The view from here...

This is what I see everyday as I sit in purgatory the car line at school. I am not at the front of the line. To be at the front of the line you have to arrive approximately one hour before school lets out. I like my car line knitting time, but not that much!


Next we see Rogue. In all her half-hooded glory. I did a whole ws row on her, before I realized I had no cable needle. And the no-needle cable is not on my list of mad skillz.


Fortunately I am a knitter with forethought. Witness the back-up project. Toe-up sock it to me springtime socks on two circs...


Finally we see a beautiful sight. An artfully arranged sock yarn basket with four new colors/styles of sock yarn added from Knitpicks.


The hydrangea (blue/pink/purple) you see there is the cursed sock yarn. All the other knitpicks sock yarn is new. Including the two mammoth hanks of dye your own. There is kool-aid in my future. Lots of kool-aid. I'm thinking a pink lemonade theme - pale pink, yellow, maybe a bit of muted orange... Not sure about the other hank yet.

Corn-fusion reigns....

I did the 76 stitch version of jaywalker last night for a good long while. It got me nowheres. Nowheres. The resulting tube was huge. And I have big feet. I'm 5'10". I wear a size 10 shoe. If I didn't, I would fall over. You need a size 10 platform to keep from falling over when you're as tall as I am. But this sock-ling was sized for Shaq. So....

I cast-on again. Toe-up, thinking I could figure this mother out. My gauge changed. What was 7 spi, was suddenly 8 spi. So then I thought surely I should be able to do the 76 stitch version from this cast-on. But no.... These were fit for only Andre the Giant (may he R.I.P.)

What am I doing wrong? I don't freaking know. I am beginning to believe that the hydrangea yarn is cursed. Hexed, vexed, evil, possessed, something. I have used this yarn to cast on at least 20 times for different socks. And after a few inches, it usually becomes apparent that they won't work. Of course sometimes I finish most of a freaking sock before I realize the problems. Is this just the pe (perfectionist eye) rearing it's ugly head? Maybe. But a sock that doesn't fit... Well it just doesn't fit.

Trust the pattern, believe in the pattern....

I want to make jaywalker socks. Really. I have the lovely hydrangea yarn all ready to go. I've cast on 76 stitches with my size one addis. Let's review the math:

Jaywalker Gauge = 7.75 spi
My Gauge = 7 spi

The size large (which I would need) has you cast on 84 stitches. My gauge ratio is right about 90%. So I should cast on 75.6 stitches to get a large sock with my gauge. I understand the math.

I've never made a sock and cast on so many freaking stitches. Now, I understand that the pattern is snug/pulls in, etc. But in my head this would make the ribbing incredibly huge. Of course the making waves socks did the same pull in thing. And the ribbing was fine. I cast on 64 stitches in sport weight on addi twos (3mm) and they fit just fine. So this should work.

I guess I have to just suck it up, trust the pattern, and get some of the actual leg portion done to see what will really happen. I've just wasted a lot of time futzing with these socks already. Grrrr....

Not a finisher.

I have only finished 16 projects this year. In October I finished nothing. I read all these blogs, and they are cranking out the FO's. What is wrong with me? I'm a sahm, I have plenty of time to knit. Geez-o-petes.

Black Friday?

Did I miss something? When did they start calling it "Black Friday"? This is the first year that I've ever heard that term. Granted, usually I hide somewhere on that day, and don't dare go near any big box store, but still....

On Friday, I actually did leave the house. I had sicks mens and I needed medicine. So I went to CVS. And then I trucked on over to Tuesday Morning to pick up some stuff for the boy scout holiday hoopla. Did the check for yarn, but no dice. Just a crapload of orange cotton-ease. And oh yeah, nobody likes the orange. Then I went to the other LYS. The one where they don't seem to like me very much. But I was in need of a sock yarn fix, and they have a much larger selection. And wonder, of all wonders, one of the ladies was super nice to me that day. But none of their sock yarn was screaming my name. So what did I buy?


The zephyr is so gorgeous. And it was only $11 a ball. I was quite rudely told on the lacelist that I overpaid, but I don't care. For 50% tussah silk, I honestly expected to pay more. And it just glows. So very pretty.

I finished my making waves socks on Saturday night. And I love them!!! I wore them yesterday with my earth shoe clogs. They were very warm, but didn't give me sweaty tootsies. I hope they wear well. They are unblocked of course in this pic, and they need to be thrown in the wash. But I couldn't wait to wear them!



I've cast on for toe-up socks with my sock it to me springtime yarn. I've got the first figure 8 toe done and I'm getting ready to cast on for the second. I'm gonna try two socks on two circs for this one. I think my knitpicks sock garden hydrangea (the yarn that is cursed... lol) might be turning into jaywalker socks. I really like that pattern. I've become a sock junkie. Oh my.

Holy Hashbrowns!

That's my 6 year old son's favorite exclamation. Would that I should remember this cuteness when he's 6'2" and giving me sass.

In anticipation of new yarn coming, and to get a handle on my WIP's, I reorganized my knitting nook. Which is really just a shelf full of yarn, needles and projects.


On the very top, barely visible, are a bunch of pictures of my boys as babies. Cause you can never have too many boy pics. Especially when your boys are as all out freaking adorable as mine.

Next we have some wips/stash. The walnut cascade 220 all nicely balled up to finish my rogue, four balls of romance knitpicks shine twist, six balls of bubblegum cotton-ease that begs to be a sitcom chic and then wips in bags. Hopeful in sugarplum cotton-ease, sweet mary jane swatch in knitpicks shadow oregon coast, and my starter stockinette socks in cascade 220. I think the starter stockinette will be frogged to make fuzzy feet. I won't wear thick wool socks, but I will have occasional use for slippers around here.

The next shelf is just pretty in the silver baskets. A bunch of balls of knitpicks palette for socks, that gorgeous cascade bollicine baby night, and my vogue #19 lace shawl. I found a perfect earflap hat pattern in Last Minute Knitted Gifts for the bollicine. Just need to measure the little dude's head.

The next shelf has my kitt trinket bag, 3 huge balls of strawberry twist sportweight wool-ease, my sister's online scarf, and my striped peace fleece booga which holds all my circs and my dpns.

The bottom has my first basket with all sock yarn, all the time. I had to clean that up to make room for the sock yarn that is coming. Then we have the lovely lantern moon basket. The top has pretty yarns, and the bottom is where I hide my small stash of red heart from my beginning days.

The boys are in bed. And the man is still sick, so he's in bed as well. And yes, this is what I've done with my time this evening. Shaddup.

I'm thinking about Christmas presents. Yes, I know it's a little late. But there are only a very few people I want to knit for. I might whip up some airy scarves for the boys' teachers. Those are only supposed to take four hours each. And I'm a sahm, so I have 12 hours to spare. And then I'd really like to make socks for the man. And maybe the cigar gloves. Although both might be too ambitious.

I need to think of something to make for the boys. Something fun and easy. I was thinking maybe some sort of stuffed animal. A special lovie from Mommy. Cause they are still my babies you know. Speaking of which, even though they are fast asleep, they need another kiss goodnight.

Not so lucky...

I picked up a skein of Lamb's Pride Bulky yesterday from the LYS. She had whipped up one of those cute cableknit clutches and I thought I might do the same. And then I had the bright idea to include the Luckenbooth medallion from the girlfromauntie site.


This is my swatch. I made a mistake in one of the increases, but I really don't love the way it looks. Maybe it's the bulky yarn, or maybe it's the reverse stockinette, but I just don't think it will work for a little bag.

Plus my Scottish husband is driving me absolutely bonkers. And at first I thought using a Scottish medallion might be pleasing to him, but then I figured I really don't give a flying fig what pleases him. I've been sick now for nearly two weeks. I get no sympathy and no real help from him. He's sick now for two days and wants the world to revolve around him. Men are such babies sometimes.

But I digress. This is supposed to be about knitting. Not about my cranky husband. My making waves socks are coming along nicely. I might even finish them up tomorrow. More on that later. If you're in the US, Happy Thanksgiving!

Diseased

Diseased I am. I wonder if this will be like my CE affliction. Maybe you don't remember it. I picked up a couple of balls of cotton-ease and fell in love. But alas, it was discontinued. So then I began to stockpile the crap. CEHD - Cotton-Ease Hoarding Disease is what they call it. What happened to my CE stash you might ask? Well... I knit a chickami out of some white. And I'm 75% done with a hopeful in sugarplum. And I have six pristine balls of bubblegum set aside for sitcom chic. But the rest of it? Ah yes. The rest of it has been sold, traded, or destroyed.

I do have a complete sock now. Actually I have two. But the other one doesn't count. I have my beautiful making waves sock. It's so soft, and so lovely. And I plan to cast on for it's mate tonight while watching Gilmore Girls & Supernatural.

But today I got a bug up my butt and decided I needed to sample some more of the Knitpicks sock yarns. (Actually I blame the folks on Knitter's Review for this...) So I got some dancing in Jig, some simple stripes in Vineyard, some parade in Forest, some more sock garden in Star Gazer Lily, and just for good measure, two hanks of color your own. Cause I really want to try dyeing. Maybe some yummy kool-aid flavors?

So... once I get all of this yarn in house, plus the swap yarn I arranged for off of the knittyboard, I will have enough yarn to make at least 17 pairs of socks. Not including the pretty mystery sock yarn which I have upwards of 800 yards of. *sigh*

Ahhh... success...

A sock I like. A sock I even love. A sock that has a really long heel-flap. I'm not sure why I did it this way, but it fits, so....


Here is a good shot of the making waves pattern:



And here's a shot of my reluctant model, who's home sick today and is just chilling in his pj's...


I got in some work on my rogue hood yesterday. But I'm only up to row 20 out of I think 82. *sigh* I really need to get it finished. It's very, very chilly here.

I think I would like to try the jaywalker pattern on my knitpicks sock garden hydrangea. But that of course has to wait until I finish the making waves socks. Can't have too many socks going at once. Of course they would be on different needles... (someone come and give me a good smack - please!)

The sock up there didn't even use close to a whole ball of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport. I'd say there is probably a third of the ball leftover. I'm actually wishing right now that I had the second one, because it's actually chilly enough to wear socks today.

I need to get up off my duff, do some housework and then try to do some serious progress on my rogue. Some good news - I've found a trade for the encore that's been sitting in my stash since forever. Someone needed soft acrylic blends to make doggy/kitty beds. Encore is soft. Guess what I'm trading it for? Wait for it. Oh yeah, sock yarn.

The perfect sock?

Does it look like this? Well, actually no. This sock is not perfect. But I do love it so. I did a diamond heel on it. Actually I had to frog the heel because I knit in the dark at the imax and screwed it all up on a field trip on Friday. But I have a perfect diamond heel now. And I'm working on the decreases. And it still fits.

I'm ashamed to admit I picked up another ball of sockotta on Friday night. It's a purple jacquard effect color. But I didn't pay for the ball of sockotta. (Oh my goodness. Of course I didn't steal it!) My sister bought it for me. Along with the holiday vogue, which I have yet to peruse. And three balls of Cascade Bollicine Baby Night. Damn, this stuff is soft. It's 100% new wool merino, but I swear it feels like it has some cashmere in it. She picked up a pale blue, a sky blue and a navy. 95 yards each. And now I have to make a PJ hat out of it. She like the Jayne Cobb hat she saw in the store. She definitely wants ear flaps. But this yarn is so yummy, it has to be the perfect pattern.

I worked on my rogue hood tonight. Jeepers that hood is gonna take forever. I may have to forgo the perfect sock for awhile and just work on rogue. It has been cool enough to wear it for the last couple of evenings and I had to wear other less worthy items of clothing. Yes, I looked cute in my purple corduroy jacket at Harry Potter last night, but I would have looked a lot cuter in my rogue. I'm just saying.

Tomorrow should be a rogue day...

It's only gonna be 62. Which means it might even be in the high *gasp* 40's when we leave for school in the morning. Can you believe it? And I have a school field trip to the imax tomorrow with Jeremy. Wouldn't it be nice to have a snuggly cardigan to wear in the theatre in case it got cold? Why yes. Yes it would. But I will not be snuggling with my finished rogue in the theatre. Because I haven't touched it in weeks. I really must finish it this weekend and stop this sock obsession nonsense.

The pink/orange/yellow sock did not survive. Shortly after that critical photo session it was frogged onto a toilet paper roll. Oh the inhumanity of it all. But looky what I'm making....



It's a making waves socks, pattern courtesy of the Six Socks Knitalong. Their new sock pattern will be up in December and I plan to kal with that. But isn't it pretty?

I'm currently in the process of convincing myself that it's ok that the colors are pooling the way they are. It's Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in Watercolor on size 2 (3mm) addis. Why are addis sizes so different than the rest of the world? Anyhoo.... I digress. The pattern is beautiful in it's simplicity. And I'm nearly done with the first cuff. To make the ribbing exactly as I wanted it, I did a provisional cast on, worked the ribbing on size 1 addis, and then bound off in ribbing.

This perfectionism is becoming a disease. Why can't I be all ocd about my housecleaning?

In other news, if you have kids (or even if you don't) two of the best books in the entire history of the world are Old Turtle and it's companion/sequel, Old Turtle and the Broken Truth. Read them, love them, live them. That is all.

Perfectionism. It's a disease.

It doesn't apply to all areas of my life. Just some. And apparently socks are cursed with being scrutinized by my perfectionist eye (pe). So here's what the pe sees...



The cast off is a real problem. It makes the sock look all flared, but I can't get it over my heel without a major problem. I found a tutorial for a sewn off cast on that is supposed to be extra stretchy. So we'll see how that goes.

But I'm so tempted to frog the whole sock. The wrapped heel looks like crapola. There are holes where the heel ends, even though I picked up extra stitches to supposedly avoid that problem. Pencil eraser sized holes.

I did an accidental increase on the sole and had to do a decrease which left some small holes. And for some reason, in random places I twisted my stitches. Just here and there.

I love the yarn. I love the magic loop. I don't have ladders. But the finished product is just not good enough.

That evil pe. It is the reason I have no finished socks.

Guilty pleasures and the definition of pathetic...

What do you see in this picture? Ah yes. One toe-up 2x2 ribbed sockotta sock. In a lovely mix of oranges, pinks, yellows, etc. Stripes color 617 according to Plymouth. Also you see a brand new ball of sockotta in color 605. A nice mix of green, denim, tan, etc.

Here's my defense. Today I dropped Jeremy off at a birthday party that I thought I was supposed to stay at. But no. So instead of going home, I went to the yarn store to knit. But it was the yarnstore's birthday. And she was having a sale. 20% off of all sock yarn. If I wasn't so frigging broke, you would have seen scary amounts of sock yarn. I wonder how long the sale lasts... But that lovely 2nd ball of sockotta was only $7.67 and that included tax people!

You might be wondering where the springtime sock it to me socks went. Well... I frogged them. Two socks on one magic loop equalled hella scary ladders. At least for me. So I decided to do one sock on the magic loop and see how it went. And I justified switching to the sockotta, because one ball makes two socks. And therefore the sockotta is not suited to two socks at once. Unless I had a very accurate digital scale that measured grams and a ball winder and swift. See how I just saved myself money by switching yarns? No?

Hey. Are you keeping track of how many socks I've finished in my life? Just for a nice visual reminder... here's a link to all the socks I've finished before... (sing it like Julio baby!)

Are you finished laughing at me yet? I have yarn in my hot little hands to make at least 8 pairs of socks. There might be a special place in hell for me now. Complete with dpns that leech splinters into my fingers.

We have a new rule. The new rule is... Socks And. At any given time, I will only actively give my attention to two things. One pair of socks. And one other item. Period. End of sentence.

Currently it's my tevye socks and my rogue. Why tevye socks? Cause the colors remind me of sunrise and sunset... You don't follow? I'm sorry.

Did you see my other guilty pleasure? Cheezy celebrity magazines. Usually read while consuming diet coke and chocolate. Cause looking at all the skinny chicks makes me wanna nosh?

And if anyone is still with me.... the definition of pathetic is me, getting ready to kiss my boys goodnight, brush my teeth and go to bed. All before 9pm on a Saturday night.

There's something wrong with me.

I have mastered two new things. First the figure 8 cast on for toe-up socks, which rocks by the way. And now I am knitting two socks at the same time on one addi 40" circular. No I haven't ever finished a pair of socks. Shaddup!



I made the toes two different colors on purpose. I know there is no way the striping will match up, even if I try, so I will make the striping mistmatched on purpose. See my brilliance?

And then there was the retail therapy aspect of the morning. I went to Wally World, solely to take advantage of their cheap prices on stuff like laundry and dishwasher detergent. I ended up with hair color, two new shirts (that fit!) and a belt to hike up the jeans that are all too big. Jeans that are too big is a good thing, but I can't really afford to replace my jeans, so I bought a belt instead.

But the therapy didn't end there. Then I went to the yarn store. I figured I would buy something so that I didn't feel bad using her ballwinder.



Let's see... One skein of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport superwash to go with the leftover skein I have here at home. Size 2 addi turbos (40") to make magic loop socks with the lorna's. Sockotta yarn in a pretty mix of pinks and oranges. And the humdinger - size 6 dpns - lantern moon brand (kaching!) - to work on the Sweet Mary Jane cardigan. In my defense the dpns were basically free. But that's only because I have now filled up another frequent buyer card at the yarn store. Whatever happened to my yarn diet? My husband is gonna kill me.

Shhhh...

My super secret entrelac project is coming along nicely. I think I've found the way to eliminate the lines I didn't like in the first swatch. We'll see.

The rogue hood is kind of a forever project. I was trying to read ahead on the instructions, saw something about the 82nd row and just sighed and put it down. In my defense yesterday I think it hit 90 here again. And today mid 80's is expected. Of course what will happen is I will neglect the Rogue for a week and then next week it will be 45. Such is my life.

If I take my knitpicks shadow to the LYS and ask to use her winder, she'll say yes. But that doesn't mean I don't feel bad to ask. I think what I will do to assuage my guilt is combine the shadow winding trip with a nice purchase so that it kind of balances out. She has a huge new stock or Noro. I just need to know what to do with it. Or I could buy some Helen's Laces. I've been coveting that in a serious way. But that I have to have a plan for before I buy it.

I ordered a 40" size #1 addi turbo to do magic loop socks on. I even printed out a handy dandy instruction sheet for doing two socks on one magic loop. I ordered it from elann and also got some self striping/fair isle sock yarn in a "springtime color". I'm hoping it comes today. I'd love to practice that technique.

Shall we review? I just keep buying yarn. It's frightening. And I'm not really completing much of anything. I have "new-itis". Oh well. Life goes on.

Sorry for being post crazy.

This is mostly for my own notes and stuff as I work on this project.



Yarn: Wool of the Andes
Needles: Size 8 Clover Bamboo Circs
Pattern: 6 by entrelac
Felting: Two cycles in my washer - one rinse
Starting Size: 6"x4"
Finished Size: 5"x3"

The lines still show in the finished felting. I need to play with that to make it look cleaner. But the fabric feels awesome. Nice and sturdy. I think the plan will work!

Entrelac is not easy.

And it's not "intuitive". But if you get good directions and follow them, you might just make some.


I have a design in my head. Actually I also whipped it up in powerpoint. For a classy looking entrelac bag. So I used the "bad" colors from the wool of the andes and worked up a swatch. It took me awhile to get the hang of it. But I gots it.

I'm not happy with how that last row looks. You can see where the other color peeks through. I don't think I did it wrong though. I need to do some web research. And I plan on felting it here in a minute, so it may not matter.

I feel like a mad scientist. No, in a good way. Oh and look how happy I get when you give me girly beer:

I have cute kids.

The pirate is my nephew and the power ranger is my little guy's best friend. But we're all about the Teen Titans at my house. And beast boy? Well beast boy is the best because he's a vegetarian.

I suppose I should post a picture of my sock. But's it's sad, unfinished and has no cuff. And don't shoot me, but I may frog it. Yes, I know. But I think I might be making up my very own toe up sock pattern, with some interesting pattern for the top of the foot and the cuff. We'll see.

Socktober Madness

Socktober Madness Part One.


They didn't offer navy in the palette, and I didn't want to mix and match yarns, so I opted for a medium charcoal gray. And then I thought I'd do the petal color (the coral-y pink) instead of the green. Not a bad mix I think.

Socktober Madness Part Two



This is where I'm not sure it's gonna work. The blue is fine. The "tan" evens works as a dark cream. But the green just seems way to bright. So my idea is this. I swap out the green for the petal from above, and do the socks in cream, blue, and petal. What do you think? And then the "relax" socks get worked with a charcoal background and the rest of the colors as pictured.

Natural light is hot.

It's only seventy-five. But standing out on my tiny balcony in jeans and a black 3/4 sleeve sweater I wore to church this am, the sun beating down on you produces some serious heat. And I did this all for you. All for you, my faithful readers. I thought I'd try to show you some true colors. It worked. Well, sort of.

First up, Knitpicks Shadow in Oregon Coast to work up the lovely Mary Jane.


This picture still doesn't do it justice. It's a grey heathered yarn, with all sort of pretty flecks in it. I think the Mary Jane will be just lovely. Although I need some new needles for it. It uses three types of size 6 needles. 16" circs, 32" circs, and dpns. I'm tempted to hope that I get gauge on size 5, because at least with that, I have two of the specified types. Oh well.

Next up, wool of the andes for the Market Sqares Bag.


Two problems. I read "hush" as "blush" and thought it was pale pink. It's not. It's hush and it's pale lavendar. But I can work with that. I'm not sure the tulip is gonna fly. It's screaming zonkers magenta/fuschia. I'm tempted to edit the pattern to not include the fifth color. I also had an idea to whip up a striped or entrelac bag of my own that would be perfect for church, to carry a bible, a small wallet, a pen, and a lipstick - you know? Don't know yet about that.

Four and a half inches of pleasure...

Sorry. I couldn't resist. Have I made much progress on my toe-up socks? Well, not really. Am I subjecting you to more pictures of my glorious toe-up socks? Well, of course. Do my amazing splendiferous toe-up socks fit my feet? Well, yes, yes they do.

Tonight, apparently, I have to go to Boy Scouts. So I guess I will get more work done on the sock. Maybe tomorrow you'll be blessed with a picture of a heel! :p

(And I know I opted for free shipping, which might take 5-14 days, but dangit, I want my knitpicks yarn now!)

I refuse to give up.

I have lost count of how many times I have casted on for socks using this knitpicks hydrangea. Lost count, I tell you. But I joined Socktoberfest, and dagnabbit, for once I'm actually gonna follow through on one of these knitalong jobbies.

Last night I cast on for Wendy's Toe Up socks in you guessed it, knitpicks sockgarden hydrangea. Please cue the applause as I have taught myself yet another technique -- the provisional cast on. I had a lot of trouble visualizing how the toe was gonna come together when I started out knitting it straight. But then I realized what I really needed to do was STOP THINKING! I think too much, I overanalyze things, and then I screw myself up. Let us not forget the #19 frogging experience.

So I stopped thinking, and I just followed the directions. And it worked. And how. And now I have 3 inches of toe up socks on the needles! And crap a duck, it looks like they are gonna fit. (Yes I realize that I am the only person in the history of the world who uses "crap a duck" as a pseudo curse word/phrase - shaddup!)


No. You cannot have my oh so cool Scooby Doo mousepad. It's precious to me. Precious, I tell you. And so is my really big scooby mug & saucer set. And all of my mystery machines. And the stuffed pillow on my futon.



Um, that would be just a photo of the scooby stuff that sits on my desk. Aren't you jealous? Oh, and this week on Cartoon Network they are running a bunch of newer animated Scooby movies. Aloha Scooby Doo anyone? Yeah I know. Now I'm just embarassing myself.

I do have an excuse...

My mama was here. We had a wonderful time. I gave her my clapotis for her birthday. So it's gone.... (please observe a moment of silence...)

So what am I up to knitwise? Good question. Well I totally surrendered to the spirit of Socktoberfest. And I cast on for some lovely lacy rib socks in that knitpicks hydrangea that I've had for awhile.


Do you see the problem? Maybe not. Lemme give you a clue. There is something(s) missing from this picture. Oh yes. Now you see it. There are no needles in this picture. Because I pulled them out. Because these lovely socks are not gonna fit my size 9/10 feet. I should have known that. The pattern states a woman's size medium. But in my mind I wear the same socks (size 5-9) that everyone else does, so I didn't need to size up. No sirree bob. But they aren't gonna fit. And I'm too selfish to give that pretty yarn away. So I will be recasting on (again) for something with this yarn. The lacy rib is lovely, but the purl stitches are too prominent when it's stretched out. Plus it's slow, slow, slow knitting. At least for me.

Does that sound like total surrender to the spirit of Socktoberfest? Of course not. But Saturday night I spent about 3 hours picking out just the right shades of palette to knit fair isle and combo intarsia/striped socks in. Which will arrive sometime in November. Good move Corrina. Oh and let's not forget how many pairs of successful socks I have completed. None. Zip. Zilch. Zero. Nada.

I also bought Wool of the Andes to do the Market Squares bag in shades of pink and grey. And some shadow in Oregon Coast to do the Mary Jane Cardigan. Four projects for $32.83. Amazing.

Wait. Here's some more project pictures.

My rogue cardigan. The back is finished, and I'm working on one of the side panels. Splitting up the cable pattern on the neck is turning out a bit harder than I anticipated. But I'm plugging along.


The linie scarf. Yarn picked out for my sister, who likes blues, especially turquoise. Simple garter stitch skinny scarf. I tend to hate fun fur/novelty yarns, but this one is actually quite pretty and very soft. Of course it's 10.95 for less than 100 yards, so that might be part of it.


That's all for now folks. I have to cut out 22 foam craft masks for the fall festival this evening.... when I'd really rather be knitting.

Just in time for Grandma...

The camera has been found. Which is good, because I've been stressing over it. After I do this update, it's back to crazy cleaning mode so that everything is just so for her visit.



That would be the first few rows of my Socktober sock - Holly's Socks. It's an easy lacy rib pattern, but it was made up with sock garden in mind, so I'm hoping they will turn out all pretty. I'm using knitpicks sock garden in hydrangea, which was a gifty from my knitty sp4. The pattern recommended 2.5 mm needles (size 1.5?) but I got gauge on my size 1's which are 2.25 mm, so that's what I'm using.

Do you see the lovely walnut heather background for my sock start? That's my gorgeous rogue. The picture below shows the top of the left cable panel and the armpit shaping that I've got going. Just what you wanted to see, huh? Armpits. I've got about 90% of the back done. A few straight rows and then the neck shaping to go.



And as much as I would love to go blog jumping and lavish love and commments on all you knitting bloggers, I've got to go. There are yellow rubber gloves waiting for me in the kitchen.

MCR - Missing Camera Report

I'm not sure where it is. I vaguely remember trying to take more pics of Rogue in natural light and cursing the fact that I couldn't seem to get good pics, but now I can't find it. Maybe all the cursing scared it away. I really need to find it. My mama will be here on Wednesday and I need a lot of boy/grandma/papa pictures. A lot.

I think I love rogue. I just finished chart A, so I'm ready to divide 'er up! I dropped a stitch in the selvage on the front, but I did some fancy yarn work and secured that puppy right up. The cables look pretty decent - even before what I hope will be the washing that makes them "bloom".

It looks the fit will be just right. I'm starting to get a tad nervous. I've never done sleeves, much less a fancy-pants cabled hood. And oh, yeah, I've never done knitted on i-cord either. The cardiganizing instructions say that you should pick up 2 out of 3 stitches along the front edge for the i-cord. But they also say to slip the first stitch for a nice selvage. So have I screwed up the 2 out of 3 idea? I don't know. It's too late to stop slipping stitches.

Why am I stressing myself out over this? I think I just need to plug along and not worry about it.

I got the new KnitPicks catalog. Except for the scary twirl and the equally scary novelty yarns I want everything else. Especially the shadow to knit that adorable Mary Jane cardigan. And that's such an affordable project.

And in the scary category I watched Knitty Gritty on DIY today. They knitted skirts. A horizontally striped skirt? Um, ok, whatever. A mottled black & grey fun fur skirt? For the love of Pete!

Rogue is slow going...

But the Cascade 220 is so dreamy and easy to work with. And on the addis... *swoon* Who knew I could feel this way about knitting?

I'm gonna settle in with her here in a few minutes for a nice evening of knitting and drinking girlie beers. I'm hoping that copious consumption of girlie beers might help me sleep tonight. Either that OR there are some prescription sleeping pills that I've been saving for emergencies. But I think this constitutes an emergency. I haven't slept for more then 3 hours a night in I'd say 6+ weeks.

This morning after being up since 2:42 I headed for our bathroom around seven to get ready to face the day. While in there I spotted a roach. Or some psychotic roach hybrid. I sprayed him with the mildew cleaner and the mofo flew right at me. Since when do roaches fly? Do roaches fly? I screamed bloody murder and of course woke up the man. Who was none too pleased since he had about two minutes left til his alarm went off. So he decided to show his ass and throw a tantrum about me stealing his last few precious minutes. He's a hard man to sleep with. Which isn't helping my insomnia any. So I broke down and started bawling about missing 6 hours of sleep every night. He told me to go to a sleep clinic. *grrrrr*

So since we are in a state of emergency, we will be doing something tonight to encourage sleep. Wish me luck.

ETA: If you were wondering if I'm reading your blog, well the answer is probably yes, yes I am. I updated my sidebar with the list of blogs I actually do read. And I do read them. Every time they are updated - unless bloglines is showing it's ass. And if I'm not reading your blog? Throw me a bone honey! If you comment on me, I seek you out!

Frickin' frackin' internets

I had a lovely post about my Rogue here. Let's see if I can recreate it. Otherwise the keyboard might be getting the bamboo under the spacebar torture treatment.

As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted by burping internets, I'm a follower. And the next project for this lemming is Rogue. Yes, I know it's a year late. I've been loving it for awhile, but I really need a cardigan for a Floriday style winter "coat". And steeking really skeered me. But then I found the cardiganizing directions. And there were no excuses left for ole Corrina. Except the yarn excuse. I had been looking at yarns for awhile and couldn't decide. But then I went into my LYS and found this. Cascade 220 in color 8013, Walnut Heather. And just enough skeins to make my sweater. It was fate. Fate, I tell you.

So here's my progress on Rogue thus far:


I did the ribbed hem instead of the twisted. I didn't want to deal with the bias in an open front sweater. I only did four rows as well. I thought the 12 row hems were overkill. I knitted the hem right up into my sweater. I did do a turning row. I think the purl bumps make a nice finished bottom.

The cables are not super hard, but the increases used to begin the closed loop cables were a little tricky. But I figured it out.

I realize it's still in the high 80's here. But soon, soon I tell you, the temperature will begin to drop. And if it goes under 60 (gasp!) I will have my Rogue at the ready. Of course all the other thin-blooded folk around here will be in down coats, hats, mittens, and scarfs at the sign of sub-60 temps, but we just laugh at those people. Laugh at those people in my stylish lemming sweater.

Net break....

There won't be much net time for me in the near future. This week, every morning after I take the boys to school I get to go "feed the dogs". This entails at least an hour of round trip driving plus the actual feeding etc. Because it's such a long trip (and gas prices are so high) I will only be going once a day. So I really need to spend at least a good hour there letting the dogs play outside, giving them belly rubs, etc. I really, really wish my sister lived in my neighborhood. Then I could have just stayed over.

We have 27 other things to do this week as well. Soccer practice, special stuff at church. And I get to prepare for the camping trip. Yes, my entire family is going camping. It's the cuboree! Aren't you jealous? Two nights in a tent in Florida. It might be very hot. It might just monsoon. But of one thing I'm sure. There will be bugs. And not just "Eek! A daddylongleg!" type of bugs. Nope. There will be bugs that will bite. The new hole in the ozone that you will hear report of come Monday? That will be due to my abuse of bug spray.

I do think I might get some serious knitting time in while hanging at my sisters. At least I hope to. I also would like to get in a few extra volunteer hours this week at school. But we'll see how that goes.

Hiding from my own blog...

Mostly because I've been wishy-washy and not of the finishing sort of variety of knitter. But I have an FO! So yay for me!

It's the kitt trinket bag from the Mission Falls East-West pattern booklet. Worked in Mission Falls 1824 wool on size 6 addi turbos. The drawstring is crochet.

The cable pattern:

The swirly bottom:

The completed bag:


I would highly recommend this as a first cable project. In fact if anyone wants the booklet and wants to swap something else for it, let me know. It uses a variety of cable techniques and in the 1824 wool, the cables are gorgeous. I now have the confidence to make the Rogue cardigan. I just have to pick out the perfect yarn.

You gotta stop believing me...

Have you not figured out by now that I am a habitual liar? I'm going to frog, I won't cast on.... yada, yada, yada.

In that spirit, I present, #19:



It's actually starting to look like something. I have do 12 total repeats of this 36-row pattern for both sides of the shawl. I have um, one complete repeat and 20 rows. Slow going. I haven't been working on it faithfully because I'm still cheating with hopeful and the occasional bout of screaming and cursing with size 1 dpn's and the hydrangea yarn....

But anyhow, isn't she lovely? It's just so ethereal looking. And during car line today I tested it and it does fit through my wedding ring. Snugly, but still.

On the Hopeful front... I have both fronts done and I'm working on the back. After that it's just the sleeves and the neck tie treatment thingie. It's a little too snug right now. But that's ok. I've been dropping weight like gangbusters. And a short sleeve sweater around here will quite possibly work all winter long.

I still don't know what to make for my winter coat. I ransacked my paypal account today buying clothes for the man. He's ahem, a big and tall man. And his clothes are so freaking expensive at the store. And I found three pairs of pants (nwt) at prices I just couldn't pass up. Oh well. Life goes on.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Anybody there?

Man. It's been a week since I posted. Why?

Well for the last two days I've been sick. Real sick. As in I spent the last 48 hours in one of three places, bed, bath, or perched over the potty. So there you go.

And before that? Well I think it was shame. I talked a big talk about frogging and tending to my wips. And do you know what I did? I cast on for another project.

I wanted to make hopeful. Despite the fact that it was made for little girls and not for "me". So I re-ordered it. Because I gifted away my original. But she never sent the new copy. Um, ok. So then I remembered that she had sent edits a while back that I had forwarded to my giftee. Yay! It was still in my saved items folder, so I was able to pull it up. And no, I do not feel guilty about this. I paid for it twice and two people are using it. So there. I never did receive another copy of the pattern. I don't know if she thinks I already had it or what. I mean I did send another $6 via paypal. Whatever.

So.... here she is...



She's being worked in sugarplum cotton-ease and the leftovers you see there are from only the second ball! I don't know if it will take 3 or 4 to do her, but she's turning out nicely. CE has a much bigger gauge that the suggested yarn so I'm actually knitting from the small instructions. She should be done in a few days. Or less, if I keep watching Lost.

My husband and I caught the last few episodes of Lost in reruns. And now we're hooked. So on Friday we picked up the dvd set. And have been watching ever since. So alot of my "bedtime" has also been Lost-time. I don't know. I think Lost might be even more entertaining while doped up and delusional. :)

Gettin' froggy with it

Froggy takes one step at a time;
The way that he moves has no reason or rhyme;
He hops and jumps, dodges and ducks
Cars and buses, vans and trucks

If you remember that song and the album it was on, well... then you probably enjoy that VH-1 show I Love the 80's. Yes, I was an arcade kid.

I frogged the peaks and valleys socks. The color wasn't doing the right thing. The top was gradual waves and the next part was just stripes. It looked wierd. I even picked up another set of size 1's to work on it. I'm trying to have the strength to NOT recast on for these socks in another pattern. I'm really trying hard.

I may actually have a nice big carthatic frogging session today. The moda dea man socks are not gonna work. And the starter stockinette socks... well let's just say they are not really for me. They are cascade 220 on on size 3 needles. So they are crazy thick and heavy. I'm thinking that lovely yarn mix might make up a very cute bag. So I should frog them as well.

That would take me down to 5 wips. The gator mitts may never happen. The fun fur scarf I should really whip up. I have a friend in Ohio who would really love those colors. The mariposa... I don't know. I'm not sure if it will ever fit quite right. I could frog it and set the microspun aside for a top for next summer?

I'm actively working on the lace shawl. But I can't really pick back up the kitt trinket bag until I reach a breaking point in the lace shawl, as it uses the same needles. I have to finish the green man socks. But the man is on my sh*t list so I can't really stomach working on those right now.

It's not as pathetic as it sounds, is it?

Oh my.

That's really all I can say. I just spent a few minutes updating my sidebar. With what I've completed and what I'm working on. I've been knitting since the first of the year. I have completed 10 things. That's about a thing a month. Ok. Probably could be doing more, seeing as I'm a sahm with kids in school, but whatever.

The scary thing is the wip list. I have NINE wips. Nine. Nine, as in one less than ten. That's just frightening. Truly. And right now I am seriously jonesing for some mushroom colored rowan cork to make this set. I do need a winter sweater/coat. Yes, I am trying to justify this insane purchase. But wait gentle reader. I will not be spending that insane price on it. I can get the yarn and the pattern book for that for a mere $58. Mere. Strange choice of adjective to tack onto $58 freaking dollars.

I must finish wips before I cast on for anything else. Or at least frog the wips and be honest about it.

I fear for my fleshy parts.

There has been an escape in our home. A thin piece of pointy bamboo is on the lam. With it, it took all hope of working on the lovely hydrangea socks until Tuesday. But it has also instilled fear in my heart. Even though it is skinny bamboo, if I sit my bottom on it just right, will it do bad things to me? The last time I saw it I was using it on the sofa. So for now I'm sticking to the couch.



I was a finisher tonight. I finished the marvelous clapotis and I redid the straps on my chickami so I can wear it in polite company.



There's a reason everybody loves clapotis so. It's just gorgeous. Mine is made from Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in Watercolor. I used three full balls and maybe a few yards from the fourth ball. I worked the pattern exactly as written on size eight straight needles. I now have 95% of a fourth ball left. I might make the matching hat, but I'm not sure yet.

You are not allowed to see it.

I will not post pictures of #19. I refuse. Because if I do, then I will screw up and have to frog it. Well not frog it, as much as trash it. Cause kid merino don't frog. But yay, I'm on row 27 of the 36 row lace pattern. And it seems to be coming along. It's slow, but it's gorgeous.

I'm also working on my hydrangea peaks & valleys socks. I'm on the heel flap right now, while doing a lot of Harry Potter audio. It's good. No real interest in my CE. Hmmm... maybe it was too pricey. Maybe I'm just supposed to keep it. I am selling a bunch of clothes on ebay though and it looks like that might net me a pretty penny.

In other news, it's perfectly normal to feel like you're 13 when the cute gym guy helps you plan your workout routine... right?

KADHD

Knitting Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

So I was happily tooling along on #19. But the hydrangea sock yarn kept calling my name. Whispering how pretty it was gonna work up. And then mamma gone and done it. She ordered the same yarn. So therefore it must be super secret extra beautiful yarn that will knit up into the most wonderful and perfect socks ever.

I cast on for the peaks and valley sock from the Knit Socks! book the other day. Here's what they look like so far:



I haven't had a lot of knitting time the past few days. I did some ebay-ing and some research and spent all day today volunteering at my son's school. I need one more inch of the leg and then I'm gonna do the heels. I want these to be shorter. The chevron pattern really is lovely.

I must say though, this isn't quite what I expected from the yarn. I expected either self-striping OR variegation. What I'm getting as you can see is wide diagonal waves of color families. One wave of hot pink/light pink and one wave of indigo/periwinkle. Very interesting.

Cotton Ease.... You know you want it!

Well I sure did. I went crazy. I bought too much of it. And then, after much shopping for cotton ease and other un-necessary things, we hit a budget bump. A big one. An unexpected blow per se. A blow that made me look at the numbers and think oh my goodness how the heck am I gonna afford the birthday party that invitations have already gone out for. So before I beg, borrow, and steal...

Here it is... The remainder of my cotton ease stash in all it's glory. Don't you want it?



If you do, e-mail me at rincaro at yahoo dot com. I'm looking for $4 a ball plus shipping, but if you're buying a bunch, make me an offer. Listed below are the exact amounts and the dyelots. I'm doing paypal only. Thanks for looking and listening to me whine.

3 Pineapple – 20431A

5 Sugarplum – 29431

6 Cherry – 29430B

3 Candy Blue – 29430B

1 Blueberry – 29057

3 Pistachio – 29431A

1 Pistachio – 25659

6 Bubblegum – 25659

lace becomes her...

Or yarn becomes lace? I ended up frogging 21 rows of #19 because I think too much. Yes, you read that right. I think too much. I was so prepared for the pattern to have an error that I thought too much and I made up my own big fat error. So I re-cast-on and now I have 12 rows worked. It's so beautiful. But there will be no more pictures of it. Pictures of lace are a jinx.

I went to the LYS and wound up my swap yarn. There's like eight or nine hundred yards of that stuff. I need to figure out whether I'm gonna do socks or something else. Decisions, decisions...

Karmic Significance

I am not sure what this means in karmic terms... but look what I found today after church.



I had forgotten to check the mail on Saturday, and there it was lying on the concrete near all the mailboxes. OUTDOORS! I don't know why he didn't put it in one of the larger keyed boxes. It was open just as it appears, and fortunately it was dry. It's postmarked June 10th. What the heck have they been doing with it for two and a half months?

Here's the lovely yarn inside:



It's a pretty mix of blues, yellows, and oranges. Not sure what I'm gonna do with it. I think I had originally intended it to be socks. It would make some nice autumn socks. Not that we get autumn around here. We just get hot and hotter.

Oh and wait just a gosh-danged minute! I'm so sorry Kim for any angst I caused you on this. See? I knew the knitting deities were just spanking me for some reason.

And I'm making progress on #19...



Wait, that's not progress, that's a hairy looking lump.

Here's the true progress....



There is a place at about row 5 that looks like a mistake to me. But when I look at the actual shawl, that's the way it's designed. So.... It's part of a series of yo's & k2tog's and I'm not sure how to correct said mistake without effing up the stitch count. So I'll leave it be, I guess. The main body of the shawl is 6 repeats of a 36-row lace section. I'm on row 16. Surprisingly, it's going faster than I expected.

23rd post, 5th sentence.

I got this from tabbytuxedo.

My 23rd post, 5th sentence reads:

I'm gonna start making hashmarks in my arm each time I frog it.

That was when I could not get soleil to work for the life of me. And had frogged it 27* times.

Instructions for meme:
1. Go into your archive.
2. Find your 23rd post (or closest to).
3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.
5. Tag five people to do the same.

I'm tagging everyone who wants to be with this one.

*27 is the random number whenever I feel like I've done something a million times.

Secret Pal Goodies

I got my final secret pal package today. All kinds of fun stuff, perfectly suited to me!



A beautiful hand-knitted flower chenille washcloth, a lavendar sachet, jasmine soap, butterfly notecards, eucalan wash, Bags: A Knitter's Dozen, and two skeins of knitpicks sock yarn in hydrangea. The sock yarn is a beautiful mix of purples and pinks. I can't wait to find a sock pattern that is "worthy" of it. Thank you so much Neecie!

It's electric!

I heard that song today and now it's just stuck in my head. Sorry to share my misery with you.

I was a bad girl today. After I dropped the boys off at school, me and the lil' dude went shopping. Serious shopping. First stop, Barnes & Noble. Where I had a caramel frappucino and he had chocolate milk and coffee cake. And I drooled over number 19 in the new Vogue Knitting. But I didn't buy it.

Then we headed off to Tuesday Morning. Which I didn't know they had around here. My cotton ease hoarding has become a sickness. I had 6 balls of cherry, 3 balls of cotton candy blue, 1 ball of blueberry, 1 ball of pistachio, 6 balls of vanilla, 3 balls of pineapple, and 5 balls of sugarplum. That makes 25 balls. I added nine more today. 6 bubblegum and 3 more pistachio.


I also picked up a 3-pack of sportweight wool ease in strawberry twist. 435 yards per ball!!! I figure I can whip up a cute lightweight sweater out of that stuff. Maybe a simple top down raglan, as it is quite a pretty yarn.

Then I headed back to my LYS. I felt the need to find lace. I spent a good hour in the "other LYS" looking at lace patterns. That place doesn't make me happy. Everytime I pick up a knitted sample of something to inquire about making it, they either don't have the pattern or they don't have the yarn. And they make me feel like a goober for asking.

So I went to the good LYS. She had kidsilk haze on sale. Damn I love that stuff. And I drooled some more over number 19. And finally after much chit chatting and hanging out, I bought this:


6 balls of kid merino in a creamy white. And I went to Books A Million and picked up Vogue Knitting as you can see so I have the pattern. The bad news is that the pattern is *not* charted. A thirty-six row repeat pattern and no chart? Ugh. I may have to chart it.

While I was chit chatting the LYS owner asked me if I was still interested in maybe some very part-time work. So she could take a day a week off or so. Am I? Am I? Is she kidding? She's looking at it starting in October, but right now I am so excited. I guess she's pretty desperate for some time off though as she's been open all alone for nearly a year now. So woo-hoo and yay!

It's pop quiz time! Can you identify this object?


This is what a man does when he snags his belt loop on the arm of his work chair. Yes, your eyes do not deceive you. He stapled it back together. The thought of my man in the bathroom in his underwear stapling his pants back together??? That's one of those precious memories you store for a rainy day.