Two Little Monkeys

May 25, 2007 By

Jumping on the bed!
One fell off and bumped his head.
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said,
“NO MORE MONKEYS JUMPING ON THE BED!”

The monkey thing never gets old, does it?

Just this morning I finished my STR Dutch Canyon (Lightweight) Monkey Socks and I love them! So much so I’m casting on another pair this afternoon – using Margene’s FAB mod – the picot edge! Truly the new jaywalker has been born. I’m taking a chance with the new pair and going with the old put up – 325 yds – so we’ll see how I do.

(Oh yeah – and to all the people that questioned the validity of a DUTCH Canyon since Holland doesn’t seem to have any, Dutch Canyon is an area in Oregon near to Blue Moon Fiber Arts headquarters. I’ve got an answer for everything!)

In the meantime, a baby or a book?! That’s the best you could come up with it? Where’s your sense of adventure? Your sense of imagination? Mad props to those of you who thought things like – creative director of Red Heart – what was it? Acrylic Czar? HAHAHAHAHA! And especially to Kathy – she thought I might be taking over for Rosie at the View. Not on your life, my friend. Not on your life.

You’ll all just have to have a bit of patience. All will be revealed in time. Including what to do with miles of acrylic. I couldn’t get it together for today, so you’ll have to wait for Tuesday. I hope I don’t disappoint.

Have a great weekend everyone! Long or otherwise!

Filed Under: Monkey Socks, Socks

QUICK! Look out your windows!!!

May 15, 2007 By

Do you see the pigs flying by?!?!

Yes, my friends. Your eyes do not deceive you. I have crocheted.

Here’s what happened. First, Margene talked about crochet non freaking stop. Then Ann with the blah blah blah crochet crochet crochet. The final straw to fall was Vicki. She’s making up songs about crochet! Yesterday I actually told her to shut up and knit already.

This morning, though, I woke up to a dream about crochet granny squares and that damn bag all my girls are making. The honest to god truth is that I want that bag too! So when I talked to Ann this morning, I asked her if she thought she could teach me to make the square over the phone.

Three and a half hours later – I had a square.

I’m not going to tell you that I enjoyed it – because I didn’t. It was tough. At one point I started screaming in agony and Ann’s going what? WHAT? and I yelled TOE CRAMP because my foot started to cramp up. She’s all like, well then you’re doing it wrong honey and duh I was so tense that my foot cramped. That hurts. Add in my elbow, my wrist, my shoulders and my back and WHOO HOO! Crochet is FUN! Seriously, I know that with practice it will all get better. I need a new hook though. I have a few lying around the house but none of them were the right size really and the one I used was way to small for the yarn (which is Heavyweight STR). The square is going to be a coaster because the gauge is so tight the damn square could stand on it’s own. No drape, people. NO drape. Which might actually be good if I make this bag. We’ll see. I’m going to get a bigger hook and try again. Maybe.

Ann was crochet teacher EXTRAORDINAIRE and we all got a little bit of help from Laura’s crochet tutorial. Thanks Laura! All in all, I think it was a pretty good foray. Definitely room for practice.

I’m getting lots of practice on these:

A finished MONKEY SOCK! Surprise, surprise! This one is Dutch Canyon STR Lightweight. Casting on for the mate as we speak. Still loving this pattern.

Thanks for all the nice comments yesterday about the kids and the pictures. Those kids are a HUGE HUMONGOUS part of my life and it’s always fun to show them off. Alright – I have GOT to eat something. Too much crochet, not enough food.

THANKS ANNIE! FUCK THE YARN – YOU ARE MY LIFE GURU!!

Filed Under: Crochet, Monkey Socks, Socks

Knanette and Her Monkeys

May 10, 2007 By

I stayed up late and finished my first pair of Monkey Socks – and then I stayed up later watching Inside Job. Clive Owen and Denzel Washington. Nuff said.

First though, I want to talk about Knanette! Thank you for all your encouragement. Some initial work has been done and I can pretty much guarantee that this will not (at least not right away) turn into another miter madness. There are lots of kinks to be worked out, I think, and also, it’s going to take a lot more planning on my part.

I need to say right off the bat that I take no credit at all for the construction of the square I’m about to show you. I was merely the workhorse. The genius comes straight off the brain of Kay. If you’ll indulge me please, I’m going to take a minute to talk about Kay. She’s a great friend, a fantastic host and most of all, she has been the single most influential person in my knitting life (besides, of course, my grandmother, who actually taught me to knit.) She has opened up possibilities to me that I never ever dreamed about. She has awakened my inner artist. Thank you, Kay, for changing my life for the better. You truly are my Kaffe.

Okay. Back to Knanette. Fifteen minutes on the phone with Kayye and I’m ready to tackle my miter in the round. I don’t know much about crochet, but I understand that if you know what you’re doing, those baby squares in Babette can go super fast. Not so with knitting. It will take CONSIDERABLY longer to knit this blanket than it would, most likely, to learn how to crochet from scratch, fuck things up a bit, then finally be on your way cranking out squares.

That’s not an option for me. I don’t want to crochet this blanket. I want to knit it.

Kay and I decided (or really Kay decided) that by knitting the square from the outside in, it gives you the best way of knitting the blanket WITHOUT SEAMS. You knit a square, then pick up one side of that square and knit another one. And so on and so on. Kay also suggested the garter stitch border – which I happen to LOVE. I think it gives the square a decidedly granny FEEL while being VERY different from an actual crocheted granny square. This is how I knit the square above:

Cast on 96 stitches. Join in the round. (When you’re casting on, you might want to place a marker every 24 stitches – this demarcates the four corners of the miter.)

Round 1: [Knit 10, k2tog, k2tog, knit 10] Repeat 3 times.
Round 2: PURL all stitches (For garter stitch in the round.)
Round 3: [Knit 9, k2tog, k2tog, knit 9] Repeat 3 times.
Round 4: PURL all stitches
Round 5: [Knit 8, k2tog, k2tog, knit 8] Repeat 3 times.
Round 6: PURL all stitches
Round 7: [Knit 6, ssk, k2tog, k2tog, knit 6] Repeat 3 times
Round 8: KNIT all stitches (You’re now doing stockinette in the round.)
Round 9: [Knit 5, ssk, ssk, k2tog, knit 4] Repeat 3 times
Round 10: KNIT all stitches
Round 11: [Knit 3, ssk, k2tog, k2tog, knit 3] Repeat 3 times
Round 12: KNIT all stitches
Round 13: [Knit 2, ssk, ssk, k2tog, knit 1] Repeat 3 times
Round 14: KNIT all stitches
Round 15: [ssk, k2tog, k2tog] Repeat 3 times
Round 16: KNIT all stitches
Round 17: [s1, k2tog, psso] Repeat 3 times

You should have four stitches left. Cut your yarn and thread them threw the last four stitches pulling them together. Change yarns wherever you see fit. I knit my square using two circulars because that’s the way I do things, but this pattern lends itself nicely to dpns seeing as it’s all in fours and such.

I just love the little bud in the center from the four remaining stitches. I LOVE this square. LOVE it. Some things I discovered: I think you really need to start with a stitch count, that when divided by 4, gives you an even number. I was going to try for a slightly smaller square, starting with 84 stitches, but the breakdown is 21 and when you’re decreasing by 2 for the garter stitch rows, it’s not so neat. Also, you need to knit three garter stitch ridges to get the stitch count back to something divisible by 3 so you can start the stockinette section and be able to get three decreases.

The worst part of this is that you have to cast on a lot of stitches. If I want to make a really big miter – I might need to cast on 400+ stitches. BUT you start decreasing at a very fast speed – 12 stitches every round. So you pay the price up front, but soon get to a manageable place. Re changing colors – I thought you might get a bad jog because you’re knitting in the round – but the color change wasn’t really noticeable at all. Maybe because really you’re knitting flat? I don’t know, but weaving in the ends seems to cover all ills.

The square above measures 4″x4″ and I really wouldn’t go much smaller. I mean, I guess you could cast on 72 stitches, but it would pretty much be garter stitch. This is acceptable to me as my SMALLEST size. I tried a bunch of times to cast on the next square by picking up 24 stitches on one side then casting on the next 72 and theoretically it should all work. I kept messing it up though – didn’t like my initial cast on. Twisted it when I went to knit in the round. Cast on too few stitches. You know. Bonehead stuff. I think I’ve got the cast on I want to use (cable cast on) and if I can just keep the round straight this should work pretty good. My plan is that I’d take a section of the blanket and attach those together – then move onto another section. So when it comes time to finish the blanket – you seam sections as opposed to individual squares.

As I said – this will take a good long while. I really want to plan things out – make up some rules color wise (already working this out in my head! It becomes clearer by the moment!) and layout wise. If I were you, I’d probably just learn to crochet. But, I’m a glutton for punishment. Don’t expect much on this for awhile. I definitely LOVE my little square though!

Hey Hey it’s the MONKEYS!

Poor sad little monkeys! Look how wrinkled and scrunchy they look! Dance MONKEYS! DANCE!

I totally agree with the assessment I’ve seen around the blogs that these socks look better blocked – they do. But only for their photoshoot. Don’t let the scrunchiness fool you. They look JUST FINE on your feet – the best blockers of all.

A thoroughly enjoyable knit, these monkey socks. EXTREMELY enjoyable. This p
air took me a week. And I would’ve knit them faster no problem if I didn’t have other stuff to do. I used Socks That Rock Lightweight, in the Rare Gems colorway (which means that it was a “special” skein that didn’t go as originally planned and then was overdyed and sold as a rare gem – these are one offs. This skein is UNIQUE.) I used Addi Size 2s for the twisted ribbing and the first two repeats, then switched to 1s. I love the fit – nice and snug. The only modification I made to the pattern was to do my standard heel flap and toe. The rest of it is as written.

I’m fairly certain I’ll be making a bunch of these.

Okay, so I’m signing off for the weekend. My one friend from high school, the one I’m going to the reunion with, told me she bought a new dress. So I feel like I have to go shopping – especially since all the things I thought I might wear don’t fit. On a happier note, I’m getting a pedicure! Have a great weekend – reunion details next week – and more Monkeys I’m sure!

L, C

Filed Under: Knanette, Monkey Socks, Socks

I got rhythm!

May 7, 2007 By

Who could ask for anything more?!


Sock modeled by my own personalized Leggy Creations Sock Blocker!
A fabulous birthday gift from Margene!

I finished my first Monkey Sock, and I’ve got to tell you, this could be my new Jaywalker. It’s got everything I love in a knit – especially in a sock. First off, it’s FAST. The repeat is only 11 rows so by the time you’ve knit four rows you’re like oh my god I might as well finish the repeat. And there are only six repeats for the cuff so you can polish them off and be ready to split for the heel in no time at all. The pattern lulls you into the perfect rhythm that makes you knit faster and faster. Like the Jaywalker pattern. Like miters. Apparently, I like to be hypnotized by my knits.


STR Lightweight, Rare Gem Colorway

While there is purling in the sock (I actually like to purl very much – but I HATE purling in a sock – I think, really, I hate ribbing in the round and on such small needles. Actually, I hate ribbing ALL the time.), for some reason it’s not bothering me. I love how they fit – nice and tight. I did the twisted rib and the first two repeats on size 2s, like the pattern calls for, but then I went down to 1s for the rest of the sock. They’re a little tight getting over the heel – but just like my Jaywalkers – they’re nice and snug and they stay up GREAT!

The foot is actually a smidge long – but otherwise I’d have to cut out a whole repeat and I’m not doing that – so they’re a smidge long. No biggie. I’m already lining up all of my old skeins of STR (in the 325 yd put up) to make Monkeys! I think if I drop one of the repeats out of the cuff I’ll be good to go. When I held them up to a pair of my Jaywalkers, the length is perfect with five repeats. I’ve got JUST the yarn to try too. WHOO HOO! Time for some sock knitting yessireebob!

As soon as I finished the first sock, I cast on for the second. In no time at all, I have five repeats under my belt.

I’m gonna have a pair of socks before I know it! Just in time for Summer! 😉

Filed Under: Monkey Socks, Socks

Feels Like the First Time

January 14, 2007 By

As Tracey said, every time you knit with Socks That Rock feels like the first time! This morning I finished my “pair” of socks – the G-Rocks and January One socks which I knit at the same time on two circulars. Of course, I love them! They are soft and stripey and perfect for my feet and G wants his own pair. I told him I’m gonna have to get some heavyweight for his socks – he wears size 13 shoes. Lucky 13 for me! (Um… That didn’t come out right. Insert sarcastic face here.)

I immediately cast on for the mates – two at a time – once again. Even though I really didn’t like the whole two at a time thing. I guess, technically, it probably takes just as long to knit two at a time as it takes to knit one at a time, but it FEELS like it takes forfreakingever and sometimes perception is enough. I was going to just knit one of the socks and then I was going to start with a completely different yarn, but in the end I decided that knitting these socks is like marriage. I was super excited when I started knitting them – TOGETHER – and I’m thrilled to be wearing them, but starting the next “pair” was a little bit hard and I’m sure it will be even harder to knit them but when I’m done I’ll have TWO new pairs of socks and I will love them all the more for the effort that went into knitting them. Sometimes we need to do things we don’t really want to do – but in the end it’s all worth it. Just like marriage. 😉


January One loves G-Rocks!

I know you don’t really care about my socks, you want to know about YOUR socks, or more specifically, did you WIN! Well, I’ve already sent out an email to all of the winners – did you get one? Check the list to see:

Fidget

Denise

Jan

KathyH

Mary

Linda

Marlana

Brenda

Stephanie

Sandy

Karen

Carol

Vitpil

Michelle

Rob’s Wife

Amy

Chelle

Stéphanie

Carina

Gayle

Frog Princess

Lazuli

Subha

Annette

Irene

Sanne

Barbara A.M.

Stacy Wittmann

Lies

Zita

CONGRATULATIONS! I hope you love your yarn as much as I do! As I mentioned, I sent an email to all the winners – so if you see your name up there and think it’s you but didn’t get an email, please check your spam filter before you email me.

All I have to say about this contest is thank god I didn’t ask for Haikus and damn people! Go out and get yourselves some! What are you waiting for?

Thanks for playing!!

Filed Under: Socks, STR

Potpourri

January 5, 2007 By

I’m all over the place today, so let’s go random.

— Yesterday, while working on the sofa (seriously – I was really working!) I went to put one of my feet up on the ledge and notice what I thought was a pill on the back of my sock. I wish.

You know how sometimes you think things and then you write them down or say them out loud and you wonder if you just tempted the fates and brought on EXACTLY what you didn’t want? Well, that’s how I felt yesterday when I noticed the hole. The first hole I’ve ever found in one of my handknits. The first hole in one of my precious socks. The first hole in one of my jaywalkers. The first hole in my beautiful Socks That Rock.

I was devastated. I may have cried a little bit. For a good five minutes I wondered why we ever knit at all – especially socks – if they’re only going to get holes in them. Seriously. I was ready to quit on the spot. But then I looked at the hole – which, by the way, is on the LEG of the sock in a place that has never rubbed against any shoe – and I realized that it is only one stitch. It must have gotten caught on something and snapped. I have no idea. And I do think it is completely fixable. I mean, it is only ONE STITCH. I have looked at some options – namely at Grumperina’s recent post and the Knitty article she linked to and I will fix it, but for now, I’m not in the mood to be reminded that things don’t last forever. Hits a little too close to home. So I picked up the socks I’ve been knitting – the G-Rocks and January One socks and I got back on the horse. Hopefully I’ll have a perfectly mismatched finished pairs of socks to show you Monday.

— Reason No. 4,391,628 why I love The INTERNETTTTT. (See? No S!) The vast majority of blogs I read are knitting blogs – but I don’t just love them for the knitting. Lately I’ve been running down memory lane because of a couple of blog posts. First, Jane mentioned When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit in a post. This was one of my absolute FAVORITE books as a girl. I thought I had my dog-eared copy – the one with the gray cover and ink line drawing on the cover, but I couldn’t find it. So I went out and bought it and read it and loved it all over again. I was a little bit afraid that it wouldn’t hold up to my memories, but it did. And honestly, because of a part in that book, I can’t be sick without thinking of it. And then, just yesterday, one of the Two Black Sheep sisters (fess up! Which one of you was it?) mentioned my OTHER MOST FAVORITE book: The Westing Game. I’ve read this book more times than I can count. And as soon as I’m done the book I’m reading now, you can bet I’ll read it again. What I love about these posts is that these are books that are mine – that I never really talk about or ever really talked about growing up – I don’t remember my siblings ever reading either of these books or friends or anyone for that matter. Yet here are two people, who are really strangers to me, sharing something about them that is just like me. Thank you for that. It’s really a nice feeling.

So I’m going to throw out another title – a book that came along way before that Harry guy – Half Magic, by Edward Eager. I loved this book and I hope it sparks in someone else the same feelings the other bloggers sparked in me. Happy reading!

— I’m not sure how many ways I can say this, but I found someone else using a photograph of mine without my permission. In theory, I didn’t object to the way the photo was being used, and there was a link back to my site and credit for the picture, but YOU HAVE TO ASK ME FIRST! I’m not sure how much clearer I can be. I OWN the picture, I OWN the words. THEY ARE MINE. ASK ME FIRST. I hope this is the last to be said on this matter. (And, again, it’s not you. Unless you and I exchanged emails about this – where I was very friendly, I thought, and told you you could use the picture, just ask next time – then it’s NOT YOU.)

— I’ve been really missing my spinning lately. I waited forever for my WooLee Winder (over six weeks!) and then I got it and it was a disaster. I’ve been seeing all this great yarn being spun all over the place and it makes me sad because I’ve still got my wheel in time out. It’s not the wheel’s fault and after reading Judy’s post today, I’m going to spin on Sunday. Distaff Day. It’s as good a day as any and if the WW doesn’t work out – I’m taking that sucker off and I’m spinning without it.

— There will also be some swatching this weekend. Look what came in the mail today:

Margene has been singing the praises of Beaverslide Yarn (grow up Annie!) for forever. The Friday night before my birthday, after serious consultation with Margene, I placed my first order. Huckleberry Heather is the color and I love it. Get yourself some color cards. Totally worth it.

This yarn is a departure for me, what with it’s 10% Kid Mohair. I’ve gone on the record many times about how much I HATE mohair, angora, alpaca – any of those hairy yarns. But Margene assured me that I wouldn’t even know it’s there and then she sent me a snippet that I stuffed in my bra and wore around for the day and I barely noticed it at all – and when I did it was to remark at it’s softeness. I can’t wait to knit it up. What’s it going to be? A Central Park Hoodie. Because all the cool kids are making them.

The coolest part of my package from Beaverslide – the stamps!

This is so totally going to be a superhero sweater! Have a great weekend!
L, C

Filed Under: Central Park Hoodie, Hard Rock Socks, Socks

SOCKS!

October 5, 2006 By

In honor of Lolly’s fantabulous SOCKTOBERFEST, I give you my sockstory:

When did you start making socks? Did you teach yourself or were you taught by a friend or relative? or in a class?
I started knitting my first sock in January ’05. It was Koigu and I used size 3 bamboo dpns and a pattern from Ann Budd’s The Knitters Handy Book of Patterns. No one taught me per se, I just followed everyone’s advice to do what the pattern said, and turned the heel as it was written. Let’s just say I didn’t get much farther than this:

I think I lost a dpn somewhere and the sock was slouchy and I hate to rib and the color was boring. I abandoned all sock knitting until…

What was your first pair? How have they “held up” over time?
My first pair of socks were knit in June ’05 after seeing Meredith’s pair of purple stripey socks. I took one look at her stripes and knew I had to have another go at it. This time I used two circulars instead of dpns (the d stands for dreaded) and it only took me 11 days to finish the pair!!!

I used Regia Cotton Surf and while I loved knitting the socks, I haven’t loved wearing them. Cotton just doesn’t work for me for socks. They’ve stretched out quite a bit and haven’t bounced back. BUT I loved knitting with two circulars instead of dpns. LOVED IT! And had every intention of knitting another pair. I started a few other pairs of socks after that but nothing that I really loved. Then I went to Rhinebeck and bought A LOT of Socks That Rock. When I got home I was itching to try it out and I stumbled upon the Jaywalker sock pattern by Grumperina which appeared in the September ’05 Magknits. I thought, hey – this might work.

Let’s just say that the pattern literally changed my life. Between October 2005 and February 2006 I completed 8 pairs of Jaywalkers in STR yarn. I currently have two single jaywalker socks and one mate on the needles.


What would you have done differently?
Absolutely nothing. I feel like my sock journey has been exactly as it should be.

What yarns have you particularly enjoyed?
My love for Socks That Rock is well documented. It is by far my desert island yarn. I could live on it forever. That said, I’ve been enjoying Koigu as of late. I also love Sock Hop yarn and will be spinning up my very own Sock Hop roving for socks very soon. I’ve tried other yarns, but these are the ones I come back to – and when I haven’t knit with STR in a bit, I always fall in love all over again. I make no apologies for my unadulterated affection for this yarn. It is, in a word, perfect.

Do you like to crochet your socks? or knit them on DPNs, 2 circulars, or using the Magic Loop method?
I have knit my socks with two cicular needles exclusively. I prefer Addi #1s for my socks. I like to have one circular be longer than the other. I always do the heel on the shorter circular. I’m not sure why. Also, I move the stitches around when picking up the gusset so that half the heel and half the instep are on one needle, and the other halves are on the other. I can’t see myself going any other way on this.

Which kind of heel do you prefer? (flap? or short-row?)
I prefer top down heel flap socks with kitchenered toes. I LOVE to kitchener. LOVE IT.

How many pairs have you made?
I have knit seventeen pairs of socks – two pairs were for Sockapalooza, and three pairs of those socks are actually six singles waiting for mates. I’m currently obsessed with knee highs. I’ve finished one pair, one pair is waiting for handspun heels and toes, one pair needs a mate, and my current sock is just about ready for a heel:

The yarn is Koigu – the semi-solid green is 2340 and the variegated is P852. I’m thinking I’m going to start the second sock and knit to the same spot – right before the heel flap. For some reason I like doing knee highs this way.

My plans for Socktoberfest 2006 are all about finishing. Finishing my new knee highs. Finishing my old knee highs. Whatever I get done I get done.

Handknit Socks. They make life better.

Filed Under: Knee Highs, Socks, Socktoberfest 2006

0.592592592592592592592

May 19, 2006 By

Yes. I really did put the squares in the sand. G was a bit freaked out about this and wanted to know which was the most important when he had to grab them up lest they drift into the sea to be lost forever. I said don’t worry. If they get wet they get wet. The yarn will dry. And the likelihood of them being lost in that crystal clear water was pretty slim and you know what? It’s yarn. That I knit. It’s not so precious. They’re squares for a blanket that should be used and loved and abused and it will last and if it doesn’t I’ll knit another one. At the heart of it, isn’t knitting a functional USEful craft? You need to use the stuff, not put it under glass. (Okay – maybe when it’s 100 years old and I’m dead and famous my family can leave it to a museum and put it under glass with the picture on the beach beside it, but not now.)

Before I left I couldn’t stop knitting squares, as you know, and I continued to knit pretty much through the entire vacation. After the first day on the beach I came up with a goal: six squares finished. Half the blanket. So I knit and I knit and I ran out of the dark green and moved onto the solid color squares and then I ran out of almost all the medium green so I knit my last square and had just enough left over for the middle of the 8th square. Hence the number in the title. That’s how much I’ve finished.

Borrowing from Lauren, I have the light sections to do. I’ve used all the green yarn I have and Tina’s going to make me some more and I love this project. The light green (limestone) seems to be knitting at a bigger gauge than the rest of it, so the squares where the light green is on the outside are a bit wonkier, but overall I think it’s FABULOUS. I originally thought it would be a test and then a gift and now I don’t know if I can part with it. Especially since I might find bits of sand in some of the squares every now and then and it will remind me of Anguilla. That would be really nice all cuddled up on a snowy winter night. Wouldn’t it? Could you give it away with memories like that knit into it? We’ll see.

While I wait for my new yarn to come, I’ve started a new sock. I’m taking a page from the genius that is Eunny and I’m not sure if I’m going to continue the socks I have on my needles right now so I started a new one. Shut up. I am SO allowed. Anyway, they’re going to be plain old sockinette socks because it seems all I can do these days is knit. But when I say plain old I’m totally lying.

What you’re seeing there in the crappy dark picture above (Sorry! No Anguilla light today. Only gray rain.) is HAND DYED, HANDSPUN SOCK YARN! Can you BELIEVE it! It’s all freaking BARBERPOLE! My heart can barely take it. Where did I find such gorgeous yarn? Well, the other day I was reading over at Amanda’s and she posted a picture of this new sock yarn she bought and my heart actually DID stop so I rushed over to Teyani’s to see if she had any left and thank god she did. The yarn is from Crown Mountain Farms and Teyani calls it Sock Hop yarn. All of the colorways are named after 50s Tunes. I bought Heard it Through the Grapevine (on the left in the picture above) and Heat Wave. I’ve started a sock in that. Can I tell you? THIS is what I want my spinning to be. I want to spin my own barberpole sock yarn. I fear I’m a long way off from this endeavor, but in the meantime, I’ll take one in each Sock Hop color! Thank you Teyani!

Thanks for all the entries in the MDK Peaches & Creme contest! It’s closed now and the entries are all really great (read them – seriously – they are so funny!) I’m going to have a hard time narrowing it down to ten. I’ll announce a winner when I get back. Yes. I’m off again tomorrow. I know. Just when I’m back I’m off – but absence makes the heart grow fonder, right? My grandmother’s 85th birthday party is on Sunday and it’s been planned for a while now so I’m going down to help my sister and visit with the family. I’ll be back sometime on Wednesday and I’ll try to check in before then. It gets kind of crazy down there so no promises. Orignally our vacation was planned for the first week of May so I didn’t think I’d be gone back to back, but there it is. See you on the flip side! Have a great weekend!

Filed Under: Log Cabin, Sock Hop Socks, Socks

WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP!

April 28, 2006 By

My host server had a DoS attack today, so my websites were off line for awhile. I wrote this post this morning before Jen called and asked me to hang out. So off I went AND she took pictures for me all gussied up. They’ll come later. Patience my pretties.

Build a house and build it high
Build it right up to the sky
See the roof, see the floor
See the little swinging door
See the momma making bread
See the children asleep in bed
1…2…3 WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP

This children’s song was going through my head yesterday while I was trying on dresses for the wedding. The red one from Nordstrom’s doesn’t fit. It’s not really bad, in fact, G first thought it was good – the problem is the dress is really nice. The fabric’s nice. The color’s nice. And it sort of fits. It’s the kind of dress you try on in the store and you carry around with you for an hour because you can’t decide so you buy it anyway and end up returning it. Instead I bought it online and now I’ll return it. The fit is just off. It fits through the middle, sort of, but it’s too big through the chest, sort of. And no, I don’t think alterations will help. Plus, as G said, if you’re going to pay $188 for a dress you want it to fit RIGHT. (Please don’t tell him I thought the price was pretty reasonable.)

Anyway, so when I went out to the P.O. yesterday I stopped at some of the outlets around my house, you know, just to see if there were any dresses out there.

DUDE! When did my body get so old?!?!?

I had an older friend tell me once that 25 was it. That you start to lose your body after 25. She neglected to tell me that it’s gone by 36. 😉 It’s not really that I need to lose that much weight (20 lbs would be great, 15 probably ideal, even 10 would make a big difference) it’s just that everything needs to be toned up. I know, I know. The weather’s nicer now and I have no excuse (well this week I do – PMS is kicking my ass – actually my boobs) NOT to start running again and plenty of inspiration to get me going: Ann, Elisa, Chelsea, Lolly, the other Lolly. Hell, everybody’s doing it! Why shouldn’t I? And I will. My arms were enough to scare the crap out of me. I used to have nice arms. I want nice arms again. Not all Angela Bassett muscley or anything just a teeny bit cut.

Normally I’m not one to obsess about my body (god knows I obsess about everything else) but this wedding is one of those high school reunion type things. You see, these people knew me or met me when I looked like this. Never mind the fact that NONE of them look like they did back then, I don’t look like I did. And it’s not that I really want to look like that again – well the body, yes, but the hair was a pain in the ass and I actually think I look younger with shorter hair – but I want to look like I feel and I still feel like I did back then. Only smarter. And wiser. And better. You know?

Now I’m even more happy about the shawl. I’ll wear the San Simeon dress and cover myself with my own handknit luxury.

To assuage my bruised ego, I started a new sock.

It’s Pomatomus in one of the new spring colors from Blue Moon: Dutch Canyon. Sometimes it’s good to try new things because I learned that a) the whole time I was knitting this I kept thinking how nice Dutch Canyon would be as a jaywalker and b) that Pomatomus is an interesting pattern but maybe not so much for me. Especially in this yarn. It will be ripped.

Live and learn people. Live and learn.
Have a great weekend. I will let you all know how the wedding goes. Thank you so so so much for all the compliments on my shawl. It means so much, especially since it will probably be ignored at the wedding. 😉 I PROMISE I will do my best to get action shots. I’m not sure how and I’m not sure when, but I will get them for you! I PROMISE! Jen took them for me! Hopefully they’ll go up sometime tonight. Thanks!

PS – GO TELL CARRIE MAZEL TOV! The Pants asked her to make it legal! YAY!

Filed Under: Life, Socks

Rare Gems

April 14, 2006 By

I guess I might as well admit it. I’m a sock knitter. I know you all think I’m a sock knitter, but I’ve been avoiding the label because, well, I DO knit other things besides socks. Although it might not seem like it these days.

I finished three socks while I was at my sister’s. The first one I’m going to talk about is a mate – so now I have a pair.

Yes, yes. I ran out of yarn. I’m still using the old put up – I’ve got a lot of STR skeins to get through – but it wasn’t all the fault of the yarn. The colorway is a RARE GEM, which means no one else in the world has it but me! Sometimes mistakes are made in the dye pot and Tina transforms these “mistakes” into gorgeous unique colorways through overdyeing. I was worried from the start that I’d run out and in this world of self-fulfilling prophecies I did. The funny thing? I made a mistake in the pattern. I hope you’re laughing because I certainly did – this is my 11th pair of jaywalkers? I’ve lost count to be honest. So here I am knitting on this sock and I decide to do a stitch count and I realize that somewhere I added an extra stitch. The best part is that I made the mistake in a place that’s completely obliterated by the pattern! That’s why I couldn’t see it. (For those of you intimately acquainted with the jaywalker pattern, I added the second ktfbl on a knit row down the middle of the sock so on the next row the pattern was unchanged for the first ktfbl. And if you understand that – maybe it’s time to find a new sock pattern. 😉 ) When it became clear to me that I was going to run out of yarn, I called my favorite dyer Tina and asked for some Spinel, which I thought would work perfect for the toe.

And I think I was right! I love the sock. Then I had to decide whether or not I wanted both socks to match, since I had already finished the first sock with the Rare Gems yarn. I decided I liked them different. Truly a pair of Rare Gem socks.

I love them. They will sit in my (soon to be determined) sock drawer and wait for the cold feet of fall.

I also finished one of my Hot Flash jaywalkers:

OH MY GOD! I have GOT to start counting more. This time I made a very similar mistake (left out a ktfbl) and ended up a stitch short. I’m getting better with the whole perfectionism thing though because I didn’t rip it out and fix it at the source (the mistake was on the cuff and when I figured it out I was on the foot.) I fixed it where I found the mistake. Same as the Rare Gems sock. Love the sock. Will be making another one.

And in the biggest news of the day, I finished sock ONE of my Sockapaloooza socks:

LOVE the yarn. LOVE the pattern. LOVE the sock. (That’s three loves for sockapalOOOza.) It is SO hard knitting socks for someone other than yourself – especially someone far away that can’t try them on for you. They are pretty loose on me so and a bit long so I’ve got all my toes crossed that they will fit the recipient.

I think it’s pretty funny that the jaywalker looks bigger than the sock pal sock. So not the case.

Anyway. That’s what I knit while I was away. It was excellent to see the kids and hang with my sister but I’m VERY glad to be home. Look for lots of black and bead lace knitting to come and another sock pal sock. That’s going to be pretty much it until the end of April. Deadlines loom. Oh and if anyone has any ideas about sending expensive and IRREPLACEABLE jewelry through the mail (fedex, etc.) please let me know. I left my fancy wedding ring at my sister’s and I want it back in my possession ASAP. I don’t feel like going back down there to pick it up and I’m missing it desperately. But can you really send that kind of stuff?

Filed Under: Jaywalkers, Sock Pal Socks, Socks
« Previous Page
Next Page »