Fussy Socks

Yarn: Rico StrickSpaß SUPERBA Color Pattern: top down with afterthought heel I picked up this sock yarn awhile because I had never seen it before, it was soft and the colors spoke to me. My initial take on it was that I thought it looked similar to some Regia or even LB Magic Stripes. The softness of the yarn called out for me to knit it up and I did so soon after it came home. I started out with the intention to do my usual top down sock, but as the pattern emerged I knew that this would be a good candidate to try out the afterthought heel. Look at how pointy that heel is! Hmm. I'm glad I tried the technique out as I think it's a good one to have in the arsenal, but I won't be doing alot of them based upon the fussiness of it. Things I would do differently next time: work heel on 60% of stitches for a deeper heel and a central double decrease for a prettier seam. The pattern turned out to be quite different than I imagined. I had to do a little research to see how it was ""suppose" to look. The top is what I was getting and the bottom is what I had to force. In order to get this I had to knit significantly tighter on those bands of blue and white. I didn't think I'd be getting these done for awhile but last night I realized that my June socks for the Sock-a-Month Knitalong weren't completed. So I quickly got to work picking up stitches and finishing the heels. I think the next pair will be some purple cotton that are almost done.

A Case of Startitis

Fresh in the stash: two balls of Regia Bamboo Color. Kathleen finally(!!!) came to see Marc on Sunday and left these bad boys behind. Yum! I in turn sent her home with all of my sock leftovers for her Log Cabin blanket. I do think that there's yarn from about 30 pairs of socks. She should be busy for awhile. Yup, anyone who's wondering if the thing actually exists, yes it does! And it's really cool too. Anyhoo, I'm tempted to cast on with this yarn but I really need to restrain myself. See, I have a bit of a problem: Four pairs of socks and three sweaters need to be finished. Oh and then there's a sweater for Royd I just started along with some potholders. And we won't even get into the yarn that has yet to be delivered for some summer knitting. Honestly, I think I need some intervention! The worst part of it all? All I want to do is spin, but I can't while keeping an eye on the kids. I've tried. It's really hard. In other news, the kids are all sick. Again. In the past month this is everyone's third cold. I'm getting pretty tired of wiping noses and listening to sickly whines. When will it end?!? On a brighter note I'll leave you with a picture of Marc. I've been trying to get a picture of him smiling and this is the closest I've come to yet.

Happy Roving

Why yes, that is a new template. I really like how it looks, but I'm still tweaking it. I appear to have a problem with the coding in the comments section. They show up incomplete, but are right when you click on the "post a comment" link. Anyone know how to fix this? This is way beyond my HTML knowledge. Although I did not sign up for Dye-o-Rama, I have been following enthusiastically. I just love seeing all the beautiful colors everyone has been creating and it's been very hard to just sit back and watch. I've begun investingating sources for yarn and which dyes would be best for me. I'm leaning towards WashFast Acid Dyes but have yet to order any. My itch came to a head yesterday when I just had to play. This is what I came up with using Koolaid. Ice Blue Lemonade, Orange, Lemonade and Artic Green Apple Grape, Lemonade, Strawberry, Black Cherry and Coral (lemonade and strawberry) Blue and Red Wilton dyes mixed to make purple The Wilton dyes broke in the bath which surprisingly turned green. Thankfully, I was dyeing this to go with some previously dyed purple and green roving. I love happy mistakes!

Another?

Go sign up. You know you're knitting them anyway!

Crushed Berries

Spinning in fits of five minutes here and ten minutes there has really paid off. In this time I have managed to get this done: 8 oz. Corriedale Roving from Winderwood Farms 664 yards, approx. 16 wpi Okay, I admit, I did wake up at 5am the other morning and get 2 hours in before I had to stop, but that was only once. Now what to do with it all? Maybe socks. Or a scarf. Or maybe I'll let it sit on the bookshelf for inspiration. I just have to promise myself not to start anything new until I get at least one pair of socks finished. I have three pairs in the works and can't quite get the energy to finish any of them. Instead I've been focusing what little time I do have on Ribby. One sleeve to go!

Mail Call

I finally got my butt to the post office and found lots of great stuff waiting for me. First, there was my socks from Kira. She made me Pomatomus using yarn from Ellen's 1/2 Pint Farm. My feet are so happy for soft, squishy and gorgeous yarn! Thank you sooooo much, I love them! I've been wanting to make these socks and now I don't have to. Next up is a little fiber. 8 oz. Merino, 8 oz. Merino/Mohair, 24 gms silk hankies, 1 pound Wensleydale Not pictured, 3 pounds of BFL I know I said that I have enough wool to hold me over for quite awhile, but I have a reason. See I needed just a few more ounces of BFL to complete a spinning project. I figured why not get the large lot and save a few bucks with the discount and shipping cost. Well, it kinda snowballed from there when I saw other things that I really liked. I just need to find somewhere to put it! Not to worry that all my fiber is just sitting around taking up space. It is getting spun up! The purple yarn is what I'm working on now and it's turning out quite nice. The other two skeins didn't turn out as well. I had dyed and spun the roving so that when it was knit up, it would stripe, which did turn out. The problem is that I had a hard time finding my groove with the Navajo plying on the first bobbin and it turned out pretty crappy. The original goal of this yarn was socks, but now I'm thinking I'll make some felted potholders. I need new ones anyway so it all works out.

Sockapaloooza

Pattern: Rib and Cable Socks, Interweave Knits Fall 2005 Yarn: Mountain Colors Bearfoot "Wildflower" Close up of ribbing, first picture is better for color accuracy Okay, I know I haven't really talked about these all that much. It wasn't so much that I wasn't excited about making them, I just had a hard time focusing on them. My pal had specified that she didn't like lacy socks, so that narrowed down patterns by alot. I knew that I wanted to have some sort of ribbing to ensure a good fit, but couldn't decide upon a pattern. Initially I had dismissed this one since I had done these for my last pal. Finally I realized that it's a great pattern and there wasn't a reason not to make them. As far as picking the color goes, I goofed. I had meant to order Wild Raspberry, but clicked the wrong button. When I first got the yarn, I thought it looked funny but just tossed the yarn onto the shelf while I waited for the right needles to come in. Well, I didn't get to the knitting part until after Marc was born and then it was way too late to reorder the yarn. So, I forged ahead and think they turned out nice. If she hates 'em, well, then I can redo. I've been spinning whenever I get a few free minutes. Next time I post, I'll give you all the details...