hmm, blogging, I did that once or twice…

So, I have neglected to update my blog for almost two months now. Bad blogger. Hopefully anyone who would actually want to read my updates has me in their RSS reader/bloglines thingy so they’ll know I’ve not vanished into obscurity (not that I was all that non-obscure in the first place, but I digress). Anyway, while I have been knitting (mostly on the way to/from work in the vanpool) many things, including a sweater for my friend’s nephew that she added ears and a tail to so we could enter the Crazy Aunt Purl Cat Sweater contest, my August sock RSC kit (fabulous, my favorite kit so far) and two single socks (one Monkey, one surprise for a friend), the thing I knit this weekend is just too fabulous not to share. Now, I am a daily visitor to cuteoverload.com. It is my opinion that that website rocks and should be recommend viewing for all people. The other day, there was an entry posted that had a picture of a cat in a sweater. Yes, that’s right, a cat in a sweater . Those who do not share their lives with a cat (or cats) will not necessarily understand the awesomeness and amazingness that this represents. I followed the link to the site from which the cat sweater pics had been posted originally, and found a nifty knitting pattern. Score! I knew then that it had to happen. So, anyway, thanks to Christine of christinelandry.com, Abby now has her very own red sweater. Bask in the hilarity of it all.

Taste of Germany

It came, and it’s beautiful!

Along with the yarns is a short bio of each dyer, and why/how she dyes, and in some cases how this yarn was dyed specially for the Taste of Germany package.

They are just gorgeous – the pictures (due to my crappy ability to take decent pictures) cannot do them justice. And….the Mari Silk is sooooo soft! Part of me wants to make a Montego Bay Scarf, as a tribute to the yarn’s Knitters Uncensored origin (at least that’s its origin for me). I’m gonna look around a bit though and see what other patterns might suit it. Any ideas?

Why I LOVE 3-day weekends

I was SUPER productive this weekend. Not only did I get my chores all done (dishes, laundry, bed making, cat grooming), but I knit up a storm. It was awesome. On Saturday morning I walked to my favorite local coffee shop, got a bagel and my favorite drink (soy vanilla latte), plugged the iPod into my ears (to catch up on some podcasts) and made myself stay till I’d finished the grey tubes of boredom, AKA my brother’s Tech Guy socks. I didn’t do the duplicate stitch while I was there, but I took small bits of time throughout the rest of the weekend to get that all stitched up and the ends all weaved in. Then I threw them into the washer and then the dryer on high. I would never wash my own hand knit socks this way, but I need to to know they’ll survive cause there’s no way I’m going to convince my brother to treat them delicately. They survived beautifully, and got super soft. If it weren’t for the fact that they’re like 5 sizes too big for my feet, I might be tempted to keep them Luckily I bought yarn to make another pair for myself some day. (I actually bought yarn to make 3 pairs so my dad, brother and I could all be matchy matchy. Cause I thought at the time that it’d be fun, not thinking about the endless amounts of grey stockinette that it would entail.)

The next project I picked up was my August RSC kit. The lace cuff of these anklets needs to be knit and then blocked before moving on to the rest of the cuff. I didn’t feel like getting out the iron (it was super hot this weekend) so I wet blocked the cuff and pinned it out to let it dry. I haven’t ever blocked anything resembling lace before, so that was fun. I think I’m going to like this pattern.

I went back to the coffee shop on Sunday morning and got settled in for another podcast’s worth of knitting. This time, I started a pair of socks for my grandma, Summer Dreams in Bamboozle “Circus”. The pattern as written seemed to be coming out pretty large, so I ended up frogging it and will be starting over on larger needles, but with less stitches. We’ll see how that works out.

The biggest project I picked up this weekend was my UnGranny Smith cardigan. I started this sweater some time last year, around July, I believe. I finished the back, and half of one of the front pieces, and then I got to a point in the directions where I was confused. It’s been sitting in its bag for almost a year now, but I got it out this weekend, figured out where I was and what needed to happen, and I finished that front piece. Yay! I don’t know if I was able to figure it out because I just needed some time, or because my knitting understanding has improved so much in the last year (which I truly believe it has). In any case, I’m ready to cast on the second half of the front anytime now

Why can’t all weekends be three days long?

P.S. I wrote this post on Monday night, but haven’t had a chance to upload the photos and stick them into the post until today. Whoops!

stupid creepy car break-in person

This morning when I went out the front door on the way to my work vanpool, something in my car caught my eye. When I looked closer, I saw that someone had been in my car, rummaged through my glove compartment, the center console, and the trunk, and taken the electronic stuff from the power adapter. They left my CDs, my glasses, registration paperwork, anything really important, and obviously the car was still there, so all told it’s not as bad as it could have been. But still, I hate hate hate that someone went into my care and rifled through all my stuff! And left a mess! I’ve actually never had to call the police before, and while the experience went as well as it could have gone, I don’t want to do it again. Blech. The stuff they took wasn’t even all that exciting! A relatively old, falling apart, wires exposed, iPod charger/stereo connector thing, a not-so-popular specific model cell phone charger, and a cheap emergency car light? Really dude? Was it worth it?

I have been knitting, but nothing worth showing. Since I finished my Solstice Slip socks, I started a pair of plain grey stockinette socks for my brother (another pair of Tech Guy Socks , just like I made for my dad earlier this year) and I’ve knit to the point where I need to start the heels. So just imagine 8″ long grey tubes – I don’t think it’s interesting enough to post a picture. I also made some baby hats for the Mad Hatters. Quick, easy and cute, but not really picture worthy. I got my latest RSC kit in the mail on Saturday, and I am excited about the pattern,  so hopefully I’ll start those as soon as the bro’s socks are done (otherwise I might never finish the boring  greyness).

I haven’t been knitting so much because I’ve become addicted to my new Picross game for my DS. I got a couple other new games at the same time (NY Times Crosswords and Brain Age 2) but I haven’t even played them yet, as I’m just engrossed in Picross. I’m not sure what it is about the game, but to me it is simply awesome. Yay for cheap-ish electronic entertainment.

Oh, I have been listening to my first knitting-related podcast, Knitters Uncensored (henceforth KU) and it’s fun. They’re three knitters who currently live in Germany, though it’s none of their homelands, and they talk about what they’re knitting, life in Germany, and other random things. I especially enjoyed the knitter vs non-knitter trivia battle, which I think was part of episode 6? I subscribed to a few more knitting podcasts that I’ve seen/heard about, but haven’t had a chance to listen to yet. One of the things that the KU folks had talked about was a “Taste of Germany” yarn package, which “Ms B” has put together. In it are five different yarns from five different German indie dyers (four sock weight, one other), all with the theme “blue.” There were only 10 spots and I got one! I am super excited. Similar to being excited about my Sockapalooza pal being from a foreign country, I think it’s just so neat to have something that has traveled the world (and not in a made-in-China-cheap-manufacturing way). It makes it feel special. She emailed this morning to say it shipped, hooray! So, that’s coming soon, and I’ll for sure put up pics when the package arrives.

OK, I feel better now. Not thinking about some creep being in my car, even for the few minutes it took to write this,  really does make me feel a little bit better. I’m still gonna be paranoid about the locks from now on though.

It’s sockapalooza time

With yesterday being the first official send-off day for Sockapalooza packages, I decided to get mine out the door and on its way to its intended recipient. This being my first ever yarn/knit/package etc swap, I don’t know really what all is the norm to be included in these packages, but I included the following:

Socks , of course (wearing a label I found here)

pattern: modified version of Turtlegirl’s Red Dwarf Socks , using a diamond lace panel from a random pattern that I had in my collection, reversed on one sock so they’re mirror images when worn

yarn: Knit One Crochet Two “Wick”

Clover Crafty Critter frog

filled with

Panda Cotton, colorway cinnamon (I think? I forgot to write it down)

and…handmade stitchmarkers

I also included a local treat, taffy from Marini’s on the wharf in a cute collectible tin.

To top it all off, my friend Rachel made me a card that I think is very cute, and even in colors that match the rest of the package!

I’m hoping that my pal enjoys the package. I had fun putting it together, and now I’m excited to see the reaction.

Oh, and I wonder what’s coming my way?

finished sockapalooza socks, and a cute baby hat

Well, I finished my socks for Sockapalooza pal. I originally intended to knit the Red Dwarf Socks since I was planning on using Wick yarn , but I guess I just used that pattern as a rouge guide and made my own interpretation of it. I have wanted to use this diamond pattern for a while now, so this presented itself as an opportunity. I hope my sock pal likes them! She lives where it’s warm, so hopefully these will be nice and cool enough for her. I used two size 4 circular needles, one Addi Turbo and one my KnitPicks options needles, for my first two socks on two circs attempt. I must say, while I enjoyed the finishing of two socks at the same time, I found it a bit fiddly to have so many needle ends and yarn twisting together. I think if I do 2 socks on circulars again they’re going to have to be magic looped (which I’ve yet to try), or else I’ll just stick to my tried and true DPNs.

Also, this past weekend I administered a standardized test, which meant lots of concentrated knitting time. I used it to knit what I think is a very cute baby hat:

It looks much cuter on a round object, but my hand was the most easily accessible model at picture time

I also started a pair of socks for a friend’s belated birthday, but as they’re a surprise and I’m not sure if she knows about this blog, I’m not posting anything else about them. Shhh!

hippity hop, little grasshopper

I really like my Knee high to a Grasshopper socks. So much so that once I finished my socks, I wore them all evening, and then to bed, and then all of the next day. This is unheard of, as I never wear socks to bed, and don’t like to wear the same socks two days in a row. But, I love these socks. Even though I messed up the lace pattern on the back of the second one. I fixed it to the point where it’s hard enough to tell where the mistake is , and that’s all that matters to me, right? Now, I can’t wait to see what the lovely Blue Moon ladies have in store for us next!

Finished Shedir, and my socks-in-progress

So, finally yesterday I got it together enough to put some knitting pictures up on flickr, so today I want to show off my finished hat and socks in progress. Here’s a top down view of my Shedir that I finished…two Sundays ago?

I really do love the way the top of this hat comes together. I discovered that it is REALLY hard though to get a good picture of the top of my own head. Thank goodness for digital cameras!

My reward for finishing Shedir was being able to start my April Rockin’ Sock Club kit, with the beautiful and soft Silkie yarn. Here’s where I was progress-wise yesterday morning:
              
If you can’t tell, that’s a finished sock on the left, and the beginning of the second on the right.

I am excited that I have discovered a new photo-spot for knitting pictures, which is the bottom of my IKEA footstool. It’s less shiny than the kitchen table I’ve been using, and the light seems to be better too. Yay!

Slacker

I’ve been busy so I haven’t posted, and for sure haven’t had time to take pictures, but I do want to attempt to be semi-regular in my posting, so I’m going to post picture-less for right now, just so I have some sort of update. I finished Shedir this weekend. Got all of the main chart repeat done in the test on Saturday morning, and made myself finish the rest Sunday morning before I let myself go to breakfast. It ended up taking more time that I thought so I ended up at more of a brunch time than breakfast, but I was glad. I’m really happy with the way it turned out. It feels a tiny bit big, and a tiny bit long, but not so much on either that I would have changed the pattern.

Finishing Shedir allowed me to start the new RSC socks, called Knee High to a Grasshopper. I really do love this yarn. The way it works up in sort of dark/light stripes is just gorgeous. I started it at first on the medium size on the prescribed size 2s, but was using DPNs instead of the two circulars called for in the pattern, because I don’t have size 2 circs. After I got a few inches up the foot it was clear that it was going to be too big, so I took it out. It’s going so fast though, I’m not really all that upset. Since I have 2 KnitPicks circs in their size 1 (which is really more like a 1 1/2) I’m going to use those and try to follow the 2 circs instructions in the pattern. I did the small size this time, but it seemed to be too small after finishing the toe, so I’m trying once more in the medium size, but with the smaller needles. I think the real answer might be to knit the toes on the size 2 dpns and then switch to the smaller circs for the main body of the sock, but only time will tell. I’ll have pictures to post as soon as I can get my act together.

Also since my last post, I got my sock pal’s info for the Sockapalooza sock exchange (link in sidebar). I am very excited about this, since I’ve never done a swap of any sort before. I really hope I can make something that my sock pal will enjoy. I think she and I have similarly sized feet, so hopefully that will help. I am hoping to figure out a pattern this week, though I won’t start knitting until the Grasshoppers are done. Fun fun fun!

New shipment from the Rockin Sock Club

My April RSC shipment came today, and I am super pleased. I normally read the blog entries using google reader, and it’s been really hard to avoid spoilers, so now I don’t have to any more. Yay! This yarn is so nice. The last yarn (Monsoon) grew on me as I knit it up, but I just love this yarn from the getgo. It’s a new base yarn from the Blue Moon ladies, and it’s super soft. It’s got 19% silk, which takes the dye a little differently than the wool, which gives it such a neat look, and the colors are way more “me” than the brown/grey that predominated the Monsoon. The pattern calls for 2 circulars, but I don’t have circulars in the right size, so I think I’m going to start these on dpns, since I have them. We’ll see how it works out.

I do want to finish up the Shedir before I start these, so they’ll have to wait a couple of days. I’m supervising a test on Saturday, so I think that’ll give me plenty of opportunity to finish the hat, and potentially get a bit into the first sock.
Here is the progress on that, just to show that I am making progress