Goal Trackers

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Lace and Socks and Yarn Crawl!!

I went on my first official Yarn Crawl this weekend with the Central Maryland Knitters Guild. We all met at the Barnes and Noble in Ellicott City at 8:20 in the morning! On a Saturday!! What was I thinking when I agreed to go?! I am so glad I went, my wallet obviously isn't, but I had a blast with all the girls!

We headed up to Eldersburg to meet up at another knitters house (Laurie) for breakfast!! She made us a yummy breakfast of blueberry muffins, and some yummy egg dish! Her home was warmly decorated! There were some gorgeous quilts hanging on her walls!! And of course, I barely had my eyes open at 8:15 that morning that I completely forgot to take my camera with me!

We hit four yarn stores between Eldersburg to Frederick! We started at the Knitters Nest, then it was off to Knittin' Chicks in Mt. Airy. Afterwards it was off to Frederick. We stopped for lunch first. Don't even ask about the troubles we had trying to find the Vietnamese Restaurant that Laurie's co-workers had raved about, and don't even think to ask about Laurie's navigation system in her car! I don't think Ellen, Laurie or I could tell that story without cracking up! OK, OK I'll tell you about the GPS system!

Laurie never learned to work her navigation system when she bought the car two years ago, because when she plugged in her home address the GPS system told her the location didn't exist! So she never bothered after that. Can't say I really blame her. Do you think if I called my mortgage company and told them that my GPS system (if I had one that is, I'm still old school and read maps, I know. Don't faint) told me my address was none existent and I shouldn't have to pay a mortgage on a place that doesn't exist that they would understand and release me from my mortgage and let me keep my house that is at a non-existent place??? Hmmmm....

Anyhoo, Ellen was sitting in the front seat and has a GPS in her car so she tried to fool around with it and she sort of got it to work. She managed to find a listing for a Vietnamese restaurant in the area!! We weren't sure it was THE one we were looking for, but since we didn't have an address or a restaurant name we thought "how many Vietnamese restaurants could there really be in Frederick?" So we followed the GPS to the location. For those of you that have not encountered a GPS system, I know, hardly likely but you never know, usually the system has a voice that tells you when turns are coming up. Well, we couldn't get Laurie's to talk! So we followed the map route and we turned into what looked like an office complex. We slowed down to read the building numbers when low and behind it spoke! It said "You have arrived at you destination!" ..... We were parked in from of a family doctor's practice! The three of us busted out laughing. And then Stacey and her entourage pulled up next to up and found us in fits of laughter. We ended up going to a Thai restaurant that we drove past. It was de-lish!!

After lunch we headed to Keep Me in Stitches. This time though, the GPS started talking and telling us where to turn! We did know where it was trying to get us though! Then Ellen turned off the voice.... or so she thought till it spoke again! You would have thought our car had just been filled with laughing gas. We were in fits of giggling again. Finally Ellen did turn the voice off!

I think Keep Me in Stitches was my favorite shop on the route! It was a small shop that was defiantly packed with yarns and at great prices! The last stop on the expedition was Eleganza Yarns. This was definitely the most unique building on the trip. It was a really old log cabin house turned yarn shop! Very quaint and the shop owners were very happy that we had put them on out route!

I came home with 12 more skeins to add to my stash. 5 of those skeins are earmarked for 3 pairs of socks, 4 are for 2 different shawls, and 3 will become baby items! Sorry, don't have a picture of them right now.

Now on to knitting news!!

Clue 3 is complete on the Secret of the Stole ii KAL!! Just 5 more clues to go. I highly doubt I will be knitting with cobweb lace again any time soon!!

SOTSii

Next up - my 2nd pair of socks!! Aren't they cute! The yarn is Tofutsies on size 3 needles. I think my other Tofuties skeins will be knit on size 2 thought. So far both pairs of socks are slightly looser than I would like, but I guess that's better than being too tight! And they certainly weren't knit for a giant, so that's a plus too. *giggle*

OK, all you sock knitters out there, how many more pairs am I going to have to knit before I really get my socks to really fit my feet?!?

I have to say though, wearing these 2 pairs of socks has certainly felt very different on my feet. I feel like I can feel each and every stitch on the balls of my feet. Is that normal for hand knit socks?? Will this sensation eventually go away??

Crosshatch Lace Socks

Here's a pic of my baby. He was trying to help me knit up my lace project. *more like he was waiting for me to get up and leave the room so that he could pounce on my yummy yarn* But look at that face!

100_1008

11 comments:

Coleen said...

oooh, i like those socks! And go you with the weight loss! I'm not going to recognize you if I ever actually see you again!

Nautical Knitter said...

Your stole is looking fabulous! Almost halfway there...

Rima said...

Such beautiful work!

YoMamma said...

Wow, that lace is amazing!

I have found that different yarns increase or decrease the feel of the stitches. I do think it fades once you are used to wearing them. I sort of like it honestly...

It took me about 4 pairs to get the size just right. (though I still wear the ones that are a little too big.)

twiceknit said...

I think I've finally gotten to the point where I know how to get my socks to fit, and I've been making them for, oh, 3 years or so. The first time I wore socks I made, I hated the way they felt for exactly the same reason. Now it doesn't bother me. Not sure what happened. I also occasionally find wool scratchy, no matter how soft it is. It's like it's okay until I think about it and then it drives me crazy and I have to take them off. So I mainly just make socks for other people.

--elf-- said...

Some helpful person on Ravelry told me this is why socks are usually knit at a super tight gauge--the tighter the stitches, the more the purl bumps will sort of meld into a solid piece of fabric rather than individual stitches. I'm working on my own second pair of socks too!!

Denise said...

I've kept a couple of pairs of socks I knitted myself, mostly because there was something a bit wrong with them making me unwilling to give them away. Like one longer than the other :)
And yes, unfortunately they sometimes are a bit itchy :(

Gorgeous cat...sweet little face...

Elysbeth said...

Congrats on the weight/walking.
It takes a couple of tries to get the sizing just right. To figure out, do I need 10% or 20% negative ease with this yarn, does my foot size need a heel flap or can a short row work? If you have Princess feet, you could work the sole in Reverse stockingette but some people like the massage.

brsmaryland said...

Yeah, the yarn crawl was a good time. And you ladies were certainly laughing it up!
I struggled with sock size too for a while and have found that double point needles work best for me. I'm able to keep the circumference small enough. My feet are actually pretty wide but when knitting with a circular, I tended to knit too loosely and the sock was much wider than my foot. Terrible fit. Keep experimenting!
And I can't believe you want to lose another 75 pounds...there will be nothing left to you!!

Valerie said...

Awesome story. I really like those GPS systems even if they are a little weird sometimes. I get lost so often that I definitely need to invest in one.

I love the knitting going on! Everything looks wonderful!!

knottygnome said...

wow your lace is beautiful, and i like the socks too!