Priorities

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.

Stitches West 2009

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!

Rainy Day

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!

Firsts

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.

WIP Central

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...

Goody Goody Gumdrops

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

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

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!

Schools OUT!

Today was the last day of Kindergarten for Son #1. I am so excited to have him all to myself for the summer! To commemorate the occasion I made him a little knight made out of gold thread and trimmed with blue and silver.


Name of Project: Knight from Knit a Fantasy Story by Jan Messent
Yarn: Various crochet thread
Needles: Size US 0 (2.0 mm) Knit Picks dpns
Pattern Notes: I winged this a little bit, but the directions were pretty thorough. It's the first "doll" I've ever made so I wasn't sure how it was going to work out. I'm pretty pleased with the results, although the time it took to make all of the little pieces was a little much.

When my son first saw the book, he loved all of the pictures and specifically asked me to make this for him. I didn't let him know I was working on it so it would be a surprise. I gave it to him today when I picked him up and the reaction was a little...little. He said, "Where's the horse?" Yeah, I guess the complete set would have been cooler. But these little things seem to take longer than they look. I think he was pleased though.

In the meantime, I was digging through one of my many boxes of yarn and saw that I had about 6 skeins of Patons Cotton Top in white. I've been wanting to make the Combo Corset-T from Knitty Gritty when I saw Annie Modesitt on the show. It looks very simple yet very cute, so I decided to try it. As usual I had to go down 2 needle sizes to get gauge, and I'm not sure how cotton works with this pattern, but I didn't have to buy the yarn. So if it doesn't work out, no big loss.
I'm about an inch away from doing the short row heel for the Butterflies N Bees socks. They are moving along quite nicely and I think they are absolutely adorable.
The next pair of socks I'm going to make are the Cleopatra's Stockings from the third Rockin' Sock Club shipment. I was so happy when I saw this yarn, it made me want to ball it up immediately and get started. You know it's going to be beautiful if just seeing the skein makes you happy.
Although, the STR yarn is actually a tie for my next sock project, with this yarn that my friend Wendy gave me to cheer me up after the bad month I had last month. It's Misti Alpaca sock yarn and is so soft. I've been carrying it around with me in my purse because it makes me smile when I see it. I've got to find the right pattern for this because just any pattern won't do.
I think my knitting mojo has returned. :)

Pomatomus

Name of Project: Pomatomus by Cookie A.
Yarn: Knit Picks Bare Fingering Weight Merino/Nylon Blend, Hand-dyed blue and yellow
Yardage: almost one hank
Yarn Source: Knitpicks.com
Needles: Size US 1 (2.25 mm) and Size US 2 (2.75mm) Knit Picks circulars
Estimated Time to Complete Project: 2 months
Pattern Notes: These socks were an exercise in gauge for me. The leg was done on Size 2 needles and although I checked my gauge, they were knitting up a little loose. When I got down to the heel flap, I decided to try the Size 1 just to see if it would look nicer. What an improvement! The yarn looked better, the stitches looked better, and everything went way better.

I think in the future, I'm just going to have to err on the side of smaller needles. It seems to always work out that way for me.

The next sock pattern I'll probably do is this one:
The second shipment of the Rockin Sock Club! I'm not starting right away, because I want to do some swatching for some other things. I plan to finish up my Central Park Hoodie soon also, it's so close to being done.