My First Pair of Socks!!

Socks, socks, socks! Since the Sock Yarn party I have been going sock crazy!! I have been collecting sock yarn for a while now - you would think one would knit socks BEFORE stashing socking yarn. Nope, not me. When I see a yummy yarn in a yummiliscious colorway, I just can't resist. My thinking was that if the crazy ladies in my S'nB group didn't convert me to a sock knitter I could always use the yarn to lace shawls and scarves! See, no yarn wasted in my stash!! *don't worry, I think I need to be committed too, but until someone actually drives me to the asylum, I'm safe*


I have finally finished my first pair of socks!! And wow were they a quick knit!! I had cast on at the Sock Yarn party that was on March 15th and I cast-off and weaved in all my ends Easter night!! This yarn is SUPER yummy, soft, gorgeous!! I am so in *heart* with this color too!! This is soooooooooooooooo a me color! Wouldn't you agree KozyKitty? :)





Pattern: Tidal Wave
Yarn: Sheila Rovelstad Designs Sock yarn (Ravelry link)
Needles: Addi Turbos size 2 - 12"
Modifications: I switch to a short row heel and I carried the pattern down the top of the foot.

Apparently Frisco thought this was a photo op for him!



While I was going through my stash to see what I would cast on for next I found my long lost first sock, or rather the 2nd sock to the first pair that I cast on back in October of 2007! Denise, a woman from my S'nB group had me *really she ordered me too, but shhhhhhhhh let's just keep that between us cuz she really was The Sock Lady in our group at the time* immediately cast on for the 2nd sock so that I wouldn't commit the dreaded "Second Sock Syndrome."


Well.....


That didn't exactly work because Christmas was around to corner and I started concentrating on gift making and the bag with these socks got lost! or so I thought! But I found them and worked on them last night! Of course, I don't remember what heel Denise had me doing on the first sock so I really hope she remembers!


Frisco was the model for this sock photo, you can see that I took the picture just in time to see him trying to sneakily play with the yarn! I can't believe I might actually have 2 pairs of sock finished by the end of Spring Break!

Easter Weekend

Happy Easter Everyone!

I went home to the folks in NY this past weekend. My sisters and my cousins from MD also came up. The Easter dinner table was set for 21 people!! We haven't had that at my house in quite a while! It was so much fun.

Saturday, my mom had all the kids making their Easter breads. In Itlaian we call them Paloma (but I'm not really sure of the spelling). Traditionally, Easter bread were shaped into a girl for little girls to decorate, bunnies for boys to decorate, bastets for older kids, and braides to give to other adults. Easter bread is brushed with egg to give it that nice shine while it cooks and it helps the decorative candy sprinkle to stick.

After the Easter bread making, Mom made homemade pizza for all of us for lunch. Sorry, I was too busy eating it to get pictures of it ;) Afterwards, my sisters, cousin and I took the kids to the local park to let lose some of that energy they had! I took my knitting along with me. You see the poicture where I have a little Starbucks bag on my wrist? Well that was my little knitting bag to carry the socks that I was working on! I now understand the need for this little project bags! Needless to say, that I surfed Etsy and found several cute little project bags and bought one. Of course, after I purchased it, it dawned on my that I could have just MADE one myself!! Oh well, if I need more then one that's what I will do! Ooohhhhh - maybe that's what I can make for some knitting friends for Christmas gifts!

One of my cousins really should have been a baker becuase she just loves to bake and she's so creative! Just look at those adorable cupcakes she baked and turned into nests complete with eggs and even a few peep chicks!!

Saturday's Sock Yarn Party

Yes, a Sock Yarn party! Sheila, the woman in the pink sitting behind the cash box, dyes yarn and she is starting her own business. So the wonderful ladies that I knit with on Wednesday nights decided to give her a big hand!



Look at all those beautiful colors!! And those really neat sock blockers were made by another woman in our group, Stacey! I so want a set of the ones with the flipflops!!



You can see more of the gorgeous yarns on Needle-dee's blog entry on the Sock Party. Here are can see some of us that just couldn't wait to start knitting iwth our new yarns!!





Look at what I bought! Looks like I will be knitting sock in my future!



I even started!! I soooooooooooo love this teal. I just might have to order a few more in this color to make myself a shawl with!

Hands on Dying!

Back on March 8th I took a dying class over at Lovelyarns. It was interesting and fun and I'm actually hoping to do a little more experimenting with dyes when the weather gets a little warmer.

Here is what I did on my first attempt. I was going to and brown/purple colorway. It's tricky getting the dye to go all the way through the skein which is why there are some blue spots in there, but for a first attempt I still pleased with the outcome.





My second mixing of colors created this rich red. I was totally in awe of this color. I'm such a red person! It almost looks like blood. I dubbed this colorway Blood Red Fade. Now, if only I can recreate this red to make some solid colored skeins when I experiment again. I highly doubt it since when we were mixing colors we were trying to make the brown for the first skein. When this red came up I said "oooooooo save that for my 2nd skein!"



The skeins are both fingering weight (100 grams, approx. 450 yards). Now I just need to figure out what I'm going to turn these skeins into!

If you have a pattern suggestion PLEASE post it :)

Finally Fetching!!

OK, so I'm a little behind on the band wagon when it comes to certain patterns. Earlier this month I finally pulled out the 2 skeins of Frog Tree Merino that I purchased eons ago to make a pair of Fetching. I really, really love the feel of this yarn, but because it's a one-ply yarn they have already started to fuzz up and they look worn. They are very soft, and warm, but they don't look like a project that has just been taken off the needles. Oh well, and I still have several other skeins of this yarn in my stash.


My assistant at work took this photo, I think she was trying to capture the new manicure more than the mitts!


Pattern: Fetching
Yarn:Frog Tree Merino
Needles: Lantern Moon DPN size 6
Notes: bound off on smaller needles to tighten around the fingers.

I couldn't believe how quick these knit up that I already have a 2nd pair on the needles!

More Fairy stuff!!

Just had to share this new bag that I got! I found this Etsy. It's the work of Michele Lynch
It's currently holding my more portable knitting projects :)

Waves Scarf is FINALLY Finished!!

Finally!! This scarf/shawl was started back in December and was put on hold because the pattern called for 6 skeins of yarn, but after checking around on Ravelry 6 skeins wasn't nearly enough!! I ordered more yarn and ended up using 10 skeins!! Then I had to frog back 20 some odd rows because I miscrossed a cable! But it's finally finished and I couldn't be happier if I didn't have to knit 2x2 ribbing again for quite a while! *grin* I love the final results, but I don't think I'll be fooling around with 24 stitch cables anytime soon :) I think my sister is going to love it. It is one HEAVY shawl though! The shawl is blocking nicely on my dining room table as you can see :)


Pattern: Waves Scarf
Yarn: Cadena from Knit Picks
Needles: Knit Picks Options size 9
Notes: pattern calls for 6 skeins, but I ended up using 10! Check around on Ravelry before making for yourself to make sure you get enough yarn.

Happy Valentine's Day

Sorry I haven't been around this last week. I have been down and out sick! It came on suddenly Thursday night. I just started coughing and couldn't stop and it just got worse from there. Of course, flying down to Florida over the weekend for my fahter's birthday didn't help any. Two plane rides later and Sunday night I just wanted someone to bury me. I haven't been this sick in a long time. I mean so sick and weak that I couldn't open a bottle of water! Knitting even seemed tiring to me! I am happy to say that I'm finally starting to feel better. My fever is all gone and my head is starting to clear up. There is hope!

I did want to wish you all a Happy Love Day!!

Berry Baby Hat Started and Finished!!

Here's another FO! I cast on for this at 7pm tonight while I was at my S 'n B group and weaved in all the ends around 10:30PM. It's blocking now so that hopefully tomorrow I can get it in the mail and off to the head it was made for :)


Pattern: Berry Baby Hat
Yarn: Knit Picks Merino Style (Lilac and Asparagus)
Needles: bamboo DPN, size 8

Here it is being model by an old friend :)

What do Super Bowl Sales, Knitting & Jane Austen have in common?

They were all in my weekend adventures :)

Yesterday, KozyKitty and I went to our LYS for their Fabulous Football Weekend Sale - 25% of EVERYTHING!! Did you hear me... EVERYTHING in the store. Last year, this sale was a serious danger to my wallet! I'm happy to say that I showed much restrain this year. I bought a set of Lantern Moon size 6 Ebony DPNs, a couple of skeins of Cascade Venezia in a gorgeous eggplant purple and some Debbie Bliss cashmerino chunky in a dark gray. THAT'S IT!! Can you believe that! I actually walked out with one little bag and spend under $90!! *pats herself on the back* I think we were there for about an hour. It was packed and I would say about half the customers were women from my knitting group!

On my way home I stopped by Blockbuster and picked up both versions of Pride and Prejudice (1995 & 2005). Sat in front of the tv for the night with my knitting and wishfully watch Mr. Darcy. They just don't make men like Mr. Darcy anymore.... if they ever really did to begin with, that is. Matthew Macfadyen *sigh* I mean, wouldn't you sigh if this was walking toward you?



Now that definately causes flutters in the lower extremities *wink* As hot as that is, I would definately, hands down, prefer to have this walking toward me.



Colin Firth. Now THAT it definately breath catching, moisture making, forget every thought in your head with the exception of jumping his bones and riding his like a stallion, swooning, down right S-E-X-Y! Oh my! *fans herself* Let me tell you, HE can eat crackers in bed! *fades out to a sexual fantasy here*

Moving on to knitting, which is the real reason you come here to read :) Here are two more FO for this year. The first is the WhoDuKnit Mystery KAL. (and a stash-buster to boot!!) This will be someone's Chrsitmas gift this year.


Pattern: clues were mailed to us, but there is a similar keyhole scarf in 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders
Yarn: Cascade 220 Heather, colorway: Midnight
Needles: Boye size 8

Yesterday, I finished this little cutey. The Thumbelina Hat. I found the pattern through Ravelry. It was another stash-buster!

Pattern: Thumbelina Hat
Yarn: KnitPicks Merino Style
Needles: KnitPicks Options size 8, size 8 DPN

And lastly, for today that is... my first official lace project!! One of my knitting goals for this year is to knit lace. I don't recall how I found this lace KAL, but somewhere in my net surfing, blog reading or Ravelry perusing, I came across the Secret of the Stole ii KAL (SOTSii). I joined, read all the requirements and set off to the LYS to find some yarn!! I came across a skein of Skacel Merino Lace in the most striking berry red color!

Silly me bought cobweb lace for my first lace project. The poor woman at the LYS where I bought the yarn tried her best to deter me from buy cobweb lace for my first project, but I just fell in lust with the berry-red colored yarn that I closed myself off to any sensible advice and bought it. Payment for my stubborness?? ... I have frogged and cast-on 5 times already!! *sigh* I somehow kept adding stitches or losing stitches! And I wasn't even drinking alcohol while knitting this lace, so I can't even use that as an excuse!!

I'm taking it much slower this time and counting and recounting my stitiches every other row, and I have learned all about "lifelines" with lace knitting. I WILL be adding these into my lace knitting practice! This first lace project has been so frustrating and yet I am determine to knit lace, so fuckin' crazy determined that I joined two other lace KALs! (Dem Fischer sin Fru & Mystic Light Mystery Shawl) Color me crazy! Dem Fischer has startered, but I am still waiting for my yarn to be delivered, so now I will be behind with both KALs! Luckily, Mystic Light won't be starting till March. Hopefully will have both of the other laces completed before I start this one :)

Here is clue 1 of SOTSii!


And now, I think I will go watch a little more of Mr. Darcy.... *fade to black*

Lacey Baby Beenie

Pattern: Lace Baby Beenie

Yarn: Jo-Ann Sensations Tesoro, 1 skein Pink

Needles: Lantern Moon, Ebony DPN size 5

Notes: quick and easy!! This yarn blocked beautifully!

DRATS!! Another Set Back!

*sniffle* I hate it when I goof on a cable!! I had to frog back 25 rows of the Wave Scarf because I crossed a cable the wrong way and I just couldn't leave it that way!! I get the feeling that someone doesn't want me to finish this scarf!

First FO for 2008!!

I have FINALLY finished the baby blanket!!

Seaming this baby up was really off-putting, so I had to force myself to do it. Last night at 10PM I got a bug up my ass, pulled out my needles and started. I thought "oh, it should only take me about an hour or so" HA! I always seem to think I can do things faster in my mind then they actually take *well, with the exception of THAT. THAT I want to last much longer - laugh*

Anyhoo.... FOUR HOURS LATER!! I had finally finished!





Pattern: Lace Christening Blanket from Vogue Knitting Baby Blankets

Yarn: KnitPicks Shine Sport, 12 skeins of Silver Sage

Needles: KnitPicks Options size 5

Notes: The pattern actually called for each panel to be knit seperately, but I didn't want to do all that seaming, so I cast on all seven panels together and used stitch markers to mark each panel.

Mother Nature's Beauty

We finally had our first REAL snowfall on Thursday. It started right around 11:30 ish. Then about 45 minutes later it was REALLY snowing. Big fluffy flakes. This was the pretty picture I saw when I looked out the windows of my media center.



Then I just couldn't resist and step outside the emergency exit door and took a few more pictures of the snow falling. Look at how big those flakes are! The only thing that would have made this all the more perfect would have been to watch the snow fall from the comfort of my own home, in my PJ's and slippers, wrapped in one of my afghans, and a nice hot latte in my my hands enjoying a snow day!





When I got home from work that day I found this at my door! *SQUEAL* I love when I get packages!



The first package was this Japanese crochet pattern book. The book is Crochet Motif Items. I bought it so that I could get the pattern to make this. I fell in love with that since I first came across it months ago! I had found the book on the Japanese site of Amazon, but I couldn't seem to order it. I was telling Joan at one of the S 'n B Wednesday's about how I was trying to find this book and she directed me to this site, and I found it and bought it!! Thanks Joan!!



Here's an update on my current WIPs.

The Wave Scarf is up to 26". I can't remember what number skein I am on, but my order for the four extra skeins came in. Of course the dye lots did not match the six skeins I had bought months ago, but by some miracle of miracles the new skeins match the older skeins what seems like perfectly! *PHEW* I was so pleased. I went ahead and used one of the new skeins and then brought the project to a S 'n B session and asked a few of the gals there if they could tell where the new skein started and/or stopped. No one could!!! So, just to be safe I am alternating skeins between the two different orders. I am hoping that over this nice long weekend, I will finish this scarf... maybe.... maybe not. Sorry, the pictures is a bit dark. I'll take a better one soon.



Next up, I joined the Secret of the Stole ii KAL (SOTSii). This is one of those KAL where you get a little bit of the pattern at a time along with a few clues and you need to try and guess the connection. This is my first official lace project. I am so excited about it! It was suggested that we use a solid, earthy color. I had purchased a skein of Skacel Merino Lace in Eggplant. I fell in love with the rich purple color. I got it at a 30% discount because it looked like some of the strands had been cut. We couldn't really tell without winding it up. The lady in the shop said she would give me a discount cause she wasn't sure, but that with the discount it would have to be a final sale. I took the chance because I loved the color so much and I didn't want to fall behind in the KAL. Oh, I sooooo shouldn't have bought that skein. It was a pure disaster trying to ball up that skein. I don't know what happened, but it kept getting tangled and my kitty kept trying to play with the yarn. I finally gave up and called a few of the LYS so see if any of them had the same yarn in the same color. *sigh* No luck, but A Tangled Skein, did have the yarn in other colors. So, I hopped in my car and drove down. I found this pretty berry color and bought it and had THEM wind it for me. Of course she had no problems winding the skein. So now I have this skein of purple at home that I don't want to throw away, but I'm also not looking forward to trying to untangle and wind. Anyhoo! I'm looking forward to working on my first lace project!!



Next up is the WhoDuKnit Mystery KAL. This project will only take about 200 yards of a worsted weight yarn. So I went stash diving to see what single skeins I had and found this beautiful blue that I bought eons ago. It's Cascade 220 Heather in Midnight. I just love the color! I'm currently in the middle of clue #3. Just 2 more clues and I should have a finished scarf!



Last, but certainly not least. The baby blanket! Look! I'm all done knitting and it's blocking on my dining room table. Now comes the part I dread.... seaming!! I have 4 skeins of this yarn leftover. Oh what to do with it... any suggestions?

So far to date, this is the piece I am most proud of, even if it was the most difficult to make - not talking pattern wise, the pattern was relatively easy.

Achmed the Dead Terrorist

I love this guy!!!!