Arrrrrrrgyle, Walking the Plank

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Dudes, these argyle socks are driving me mad. The knitting's got to change. I can make excuses forever but here are the main reasons this sock is being abandoned to the UFO drawer:

1. The main body of the sock is in old Knitpicks sock yarn. Like pre-soft and nice sock yarn which means it's scratchy and I know they won't be real comfortable when they're done.
2. The foot is a little wide. I know it'll shrink up when I dry them in the dryer (I dry all my old Knitpicks socks in the dryer) but it annoys me.
3. I keep screwing up the decreases for the toe. I know it's because I keep trying to do it when I'm engrossed in something else but I don't feel like doing it again.

I need something new, something fresh, something exciting. I was browsing around on the old internets for some ideas and came across Belle Epoque, Bad Penny, and Glampyre's Puff-Sleeved Feminine Cardigan.

Okay, so Bad Penny is out because it's worsted weight and it's summer. Belle Epoque would be really great - I love the scoop neck and the empire waist but would get rid of the fuzzy yarn (mohair and acrylic, can you imagine wearing that?) and shorten it a bit. I'm getting frustrated trying to find a yarn substitute though. I bet Ravelry would be nice for this... I'd like to use my Merino Style for it but technically the gauge shouldn't work. But since my gauge was all screwy with it maybe it will be right! I think I'll swatch tomorrow and find out.

Glampyre's cardigan led me to her book, Fitted Knits, which I know at least one of my readers has because she knit the same sweater I'm thinking of knitting. ;-) That would be Big Geek Beth. Beth! What do you think of the book? And anyone else if you have it, give me your thoughts. Email me if you'd prefer at katiedid at gmail dot com.

In other news, I did finish Mon Petit Chou and it seems to fit alright. I don't have ribbon for it yet and haven't figured out a classy way to take pictures yet but I hope to soon.

Update On My Cabbage

Friday, June 08, 2007

I've gone back to Mon Petit Chou, my most current UFO. The Argyle socks are on US 1's and, not real surprisingly, they're kind of killing my wrists. So I finished the bottoms to Mon Petit Chou and started the top... three times now. I don't know if it's my foggy sick-brain (I've had a cold for about a week and a half now) or if I'm just failing as a knitter but I can't seem to follow directions. Last night was the last straw, I thought I had finally done the picot edge, on 107 stitches mind you, correctly so I spread it out to take a look. I even started grinning, thinking that this time I had really nailed it... and it didn't look too picot-y. I forgot the last purl row before knitting the two sets of stitches together. Damn.

So I knit on the Argyle socks instead and actually got a couple of inches done on the foot. I hope I remember everything I changed when I go to do the second sock. I even took a picture last night but did I remember to get the picture off of my phone before I left home today? Um, no. So my post is pretty worthless but at least you now know what I'm knitting, right?

I'll be back and I'll try to blog better next time.

Not what I expected...

Friday, May 25, 2007

So, I should be here to show off a nice, new pair of argyle socks, shouldn't I? I should be knitting like crazy what with all this time on my hands. Unfortunately, I haven't been. The transition to working full time again has done more than dampen my spirits with boring days stuck in the office. It's flared up my wrist problems again since most of my time is spent writing and revising on the computer all day. My right wrist has gone from slightly achy to numb most of this morning in just the last week. Boo.

Since I have no new progress pics, though I did finish the heel on the first sock, I'll try to distract you with cute vegetable sheep.




Did it work?

Argyle, Take II

Monday, May 14, 2007

The first argyle sock wasn't going to be fitting anyone. Not me, not any young girls or boys I know, not anyone. It was really tight around the colorwork and fit me where it was all black. So I started again. This time I went up two needle sizes for the colorwork. I maybe could have gotten away with just going up one but I just don't do things like that. I overcompensate or something. But it seems to have worked out nicely.


The diamonds are much bigger than I had intended but that's what going up two needle sizes will do. I still like them though and think these socks are going to be AWEsome.


For the morbidly curious, here are my floats. They're long floats. Not the best way to do it but certainly the easiest for a beginner who isn't patient enough to spend five minutes untangling after each row. I'll just be careful when I put my little toesies in there.

And here are a couple of pictures of my non-knitting project of the weekend.



The chairs themselves still need a lot of work but check out those cushions! I bought the foam at a surplus store here in town and the fabric at JoAnn's for 40% off. (Unfortunately, when I realized I was a little short on fabric and went back to get more yesterday it was no longer on sale so I had to buy a yard and a half at full price. Boo.)

Now that I'm done with classes until fall I'll hopefully get more knitting done and post more. We'll just see how that goes before I commit to anything though. ;-)

Argyle

Sunday, April 29, 2007

Yesterday just got too busy and by the time it calmed down it was too dark to take decent pictures. Let me start off by saying that I did start off knitting the argyle socks using intarsia like all of the internet tutorials told me too. However, since my self-designed pattern used smaller diamonds (and lots of them), it was a little crazy-making:



I'm sure it didn't help that I don't have real bobbins and the little bits of yarn kept sliding out of the cardboard slits and tumbling down onto my lap and subsequently got hopelessly tangled on almost every row. I did manage about 4-5 rows before realizing the intarsia was doomed. The last straw was seeing that my stitches were way too tight. I yanked it out and started over with just my original three balls of yarn, determined to learn this fair isle business. I'm happy to say that it worked:



Here's another picture that's a little less blurry but without the diamonds stretched out:



Knitting this brought me back to what knitting was like when I first started. I could hardly put it down! Now that the argyle part is done - I'm knitting the rest of the sock in just black - I wrapped it around my calf to see if it'll fit... I'm not too sure that it will. My floats must still be a little tight. But if it doesn't fit me, I'm sure I could find someone they will fit.

Now that I've conquered the technique, this sweater (which I'm hopelessly in love with) doesn't scare me so much. It's just the price of the yarn and the tiny gauge that scare me now.

Ah yes...

Friday, April 27, 2007

...the rumors are true: I'm knitting argyle. I have conquered fair isle* and it cannot scare me anymore.

I have had to literally pull myself away from the mesmerizing pattern that's emerging and force myself to bed. (But not before telling you all of my success, of course.)

There will definitely be pictures.


*Yes, I realize argyle is not "true" fair isle and no, by "conquered" I do not mean that my fair isle is perfect or even lovely at this point but I'm doin' it.

IK

Monday, April 23, 2007

Oh boy, if there was ever a reassurance that letting my IK subscription lapse was an okay thing, this is it. Other than the neat spirally socks, that issue can sit on the shelf for all I care.

(This is not to offend anyone who enjoys the patterns in there! Just not my cuppa tea.)

Knitting

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Sometimes I think I'm a better blog friend than blogger... and sometimes I think I'm okay with that. But, don't worry, I'm not going to vanish off the face of the blogging world. I still like to show what I'm knitting and maybe this summer I'll have more time to go on about knitting here. For now though...

Here are the socks I've been working on with my "leftover" Kona Superwash. I say "leftover" because there is no question that I'm going to have enough yarn to finish these and STILL have yarn leftover.




Pretty simple pattern, if you can call it a pattern. Fifty some odd stitches (51 maybe?) with three four stitch cables. I centered one cable on the top of my foot so the other two are sort of on the edge of the heel flap. I think it looks neat.

I started these toe-up originally but they were too tight and I couldn't get a nice heel flap sort of thing going so I frogged and I'm much happier with them now. I think I've been converted to a top-down sock girl. Whoa. I've also already worn the finished one once inadvertantly because I grabbed it and one of my other socks in this yarn. I didn't realize it until a couple of days later when I was looking for the finished one to check something for the one in progress.

I also started and didn't finish a baby sweater in cotton last week. I ended up just purchasing an outfit for the babe. Why do I think cotton is going to change for me and NOT kill my wrists? Because it's on sale? That somehow sale cotton magically loses it's tendonitis charms?

Well, that's all I have for now, I better rush off to class.

Leftovers

Monday, March 12, 2007

I don't know about you but I like leftovers. I could eat food leftovers all week and not get too bored. Yarn leftovers are even better. I finished the socks - no, I don't have pictures yet - and I have 4.3 ounces of yarn leftover. Kona Superwash starts off with 8 ounces and if you figure in a little extra weight from the Kool-aid dye (I don't know if it actually weighs anything or not so I'm trying to err on the side of caution here) I still have half leftover. Holy crap!

So tell me, yarnover's help in using less wool, yes? So maybe I should be looking at another yarn-overy pattern for the last half? (I said ovary...)

Also, Jenna commented on my last post about the superwash. She said they've washed great and haven't really pilled at all. I'm looking forward to that. My Wildfoote Baudelaire's are just fuzzy and icky-looking.

That's all. Just wanted to drop by. Also, I'm excited for Eunny to be the new editor of IK. How neat!

Progress

Saturday, March 10, 2007

The Japanese Feather Socks have become my favorite socks and I haven't even finished them yet. Just look at them! (click to make it bigger if you want to see the details)



They're so fast to knit, the pattern is easy but beautiful, and the yarn, my God I love this yarn! I asked Jenna, since she was so kind as to give it to me for Kool-aid dying fun, and she said it's Kona Superwash (you have to scroll just a little). Only $12.50 for 560 yards! I can tell you now, I'll definitely be ordering some of this. I think sportweight is definitely more on line with what I want from my hand-knit wool socks. I have poor circulation so I tend to have cold extremities. Exercise definitely helps but I haven't always made time for it. Nice, thick wool socks help keep me a little cozier.

To give a little bit of an idea how much 560 yards is...


the second sock pictured here is almost done. One more 28 row repeat, which goes so fast, and the toe and look at all the yarn I have left! I'll probably be able to knit another pair out of the leftovers. Maybe a shorter pair but still, four socks from one hank. Wow.



Another project this week (or rather, last weekend) was to wind the green DK sweater into balls. Me and my wine-nostepinne didn't even try this one, Jenna came over and we used her ball winder. Now the yarn just sits by my laptop and awaits a new project.

I also ordered a tiny bit of yarn this week. I got a couple of contrasting colors of Essential from Knitpicks so I can try my hand at some simple Fair Isle on the cuffs of my soon-to-be-started black socks. I also ordered two new pairs of US 2 DPN's since mine are pretty warped. I think the warping started when I used them to knit my gloves in worsted and then once they're a little bit bent they just bend more so easily that it was sort of a downward spiral. It'll be nice to start fresh. Oh, and the needles were on sale at Knitpicks for $5.44 so if you're needing some bamboo DPN's now's the time to get over there and order!

That's it, I'm going to go clean the house and finish up my socks. Hope you're all having a great weekend! I know I am, what with next week being Spring Break and all. :)

Cakes of Yarn

Friday, March 02, 2007

So I've started the Japanese Feather Socks twice now. The first time I got gauge with US 2's and used the ridiculous recommended amount of stitches (48) because I had complete and total (almost) faith in the pattern. Of course, they were too small. But not by much, so I ripped and started again adding one purl stitch in between each repeat. They're still snug but they might work this time. I hope so because I'd hate to rip again.


I had a really hard time getting a decent picture because the yarn is so well, bright, I guess, though it doesn't seem that bright to me. Also, please excuse the bright whiteness of my leg and it's well, ungroomed status. Focus on the pretty, pretty sock that is oh, so much prettier in person! I love it!

That's all on the knitting front. I've realized that this sock can't be my backpack sock for two reasons, 1) the yarn cake is too gigantic to lug around and doesn't fit in my Dr. Suess bag that I normally carry my sock-in-progress in, and 2) while the pattern is easy and repeatable, it IS a 28 row repeat and you kind of need to keep pretty good track of where you are. There is too much of a chance of me completely screwing it up if I work on it anywhere but at home in a nice, calm atmosphere. Due to this, I'll probably buy myself another pair of double-points and start some other socks. Probably toe-up, 2x2 ribbing on the leg, 60 stitches, in black Knitpicks from my stash. So: boring. But I'll post pics when they're done.

I've noticed a definite increase in spam comments lately. Kind of a bummer. I don't want to have to require a log in for comments but I might if I start getting more than one or two spam ones a day. Just a heads-up.

It's "blizzarding" here today and Kurt had the day off. I used this, and my not-yet-plowed alley this morning, as an excuse not to go to work like I usually do for a couple hours on Friday mornings. Instead, I slept in and then took the bus to class instead of dealing with slippery roads and unplowed alleys. I'm glad I did. But I'm also very glad to be home... it's been a loooooong day and I'm ready to sit around and knit.

Snow Day

Sunday, February 25, 2007

It snowed so much last night. Holy crap! At least 5-6 inches though I haven't been outside to check it out firsthand. Today I'm staying in and working on homework... right after I finish procrastinating and posting here.

I finished Kurt's socks last night!


Specs:
Yarn: Some superwash wool stuff that Jenna gave Kurt to dye when we did our Kool-aid dying. Thanks Jenna!
Needles: Takumi Clover's size US 2.
Pattern: Top-down, french heel, 2x2 ribbing on leg and top of foot.
Gauge: Eh, I don't know. I had a hard time getting the right size on these even though I did two gauge swatches! I ended up with 60 stitches but probably could have gone with 56. They fit nicely because of the rib and it'll allow Kurt to grow into them a little bit.
Notes: Can you see the size of the foot on them!? Kurt's feet are just about the size of mine and very similar: long and narrow. Can't wait to knit him socks when he gets to about a size 10 like his dad was! (Not.)

Oh and here's a picture of one on his foot. He insisted I take it so I'll post it too.




Next project up is the Japanese Feather Socks for me with my Kool-aid dyed yarn. I wrapped it up into a giganto yarn cake last night during Star Wars III. Kurt timed me and said it took an hour and 15 minutes. I thought it was more like 20 minutes! There's just something about winding yarn that's so relaxing, I guess. I know I'm in the minority with my manual-winding but there's just something so satisfying about winding it all up and then pulling that yarn from the middle at first. You know, the whole accomplishment of making something that works. Anyway, here it is with my 7" double-points on top for scale.

Pretty shiny and new in here...

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

So I updated to the new blogger today. So far, so good but my font looks really funky in here so we'll see what it looks like on the page.

Today is going to be my short "love of wool" post. You know, every knit blogger has at least one post where they marvel at the awesome qualities of wool: this is mine.

Kurt and I recently went "camping" with Cub Scouts (don't worry we had nice cozy cabins) and we spent an entire afternoon outdoors the first day we got there. We're talking 3+ hours here when the actual temp. was probably right around 0 degrees and the wind chill at the top of the sledding hill late in the afternoon was definitely below the donut. I had bought us both new snowpants and we both had nice thick wool socks and boots but it's those not-completely-covered areas you worry about: the cheeks, the hands because they're getting snow all over them which melts with your hand warmth and ugh, I was expecting to be freezing my ass off. Not so. My wool socks and boots kept my feet toasty and my down coat kept my body cozy and, surprising the hell out of even wool-lover me, my hands were warm even when the gloves were soaking wet. Wool is so awesome! A couple times I had to unflip my mitten flap to buckle a ski-boot or something for one of the boys and the flap would freeze solid in a couple of minutes but once I popped it back up and my hand warmed the wool it would feel completely cozy again. Whoa. To be a sheep. They must never get cold!

So that's my wool-loving story. It's my attempt to get back into this knit-blogging thing. I have been knitting, of course, just haven't had (made) the time to blog about it.

• I finished the first of Kurt's socks that I'm knitting with his own hand-dyed with Kool-aid yarn and am up to the heel on the second.
  
• I knit almost that whole green sweater in DK weight yarn but I'm going to rip it out. The more I knit it, the more perturbed I am that it IS DK and that I couldn't get gauge for the Gatsby Girl with it. I'll figure something else out. (But the design I made up for the sweater as I went along will probably come back in a worsted incarnation.)
• This weekend I swatched for (aren't you proud, Jenna?) and started Twinkletoes from Knitty. Only in a different gauge, yarn, and color. Hah. Just watch me not follow patterns lately.

Hopefully I'll have (make) some time to post pictures of these projects this weekend. Who knows though, my second round of tests is coming up for this semester. Oy.

School Daze

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Well, classes have begun again and I'm sure you can tell by the lack of posts. Maybe not actually, I didn't post so much during the break either!

In any case, I'm still knitting but I've been sick all weekend and it's been detrimental to any knitting progress. Normally when I have a cold and want to lay around all day I love to sit and knit but every single time I tried this weekend I ended up ripping out what I'd done. Either I'd change my mind about something or I'd make a mistake or count wrong. It was terrible! So I put the green sweater away and read Memoirs of a Geisha from start to finish. It was pretty good.

Something else about the green sweater though. Remember how I said I was surprised at how soft the Wool of the Andes was now? What you'll notice if you follow the link is that I ordered Merino Style, not Wool of the Andes. Doh. While it makes me feel dumb on one hand, it makes me feel smart on the other: at least I ordered the right yarn for the Gatsby Girl Pullover I had intended on making. And now it makes sense that my green sweater is smaller than I thought it would be because I'm knitting with DK weight and not the WoTA that I knit the first striped one in. It's all coming together. I do think the sweater is going to fit fine after blocking though. The only problem is that I still don't understand why I couldn't get gauge for the Gatsy Girl (which is why I decided on a different sweater). I tried three different needle sizes and got no where near gauge. Strange, strange.

So that's life around here. I started a pair of socks for Kurt to keep in my backpack but so far I've only gotten about two inches down the cuff. I'm sure that will change when (if) I start taking the bus to school. As it is, I drive and so I get there just in time for class with no knitting time left.

Hopefully I'll have some pictures soon. Life is full this week as I'm still sick (stupid cold), have lots of homework, and am trying to clean and finish lots of little projects in my house for my upcoming (on Saturday) housewarming party.

Have a great week!

A week late and a dollar short

Monday, January 08, 2007

Or, my obligatory end of year knitting post...

Here is the list of things I wanted to knit last year:

Cabled Scarf, fingerless gloves, and hat set for me (in progress)
Fingerless gloves for Kurt
Socks for me (many, many socks for me. teehee)
Socks for Kurt
Mon Petit Chou
Lacy Socks for me
Tubey
Solid colored raglan top-down sweater

And here is what I actually knit:

Dishcloths
Striped knee-highs
Neck warmer (stretched out, unwearable neck warmer)
Essential Stripe Sweater (Olympics knitting)
Elegant Cabled Scarf
Fingerless Mittens (Kurt's)
Cable and Rib Socks
Orange Ribbed Socks
Baudelaire Socks (mine)
Mon Petit Chou (started it)
Orange Hedera Socks (Sister's)
Baudelaire Socks (Mom's)
Elegant Cabled Fingerless Mittens
Classy Slip-Up Socks (Sister's. Finished right after the New Year.)
Homegrown Ribbed Socks (Grandma's. Not finished.)

Not too shabby. I still need a cabled hat for my winter set but I really didn't do too bad. Here is what I'm planning for 2007:

Finish Grandma's socks
Solid top-down raglan (started this weekend)
Felted mary jane slippers
Cabled ear-flap hat
Gatsby Girl pullover from Interweave Knits Fall 2006
Finish Mon Petit Chou
Socks for me
Socks for Kurt
Socks for Emily (another sister)
Socks for Grandma for Christmas 2007
Finish cotton lace top that I'll never wear

Wow, I hadn't intended for the list to be that long but I guess I have more projects listed in my head than I thought.

So there ya go. My year in knitting and year ahead. I'll post pictures of the top down raglan beginnings later this week. I'm using the Essential Stripe pattern from Knit and Tonic that I used for my Olympic sweater last year but with Wool of the Andes in Moss. Gotta run or I'll be late for work!

Overdying!

Friday, December 22, 2006

This week has been full of Christmas parties, Christmas preparations, and Christmas knitting. So how is it that it still doesn't feel that much like Christmas? Maybe because Kurt decided we don't need a tree since he prefers to put all of the presents under our palm tree. Maybe because we never took the time to put up decorations. Maybe because I'm just too busy with many other projects! Either way: meh. It'll be Christmas soon and then it will be all over again for a another year (thank God). As I think I've mentioned before, I prefer Thanksgiving.

Happy Solstice though! I forgot to light a candle last night but I did fall asleep thinking happy thoughts about the coming of the light and longer days.

Today's Friday post is not about all of those things though, it's about my Kool-aid dying! Previously my hand-Kool-aid-dyed yarn looked something like this:



(That would be the one on the right.)

A couple of weekends ago, while Kurt was eating pizza and playing video games at a friend's house mere hours before coming down with the nasty norovirus stomach flu, and in the midst of studying for finals, I did this:



this:



and this:



In order to end up with this:



Which I am very pleased with and excited to knit with once I finish my grandma's Christmas socks and my sister's Bearfoot socks. At the rate I'm going, I should have one completed by Christmas Eve, which is when we celebrate at her house, and one partially completed. The Regia Cotton Plus is okay but much less "giving" than I was hoping for. The cotton/polymid portion of it is a bit high for my poor little wrists and not quite as soft as I was hoping for but hot damn if these aren't going to be some hard-wearing socks! Which will hopefully soften up after washing... After trying out a couple different patterns and stitch amounts I decided on 64 stitches with US 1's with a rib pattern that I made up on the spot. It's something like K3, P2, K4, P3, K8, P3, K4, P2, K3 and repeat. I like it and the color is definitely "Jeans". It knits up looking just like denim!

Happy Holidays everyone!

Of Mice and Knits

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Mice in the kitchen this week at work. Can you come in on a Monday morning to anything more gross? Well yes, if it had been cockroaches I would have turned around and walked right out. But still, mice. Ew.

The semester is over and there is much rejoicing! Including a dinner out and a trip to the yarn store with Jenna last night! But neither of us found anything we wanted to buy despite the immense amount of time we tried and the sales. The sales are good but not good enough to buy yarn we don't need. Gasp, I know.

With the semester over though (and tests completed, I think I got two B's and two A's for my four classes) I've already gotten a chunk of knitting time in. Tuesday evening I finished my mom's Christmas socks...



and started my sister's socks.



The yarn I was so desperately hoping to find last night was sock yarn for my Grandma's Christmas socks. This is the Grandma that buys all the kids and grandkids socks every year for Christmas and she totally deserves a pair of handknit socks every year for Christmas. Even though she's using the ones I knit her last year as slippers. I think it's because they're wool and so warm. So I was on the lookout for some cotton sock yarn but it was all ugly. Then I would have given up and bought some Mountain Colors Bearfoot for her but they didn't have any in colors she would like, just reds, which I had to restrain myself from buying because I love it.

Jenna even offered up anything from her stash but I couldn't decide and wasn't sure what would be best and then I got all indecision-like about what pattern to use. So I decided to just hand dye the dye-your-own yarn I still have laying around from Knitpicks. I got some Kool-aid from the store, Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade, and I dunked the wool in some water and prepared to start tearing open Kool-aid packets when I remembered: it's hand wash only. Shit! I don't want to do that to my Grandma. She needs the ease of wash n' go. So I hopped on the internet and ended up ordering some Regia Cotton Plus in a jeans colorway and next-day shipped it. Or I think I next-day shipped it and we'll find out if it doesn't show up in the next few days.

So post-purchase, tell me: is Regia Cotton Plus any good? I've never felt it so I don't know if it's as soft as I've been reading and I've never heard of anyone using it but it seems like a good deal: it has wool and it has cotton and I like that idea. If it sucks I might have to take Jenna up on the offer of buying her Cherry Tree Hill and get knitting.

Last weekend I also overdyed my other Kool-aid dyed yarn but I'll show pictures of that later on rather than make one gigantic post today.

Friday Nights Are Sacred

Friday, December 08, 2006

So Friday seems to be the day I actually get around to updating this thing which is sort of unfortunate because people don't comment as much over the weekend. But at least you're still reading it, right? Right? I may just be losing readers like crazy since the school business started. No time to update and people move on. I think about updating during the week but never seem to find time to log in and say anything... not that there's much TO say today. Friday it is.

In my last post, there were no pictures because I was busy and lazy on the blog front and didn't really have much to show. Today there are no pictures because it has finally hit me that the one box I'm missing since the move is the box with my top desk drawer stuff in it, and that includes my picture card for my phone's tiny little memory card. What a bummer. I've taken lots of pictures! And I would have taken nice yarny pictures for you today but what's the point since I can't transfer them. Le sigh.

Good news though: I found out that the LYS (aka Ben Franklin Crafts, the only store to carry nice wool within a 70 mile radius) is not really closing! They're merely having a blowout sale to make it easier to move all of the inventory into their new location! I found this out because yesterday I had a little time to kill (sort of) and decided to go check out the sale there. I ended up buying a few hanks of Classic Elite Renaissance (40% off!) to make some nice wooly felted slippers out of. They're red and green but not Christmas red and green. Boy, it sure sucks not being able to show you a picture. I was told that they're "in" colors right now though if that helps. Like a burgundy-ish red and a pale green. I think the colors are Green Grape and Chianti but I'm not sure.

I also picked up a hank of Mountain Colors Bearfoot in the Indian Corn colorway (25% off). Wow is that some squishy soft pretty stuff! I'm thinking socks for my sister since I'm planning to make socks for my other sister with a green Mountain Colors.

Hmm, so that's about it. No knitting since last Saturday for me. I fixed the heel on my mom's sock during the Harry Potter Extravaganza and finished one pattern repeat on the leg. No yarn dying and no new socks started. House stuff happened instead and some half-hearted studying for my Chem test which landed me a C. A C! I'm outraged at myself! So this weekend will be filled with much studying so I can ace my finals and end up with A's. I'm an A student dammit, and I want to stay that way!

Anyway, have a great weekend all!

Impending Doom

Friday, December 01, 2006

Well, the holidays are approaching. I'm not in the "holiday spirit" this year but, you know, I can't really remember the last time I was so it's not too much of a loss. Gifts will be purchased, eggnog milkshakes drank, and maybe even a tree decorated if we're lucky. The past couple of years we've just decorated our cane tree because the old house was too small for a real tree.

Holiday knitting is currently at a standstill. I've re-knit the heel on my mom's second sock twice now and when I got to the end I realized I'm about three stitches off. The heel is slightly crooked. I was debating whether I could just keep knitting and maybe she wouldn't notice but it's going to have to be frogged and I just haven't gotten up the gumption to do it yet. Tonight is Friday Night Movie Night though so I'll probably do it then. Harry Potter weekend on ABC Family and all.

I'm also itching to start a new pair of socks for myself. Me, me, me! My toes are cold! I don't have enough hand-knit socks to make it through the week! Even though I have a to-do list about a mile long, I'm secretly scheming to overdye my Black Cherry kool-aid yarn this weekend and start a pair. I've been thinking about hand-knit socks lately and how my favorite pairs are the plain-jane 2x2 ribbed ones or the plainish cable and rib ones. And I'd like to have a simple project to carry around but the Japanese Feather Socks are also calling out to me. They would look so pretty in a nice solid color! We'll see what happens. The guilt of not starting my sister's socks might get to me instead.

And, before I go, the picture you've all been waiting for:



The new house is awesome and I can still hardly believe this all worked out and I'm actually living in a house that I *own*. Well, that the bank owns, but you know what I mean. New house projects and new house shopping has been fun and I'm sure will continue to be. Projects for this weekend include 1) more shopping, 2)replacing the wax seal on the upstairs toilet (I can't wait to do this!), 3) installing the medicine cabinet in the guest bath, and unpacking some more boxes. That's the short list, I don't want to bore you with the long one.

Have a great weekend!

I never thought I'd leave this place, it has all kinds of storage space... *

Thursday, November 16, 2006

*Silkworm lyric, but true when compared to my new house. There are closets in the upstairs bedrooms and... that's it. No broom closet under the stairs because the stairs to the basement are under the stairs. No closet in the main floor bedroom because it's been converted into a bathroom. Very Few Closets in the new house. Not that the current house boasts many more, just a nice sized one in the bathroom, but I digress.

I've hit a milestone in the packing process: this morning I finally managed to make the house echoey. It's creeping the cats out a little bit but I'm having a grand old time clicking my tongue and listening to the echo. It means I'm almost done packing.

I took a little break after realizing we echoed and finished up a pattern repeat on my mom's second sock. Then I realized I had a tiny bit of time to snap pictures and post here before I go to class and slave away on my handmade ceramic dinnerware set (final project, has to be completely "built" by Thanksgiving and I currently have two dinner plates and I need four dinner plates, four salad plates, four bowls, and four cups. Oy.) Here's what little knitting I've been up to:



I finished my fingerless gloves finally. The cables are slightly (like two rows) off somehow but I still love them and they're sooo much warmer than my other ones. And, of course, these ones match my scarf from last winter. I didn't get a picture of them together but if you want to be reminded of what the scarf looks like just click on the Elegant Cabled Scarf link on the right.



My mom's socks for Christmas. The only knitted Christmas present I'm worrying about this year. I was originally hoping to get a pair for my sister and my Grandma "Giver-of-Socks" done but they both understand that I'm a leetle bit busy and probably won't make the deadline.

And FINALLY, here is a picture of me and that cute little babe I knitted the sweater for. It's a bit big but he'll grow into it this winter, I'm sure.



I also finished the front of my Mon Petit Chou but didn't get a good picture. It's pink and lacy and I think it'll fit this time.

In related news, I heard today that my "local" yarn store, Ben Franklin Crafts, is going out of business. What a bummer. But I guess I should at least be happy that everything is going to be mega on-sale. Not that I'll have money to buy any what with buying a house and all.

In house news, I close and take possession on Monday and will move next week. Most likely, my next post here will be from my new humble abode. Maybe during winter break I can even get pictures taken and posted of it when boxes get unpacked and it starts looking like home. Don't hold your breath though. ;)

For now, be contented with a picture of Fred and George and a couple of their new favorite toys.



And Kurt practicing violin in the living room while I spy on him from the box filled porch.



Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!