Happy Feet

That's what I've got since my Sockapalooza package arrived this afternoon! Wanna see?
This package was definitely worth the wait! Not only does it include one gorgeous pair of socks what fit perfectly, but it also contains a skein of Schaefer Anne, a skein of Austermann Step, and a mystery skein that I assume the fabulous Wendy dyed herself. There's a set of pretty blue stitch markers and a new chibi to boot! It also contains a ring pop, pop rocks & fruity mentos! I feel so spoiled! Below are a couple pics of the socks. The first shows of the the lace pattern well & the second shows the purty turned picot edge!
The pattern is Elfines by Anna Bell, which is such a lovely pattern I put it in my queue, and was knit using Crystal Palace's Panda Wool in Violets. The bamboo content gives this yarn such a lovely sheen that doesn't really come through in the picture.
Thank you thank you thank you! I absolutely love them! XD

If That's What You're Into

Finished the first Gryffindor sock! Whee! 4th time's the charm apparently. I'm very pleased with the pattern and the resulting sock. Seriously loving this yarn too. It's the first time I've knitted with this particular brand, but it definitely won't be the last. Yummy!

In Sockapalooza news, my downstream pal finally received her package! I was so worried that it was held up in customs or lost. Such a relief! And she appears to like her package! Yippie! My upstream pal contacted me last week to let me know that I'm not forgotten and that she is almost done. I hope to have my package within the next week or so.

In other news, Honey & I have been catching up on episodes of Flight of the Conchords On Demand, thanks to the encouragement of Joanne. OMG! This is my favorite show right now (aside from Dr. Who). So incredibly funny! And the song spoofs are brilliant! The stars are a comedy team from New Zealand, and the premise of the show is that they are a band from New Zealand trying to make it in New York City. Honey says that it shows everything about the music business that Spinal Tap missed. The "Bowie" episode is particularly great. Here's a little taste... (Psst, this isn't for the kiddies!)

Breezey Socks

2nd pair of sockapalooza 4 socks finished! :)

Pattern: Breeze by Jennifer L. Appleby
Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy in Rose.
Needles: #1 dpns

Notes: I dropped the needle size down from the recommended #2s to #1s & am very glad I did. It would have been far to open otherwise. No other modifications were made.

Thoughts: Fun pattern, although I'm not very fond of the lace work in this.. it's just uninteresting. LOVE the cabled heel and will have to start incorporating that idea into other patterns!

I liked the yarn & will probably use it again. Its a little splity, but no more so than I expected based on the fiber content. I think it works very well with the pattern.

Overall I'm very happy with the results. I hope my sp likes them as well. Now I just need to pick up a few goodies for her package & get it ready for mailing. I'm going to try and get it out next week, before the Aug. 2nd ship date, since she lives overseas.

FOs, WIPS & Yarn Porn - Oh My!

Things are finally settling down a bit. We were away for the 3rd weekend in a row and I'm really worn out. However, I've done a fair bit o'knittin.
Behold!
The first Breeze sock for my sockapalooza 4 pal. I'm nearly finished with the second sock and hope to have it completed within the next few days. I really like the way these are knitting up. :)

This is the Not-Quite-Straight Scarf. It's knit on the bias and I started it while in Cold Spring. I completed it yesterday and will post the final pic once it's been blocked.

This is the yarn used for the above scarf. It was obtained by a swap on ravelry. It's a handspun/handpainted yarn that was originally purchased on ebay. Lovely pastel colors, that are surprisingly vibrant.

Finished socks made with Calmer. The pattern was self-designed using a Shetland Feather lace panel on the sides. The socks are very stretchy, which is a necessity in any socks knit for my mom. However, I'm not entirely thrilled with the design. Oh well, mom loves them.. and I highly recommend using Calmer for socks.. sooo comfy!

From this lovely little yarn shop in Chicago, the following were purchased...

Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock
in Bittersweet

Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock
in Mineshaft

Frog notions holder by Clover
(too cute to be resisted)

The yarns will be used for socks for Autumn & Kris, since they picked out the colors. Can't decide if I will be hanging on to the frog or if I will be gifting it in one of my sp exchanges.

Sockapalooza Socks Done!

I've just finished the Swirling Lace Anklets! Whee!

Project Notes:

Pattern - Swirling Lace Anklets by Jackie Erickson-Schweitzer
Yarn - Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock in Sage
Needles - Size 1 dpns

Love the pattern! Very well written, chart easy to follow. The pattern stitch is very easy and very quickly memorized.
I think the yarn compliments the pattern perfectly. And I just love knitting with Lorna's Laces! The project ended up using just over 1 skein (I needed the 2nd skein for the toe shaping). I still have plenty left over to do another pair of socks in a smaller size.

I am so very pleased with the way these turned out! I just hope my sp likes them! Since I finished so early, I'm thinking of knitting her a second pair of socks. Maybe Breeze from the new issue of Knitty? I really like cabled heel, but I'm concerned the holes might be too big for my sp's liking... Any thoughts?

Busy As A Bee

That's what I've been the past few days. Honey was actually home this weekend, so that meant we needed to catch up on projects around the house & what-not.

The big project was that we finally got round to striping and staining the deck! It was 3 days of work, but it's finally done and looks pretty good considering we are rank amateurs! :)

Here are some project pics

Before

During

After

The last photo shows the stain as darker than it actually is. I believe that's because the sun isn't quite as bright today.

I did get some knitting done as well. I've just finished the gusset and am a 1/4 of the way through the foot of the second Sockapalooza sock. I'm still on the first skein of yarn too, which means I may have enough left over to make a 2nd pair!
I also finally decided to rip out the Folk Jacket that I had started knitting for my mom back in February of last year. I had finished the back and 1 front piece, then I lost the pattern. I ended up purchasing a second copy of the pattern a few months ago, but realized that my mom has gained weight since I started the sweater and it will no longer fit her. And I don't have enough yarn for a larger size.

However, the beautiful yarn will not go to waste. I will be taking the main color yarn...
And knitting this for my niece.

Wheat-Ear Cable Yoke from
Summer 2007 Interweave Knits

Considering that she is only 9 and, surprisingly, smaller than the model, I am going to have to do a fair bit of math to convert the pattern to her size. It looks like the pattern is sized in increments of 5", so it should be fairly easy to size it down. She is tall for age and very slender, so I think this will suit her perfectly!

Lastly, my dearest friends had their baby yesterday! I'm so insanely happy for them!
Welcome to the world, Declan!

Swirling Lace

I've finished the first Swirling Lace Anklet for my downstream sockapalooza pal! Whee!
I didn't make any modifications to the pattern and I think it turned out beautifully!

The pattern is very easy and quickly memorized, so it knit up rather quickly. I highly recommend it.

I think the yarn color compliments the pattern well. I hope my sp likes it.
Now to cast-on it's mate.

Ravelry Revelry

Yesterday I received my invite to Ravelry. OMG, I'm so addicted already!. It's still in beta testing, but it's already a great resource! I'm having so much fun updating everything and realizing how bad I am at documenting my knits, even on this blog! Fun, fun, fun. You should put your name on the waiting list if you haven't already! :)

In knitting news, I have about a repeat left to go on my first swirling lace anklet before decreasing for the toe. It really is knitting up very nicely. I will post a pic as soon as the first one is done.

Also, this weekend I got very frustrated trying to listen to my ipod while wearing a dress... no pockets. So, I took about an hour and whipped this up.
I don't know what yarn this is, it's a remnant that I got from Ingrid quite a while ago. I knit it up on size 3 dpns in the round. There is 3 rows of 1x1 ribbing at the top & the rest is knit in stockinette, with an i-cord strap. Very snazzy! I am thinking of knitting up a few more & playing around with lace &/or cables.

That's about it for now, I'm off to watch On the Lot. :)

Knitting Along

I can't believe it's been over a week since my last post! I have no excuse, I just wasn't in the mood for blogging. However, I'm feeling much better now and have much to show. (Like the purty flower on the left, what is blooming in my yard.)

I finished the first of the Embossed Leaves socks. I ended up ripping back to the correct number of repeats and then doing a slip-stitch heel. I also didn't do the toe decrease as many times as the pattern indicated, it would have made for an especially long toe. I'm really pleased with the result. I'm about half-way through the second sock.

To change things up, I decided to start working with the gorgeous Manos my honey bought me a while ago. I was originally going to make My So Called Scarf with it, but decided to go with the Snowy Triangle Scarf pattern by Iris Schreier, which appears in Handknit Holidays (love this book!).
I really enjoyed knitting this pattern. It was very easy (I had it memorized after 1 repeat) and I think it works very well with this particular yarn. It knit up super quick too, I was able to start & finish it within 2 days!
While working on the scarf, the yarn arrived for my sockapalooza pal! I had originally ordered in from an online shop, but then I received an email from them that it was back-ordered. Grrr.. Luckily, I found an Ebay seller who had it in stock AND the total cost was less than the other online shop! Whee! I was very happy with the transaction. She got it too me very quickly & sent candy!
Scarf finished & yarn in hand, I got started on the swirling lace anklets yesterday. The lace pattern is very, very easy and easily memorized. I'm half way through the 2nd lace repeat for the cuff and should start on the heel tonight.
Unfortunately my camera is not very good with the fine detail and isn't showing the sock to its best. It's much prettier in person!

I think I'm going to knit a second pair of socks for my pal. I will just have to see how long it takes me to finish these.

OH! I almost forgot to mention that I was gifted a Brother Embroidery machine by the fabulous Jill last weekend. She totally hooked me up and I am totally intimidated by this machine, but I will conquer it! I just need to get myself a stash of embroidery thread!

Yet More Talk About Socks

Lately it seems like this block is all socks all the time! :)

I want to thank everyone who helped me pick the yarn for my sockapalooza pal's socks! The overwhelming winner is Sage, with 55% of the vote! I will be ordering the yarn this weekend (yippie for payday!)

In the meantime, I did a bit more Kool-Aid dyeing this weekend using 3 skeins of Knit Pick Bare fingering weight yarn. I did another skein of the blue/green stripes, but with the stripes appearing in a different order.
A skein with Strawberry, Strawberry Lemonade, & Lemonade Kool-Aid, which is self-striping as well.
And a skein of green. If you look closely you will notice subtle variations in the color. I achieved this by placing the skein in a blue-yellow mixture for 5 minutes, then removing the yarn and mixing in lime green. I'm really pleased with it. It's very subtle, but gives more depth to the knit than you would with a solid color! Very happy.
I had to start knitting it right away.
This is the Embossed Leaves Socks by Mona Schmidt from the Winter 2005 issue of Interweave Knits. The lace pattern is very easy and it is knitting up very quickly! These will mostly likely go to my mum for her birthday in July!

Need Help With Color!

Went to my lys this morning and they didn't have a single skein of solid-color sock yarn! So after much searching on the internet I think I'm going to go with Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock Yarn, but I need help picking the color. My sock pal stated she likes just about any color, so long as it isn't too dark.

So, I'll be knitting these socks...

But which of the following colors should I use?

DenimSageLilacPeachOld Rose

Personally, I'm leaning towards the sage, but I could really use a 2nd opinion!

Thank You!

I'm overwhelmed by the number of responses I received! Thank you so much for your help! Swirling Lace Anklets was the clear winner, with 49% of the votes. I ordered the pattern last night from Spinning Bunny. I've never ordered from here before, I hope there are no problems...

I also purchased the electronic version of the Japanese Feather Lace socks... I really like the pattern and I figure that I can make these for my sock buddy as well if I have enough time.

Now I just need to decide on the yarn!

btw- I finished the second stripey sock last night. The stripes are perfectly aligned! Squee!!

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

I received an email from my spoilee today (yippie!). Apparently Yahoo! had decided I was spam the first time around, but it is all good now. :)

Now I need to decide on a pattern. She said that she likes lace, but without big holes. She doesn't like long socks and she likes the cuff to be loose. So, I am thinking a lace anklet pattern (or a little taller). I found two that I really like and a third, which I'm not as fond of but will work very well with a variegated yarn. She stated that she likes bright/light colors (nothing dark or earth tone).

The Patterns are:
Swirling Lace Anklets

Falling Leaves
And Japanese Feather
I also really like Thelonious, but I am worried that they will be too tall for her.

Please help me decide!

Much Ado About Socks

I've finished the first Stripey sock & have started on the second! So far the stripes are lining up PERFECTLY! Yea Me!

In other news, it's been a full week since I emailed my spoilee for Sockapalooza 4 and I still haven't received a response. She has updated her blog a few times so I know she is about. I resent my original message yesterday afternoon in case it was inadvertently deleted, not received or marked as spam. How long do you think I should give it before I contact the moderator? I don't want to be a pest, but I also don't want to wait forever to get started! It wouldn't be bad that she hasn't responded, but she didn't include any info in her profile.. no colors, no sizing, no pattern clues... nothing! (sigh)

Sockapalooza...

is underway! Whee! I got a lovely email yesterday from my spoiler (Hi secret pal!) and am very excited!

Unfortunately my spoilee didn't include any specs in her profile and hasn't answered my email to her yet. :( I'm a little frustrated about this; I was really hoping to dye her sock yarn this weekend but now it looks like I will just have to wait.

I am almost done with the first stripey-sock, which I have decided will be a mother's day gift for my mum. As always, I will post a pic once I've finished.

Sockapalooza & Misc.

So I just signed up for Sockapalooza 4. Should be fun! I'm hoping this exchange will be much better than my Secret Pal fiasco of 2005. But now I'm older, and hopefully wiser, and will not mention the "A" word if my life depends upon it! :)

I picked up a lovely piece of lilac fleece yesterday that I am going to attach to the baby blanket this evening. Soooo soft! :)

Oh, and one of the patterns I submitted is in contention. I will get final word in a couple weeks. Wish me luck!! :)