feeling left out

This morning I have seen a couple of pictures of the Loopy Ewe Sock Club. Why oh why did I not join? All I can think of is that is was the day before payday and I was feeling a resolve to be more frugal. Damn those frugal feelings all to hell!




What have I got to show off?

OOOO

Blue Moon Fiber Arts - Socks That Rock - lightweight - Fire On The Mountain

AAHHH

Blue Moon Fiber Arts - Socks That Rock - lightweight - Sunstone

Together they will become a sock of my own design. Very cool!

wah

Last week I read on some blog that this person - I do not who, I had clicked there from somewhere else - was insane enough to try to finish 17 pairs of socks in 17 weeks. My first thought, other than the insanity, was that she was some kind of knitting machine. I could not finish 17 pairs of socks in a year. That led me to thinking about what had come off my needles this year. The list is long. WAY longer than I realized. I have added the list to the right. I am going to wait to add links until I can try out Ravelry. It seems to be all the rage.

Here is what has become of Silkie. Grasshopper was frogged, as was Pomatomus. I settled for Bordello from the Sea Wool ball band. The Sea Wool Ball Band, now there is a good band name!

It is beautiful and will probably be a present for my mom's birthday.

No, my mom does not read the blog. No one I actually know has any idea I keep a blog.

This weekend Youngest Daughter participated in an Irish Dance Contest. She took 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in every event she competed. Pretty impressive stuff. The competition was WAY, WAY longer than I anticipated. Luckily I had Oldest Daughter's shawl to work on. I made a ton of progress and then began to feel that dread creeping in. The kind that you deny for rows and rows, telling yourself you are being silly. Reminding your self that you have had this feeling before and it has passed. You knit along in denial. Once it becomes obvious there is not going to be enough yarn you begin to whine.

Oldest Son " Can't you just buy more yarn?"

Me, "This is hand dyed, there is no guarantee that the ball I order tomorrow will have any resemblance to the one I have just knit."

Youngest Daughter. "Can you make it stripey?"

Me, "Normally I would do that, but there are beads threaded onto the yarn before I start knitting. How do I deal with that? Do I even want to deal with that?"

Sulk. Pour a drink. Swear a little. Sulk.

Brilliant idea! I will send the wonderful ladies at Blue Moon a few yards of this yarn and have them pull a skein out of the warehouse that is close. What do you think? Will they do it? Will it work?

rockin' back and forth

Rock and Weaves are done.

OK, they still need buttons. I will pick those up during the LYS tour.

I love the Linen Stitch.

And the cute little picot bind off.

This is the first holiday gift, done. Last year I did not start until August. Maybe I will be done by August this year?

We are assembling a group to attend Stitch N Pitch. We all went last year and had a great time. Yarn, baseball, garlic fries, yarn. Its all good.

Yesterday I began the new Rockin' Sock Club kit. First the positives. This yarn is wonderful! The colors are so beautiful knit together. The pattern called for a toe up cast on that I had not used before. It was easy and looked nice, no going back to tighten the stitches. So there I was making my toes, loving the yarn, then I hit the patterning. It is a YO, P2T repeat and then on the next row row P2T, YO. That was a lesson in frustration. I do not knit as tight as I used to, but I am still on the tight side. Add that to my not so pointy Addi Turbos and it was not pretty. Hand cramps, headache from not breathing, and the swearing. Oh my!

So Grasshopper was frogged and Embossed Leaves begun. I have knit this pattern before and really like it. After a few inches I was thinking they may become a holiday present for Youngest Daughter. After a few more inches it was obvious this yarn was all wrong for the pattern. The leaves showed up during the lighter colors, but not at all during the darker sections. Frog #2.

Pomatomus begun. I am still on the ribbing, not even enough progress to take a picture. Stay tuned.

spoiled, that's me

I had a great birthday. We all went out to dinner at our favorite new neighborhood joint. I should have taken a picture. Darn.

My Grandma sent me a gift certificate to Knit Picks. I ordered a ball winder. This is the very first thing I wound.

The colors are washed out, but I just love the way they look. This is Silkie from the April Rockin' Sock Club kit. They will be my next, not designed by me, project. I am still waiting for the yarn for my next, designed by me project.

The biggest surprise for my birthday was this

It is a Dale Of Norway Olympic Sweater! I never in my life expected to own such a thing. The placket has a beautiful charm and is lined in velvet.

The sleeves also have a button closure and velvet lining.

Talk about spoiled! I am feeling it right now. Husband is a peach!

happy birthday to me

Its my birthday and my April Rockin' Sock Club kit arrived to help me celebrate!







If your kit has not arrived then whatever you do, do NOT scroll down. There is a picture, a big one.

The yarn is soft and lovely. The colors are perfect. It will spend the weekend on my desk, basking in the sun and being stroked from time to time. mmmmm

At the moment I have 2, count em', 2 socks on needles. One is the design I am working on. Last night I needed to knit but did not want to pay attention to what I was doing and write things down. So I grabbed some Cherry Hill Tree from my itty bitty stash basket, and the Rock n Weave pattern and relaxed.

The Rock N Weave that I made from last year's kit were given away. Actually every sock from last year's club was given away. The only thing I kept were the cute little key chains. I began every project thinking how much I was going to enjoy wearing these socks. But soon after I began, the yarn would tell me that it would be much happier at _____'s house. When the yarn talks, I listen.

My birthday will include a phone call to Blue Moon where I will order this and this and this and maybe I can talk them out of one of those clear plastic bags on their home page?

anticipation

International members have begun receiving the April Rockin' Socks Club kit. Someone from Germany has great pics on her blog. Yes I looked. I know many people are upset about the whole spoilage thing. Not me. Seeing yarn on the computer and then holding it are very different experiences. After viewing pictures I am even more anxious for my kit to arrive. With any luck it will be in time for my birthday, Friday.

I finished painting the wall yesterday. No pictures are currently available. This wall is not so much a wall as windows with trim. Whole thing, more square feet of window than I can measure becasue I do not have a ladder that reaches that high. So yesterday when I tried to take pictures they were just a big blob of darkness. I tried again this morning while it is dark. No good. I will try one last time after the sun is up, but before it peeks over the trees. There is certainly a way to take a pitcure in bright light, but anything other than AUTO requires that I actually read the manual for the camera. Please.

is it feeding time?

When it comes to yarn and yardage requirements I have learned my lesson. No more will I run panicked and wild eyed into the night searching for one more ball of dye lot ____.

It appears I have not done a good job of transferring this knowledge to paint. After a weekend of painting the can ran dry, with about 2 1/2 square feet needing that 3rd coat. It is the equivalent of running out of yarn with 1/2 of a sleeve left to knit. Damn.

Home Depot is on the top of the list this morning. With any luck I will be finished by lunch and able to clean up the paint mess so that the living room can be reclaimed. Maybe I will take a picture.

Until the blinds arrive the whole world drives by and looks into the house to see what we are up to. It has been 4 days since the curtains came down. Even the gorillas at the zoo get more off exhibit time than we do.

Knitting...

I am working on a design of my own. Yeah! It has been awhile. Progressed on the Oldest Daughter's shawl while she was at camp. Found this! Oh baby, this is definitely going on my coming soon list.