Thursday, May 29, 2008

Excited!

I received my monthly newsletter from the fabulous ThreadBear this morning and was jolted awake when I saw this: "Announcing Workshops with the Fabulous CookieA"! Fabulous indeed! I quickly skimmed the newsletter for the relevant information: 2 workshops, one on top-down sock design and the other on toe-up design, $35 fee... 16 person limit!

I hurriedly dialed the store & they still had spaces (I think my excitement greatly amused the lady on the phone)! So, this September I will be taking a 3hr design workshop with Cookie A.

Oh! And Trek received her socks!

There is is much Squeeage going on today. :)

Note: Please excuse the excessive use of the word "Fabulous" in this post. Apparently I need a thesaurus. :)

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Trek's Socks

I've finished Trek's socks!


Overall I'm very pleased. They are drying now and should be on their way to her on Tuesday. :)

I've cast-on another pair of socks (surprise) for another swap I joined. It's a Discworld themed swap called "Music With Socks In" that's being held through Ravelry. The idea is that you make your partner a pair of socks (or send them the necessary items to make their own) and include a cd or 2 in the package. Since there is a possibility that my partner might read my blog (it's not a secret swap) I won't be posting any project details until I've shipped. I'm very excited about this swap. I wasn't able to go with my first idea for the socks, but I think she will love what I'm doing. And the music aspect is great, I'm having a lot of fun going through my collection for ideas!

Edit: Oh! I almost forgot to tell you a bit of exciting news! There's a yahoo group that is dedicated to translating knitting patterns into foreign languages and they've requested permission to translate my MJs pattern! I'm so geeked!

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Weekend in Vermont

This past weekend I went with Honey to Vermont for a couple of Circus shows. There really isn't much to relay about the trip. The weather was lovely and I got to actually spend time with a few people that I've met at the shows. Of course, the only pictures I took ended up being far too dark and I've been unable to successfully clean them up so far.

I was able to sneak in a little yarn shopping. There was a gift shop in the tiny town we were at and at the very back there was a small yarn shop, which was stocked with some pretty nice stuff. I couldn't resist picking up this:

2 skeins of Araucania Nature Cotton in sage green. It is incredibly soft! I haven't seen the yarn locally, so that was all the incentive I needed to buy it. I've no idea what I'm going to make with it yet. Thankfully, I don't have to worry about dye-lot if I end up needing more. It's all hand-dyed, so there will be variation no matter what! :)

And the 28hr round-trip drive gave me time to knit this...

Trek's Sock

I've finished the first sock and have started the second. I'm just past the cuff now, but hopefully I finish it up this weekend.

The yarn is really lovely to work with, although it is pooling something awful. Even so, the sock is still quite pretty. I was originally going to do a fancy rib pattern, but the darkness of the yarn hid the pattern. Instead I went with a simple 2x2 rib for the cuff and stockinette for the leg & foot. I did a slip stitch heel for a little oompf.

Now I just hope they fit! :)

Sunday, May 04, 2008

Coming Along

I've been a knitting fiend the last few days. I was home sick with a stomach bug on Thursday & Friday and was able to get quite a bit done on my Highland Shawl.

Not a great image, I know. The color is a bit washed out and you can't really see the lace, but that gives you an idea of how much is done. I've finished the body and started knitting the lace edging last night. I really can't wait to finish this, it's going to be so soft & warm! Yippie!

I'm going to wind up the Shibui Sock yarn for Trek's socks today and try to finish my pattern search. My initial thought was to do the Retro Rib Socks by Evelyn Clark (Interweave Knits, Fall 2004):


However, on further thought I think these might be a bit too patterned for her. She said she prefers simple stockingette or ribbed socks. Opinions?