At last! Socks and FO's

I'm not dead. I moved and don't have the internet right now. Which is funny since I just got an invitation to Ravelry. It came about 2 days after I lost internet access. Ha!

So much has happened. Socks were sent off on August 15th. My sock pal posted her love for them on the sockapalooza website and even started herown blog to show them off... but it is in Swedish mostly.

http://liteommycket.blogspot.com/2007/08/min-blogg.html

http://sockapaloozafour.blogspot.com/2007/08/thank-you-dear-sockpal.html

I was so releived that she liked them AND that they fit! Especially since they fit my like support hose!

And my socks were received soon after:

Along with some wool soak, fancy buttons, ginger candies, some hand dyed sock yarn and some tea. Oh, and a fabulous post card. I can't remember the names of the sock pattern or either of the yarns, because all of that info is at my internet-less home. But they are lovely and I can't wait to wear them when it gets cooler. And so freaking pretty! I love blue. Nothing is so gratifying as getting goodies in the mail.

The weekend after I mailed the socks I finished the dream swatch from knit and tonic (100% superwash merino from Capistrano Fiber Arts Studio 150 yards, don't know the colorway). It is very pretty and surprisingly toasty for a little thing.

Before I even sent the socks off I finished the two-tone shrug from fitted knits. I don't have any pictures of it yet though. I used Shine Worsted from KnitPicks, 100% cotton in "wave" and "crocus". It was really fun and quick to knit (not quick enough that I wore it to the show I wanted it for), but I don't think cotton was right for it. Not for me anyways. I don't like the way that cotton drapes and it doesn't hold up to wearing very well. So I haven't worn it much. But the shrug has recieved some favorable male attention (i.e. a young man at a bar telling a friend he had a crush on the girl with "pink sleeves" while I was in the bathroom). I think it's because the wide ribbing accentuates the waist. Hopefully I will get pictures of it this week and maybe they will get posted next month! :-)

And to round everything out a gratuitous pet picture illustrating how happy my kitties are in our new space!

Now I need to get started on xmas knitting. Sigh. But first I want to finish the one skein wonder I've started for myself from my handspun, which I've also finished spinning and plying. I even set the twist in the bathtub, which was very gratifying!

I also ordered some hand dyed roving from stringsandyarn etsy. I haven't started spinning it yet because it is so pretty! I feel like I need to pre-draft it, but don't know exactly how to do that!

I will post pictures of all the rest soon!!

Sockapalooza finale!

Hurrah! Finished socks!

Pattern: Anastasia by Pepperknit (couldn't find and actual name on pattern)
Yarn: Knit Picks Palette in "rainforest" toes reinforced with something or other...
Needles: Size US 1 Clover Bamboo DPNs
Hurray!
This pattern wasn't too hard and taught me:
1) how to make toe up socks
2) how to read a simple chart
3) how to wrap short rows
4) that knitting can in fact cause repeated motion injuries.

More sock porn... the toe



the heel...

the lovely spiral stripes.

And all the goodies that are going to my over-seas sockpal!
I am a bit concerned about the postage... but I assume it is worth it.



In other news I've started/almost completed the fitted knits two-tone shrug. I want to have it done by tomorrow, but my shoulder hurts from 7 hours of continuous knitting today. We shall see.
Now I'm off to a baseball game!

spin me a river...

I love spinning. It is so calming. It is even closer to meditation than knitting is.
I'm getting better at joining roving (insert technical name here) while spinning and this last bobbin (the one shown) didn't break at all when I wound it off the bobbin. I'm going to wait until I have more before I ply it this time. The little cake of yarn is my first bobbin of hand spun ever. It is so full of knots where the singles broke it's unreal. I don't think I'll use it for anything. I'll just keep it for posterity. What I really need is more than one bobbin. My friend is ordering another, but I'm hesitant to get too many for this wheel because I'd like to get a different one at some point. I'd like to try something other than Scotch tension to see how that works. Also there is much to learn about ratios and other stuff that concerns numbers. I hate the numbers.


This is how interested my cats are in yarn. I love this picture because he looks very bashful. His shiny black fur makes and excellent backdrop for pictures.
This should be evidence to everyone the kind of environment I live in. If you get anything from me that is knitted, chances are it has some cat hair in it. Not because everything snuggles with my cats, but because they snuggle everywhere and then the hair ends up in my knitting...


Here is a finished object picture for the latest One-Skein wonder. For hers Yuki picked Crystal Palace Bamboozle (bamboo/cotton/elastic) in "royal purple". This yarn is perfect for shrugs. It is nice and stretchy, so you don't have to worry about straining your back while shrugging into your shrug.


And I love how great the raglan shaping looks. Many people at work complemented Yuki on her fabulous new look. I can't think of a better home for a cute purple shrug!
I've ordered some Knit Picks Shine Worsted for the Two-Tone shrug from Fitted Knits. Hopefully it will get here soon. I'm not super excited about knitting cotton again, because I've heard it can be difficult to knit, but we shall see. The Shine colors were lovely.


And now to the sock! The first Anastasia Sock is finally done! Hurrah! It is knit in Knit Picks Palette in Rain Forest. The toe and heel are reinforced with Fortissima Socka thread #1088, it didn't match perfectly, but gives the sock a little extra green in the heel and toe.
I swear to you dear, sweet sockpal that, though it may appear otherwise, I will not let you down! You will get a pair of socks from me! I really like this pattern, size ones take a long time but I think it is worth it. My boss (work 1) said this is the first hand knit sock she'd seen that she would actually put on her foot.

The sad thing is I've knit so much in the past week that my shoulder hurts. That's right, I've got a knitting related injury. When I move it around it twinges and is all hurty. I need to cast on the next sock today though. I tried last night, but the provisional cast on was giving me problems... again. I like how this cast on works later, but getting it going in the first place makes me a little crazy.
Now on to pressing questions. How does one block socks without those fancy sock blockers? these desperately need to be washed (!!) and blocked before they are sent. Should I just pin them and put a fan on to facilitate two layer drying?
That is all for now.

goings on...

Much has happened in the last few weeks. Quite a lot of it was crappy, but I'll start with the good stuff first.
Let us begin with Black Sheep shall we?
I went to Black Sheep with a teacher I work with who is an accomplished spinner/knitter/weaver/crocheter/teacher. She bought me this:


And with the help of a somewhat geriatric Ashford wheel that she is lending me, I turned it into this:


May I just say that I am quite taken with this thing called spinning. It is very relaxing and a bit like meditation. Except the joining in more roving... that part is still a bit frustrating. Workable though.

I also got this:

It is 100% superwash merino from Capistrano Fiber Arts Studio. 150 yards was $12.95, so I'm making the dream swatch from Knit and Tonic. It is coming out quite beautifully.

And last but not least my sockapalooza sock. This is the first one... sigh. So far to go. But the pattern is going well.



And last but not least the really shitty shit news. My dear, sweet, best friend Bonny had to be put to sleep due to acute kidney failure on the 3rd of July. She had just turned 15 in June.


Funny how something like a pair of socks suddenly seems inconsequential when you have a big Bonny shaped hole in your heart.

No pics again

I'm almost done with the second fetching for the student at work2. They are the exact same color as the ones I made myself, so I'm ready to be done. I might post a picture of mine vs. the new ones. Mine pilled and got fuzzy really fast.

Hopefully my yarn order will get here soon. I am either going to make my sock pal:
monkey socks or
Anastasia Socks
Maybe. Or I might decide that lace and charted patterns are the devil and go for some good old:
plain socks.
I've never done toe up socks before, but hopefully it won't be too horrible. I'm thinking about some Lorna's Laces for yarn. I feel like I'm late to the party for choosing a pattern and yarn, but I want make sure I can actually do more complicated socks before I have any lofty aspirations.

In other news I used grumperina's tutorial on cabling without a cable needle and I am now cable needle free! Hooray! Someday perhaps (in the far future) I will be able to take on Clessidra from Knitty. Those are the sexiest socks ever!!

And did I mention that I told the students in my 6th period class that I would knit them all wrist bands? There are only five students left at this point, but that is still something I have to keep in mind. I'm going to use the pattern from Stitch N' Bitch, only in the round, with two colors each. Luckily they won't mind acrylic yarn... So five wrist bands are needed by June 14. I wonder if I could do one in about 4 hours? Then I could do one a night at work2. hmmmm.

Also on the to do list are sockapalooza socks (duh), two more One Skein Wonders (one for me, one for another friend), the Two Tone Shrug from "Fitted Knits" if the book ever gets to the library, and some wedding gift socks-gloves-slippers-or-something. Thats for now... of course the list is really much longer than that, and will have some man socks and other things slipped in I'm sure.

gratuitous picture of baby squirrel

I helped create this little guy by feeding the parents cracked corn bird food. That's right these little darlings are sleek all because of me...

Oh!
And I have a sock pal! I'm very busy devising all the things I can cram in with socks that will be interesting to someone overseas.
And I am a sock pal! I've heard from my sock pal!
Hi! Don't worry I'm easy to please!

sock the first is ready for take off!!

Sock the first has been completed thus (at work):


It looks great off the foot, but once on I see little bits of skin. My sweetie doesn't have enormous feet by any means and the gauge was right... maybe I knit it too tightly? The top of the sock is a little too loose. So I dunno. I'm just going to knit up the other one the same way(but tighter up top) and he can wear them as not quite so warm spring socks.

He does like it however, obligingly sticking his foot out whenever I take the sock (and a half) out to admire. I've tried it on and it is exceedingly comfortable.
I am also happy with the shape and really like the look of this type of heel. I'm about an inch from the heel of sock the second, but I've run out of yarn. So I must wait until tomorrow. :-P

Things I learned:
How to weave in ends for real, rather than just faking it.
More kitchener stitch. Some problems, but tolerable results.
Not to mention my first pair of socks!!
Hurrah!

sock n' dog

I think I'm almost done with sock 1. I need to have Mr. recipient try it on for size.



But someone please tell me what this is?!? And where it came from?

I'm assuming it is a slight mix up during the heel flap making part of the journey. I think it's easily fixed with a little mattress stitching, but it still irks me because I was extra careful but still completely missed the hole until I was far far past fixing it. Oh well, that's why socks are knit in pairs right? There are some other minor hiccups in the moss stitch ribbing, but they are un-noticeable to the untrained (un-anal) eye.

This is the reason I haven't posted for a few days...

Miss Bonny is a brand new canine diabetic. So this weekend was spent freaking out over a severe bladder infection and the past few days have been spent freaking out over the diabetes diagnosis. Really it's fine, except for the fact that she now requires insulin every 10-12 hours. That will make the two job gig very difficult.

I also have received my sockapalooza pal information. It's on ladies and gentlemen!! So much to do between now and August!!

A Big Day!!

1) I got my first comment today!!! Yay! Thanks Holly (should you ever decide to visit my poor upstart blog again)!
2) I have lost my mind. I signed up for the sockapalooza today. I've never knit a sock in my life... but I have faith in myself. This is in addition to the charity blanket swap... I can do it! I can do it!!
3) I learned how to put buttons in my sidebar.
4) I want to post pictures of all my FO from before I started the blog. I may try to do it after flute chior tonight.
5) Whew!