Monday, May 29, 2006

Short Snorts and Doo~dads

Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a doo~dad around these parts? I knit up the Short Snort Girlfriend Tank out of the Cotton Fleece I had leftover from Green Gable for my friend's daughter (you know, the one that was in the pic with my little man?). The knitting was a breeze. I knit the entire body Thursday night and did the straps Saturday morning. I waited until the last minute because all I need is one of those little round numbers to bring it all together. So off I go to Hancock Fabrics and ask.

*blinkblinkblink*

Ok, so they have no idea what I'm talking about. Wendy got her doo~dad at Joann's so I figure I'll just go there.

*blinkblinkblink*

Do you have any idea how hard it is to explain what a doo~dad is exactly? I even tried thingamagiggy. Nothin'.

So now it's like an hour before my friend has to be at the airport (they are going to Vegas to visit family) and I'm driving around with an unfinished birthday gift.

In a last ditch effort I hot tail it over to another Hancock's in the area and what do you know? One lone package of doo~dads in the purse making isle. And they were half price...score!

So I sewed it up in the parking lot and snapped the pic in my friend's driveway. Cute, no? It's a rare opportunity that I get to knit for a little girl :o)

I definitely recommend this little instant gratification project. I scaled it down a bit since the recipient is just a year old (went down a needle size, did some extra decreases) and it was still a piece of cake!

I decided on the Oak Ribbed socks from Knitting Vintage socks for my Springtime yarn. The colors are so vibrant! I'm making them a couple inches shorter than the pattern calls for and I'm almost to the toe on the first sock so I hope to be done soon. I'm also working on Orangina in Debbie Bliss Cathay. I'm really enjoying the combination of the pattern and the yarn.

Movers will be here next Monday. I've been doing some thinking about what projects I'm going to take and what I'm going to have packed away. This is an important decision considering we probably won't see our stuff until the end of August, and you know that the one thing you don't have with you is the one you'll have the urge to work on (even if you hadn't touched it in months!). Right now I'm thinking Picovoli, Ruby, Raspy from Denim People, some linen for towels (thanks Mason~Dixon!), and some sock yarn. I hope to be (at least almost) one with Orangina by the time we leave the area on the 10th. Of course this list is subject to change between now and then, and doesn't include any yarn purchases that are made after out house is packed up :o)

Next time I'll have some pics of the thoughtful going away gifts I got from my knitting group. Those girls are the best!

So much to do this week! The busy household will be just that.

Monday, May 22, 2006

So done

that she's already been worn...

Not the best picture but hey, it was really windy and that was like take 7. Did I tell you my photographer is 5?

The specs~
It's the Green Gable pattern from ZephyrStyle. The yarn is Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Wild Sage (a little less than 3 skeins) and the needles were Addi Turbos in a size 6 (Addi Naturas in a 4 for the ribbing). I used the long tail cast on which apparently was an 'alternate method' (who knew??) but my neckline is plenty stretchy, purl ridge and all. I made the body longer and did an extra row of ribbing. I made the 36 but probably could have done the 34...I did a LOT of waist shaping! If I were to do it again I'd knit a smaller size, but I am happy with the way it fits.

Would I recommend the pattern? I'm not sure. While I love the finished product, if you ask me there was some significant stuff left out...a lot of people had problems. You can read about a lot of it here. I was able to tailor mine to fit, but if I was brand new without the help of any other knitters I'm not sure it would have been such a quick and easy knit. If you're comfortable with making your own mods then go for it!

*~*I got mail!*~*

Look what I got...

It's a skein of Sweet Feet Sock Yarn from Hill Country Yarns. They put out a call for test knitters and I happily obliged! The color is Springtime and that's exactly what I thought of when I opened the package.

I plan to cast on tonight during the season finale of 24. Something simple, to showcase the colors. Maybe the Dublin Bay socks, or one of the ribbed patterns in Vintage Socks.

I still have a Madder Ribbed sock in progress as well as a Bijou scarf for my mom. The sock is on hold because I want to get going on this sweet feet!

Two weeks. Two weeks and I won't be living in this house anymore! It seems weird.

Anyway, here's a pic of my two big boys because you guys haven't seen them in a minute :o)

Saturday, May 13, 2006

From a land far far away...

came my socks!! WooHoo!

I'm sure the mailman thinks I'm crazy. He asked what was in the box and I shrieked, 'SOCKS! From SPAIN!!'. So he said, 'wow, those must be some socks.' I explained the exchange to him, most likely telling him more than he ever wanted to know and then I signed for my box.



My pal's name is Betty and she lives in Barcelona. See all the cool stuff she sent me? First let me tell you all about the little guy standing on my socks. He came out of a Kinder Surprise egg. It seems as though I'm behind the times on these little gems because I'd never heard of them. But a quick google search produced a cult following! I can see why. The kids were super excited to see what was in their eggs, and can't wait for me to open mine :o) I must find a way to get more of these.

Also in the box was some red Katia sock yarn. It told me last night that it would like to become either a pair of Diagonal Ribs or some Go with the Flow socks. I also got two very pretty postcards and a wonderful letter telling me how she ordered the yarn for my socks from Germany(without being able to speak German and the site having no pics). So my socks were knit in Spain with yarn from Germany now living in MD and will soon be moving to TX!


(yes, I'm laying on the floor in my entryway)

They are the Elfine socks, knit with Rohrspatz und Wollmeise. Aren't they pretty? I love them!!


Betty's blog is all in spanish, so mostly I was just able to look at all the pictures of her great knitting. But I was able to see that even with recovering from an injury she was able to produce socks with such perfect stitch definition...

Nothing makes me happier than nice, even stitches...just ask Kerry!

Betty, you are awesome! I love the socks and your package made my weekend :o) Since you say the sock yarn pickings are slim where you live maybe we can do a swap in the near future? For Kinder eggs!!

To continue on with the sock talk, I cast on for one last night and I need opinions. First I cast on for some Jaywalkers using self~striping Regia. I was getting some funky little holes at my increases and was getting irritated so I tossed it aside and cast on for some Madder Ribbed socks using Claudia Handpaints in 'Donna's Favorite' I didn't realize that the yarn would have such a nice striping pattern an am now thinking it would make a groovy pair of Jaywalkers.

I don't know that I want to rip out all my ribbing, but I'll make the sacrifice for a kick~a$$ pair of Jaywalkers*

*not that this is my only sock yarn, I have a bin full of it for crying out loud!! Just thought I'd ask though :o)

I know, I know...I promised you guys pics of yarn. I just haven't had the time to pose it properly...LOL! I will as I'm packing it all with tender loving care for the movers.

In still more sock news, Purly received her socks! That's right, she's who I knit for. Go say hi and check out her shop, Sundara Yarn. Beautiful stuff, and she's even got a new sock club!!

Monday, May 08, 2006


We went, we saw...

We ate, and we shopped!!

And then? We were tired!

So much walking! Good thing I was wearing the right shoes. And of course the yarn! Of course by choosing to go on Sunday we missed out on the 'hot' stuff like Socks That Rock and Koigu mill ends but that's ok with me. I had so much fun just hanging out with my knit buddies and chatting that in the end the yarn was secondary (don't get me wrong though, the yarn was still important as was the funnel cake...LOL!). I'm going to miss them when I leave next month. We've already planned for me to fly back out here for next year's festival :o)

It raining and very dark today and I want to show off my purchases in pretty sunlight so I'm leaving y'all in suspense! I'm still working on Green Gable though I'm a little anoyed with the pattern. I have to tink back a row that I did last night when I was too sleepy to be knitting. So sleepy in fact that I fell asleep on the Sopranos. The Sopranos!!! Not only that but I totally slept through Grey's Anatomy.

Yup, that Sheep and Wool fest was a total (tiring) blast!

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Yay socks!

Here are my finished Sockapaloooza socks...

The yarn is Dalegarn Baby Ull and the pattern is Hedera from the newest Knitty

The pattern is great...very stetchy and seems like it will be comfortable to wear (forgive me pal for trying on your socks but it was the only way to get a good pic of the lace!)and is the perfect color for Spring!

Here's the heel...


I took a picture of everything packaged up but afterward I noticed that my pal's name was COMPLETELY visible...duh! Anyhow, I used one of the really cute Sockapaloooza labels and also sent some stuff native to the area AND the military. I hope my pal gets her package soon and that she likes what she finds inside :o)

It's May and that means green for Project Spectrum! Guess I started the month off right by posting pics of my very green sock pal socks. Now that those are done I've got another green project in the works....Green Gable. In, well...Green! LOL! Going well so far. I cast on last night and I'm halfway through the lace in the front. There seemed to be some collective confusion on the KAL about the neckline/cast on edge, and then the designer told us the pattern said something that it most certainly did NOT (hence the collective confusion). Some ripped, some didn't, but all of them look awesome!

BTW I'm in the 'didn't rip' camp of course.

Sheep and Wool this weekend. Who's going? I most certainly am, they're gonna have funnel cake

Monday, May 01, 2006

The Homestretch

~*~EDIT~*~
This just in...
I'M DONE!! Pics to come when the boys and I return from running errands :o)

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I'm just about to the toe on sock #2. I'll do a 'hooray I'm done!!' post when I actually bind off but I wanted to get my update in for Knitalong Tuesday :o) I'd show you all a pic but, well, it looks like the first sock did last week. And I'm pretty much sitting in the same spot that I was last week. I guess I could put it on my other foot to prove that it is indeed a different picture but I'm sure you guys trust me. Besides, I've got one kid happily fliging CD cases about the living room and the other is outside riding his bike. This is PRIME before lunch knitting time...why interrupt it by fiddling with the camera?

Anywhoo...
My socks will definitely be in the mail tomorrow on the way to my pal!

I aslo wanted to say thanks for all the nice comments about the picture in my last post. I can only take credit for one of the little boogers. The little girl belongs to a good friend of mine. They are just about the same age so watching them together is pretty funny :o)