Starry Night Hollow - 895 Saxony Road, Encinitas 760-944-3700 www.starrynighthollow.com

Common Threads - 466 S. Coast Hwy 101, Encinitas 760-436-6119 www.fiberartshop.com

Embellishments - 466 N. Coast Hwy 101, Encinitas 760-633-1440 overbell@cox.net

Aretoy Quilt Shop - 1656 Ord Way, Oceanside 760-630-9234 www.aretoy.net

The Black Sheep - 1060 S. Coast Hwy 101 760-436-9973 www.theblacksheep.com
Beads Crystals and More - 967 S. Coast Highway 101, Ste B105 (Lumberyard), Encinitas 760-942-5222 beadlovers@aol.com
JaziCrafts - 4747 Oceanside Blvd. Ste G, Oceanside 760-414-9645 www.jazicrafts.com

Knitting by the Beach - 616 Stevens Ave Ste B, Solana Beach 858-509-9276 www.knittingbythebeach.com

Canterbury Gardens - 2402 Escondido Blvd., Escondido 760-746-1400 www.canterburygardens.com

You will be entered to win a prize from each shop you visit on your passport. If you visit all the shops on this years Shop Hop, your passport will be entered to win any of these fun grand prizes.

One night stay & breakfast at the Del Mar Grand Hotel and Resort

Two $200 Gift packages from the Kevin Murphy Professional Salon Products recently endorsed by Hugh Jackman in People Magazine

Facial services from "Faces" by Natalie

Gift package from Moda/United Notions

Gift package from E.E. Schenck a notions company

Unique artful creation from Annie's Creative Gardens

Gift package from Quilt in a Day

A funny note about our first couple of shops we visited was that I kept running across things that pertained to motocross. I've spent every weekend the past month and half (before Stitches) at different motocross tracks around Southern California. My husband was racing a series that lasted 6 weeks. I was pretty relieved when it was over, and his next race isn't for a couple of weeks. Our first stop was at Canterbury Gardens, where the woman who works there told me that the owner had broken his leg last week racing his dirtbike. Then at our next stop Aretoy, the owners go out to the race tracks and take digital pictures for some of their products. They had some serious machinery that was able to transfer any digital picture onto fabric, hats, mugs and pretty much anything you want. They had fabric with motocross riders on it, and a quilt that was being made with it. I would really like to make one someday, but it's too big for me to take on right now. My husband was laughing, he said "you can try to get away, but the motocross will follow you". Lucky me.

Stitches West 2009

2009-03-09T12:15:00.000-07:00

I had a blast at Stitches West! I was traveling with my friend Wendy and it was an awesome time. Our flights both ways went off without a hitch, our hotel room was lovely, and I had a martini that matched my sweater everyday!

The one on the left is the first day, and the one on the right was the last day. I think you can see there was a lack of sleep. The first night we went across the hall to Itshe and Cupcake's room and there was an impromptu pajama party with wine, snacks, knitting and whole bunch of laughing. We met so many new people and had so much fun talking to everyone that it just seemed like a waste of time to sleep.

Like the lady below (pictured with Wendy on the left), Deborah Doyle from Asciano FiberArts. Wendy and I were sitting in the lobby/bar lounge enjoying our FooFoo martini's, and a gentleman named Wes (an extremely talented lace knitter) sat down next to us. That was one of my favorite parts about Stitches, you could sit anywhere, strike up a conversation about knitting and feel like you were in your element. Try to do that anywhere else, and you get funny looks. So there we were, talking to Wes, and Deborah comes over and sits down. We are all having fun exchanging ideas, talking about our projects, drinking and eating.

That's when we find out that she is the woman behind the gorgeous redwood knitting needles we had seen in the marketplace. She told us how they are handmade, sanded and finished. She also asked us why we pick the needles we do because she likes to stay educated on what knitters like. I bought the size 19 needles, because they were the only ones lacking from my set and I REALLY wanted a pair of rosewood needles. The joins are so smooth and the cable are very flexible. I'm looking around at my bulky stuff to see what I can try them out on.

The Marketplace...

Wow. It was a lot to take in! Fortunately I had plenty of time to meander around and check out everything slowly and meticulously. I feel like I didn't miss a thing. The first night was the market preview, which was only open to students.

Cupcake had made us these market bags, and her and ItShe had gotten the first place in line for when the market opened. We all but ran to the Blue Moon Fiber Arts booth to score the mill ends that we knew would be gone by the next day. I had to restrain myself to only purchase two skeins. I wanted five.

I don't feel like I bought very many things, but I feel like I got a few really nice things.

A Lace Shawl kit from Just Our Yarn. This shawl is a top down pattern and incorporates 1700, size 6/0 glass beads. Wendy was the one that put the thought in my head that a lace shawl would be a good idea for our next project, and I have to say, that was a totally good call.

I started it a few days after I got home. I'm going to try and have it finished by my sister's wedding in August. My matron-of-honor dress is a halter-top style, long black dress. Her accent color is red, so we will all have red roses. I thought this might be a nice touch to my dress. I've read about it taking a year or longer for people to finish a lace shawl, and I'm hoping I can get my first one done in six months. Ambitious, but if I keep it as my main project, I might be able to pull it off.

A Swirl Shawl Kit from JoJoland using Melody Superwash.

The Swirl Shawl was a good find by my friend Edina who joined me at the marketplace on Friday. We had a lot of fun checking everything out and picking out our special projects.

I didn't travel to Santa Clara without bringing some projects with me, even though I was going to a convention center full of yarn. This is what I worked on whilst sitting among my people.

I had brought this kit with a skein of Tilli Tomas and a drawstring purse liner to work on because I thought it would be an easy project around a chaos of people. I was right! It was fun to work on, kept my hands busy, and didn't interrupt my socializing. I also worked on my Queen of Beads sock from the first Rockin' Sock Club shipment. I didn't mess it up once, even though I was filled to the brim with Bacardi.

Almost the end...

So, I didn't win the Think Outside the Sox contest. I had entered in two categories. This was the To Dye For Category.
I dyed the yarn and figured out how to make it swirl one way, then the other to create zebra stripes. It was kind of ironic that the winner of the category had also chosen animal print, her's was a leopard print. This was one of those times where I didn't really mind the defeat. At least the winner was no chump. She was creative, clever, and on top of that, when I met her, she was really nice.
This was a sock I designed for the Mountain colors category. I called them my Shimmy socks and they have a lace mesh panel that runs up the instep and leg, and are bound off with coins. I've met the ladies from Mountain Colors a couple of times now, and both times they have been very enthusiastic and fun to talk to.

Lucky for me, I was smart enough to travel with somebody who did win. Wendy was awarded the prize for the most masculine socks from Universal Yarns.

This is her with her good friend "Check". It was fun traveling with Check on the way home, he gets a lot of attention from people. Everyone wants to know where he came from and what his future plans are. There were a lot of perks for being a Think Outside the Sox winner...

Here she is getting interviewed by Michael from the YKnit podcast. If you haven't heard them, you're missing out. It's a good pick me up when I feel like I need a laugh. She's also expecting more yarn to be sent to her house, and she'll be published in the book of the winner's socks.

One thing I can say about the sock contest is, I was overwhelmed with the amount of cool socks entered. They were all displayed on a wall when you entered the marketplace. The only thing was, you couldn't tell which category they were in. The socks were just numbered and it would have been nice if you could see which category each sock had been entered in, and how many were entered in each category. I had heard a rumor that the judges and officiators of the contest were disappointed in the entries, so I stalked the marketplace until I found Lucy Neatby. I asked her about it and she said that they weren't disappointed in the entries themselves, just the amount of entries. They were hoping to see around 1,000 socks, but the total came in at just under 300. A pretty low representation of the sock knitters, but it was a lot of work to design a pair of socks (at least for me) and I could see why there weren't more entries.

That's all I've got, Good Times!

Not my first Vogue

2009-02-20T16:12:00.000-08:00

I will be able to show up at Stitches West next week wearing a sweater that is in the current issue of Vogue Knitting!

Name of Project: #04 Raglan Jacket from Vogue Knitting, Winter O8/09
Yarn: 4 hanks of Lambs Pride Burlyspun
Needles: Size US 19 and US 17
Estimated Time to Complete Project: 5 days
Pattern Notes: After working the lace bottom part, I only increased one stitch for a total of 72 stitches. Then when I got to the armholes I increased two stitches on each front to give a little ease to the top.

Arms: Worked for 8”, increased, worked 6 rows, increased, worked 6 rows and increased (a total of 3 increases). Then I kept knitting until the sleeve measured 21”. I have long arms. Attaching the sleeves and to the body was easy and it was a piece of cake the rest of way.

After decreasing for the neck, I knitted a few rows of garter stitch so it would match my sleeve cuffs.

I'll be easy to spot at the airport, no one will be able to miss me in this thing!

I've got my outfits all planned, I just have to wait for Giselle...

My beautiful Giselle...

On the blocking board, daring me to remove the wires before it's completely dry, just to try it on once. But I won't. I'm feeling disciplined when it comes to this one. It just cost so much and took so much time, that I can't scrimp on the finishing.

I think I'm going to bring my Queen of Beads socks to knit on while on the plane, but am still kind of stuck as to what else I should bring. I want to have something kind of cool to work on, but not something that requires full attention. I still have to do my homework for my classes but that won't take long. Santa Clara is going to rock!

Holidazed

2009-02-02T19:36:00.000-08:00

Name of Project: Holidazed by Anne Hanson
Yarn: Socks That Rock Mediumweight - Muddy Autumn Rainbow
Needles: Size US 1 (2.25 mm) Knit Picks circulars
Estimated Time to Complete Project: 1.5 months
Pattern Notes: This pattern was simple enough for me to carry around in my purse to work on while I was waiting.

This was the last shipment from the 2008 Rockin Sock Club and it was just in time, because on Friday I got this...

My Blue Heaven. Yes it is. 360 yards of lightweight, superwash, hand dyed heaven. This is the first shipment from the 2009 World Domination Tour of the Rockin' Sock Club. I think the universe has been trying to send me a message of some sort with the seemingly random peacock colored blues that keep coming to me. This is going to match the Peacock coat I finished last week, exactly.

The kit came with a keychain, button, binder cover and a bag of beads along with the pattern and dyer's notes. The pattern is called Queen of Beads by Sivia Harding. It looks very beautiful although the pictures that came with the pattern are kind of dark so it's hard to see a whole lot of detail. I've wound the yarn into a ball and still need to string the beads, so I won't be starting it right away. Hopefully by the end of this week.

I've been playing with a knitting machine that a very giving and good friend has decided to pass along to me. It's very different and I am still a little unsure of the in's and out's of it. I have some coned yarn that is perfect for the fine gauge machine and I'm having fun learning. I am still trying to finish Giselle before Stitches West so I really need to stay focused and not let myself be distracted so easily. I've got one sleeve done and one more to go, then all of the trim. It's so close! I'll just keep reminding myself to work on it first so I can have something beautiful to wear that weekend.

Peacock Pretty

2009-01-28T22:25:00.000-08:00

This was a total impulse knit. I got the inspiration to start this sweater while watching Stefanie Japel on Knitty Gritty. The bulky yarn looked so fast that I had to try it. I’ve had this yarn sitting around for awhile and have been waiting for the perfect opportunity to try it. My son #2 actually picked it out. He's got great tastes that one.

These pictures aren't the best because my husband took them with my camera phone and he wasn't too familiar with it. I'm on the lookout for a new digital camera so it'll have to work until then.

Name of Project: Cropped Sweater by Stefanie Japel
Yarn: 7 hanks of Colinette Shimmer 5 and 2 balls of Crystal Palace Dragonfly
Needles: Size US 17
Estimated Time to Complete Project: 4 days
Pattern Notes: I started with the cropped sweater pattern and added the length. I knitted straight for a little while, then threw in a couple of increases towards the hips to help accommodate my curves. It’s been an exciting knit and I’m very happy with the results.

Meanwhile my Giselle sweater is moving right along. It's time to pick up for the sleeves and work the trimming and edging. Very close! Should be done in time for Stitches.

Happy 2009!

2009-01-04T13:07:00.000-08:00

It's going to be a good year, I can feel it!

I like to set goals at the beginning of the year just to have guidance. Sometimes when things around me get complicated I can go back and take a look at my intentions and decide if it's still the way I want to go or not. This year, I started with three goals in mind. The only one that went unheeded was #2 the Modular Knitting.

My 2008 Goals were:

Learn how to make a sweater without a pattern using my own measurements and swatches. My LYS did in fact offer a class and I made a beautiful sweater made out of Alpaca.
Learn Modular Knitting. Although I didn't get to try this last year, I'm just going to carry over this goal to 2009 and try again because it is something that looks very cool and will be a new technique that I haven't tried before.
Seek out other spinners in hopes of finding somebody that I can watch and learn from. This was a successful goal due to a group of spinners from the OC that were willing to trek down to Common Threads the third Friday of the month to spin with the few of us that are local. Thank you Lori and group for giving me somebody to spin with once a month!

Those were my three main goals I had set for myself, although not all of my knitting accomplishments.

My knitting accomplishments for the year 2008 include:

24 completed knitting projects

3 sweaters
8 pairs of Adult socks
3 pairs of kids socks
1 shawl
6 Hats
2 Bags/purses
1 Toy

Made 5 skeins of handspun
Assembled 4 blankets for charity
Completed and submitted 2 pairs of socks for the Think Outside the Sox contest. This was part of the reason I didn't achieve all three of my goals. It was by far the most challenging project I've ever undertaken. Knitting is one level, but when you try to write out something and explain it, it takes on a different level. To be able to communicate what you want to say in writing is an art, and not one that comes easily to me. I'll be at Stitches West in Santa Clara when they announce the winners and can already feel the anticipation. It's going to be crazy!

The sock contest was also the reason I didn't have time to complete all of my kits from the 2008 Rockin Sock Club. I was thinking that having 3 of the 6 kits leftover was good enough reason to wait for the 2010 sock club membership, but you can see from this post what happened with that. At the end of January I'll get the first shipment. Woohoo! The three I didn't get to knit last year will just hold me over between shipments.

My goal for 2009 is to learn about sweater construction. I'll probably start by knitting a sweater from Wendy Bernard's book Custom Knits. It has detailed instructions about working from the top down and I have some ideas on how I would like things to look. Then I'll just see what other patterns are out there that have the look that I like and go from there.

Happy 2009! It's already a great year!

Rainy Day

2008-12-15T15:52:00.000-08:00

My son came home from school today and asked me if I could get him some rain boots for tomorrow. It's actually raining enough to contemplate the need for rubber boots. I know it's not going to last though, so I told him not to worry about it. Seeing it rain and clean all of the trees and landscape has been wonderful today. The temperature has dropped enough that even my wool sweater is just not warm enough on its own. Cuddled up with my boys playing board games and eating warm things, that's what I call a good day!

Some of my Christmas things that I normally do aren't going as planned, but I did manage to finish the Wonderful Wallaby for Son #1. I've layed it out to block, but the cold temperatures have really hindered the drying process. This is the third day and I can still feel a little dampness when I hold it.

Name of Project: Wonderful Wallaby by Cottage Creations
Yarn: Wool Ease and Vanna's Choice
Needles: Size US 8 Knit Picks circulars
Estimated Time to Complete Project: 3 months, although it was really more of a side project and I'm sure it would go a lot faster if I worked on it continuously.
Pattern Notes: I really love how this sweater came out. I tried it on him before I put on the hood and it's going to fit him beautifully.

Since I had a handmade gift for Son #1, I wanted to make sure Son #2 didn't feel left out. He helped me pick out some yarn and I decided to try this pattern out of Cat Bordhi's book, New Pathways for Sock Knitters.

Name of Project: Marcelo's Seven-League Boots
Yarn: Socks That Rock Heavyweight and KnitPicks Sock Garden
Needles: Size US 3 Knit Picks circulars
Estimated Time to Complete Project: A few days

These socks are super cute and easy and my son is all excited about them. He keeps walking around with the one sock on because I haven't finished the other yet. His new nickname, "One Sock". It actually rolls of the tongue quite naturally. It's going to be hard to not just give them to him instead of keeping them for a Christmas present.

In other news, when I thought about not signing up for the 2009 Rockin Sock Club, it was before I saw this.

Do you see who the designers are? I think it's going to be a fabulous year and I just couldn't miss out. Of course when I lamented to my husband about it, he was more than willing to get it for me for Christmas. It really made my day when one of the packages came, and he used to put it someplace where I would see it, but wasn't necessarily obvious. Like on top of the window valance, or around the corner on the stairs. He knew it was special mail and that I would be excited when I saw it. It made it all the more fun. So there it is, I am an official Rockin' Sock club junkie. I can not resist the club and the happiness that it brings. I guess I could have worse addictions...Merry Christmas to me!

Moving On

2008-12-08T10:47:00.000-08:00

Now that I've sent off my entries to the Think Outside the Sox contest, I can finally start working on some of the other things I've been wanting to make.

I have gotten some of the most gorgeous yarn this year that I haven't even been able to swatch with yet. Yarn like this...

The much coveted Wollmeise. Cupcake got this for me for my birthday, along with the Perwoll Wool and Silk wash, which makes the yarn smell so yummy. It turns out that she is quite the yarn stalker. You can read about how she managed to obtain the gorgeous yarn here. This is the second installment for my "Yarns from Around the World from Cupcake".

The first was when she brought me this lavender/light pink laceweight mohair from Italy.

This is one ball of the two that she brought me. I have been keeping my eyes out for the perfect pattern and have yet to decide on one. I have enough to do something really cool, so I'm having fun looking around.

I also have some really cool fiber that I have laying around waiting to be spun up. Chief Executive Babe hooked me up with this Cashmere/Soy Silk blend for my birthday. It's so soft and fluffy it feels like air. I haven't decided if I'm going to try to dye it and then spin it, or spin it first then dye it. A fun dilemma. :)

Then of course, there are my shipments from the Rockin Sock Club. I've only made two of the six shipments that came because of the socks I was designing for the contest. Some beautiful patterns with beautiful yarn that I haven't been able to touch. This was the last shipment.

I felt some urgency to start this one since I saw the Yarn Harlot's post on hers. I feel kind of sad because I don't think I'm going to sign up again for next year because I have so much yarn to knit up. I loved the kits, the little hanks and the extras that were sent. It was a real pick-me-up when one came in the mail, and not knowing what was coming was kind of fun.
And last but not least, Big Bertha has been wound into a monstrous ball. I think I'm going to check out some designs from Wendy Bernard's Custom Knits. I've had the book for a little while and am anxious to try out some of the techniques.

Oh, and I'll probably try to get my Christmas shopping done too. And Christmas cards...I think I'm a lost cause this year.

Firsts

2008-11-19T06:52:00.000-08:00

These are the first socks I ever made. I made them at the beginning of 2006 at the urging of My Best B. She was a very new knitter and I had made about 50 scarves and a few baby things. I thought it was very ambitious of her to want to make socks when she had just learned how to knit. She was the one who had to convince me to make the socks! I had all the arguments non-knitters have, of why would you want to make socks when...blah blah blah. But she has a way of convincing me to do things that I'm sure I don't want to do. Like spinning...I resisted that for a long time too. So we decided to knit these socks together and try it out. Since we didn't want to make too big of an investment on sock needles and yarn, we decided to start small. We got the double pointed needles at our local yarn store and the yarn at our local Michaels. I think they turned out great for our first try. The gauge is a little loose and they don't fit exactly, but they are excellent slipper socks and I'm glad I still have them.

We've come a long way since then, learning a lot about sock knitting. Which makes me so proud and happy to have received these for my birthday this year.

These are Eunny Jang's Bayerische Socks. They are very intricately cabled and represent 3 months of knitting time spent on me from my best friend.

They fit me perfect and are the perfect color, as I wear purple a lot. I am so thrilled to have something that is so obviously a gift of love, talent and time. It says a lot when someone will take that kind of time for you. I try to be selective about people I knit things for because some people just don't understand what a knitted gift represents.

The pictures of my Bayerische socks were taken at the Torrance Fiber Festival. A group of us decided to take a day trip up to Torrance and check it out. It was really fun and I enjoyed checking out all of the vendors. Below is a group of my happy knitter friends taking a break.

This is me holding my fiber purchases for the day. I bought a bag from Cottage Creations and some fiber from Chameleon Colorworks. The one hank of yarn I bought was from Newton Country Yarns.

A couple of us bought these huge hanks and lovingly named them "Big Bertha". My hank of yarn was 1.32 lbs of sport weight merino. It has 1600 yards per pound, so I'm thinking I have about 2000 yards. It'll be fun trying to figure out what I'm going to make with it. I'm going to start hand rolling it into a ball and see how huge of a ball it makes.

This is Big Bertha draped over my 6-yr-old's neck for perspective. He just lost his first tooth last night so I'm getting all of these funny pictures of him. He keeps sticking his tongue through the space and making all of these funny faces.

Here she is draped over the (highly amused) 3-yr-old.

Yep, good times.

It's Magic

2008-11-01T21:37:00.000-07:00

You can turn this...
Into this...
Yes, the time to celebrate has come! I am the proud new owner of a 2008 Yamaha Raptor 700. Fuel injected, with reverse, customized with Pro Taper handlebars and a steering stabilizer. I'll be breaking him in a week from today, on our first desert trip. It's so incredibly wonderful and fantastic! I can't articulate exactly how excited I am to have this quad. After what happened to my last one, this one left the dealership with insurance. I'm not messing around this time. I just hope that whoever got my last one, had fun on it, up until the moment when they crashed and had life-altering injuries. Dirtbags. But I now I have my "Quadzilla Raptor" and it's faster and newer.

These magic creatures are the first project I helped with for my son's class. His teacher knitted the parts and asked me to finish them. I had to knit the faces, sew them up and put on the eyes and beard. The beard is some of my first handspun and I'm kind of stoked to find a use for it.They were a lot of fun to play with and I was happy to help out. The pattern comes from the book A Children's Year and I think it was just called Knitted Gnomes. It was a very fun book to look through and I'm thinking about adding it to my collection. There are so many good books and so little time...

Son #2 was a little upset about not being able to keep the other gnomes that I made him this one. It was a little different but I think he still liked it.
Ever hear of a Sugar Sprite? I've been told that she needs so much sugar to survive, that she'll bring you a toy if you leave your bag of Halloween candy by your bed for her. And the more candy you leave her the better of a toy she'll leave you. I'm going to tell my kids about her and see if they're up for a cool toy. When you're dressed like this...
You get lots of candy! Trick or Treat!

WIP Central

2008-10-19T11:00:00.000-07:00

It's been so long since my last post because I have so many long-term projects I've been working on. I usually post when I've finished something.

A ton of things have been in the works for me. I've been working on my socks for the Think Outside the Sox contest. It's a lot more laborious of a process than I thought it would be. It's one thing to knit a sock not using a pattern and come up with your own ideas. But then to try to articulate them down on paper so anyone can read it and know what you're talking about is quite another. I guess it comes down to the deadline. All submissions have to be in by January 1, 2009. If I could take my sweet time, and work on other things when I felt like it then it wouldn't be as bad. But the next shipment of the Rockin' Sock Club came, and I can't start them (again). Look at this colorway...
It's so beautiful! I want to start them and work on them but I just can't let myself until I finish my entry. It's the only way it'll get done.

Which brings me to another point. Stitches West 2009. After careful consideration, hemming and hawing, and almost absolute denial that I was going to submit to a frivolous trip completely for myself...I'm going. I've got my hotel room at the Santa Clara Hyatt Regency, I've got my plane ticket to Santa Clara, and my classes have been signed up and paid for. I'll be joining a few of my fellow enthusiasts for a fun-filled getaway that I've already dismissed my guilt for. One of the motivating factors for me going was the sock contest. I mean, they're announcing the winners there! I'm not the only one of my friends who will win that night either. My other friend is going to win in her category also, so it makes sense for us to be there together to celebrate. (It's good to visualize your goals!)

I did manage to finish these socks for Son #1. They were the ones I would carry around in my purse and knit on when I had a few free moments.

-->Name of Project: Garter Stitch Toes and Heels
Yarn: Sock it to Me! Collection Harlequin
Needles: Size US 0 (2.0 mm) Knit Picks dpns
Estimated Time to Complete Project: 2 months
Pattern Notes: These are based on the Timberline Toes pattern from Lucy Neatby. I went toe-up using a provisional cast on with 28 stitches, short-rowing down to 9 sts, then back up to 28 sts. Then I picked up where the provisional cast on was and worked in the round for the foot. I worked a garter stitch short-row heel over 34 stitches, short-rowing down to 10, then back up to 34. Then worked up the leg. I knitted 1.5" of ribbing for the top then used a sewn-bind off.

As usual they are now his favorite thing to wear which makes him a very worthy recipient.

Another event to be excited about is the Torrance Fiber Festival. A couple of us are going to meet up to go check it out. It's about a 2 hour drive from where I live which I think is a bit more reasonable than the 14 hour drive to Taos, New Mexico for the Taos Fiber Festival. So that's it! Back to working on the never-ending sock entry...

It's gonna be cold there...

2008-09-01T11:25:00.001-07:00

A couple of my friends have announced that they are tired of the cost of living here in Southern California, and are moving to Idaho this month. I thought it would be nice to send them off with something warm in their bags, because I heard, it can get cold there.

So here are the three hats that I made, two on purpose and one on accident. As you can see below, one of the hats is significantly shorter than the other. This pattern is from Leigh Radford's book One Skein. It has no crown shaping so I did my own, and thought it would take longer to decrease for the crown. It only took four rounds and so the hat wasn't as long as I wanted it to be. It's for a man's head and it fit my head perfectly. So I decided to keep the smaller one for my son, and just make another one but longer.

Name of Project: Asymmetrical Cable Hat from One skein
Yarn: Baby Alpaca Grande
Needles: Size US 11 Knit Picks circulars
Pattern Notes: CO 69 sts, work until measures 9" for a man's head, then decrease for crown.

Name of Project: Unoriginal Hat by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
Yarn: Baby Alpaca Grande
Needles: Size US 11 Knit Picks circulars

Good luck guys and I wish you the best in your new home!

Goody Goody Gumdrops

2008-08-25T12:58:00.001-07:00

Name of Project: Gumdrop Socks
Yarn: Socks That Rock lightweight, colorway Goody Goody
Needles: Size US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Knit Picks circulars
Estimated Time to Complete Project: 2 weeks
Pattern Notes: This was the fourth shipment from the Rockin Sock Club 2008. I love this colorway because it's the kind of color that makes me smile when I look at it. It also kind of makes my teeth hurt though, because it looks so sugary. Cotton candy/sweet tart/pixie stick-like.

This pattern is a reversible sock pattern and below is one sock turned inside out.
It might be a little easier to see below. The sock on the left is the way the pattern is written and is right-side out. The one on the right is turned inside-out. I think I like the one on the left better because I'm not sure I like the bobble effect of the other one.

Since I had finished these, and I didn't have my bag with the Spring Forward socks I was going to cast on with me (the bag was in my car, which was gone), I decided to cast on for another pair of socks for my son and his wonderful wallaby sweater. I'm also knitting an Asymmetrical Hat for my friend and an Unoriginal Hat for his girlfriend. They are moving to Idaho at the end of September and I really had an urge to send them off with something warm. I'm using my favorite hat yarn, the Baby Alpaca Grande. It's so soft and feel so nice to knit with. It was shortly after that, when I found out that my cousin is on her way to study at the University of Florence, Italy. I guess it can get pretty cold there too, so I'm thinking she also needs a hat. I'm excited about sending it to her, I think it'll be a nice surprise when she gets it in the mail.

My plan of attack for finishing the hats soon, is this. I'm going to get at least 3 hours of uninterrupted knitting time at the Charger preseason game tonight. The drive there, the game, and the drive home should give me enough time to at least finish the one I'm working on and get half-way done through another. I should have at least two of them done by the end of this week. Then, I could bust out another one next week, when I'm crying my eyes out, after I've sent son #1 off to first grade. Should work out great!

Socks for my Son

2008-08-09T17:06:00.000-07:00

These socks were a lot of fun! I'm really happy with the way they turned out, especially in the fit. I used the Master Upstream Sock Architecture from Cat Bordhi's Book New Paways for Sock Knitters. They went around in my purse and were easy to work on wherever I went. My son is a very eager recipient and is always happy when he sees something I’ve made is for him.

Name of Project: Son #1 Upstream Socks
Yarn: Sock It To Me and Trekking Pro Natura
Needles: Size US 0 (2.0 mm) Knit Picks circulars
Estimated Time to Complete Project: 3.5 weeks
Pattern Notes: Cast on 10, increase up to 56 sts, knit until toe = 3.25”. Place markers for arch expansion. Expand arch until 84 sts (56 on instep ndl), turn heel p.120, work leg. Work 1.5” of ribbing, use sewn bind-off.

These are his master numbers for the next pair, although the way his feet grow, I don't think they'll be good for long.

Son #1’s Master Numbers as of 7/6/08:
A=9
B=7.75”
C=7”
D=56
E=3.25”
F=84
G=30
H=15
I=8

He's got two pairs of socks in his drawer, and if I can get one more pair done before school starts, I'll be happy. I was going to try for four pairs, but with the sock contest stuff I'm working on I don't think it's going to happen. Gotta keep it fun!

Butterflies 'N Bees & Bakugans

2008-07-25T13:33:00.001-07:00

Name of Project: Butterflies n Bees from the Six Sox Knitalong
Yarn: Chameleon Colorworks Twinkle Toes, Colorway: Polar
Needles: Size US 0 (2.0 mm) Knit Picks circulars
Estimated Time to Complete Project: 2.5 months
Pattern Notes: I kept reading that this pattern was coming out very loose for a lot of people so I decided to change it up. I used the Magic Cast-on and put 9 stitches on each needle and increased up to 62 stitches. I put 37 stitches on one needle for the instep (I used the 12-stitch pattern repeat three times for the top, adding the extra purl stitch at the end) and 25 stitches on the sole needle. After working the lace pattern 8 times, I made a short-row heel over 37 stitches, shifting the stitches from each side as needed. I decrease down to 9 stitches and then back up to the original 37. I then worked one full repeat of the lace around the leg. I felt like it would be better if it was a little looser around the leg, so I added 2 extra purl stitches between each lace repeat. I worked 4 more repeats of the Bees wings lace, then worked the Butterfly pattern. I bound off using the picot bind off.

So, I'm in love with these socks. First of all, I am completely drawn to anything with Butterflies on it. I'm not really sure where the obsession comes from, but pretty much anything I see with butterflies on it, I'm going to love. Second, the yarn complements this lace pattern perfectly and they fit really nicely. It took me a long time to make these because I really had to concentrate to work the lace. It didn't come easily, but I'm glad I stuck with it.

This other project arouse from a bunch of Bakugans under my feet, with no where to put them. Bakugans are little plastic balls that open up when they roll over the magnetic cards that come with them. They are all the rage with most little boys I know. This bag can hold 6 Bakugans, 6 Bakugan Cards, and a Launcher.

Name of Project: Bakugan Battle Bag
Yarn: 1 hank, Noro Daria Multi
Needles: Size US 4 Knit Picks circulars
Estimated Time to Complete Project: 1 week
Pattern Notes: Using Judy’s Magic Cast-on, Cast-on 20 stitches on each needle. Working in the round, continue in Stockinette stitch until bag measures 7.5 inches. Cast off 20 stitches on one side and work across stitches on other side. Turn work, Decrease 1 stitch at the beginning of each row. Work back and forth until 8 stitches remain on needle. Bind-off. Sew on snap button. Using remaining yarn and braid three strands together. Sew on to bag.

I needed to make two of these because Son #2 didn't want to be left out of the fun. (Who does?) So the second bag is half-way finished and is the project I carry around in my purse for when I'm waiting in line.

And, one of the happy mail days that I have come to know and love...
The fourth shipment of the Socks That Rock club. I Love Sweet Tarts, and I love this yarn. I'm falling behind of my personal sock knitting because of the XRX sock contest entry I'm working on, but I'm hoping to cast-on something personal after I finish my son's socks for school. Something like the Gumdrop Socks. So yummy!

Dottie's Farm

2008-07-23T22:02:00.000-07:00

Wow, it is really hard to blog when your computer sucks so hard. Every time I tried to get my pictures off of my camera or check my email, CRASH. It's going into the doctor next week, but until then, I have commandeered my husband's laptop. He's not too happy with the arrangement, but I think it will only be for a week. I had to, because I went to this really pretty farm in Fallbrook and have really cute pictures of the animals.

Dottie's farm is in the northern part of Fallbrook, which I think is actually called De Luz(?).

She has two Ramboullet sheep,
2 Cashmere goats,
a donkey,
a horse, and a couple of dogs.
Dottie is the proud new owner of an electric drum carder from Louet. She was so nice and showed us around her farm. I wanted to know what she planned on spinning first, and she showed me the three huge boxes of fleece from her very own sheep. I don't know how much fleece was in each box, but they were too heavy to budge. She opened one up and was showing us, talking fondly about her pet sheep when she asked me if I wanted some. I didn't even have the tact to pause before saying, yes I would! It was just so pretty and soft. I've got to wash this still, but as you can see, it's very clean already.

It was a good day. It started off with a coaches training for my son's soccer team. My husband is the coach and I'm the Assistant (a.k.a. Juicebox girl). We start practice next week and games shortly after. While we were at the training, I got a text from My Best B telling me that her and Cupcake were on their way up the coast and would be in my neighborhood around lunchtime. I knew Nancy and I were leaving around then to go up to the farm, but I thought I might still be able to sneak a little visit in before we left. That's when Cupcake surprised me with this...

This, is Italian Angora, straight from Italy. You can read about her trip on her blog. It's one thing to have friends that come back from a trip and bring you a little souvenir. But it's quite another to have a friend bring you a luscious FIBER souvenir from a mill in the country that they visit. It's true friendship, is what it is. She could have spent all of her Euros buying yarn for her stash and come back and shown it to us. I wouldn't have blamed her. Let's just say it goes above and beyond in my book. :)

I have been doing a little spinning. This is a merino wool top, 3-ply, approximately 180 yards. It came out thicker than most things I've spun, but it's still pretty even and I'm happy with it. I think it's a worsted weight, although I haven't checked the wraps-per-inch yet.

And these are the socks I'm making for Son #1. I want to have at least 4 pair for him when school starts. He's starting 1st grade at a Waldorf school, and I want him to be prepared.

I have a finished object that I can blog about too, but I'll do it tomorrow. Don't want to have all the fun in one day. ;)

Corset Tee

2008-07-03T17:12:00.000-07:00

Name of Project: Combo Corset-T by Annie Modesitt
Yarn: Patons Cotton Top
Yardage: 600 yards for a Size 34
Needles: Size US 3 Knit Picks circulars
Estimated Time to Complete Project: 3 weeks
Pattern Notes: The only really hard thing about this pattern was trying to decide what size to make. I'm a 36/38" but like things to fit snugly with negative ease. I knew I probably wasn't going to like the way a 38" was going to fit, so I opted for the 34". I was a little skeptical but thought that since I was using yarn that was not likely to hold it's shape very well, I thought that it would shape itself to my body.I'm really happy with the way it turned out and I think it's very cute.

Below is how it starts out. It knits from the top down, and the lace pattern is what makes the zig zag edging.

The lace part I had to concentrate on a little bit, but the body was just 20 inches of ribbing. It was the perfect project for World Wide Knit in Public Day & Stitch N Pitch. With all of the distractions surrounding those events, there was no way I would have been able to work on anything more complicated.

The buttons I pulled out of a tin of buttons that used to belong to my grandma. There were two sets of six, and they were 25 cents a set.
I'm off to the Fair tomorrow, finally to see the fate of my Butterfly Shawl. I get to pick it up on Monday, because this is the last weekend of the San Diego Fair. I'm glad we're going on the Fourth of July, because the fair fireworks kick ass.

Also, my friends and I are local celebrities...Check out this article and this video of the Stitch N Pitch. That event gets funner(is that a word?) each time I go.

Stitch N Pitch 2008

2008-06-30T10:27:00.000-07:00

Sunday, June 29 was Stitch N' Pitch in San Diego!

A few friends and I met at the Encinitas train station for the ride down to the game. When my Best B and I got to the station we immediately saw Wendy and her husband Mark. It was easy to spot Wendy because she was wearing the Baseball socks I made her.

I used my own sock recipe starting with a Magic Cast on, short-row heel and a sewn bind-off at the top. The inspiration for the baseball stitching came from Interweave Knits Stitch N Pitch sock pattern. Marc was carrying a corona box with a special treat for us inside. Wendy had made us margaritas for the train ride!
Check out the fun label... This particular saying does apply to me when I'm drinking margaritas.

Here's Shelly and Marc and my Best B on the train ride enjoying our refreshments.
Here is the groovy couple that sat across from me and Wendy. Glenn and Rebecca, hope to see you at Jazz in the Parks!
The sights at the game were really wonderful. A lot of knitters, a lot of fun!

Here is a really good husband winding a hank into a ball for his wife who was busy knitting from a chart. Not necessarily the kind of knitting I'm able to do in public, but hey if you have the skillz , use 'em.

Here's Shelly, Marc and Wendy enjoying watching the Padres lose. Badly. According to my husband a losing score like 8-1 in baseball is called, "getting your bats and balls handed to you".

And here I am with my Best B. Love her!
I was able to jump down a couple rows of seats to visit Nancy from Common Threads. Here is her Padres seat cushion she made for the event. I got to see this beauty in progress before the felting. It was very cool to see the before and after. It felted up perfectly and she had a nice cushie seat for the game.

Here's Nancy and me wearing our very cool Padres hats that were part of the give-aways. The hats have Stitch N Pitch embroidered across the back. We also got a ball of yarn and coupons.
And last but not least, the socks at the game.
Name of Project: Baseball Socks
Yarn: Cascade Fixation, 2 balls white, 1 ball red
Needles: Size US 3 Knit Picks circulars
Estimated Time to Complete Project: A week and a half
Pattern Notes: I used my own sock pattern to knit these up and took inspiration from the Stitch N Pitch sock pattern for the stitching. Used Judy’s Magic Cast-on; Cast on 16. Increased every other round up to 52 stitches. Worked foot for 7 inches. Short-row heel over 30 stitches. Worked up leg putting two 1” red stripes at the top.

After socks were knitted, I stitched the baseball stitching, which was very difficult with this stretchy yarn. My husband said the stitches need to arc in together for them to look like baseballs so I wrapped them around the leg.

A very fun day, and I'm looking forward to next year!