Ryan's First

Here is a pic from Ryan's first birthday. You can see he is doing well and is growing up nicely! Still has some torticolis that gets worse and better, but not yet completely away yet.

Thanks to Jen for the nice comment on my last post. It is great to hear good stories. Our neurologist is such a piece of work. You would think Ryan has two years to live due to the hypotonia. Jen, is your friend's hypotonia a symptom of any larger disorder, or is that the only problem her son has? I keep praying this is a stand alone condition for him. Ryan is very kinesthetic, so I don't imagine he won't be able to keep up with the other boys, either.

Yesterday, I died some sock yarn at Northwoods. It turned out beautifully, and I received many compliments on it. When I can bring it in from drying, I will take pics and post. Who knows, maybe someday I will let out my color sense and become an indie dyer, too.

Boston LYS Reviews

Windsor Button - This store looks a little bit like an old, run down Woolworth's when you walk in the door. But don't turn around and walk out the door! It has a great selection of yarns (including sock yarns), and of course, buttons! Also, the staff was very friendly and helpful. It is a nice place to stop in and get a yarn fix if you are in the area. I bought some plymouth sock yarn there, which I have since sold to a friend at cost. But I also purchased some Malabrigo Worsted in a lovely orange and light blue colorway called Sunny Valley which I have not seen anywhere else. It may be turned into a scarf for my husband.

Mind's Eye Yarns - This store is very close to the T stop. It has a small selection of yarns, I think about 1/3 of which are dyed by the owner. I picked up some lovely tencel blend sock yarn, custom dyed in the University of Florida colors orange and blue (she dyes it custom for the new yarn shop in Gainesville) and then in black, red and white (NOOOO, not for Harvard or MIT. For Cornell.) Locals rave about this yarn, so I can't wait to knit with it. The flash I accidentally left on shows the tencel's sheen. The shop owner is very friendly and happy to stop what she is doing to talk with you.

A Good Yarn - This yarn shop is RIGHT off of the T stop. It is on the same street as the station, so you can't miss it! They have a great selection of yarn packed into their little shop, including plenty of sock yarn. They also have a decent selection of books. These ladies were also helpful, but knew when to let you alone to browse. :)

Newbury Yarns - Very small shop tucked away in the beautiful shopping district of Newbury St., so it is a worth a stop in if you are in the area. I only bought a book here...there is not *alot* of yarn, but apparently they have another store somewhere else in Boston. The employee working there was very nice.

Knit and Needlepoint - This shop is also on Newbury St. The person working there was helpful and friendly, but there was not much of a selection of yarn and some of the prices were quite high (compared to other shops in the area with the same yarn). I imagine it is to cover there overhead of high rent for the location.

Woolcott & Co. - in Harvard Square Area, Cambridge. It is a small store, but not as small as some of the others I have already reviewed. They have a good selection of yarns, and sell enough of some of them such that you can knit a whole sweater (that is something to be said in a world where it seems most yarn stores are leaning away from that trend). They have a good selection of sock yarns too. I bought two hand-dyed sock yarns there. The lovely, subtley variegated red one is Scarlet by Madeline Tosh (a wee pricey but I hope it is worth it) and the blues is Blue Ridge Yarns Jubilee in Ocean Wave.

Dear shop owners,

I wish I could have bought more, but with all of the baby gear I am buying, I really need to limit my purchases. I know you understand the need for financial discipline. Honestly, I bought too much even with my belt tightening.

Man, I need to quit with the sock yarn addiction. The stash is outgrowing my time availability and knitting speed.

This weekend....

Don't forget that the SC Knitting Guild's Knit Inn will be held. It starts Friday night, and formally ends Saturday night (but informally usually Sunday morning). It is a good way to spend your time before Super Bowl festivities, or to do something nice for yourself to make up for being ignored by your significant other during the Super Bowl. I will be balancing cooking for Super Bowl parties and attending the Knit Inn.

Check out my new Dansko clogs. A little over half off at Mast General, and more top o' the foot space to show off cute knit socks. I know you are jealous. I really don't need to spend money on myself with the baby coming, but since I foresee in the near future not being able to tie my shoes, more slip on shoes cannot hurt. I will probably be living in Danskos and Crocs very soon. :)

I did not get much knitting done over the weekend, but I did order nursery furniture and install more shelving in the laundry room. I am so proud of myself for finally getting the shelving up and therefore being able to clean off the top of the dryer and the few huge things of detergent on the floor. DH finished painting the ceiling in the nursery; we still have to do touch up painting and then faux some clouds on the ceiling.

Yarn P0rn for this week:

I received the January STR club kit. I am excited by the color of this one. I just need to get going on knitting socks again. The pattern is called Serendipity and the colorway is called Dragon Dance in lightweight sock yarn.

And then I bought this Shui Bui sock yarn at The Needle Tree. I went there to buy some knitwear wash for my mom and to see what baby yarns they had. I ended up with this sock yarn. I just need to figure out what I will do with it. They say this yarn has been very popular. There is no name for the colorway, it is just called color #41301.

I am on a push to finish some projects. So I am still working on the Fleece Artist Cardigan on and off, and a charity hat. I hope to start on poor DH's socks again too. Definite SSS.

Mmmm....quiet time

Since my last post, I have been trying to turn off the TV more and to read more. Thanks to a neighbor who is alot like me in personality/preferences, I have a new book to read about different types of thinkers. It is helping me to formalize my strengths and weaknesses, and to understand why I was unhappy in my last career...I kind of already knew, but it helps to have affirmation. It also hope that it helps me settle on what I would RATHER do. It also helps to explain my sometimes knitting ADHD, which happens when I get too many projects going (more than 3). :) Ha ha!

I have also started a TKGA class called Basics, Basics, Basics. I am knitting my little swatches and learning away.

I can't believe it has been a week already. I have so much catching up to do. So down to bid-ness.

SP10

SP10 Contest #8: Blog/Post about 3 yarns you're just dying to try/get your hands on, and why!You have until Saturday, June 30th, 2007 to post your entry.

Apple Pie Sock Yarn - Why? I have heard it is heavenly. That the colors are beautiful and it fuzzes up nicely. I have not ordered it yet because it sells out quickly, and she doesn't really do alot with my favorite color, green. So that has kind of held me back just a bit. I also have not seen it in person yet, and I tend to buy sock yarns that I see in person. I have been disappointed in ordering online with true colors unseen. :)
Kauni Rainbow - Have you even seen that sweater? That Yarn Harlot is knitting? Enough said. It is gorgeous, and it looks like an easier fair isle to do! The yarn does the color switching for you! It may become a group project for some friends.
Hanne Falkenberg Mermaid - Really the whole shebang. The Yarn and the Pattern. Because together they just work. But it is sooooo pricey. That is what holds me back on this one. (Anyone want to contribute to my Hanne fund? Pleeeeeeeaaaaaase?)

Why I have the Bestest SP10 Pal in the World update.

Dear SP10 Pal,

Do not despair; I do truly love you. Please forgive the late posting of the glorious packages that you have sent to me. Trust me, I truly understand the anticipation and stalking of your pal's blog to see how much they love what you have sent. So I sincerely and deeply apologize. Please see my post below.

Your Pal,

Yarngineer

Don't cha wish you had a pal like me? Check out the latest package to arrive from Elann.com. Beautiful green laceweight merino and addi turbo lace needles and a beautiful shawl pattern. I think my pal is telling me that I need to get off my butt and finally knit lace in laceweight yarn. Oh, okay, I guess I better!

After taking this picture, I am dutifully going to put the yarn and needles back in their plastic bag until I knit it so that the laceweight yarn does not get all snaggy.

Socks that Rock!

Oh my, this month's is great. The yarn is Firebird in lightweight, and the pattern is the Solstice Slip. It looks easy and pretty. What a great choice.

Christmas

The Father Daughter Hat for my dad's Xmas present is going. It looks different because I have adjusted the pattern to add an extra 3 inches of ribbing, because in Alaska one needs extra protection over the ears when the temperature drops.

But I was silly and did not check my stitch count as early as I should have after starting the decrease rounds. I was over by one stitch, so I figured out that I had forgotten to do one K2TOG. No problem, I think. I will just drop down the few rows and fix it. Ah, but no grasshopper. This alpaca/wool blend is not as elastic as plain wool. So after fixing it and working the stitches back up it was all too loose and gappy looking. Argh. So I had to frog back anyway, and here is what it looks like right now. I still haven't straightened out the stitches to lie in the correct direction after frogging it. And it is soooo unlike me to leave the yarn all yarn-barfy. I usually wind it back up right away. But this summer has been crazy for me. No fear, I will finish it soon. I just need to knit more little swatchies for my Basics course first.

Well, I need to run and start typing up some answers for my Basics course. I promise to post more frequently!

I have the bestest....

SP10 pal EVAAAAAARRRRRR! (Yes, to show my happiness I will risk sounding like a 'tweener.)

I was a little worried when my SP10 pal posted on my blog that she had sent me a package at the beginning of June. Because I have been so sick, I have not been to the old PO Box in two weeks. I was worried that they may have >gasp<>

But no, it was there waiting for me. Of course, I got into my car and opened it right away. (Those box cutters I keep in there to do my weekly recycling runs come in handy for surprise packages!) And here it is.....

Squeeeeeeee!!!! She ordered for me the Cookie A. sock pattern, Twisted Flower, that I wanted mostest mostest mostest. I know you could not have had a camera in my house...because I had just showed this pattern to my husband last week when I was home sick catching up on Knitty Gritty episodes. I was explaining to him how Cookie A. is the most amazing sock designer, and how I wanted to do this pattern. He thought I was a bit touched, being how complicated it is. :) But me being a bit touched goes without sayin'....But he is so sweet and a bit touched too with his faith in me that he thinks I will be able to do amazing designs someday too.

And the EXACT yarn that it calls for (Louet Gems, which I am looking forward to trying finally), and a set of uber cool lantern moon sox stix. I bet you didn't know that this was my favorite color of green when I was little? My favorite color was green, and I just loved loved loved emerald green. Now, I love all greens. But anyway, I felt like a little kiddie in a candy store. While I was driving, I would pet the yarn. Oooh. Of course, she also sent me two delicious truffles, which I have already eaten (and hence, no pic).

All I can say is, SP10 Pal, you are one cool chica. You must really be stalking my blog. :)

And yes, you are contributing to my knitting ADHD. I am really itching to break out the ball winder and swift (and I will probably break down later today). But I will always forgive you. I don't mind being spoiled so well.

P.S. My dad is from Massachusetts. And I love Boston and my favorite team is the BoSox. :) I used to watch their games with my grandfather. Definitely not just a post-championship bandwaggoner fan here.

Long time, no blog...

I am so sorry you guys. Seriously, all this illness and traveling has worn me down. And now, all of the antihistamines I am on really make me tired all of the time. I wake up at 7 am, have two hours of energy and then feel like crashing everday. I will try to do a short catch up on some things today, but I think it is going to take awhile for me to catch y'all up.






I had a lovely time on a knitting getaway down at Isle of Palm, SC. Really, our only trips away from the beach were to go eat and to go to the lovely Knit yarn store in Charleston. The owner, Gay, and her staff are lovely people. Seriously. Gay takes time to sit down and talk to her customers, knit with you, help you, whatever. And so does her staff. One of the women in the shop actually made coffee and gave me some when she heard me whining about a headache and my needing to find a coffee shop while everyone shopped.







(Y'all, I honestly thought it was a caffeine headache. That is, a lack of caffeine headache. I am famous for getting these because my cardiovascular system is 98% liquid caffeine. And you other consulting engineers out there know what I am talking about needing to drink copious amounts of caffeinated liquids. But it turns out the headache was really due to the pressure dropping since Tropical Storm Barry was deciding to visit us. Which is now a new type of headache I am becoming famous for, as do many other people in the Greenville area. There is something about this geography that gives one hurricane headaches. But we didn't know that Barry was coming to see us at the time, because honestly, WHO watches the TV when you are at the beach. If you do, your beach priveleges should be revoked!)







My mom and I have an ongoing joke about taking pictures of our toes in different oceans around the world. You can't go to the beach without at LEAST sticking your toes in the water and sand. :)









Anyway, Knit has a great selection of books (so many books!), needles, and yarns! I *finally* picked up some Schaeffer Anne Sock Yarn that seemed worthy enough to be purchased. (When I saw it at Stitches East, it was not as impressive as some of the others I needed to allocate my limited funds to.) I also picked up some addi turbo needles (I can't find sizes 4 and 5 circs in this town to save my life so I must travel to find needles.), and a Lantern Moon Molly bag in red silk. But I can't show a pic of the Molly bag...the piping started fraying on the first day I used it. So it is in a box so it can be returned for a new one.


We had such a fun time at her store. Sitting with local knitters and talking about all things knitting. You can't beat that, ever....And a word of advice: if you ever go on a knitting retreat, make sure someone packs a ball winder and swift (as I did).


The night I got back from the beach, I tried on some aikido uniforms that I had ordered. About 4 hours later, I broke out in a serious case of hives...I won't go into why I had to order polyester/cotton blend uniforms as opposed to the usual 100% cotton ones...but lets just say I suspect the blend and chemicals used on it as the culprit. I am also going to spare everyone the gory details about the progression of my hives. I went to my dermatologist the next day, and they swear it was all the seafood that I ate. But after speaking to a family member who worked in allergy medicine, and other friends, we are more sure it was the uniforms. But I am going to plan a trip to an allergist sometime soon, because my allergies may be getting ridiculous. I think I AM turning into my mother. I am getting more sensitive to things, and that is no fun kids.


So, the irony is like a freakin' hammer. I had to cancel going to my aikido camp because I broke out in hives from trying on aikido uniforms that I had ordered for camp. Not only that, my hands hurt so much that I could not knit for 3 days. And even after that my hands would itch whenever I used them. Ugh. I guess I needed the rest anyway.


I think the final thing today is that I have signed up for Stitches East classes a few weeks ago. I am going to be taking alot of design classes, as that is where my area of interest is in right now. I need to push myself to learn more, as I always have ideas but need to get off my butt in putting them to paper more. Anyone else going to Stitches East this year?

MDSW

Disclaimer: Dang! This post is long. So go grab a cup of tea or coffee, take a deep breath, and dive in.

That means Maryland Sheep and Wool to the non-fiber obsessed.

My travelling buddy Mary and I headed out of our burg at 9 am on Friday morning. We (I should say I since I rented the car and did all the driving but I don't mind that) drove 9 hours to get to Frederick MD. There is something special about two people who can talk so much that they never need to turn on a radio for 9 hours. Scary, isn't it? We stayed at a hotel with other knitters from SC, as well as from NY and NJ. I really have to love those Courtyard Marriots. The one in Frederick and the one in Greenville BOTH let us completely take over the lobby and knit away for hours on end. Being the obnoxious, crazy knitters that we are, you would think they would eventually take the free coffee away from us. But no, they have not learned their lesson. We should come with a sign "DO NOT FEED THE KNITTERS CAFFEINE. WE WILL NEVER LEAVE."

Muggles stop and gaze in horror at a group of ladies and men of all ages sit around and knit and, dareIsayit, laugh? Can people who knit really have fun? I mean, there must be SOMETHING wrong with us. Because thank Gawd to some peoples' learned perverted sense of feminism, the domestic arts JUST AREN'T DONE ANYMORE, right? We have been saved from them, haven't we? I do have to say, that fortunately on this trip we left the wine alone. However, (as mentioned in my last post) we would have been WAY outperformed in this regard by a wedding party. (And another aside: Young ladies, if you think you are way sexy and bold when you are stumbling drunk, and that everyone loves you...please think twice before accosting strangers on an elevator. Especially those with needles. We are friendly sorts, but don't be rude. Oh, and lay off the tanning booths/sprays. It does not look natural... :) )

Anyway, fellow knitters, do share the love and stay at Courtyard Marriots since they love us. So please give them your business.

We woke up at 7 in the morning both mornings, left the hotel by 7:45 am. I mean that rocks, doesn't it? Two women who can shower AND eat breakfast in 45 minutes? I am so proud of us...all those 2 minute showers in the Army have paid finally paid off! No, I did not take 2 minute showers, now that I am a civilian I can handle like 5 minute showers...ooooooh, the luxury! Because we were then able to drive the 30 minutes to the fairgrounds and have no problems parking. We even had parking right up front on Sunday. Amazing.

On Saturday, I headed straight for The Fold's booth. Well, honestly not straight, since I stopped to look at some yarn at the entrance. But then Mary reminded me of my mission and obligation to a friend back home in Greenville. Must buy Socks That Rock. Must buy Socks That Rock. So then I headed straight to their booth. I was something like 20th or 30th in line before they opened. Thank goodness I had my choice of all of their colors since I was so early. Ladies, I was the one making a megaphone with my hands asking for two skeins of Fire on the Mountain to be handed back in line to me. Truly, I love you all, but I was getting worried that it would sell out on me before I could even reach it...even though I was only 3 people away. I know it is hard to make a decision on what colorway you want when one is truly overwhelmed by the choices...but it was totally SLOW GOING. I am thankful though that we were able to avoid the STR grabbing frenzy that happened at Stitches East. No mosh pits. Some of us were saying that they should only allow a few people in the booth at a time and to give them a few minutes to choose and then bing! you are done. I honestly think that would be the best approach. Because there are some people out there who kept wandering back and forth to the point that they never left the booth and others couldn't come in. (I know I am exaggerating here.) There is a point where you should figure it out and it is only fair to others that you have a time limit or some other system...maybe those later in line would have a prayer then of getting a skein...just in case you forgot to get one under the time pressure. :) Anyway, I think the people who took the longest were the ones who were toward the front of the line. I guess if you think you earned the right to be there first, you can be leisurely. But, understand y'all, leisure and STR DO NOT GO HAND IN HAND!

Anyhoo, I have often been told I am too much of an optimist, and care too much about sharing for the greater good of the community. Which explains my comments above.

The STR for the friend, Seastone and Fire on the Mountain.

STR for sale to friends: Little Bunny Foo Foo (sold!) and Cracked Canyon. I tend to go a little bonkers on STR, so I pick a few colors and sell at cost to my friends.

After The Fold, I was left to the rest of the festival on a more leisurely schedule. I wandered through everywhere at least twice I think. And then again on Sunday. I had a few shopping missions that I was on:

MISSION #1: Try not to go crazy buying sock yarn for self.

Yeah, right. Well, see below. Not too bad.

From L to R: Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Wild Raspberry. STR Fire on the Mountain. Cloverhill Yarn in Cloverhill. I did buy a Tess' Yarns baby Lace Leaf Cardigan pattern that uses sock yarn. It is one of my plans to use up all this darn sock yarn.

MISSION #2: Yarn for sock yarn swap pal.

First I choose the Cloverhill shown above, but then thought better of it. I mean, really, you are thinking that sock yarn is more my taste, right? Right. You are so right and thank you for pointing that out to me. So now this sock yarn is MINE.

So now here is the real sock yarn for the swap. She says she hates pastels but likes lavender. Unfortunately, lavender is not a popular sock yarn color this season. Don't ask me how they decide what is IN season. I am sure the dyers look at fashion magazines as well as follow their own muses, but lavender is NOT IN. This was the only real other choice other than KPPPM. And anyone can find KPPPM, but who can get their hands on Sheldridge Farms? Not many on the East Coast. Plus it is super soft and quite heavenly. The swap theme is May Flowers, so I hope it is flowery and bright enough.

MISSION #3: Find yarn for a Rogue pullover.

I was auditioning Green Mountain Spinnery Mountain Mohair since I had read online that it made a beautiful rogue. And they were going to be there at MDSW. But honestly, after I felt it and looked at it and the yardage vs price, it was just not rocking my world. So I shopped around. I probably should have picked up some Peace Fleece worsted at $6.20/sk sale price, but by the time I settled on that, they did not have enough yardage in colors that I liked. So I figured out that I will probably do it in some Lamb's Pride Worsted, which I totally adore as a yarn. Since I need a wool with a touch of mohair, it should work. And it comes in so many colors, one can be REALLY picky as to what they can choose. So I left MDSW empty handed, but with a better idea of what I will do.

MISSION #4: Find yarn for another Clapotis.

I have already finished one Clapotis this year. And I loved it so much that I decided to step it up a notch and buy more of a luxury yarn that the pattern originally called for. The answer: Tess' Yarns Cultivated Silk and Wool (50/50). I really wanted more of a white to grey to black colorway, but this is the closest she had. I will say it cost me a pretty penny, but I think it is slightly cheaper than the original Lorna's Laces the pattern calls for.


MISSION #5: Try not to go crazy buying something other than sock yarn.

Oops.

Honestly, I had a coupon for Morehouse Farm, one of my old favorites from my days in NY. Who can resist a coupon? This Melody's shawl is knit in the round with a steek. Too cool. It is Morehouse Merino variegated laceweight. I was torn between this colorway and another with navy blue, forest green and rust. It was too hard, but I could only afford one.

And this yarn was a steal at $6 per hank, normally sells for $16/hank. Gorgeous. By Terra Yarns, called Blue Spruce, 60% merino, 20% Baby Alpaca, 20% silk. It reminds me of home. It will make a lovely scarf or something for me.

MISSION 6: Buy artisan jewelry for Mom's Christmas present.

Durn camera. Sorry. That is two swan heads forming a heart with a celtic knot in the middle. By R.E. Piland.

BONUS MISSION: Buy a present for DH.

C'mon, we all know what this is. To distract him from the fact we bought way too much yarn. Appease him with chocolates, food, yarn for him, or whatever. This time it is in the form of a mug, cause he loves bunnies!

One side of the mug.

The other side of the mug.
Pottery by Greenbridge Pottery. Supernice people with the cutest pottery. Go visit their website for good presents. They let their daughters help draw the designs, like the one above.

Oh yeah, and I only remembered that I had a camera for a brief period. Below is a pic of the crowds on Saturday...the weather started to look stormy and there was a cold wind so it thinned out a bit. Hah!...it never rained. I guess all of that NW upbringing paid of there...knowing when the rain is just trying to psych you out. That and knowing to always pack a raincoat. :P And lots of lambies being sheared.I forgot to take pics of the 5 new lambs. I am sorry. I will remember next year. They wanted me to bring them home with me, but I just couldn't take them from their mommies. :)

We left the festival around noon on Sunday. I managed to make record time driving back. We were back home in Greenville around 9:30 pm. Even with a big dinner stop at an Outback. I think I drove 85 mph most of the way home. It was weird, no cops! Not even in NC, where they tend to set up camp on I-85.

I present to you a picture of one of my first daylillies of the season.

I am spent.

Fun times on a route recon

Yesterday I drove up to Asheville NC to do a route recon* for a semi-LYS Crawl for my knitting group. You know how it is...we all get so busy in our lives that even yarn stores that are only an hour to an hour and a half away go unvisited. I wanted to make sure that some of the yarn stores that came up on my google search actually existed, or actually carry decent quantities of yarn to make the gas money worthwhile. I have been to most of the stores before, so no big deal for me. But, I did find out that one store does not exist! And another that was just a consignment shop with some yarn no longer carries yarn. And the ones that I thought would be worth a visit still are. It will be hard to get 2-3 cars worth of knitters through too many stores, so we have to limit the list.

One of these days, I need to leave early enough in the morning to actually ENJOY Asheville more. I ended up eating McDonalds for lunch while driving, and this is a crime if you know Asheville. It has so many good restaurants that it is crazy to eat crappy food. But I wanted to try to beat rush hour traffic home because there was construction on I-26. I did make time to stop at The Chocolate Fetish, for some delicious Key Lime Pie, Chai and Raspberry truffles. I warned my husband that if he did not eat his share soon, I would not be able to fight off their truffley siren song. (Note to my SP10 Pal: truffles are always welcome. :) ).



Alot of us are saying we are on yarn diets, but you know how that is. I think some of us will break down when in the presence of awesome yarn. As I did. (Just like a dieter breaks down in front of cupcakes or french fries.) I did buy two skeins of Colinette Jitterbug at Yarn Paradise, with the excuse that one is for my SP10 pal. But honestly, I knew deep down that once I showed them both to DH this morning, he would really like the one I was going to give away (and he did). So I knew both would end up in my home!** Agh! And honestly, it is a miracle that this is all that I bought. I had held out all day before and after this purchase, but it is like a pressure cooker building up steam. You finally get around some sock yarn that you hear raves about, and you are like, well....I will just buy just this one. I must be crazy. Crazy for tightly spun super soft merino sock yarn. It is my personal yarn kryptonite.

Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug in Colorways (top to bottom) Blue Parrot #16 and Jewel #54.

Source: Yarn Paradise

The good news is that I will be going back up in ~1 week for the actual crawl. And so I will have a chance again to buy one of many new sock yarns for her. Or other yarns if I can find a deal for her. Don't worry pal-ly, shopping for you is always on my mind. :)


I have finished that purple and blue lizard ridge block, and have started another this morning. They are so like knitting dishcloths that I encourage you all to take up this project. The blocks make a nice break between knitting other projects.

* It is scary when one channels their super duper high speed Army planning and logistics skills. I was always highest rated on my planning skills. All I know is whenever I get around to having bambinos, they are in for some trouble. Mommy has it all under control! And I will be in for trouble when they do their best to perturb my plans!

** One of these yarns may end up as a gift to one of my sockerly knitting friends! Ahah!

This little girl got gage....

...on my Socks That Rock club kit. Using the recommended needle size for tiny feet. This is great news, because maybe it means I am no longer an anally tight knitter. :) I tend to be a tight knitter, especially on socks. I am hoping this will make it easier on my hands and to do the cables the pattern calls for. So this morning I am going to cowboy up and try the provisional cast on for toe up socks.

As I said yesterday, I received the "More Sensational Knitted Socks" book. I have not really gotten to look at it yet, but I promise to this weekend.

I also received my From the Heart Swap box from my Angel. My original swap box was sent from my pal in England back in the beginning of February, but it never arrived. This is horrible, because I know my pal went out of her way to make a nice package for me. I guess there is some customs agent out there with chocolate smeared all over his/her face fondling what was supposed to be my yarn p0rn! Not nice! Shame on you! You do not deserve such nice things!

Anyway, the swap box was great! I received some Cascade 220 wool, two balls of Regia striping, two balls of Regia Cotton, Chibi needles (Bless you! as I was about to buy some more on my own, since some of mine have grown legs), Godiva chocolates with raspberry filling (have you been reading my blog, eh?), tiny tiny sock needles (okay now you have been reading my mind because I have not been able to find 00 or smaller needles! Stop it!), reinforcing yarn (have never tried it, thank you!), and two sock patterns. Thank you! I have never tried Regia, so this will be great! The cotton blend yarn will be handy for summer socks.

Sorry the picture is out of focus, the battery low light was flashing at me, so I had to hurry.

My DH's birthday is coming up soon. He has been having a very stressful time at work, so I am trying to plan a week of surprises for him. I cannot post them here. But if you have suggestions, please let me know. It can be anything from little gifts to little things to do together because I don't want to completely break the bank.

Squeeee! STR club package arrived!

So as not to spoil it for those who have not received their package yet, I will place in some blank space. For those who want to see, scroll down....

Isn't it beautiful? I stopped by my PO Box on the way to my knitting group last night, and it was there! I called my STR Club buddy in Florida while I opened the package. Immediately, I decided these colors are right up my alley since I love greens, blacks and some browns. But then when I looked at it again last night, I decided it reminded me of my old army fatigues. And I decided, since I owe my husband some socks, maybe I would just make these for him. They seem like they would be perfect for a man, especially since the pattern calls for extra arch support, toe and heel padding. The pattern is also reversible. Since my husband wears through socks like kleenex, this pattern may be best for him. :) He is tough on the toes and heels of his socks. It is only fair too, since the Sundara Petals Yarn is more suited for me. :) Oh, I don't know. He doesn't wear this color of green really. I am torn.

I love the new binder, to put all of my sock patterns in one place! Perfect! I will put the button on one of my knitting bags. I don't really want to use the bumper sticker on my new car...who knows. And I love the 10% off an order coupon. BMFA makes fun of their old bank on it. I am going to have to save it and prioritize which colors I am going to buy out of the ton that I love.

I also really need to start my applique block today for my class on Thursday, so I am torn. Start on these socks? But I have never done toe up before (but want to). Or start my block and put off that bias strip I don't want to do. Aiaiai. I think maybe both?

I finally frogged back about four rows on my Clapotis yesterday, so I have restarted that. I am two rows away from the third section of the pattern. Yay!

Calling all Alaskan Knitters!

I have met or stumbled across a few Alaskan Knitters out there. And I feel the need to be connected to a place that has very much shaped who I am. So I decided to create our very own RingSurf for Alaskan Knitters. So now I am a proud Ring Momma. If you have lived in Alaska or currently live in Alaska, feel free to join! We would love to have you.

I also wanted to answer some questions posted in the comments of my last post.

Beverly said...
What's the Lisa Souza sock yarn like?

Well, it is quite nice and soft, but I found it to be not very elastic. I tend to knit tightly, especially on socks. So it was a little harder for me to work with than I would have liked because I suffer from carpal tunnel. It is also more loosely plied, so take care not to split your yarn. I think it washes up to be very soft, as mentioned in the post below. I suspect that some of these less favorable attributes were a result of the red dye (Lisa Souza and I had a nice email discussion about this; she is so wonderfully helpful.). The GingerPeach colorway she sent to me appears to be much softer, so I hope that it will be more elastic and easier on my hands. Alot of other sock knitters really love her sock yarn, so I think you should try it and see for yourself. She is not very expensive for hand dyed yarn, and she ships very quickly.

Wendie said...
oooooh loverly!Just wanted to stop by and thank you oh so very much for the most beautimous socks and all those goodies!!!! The socks fit perfectly and they're so soft (did the vinegar bath do that? I have some of the Sock! and it's not nearly that soft). I love it all and I seriously can't wait to dig into the yummies. Sugar overload, here I come! thank you thank you thank you!-your sockatine swap pal

Other than sharing the majority of Wendie's post as an attempt at shameless self-promotion of my gift giving abilities, I want to answer her question.

Here are the steps I took in trying to make your socks stop bleeding:

1. Soaked in a vinegar and water solution for a few hours (probably too long, but I wanted to be sure as it was my first try at this).
2. Soaked and washed in Lavander Eucalan soap for 15 minutes. To my horror the yarn was still bleeding. Promptly sent email to Lisa Souza for advice and left socks soaking overnight in the soapy water.
3. Simmered socks in vinegar and water solution for 45 minutes (again on the conservative side :) ).
4. Soaked and washed in Lavander Eucalan soap for 15 minutes.
5. Air dry.

I wanted to be ultra geeky and share all of the steps so that you could see, I don't know exactly what caused the yarn to become so soft. I suspect maybe the simmering for 45 minutes? You could try doing that with yours, and the side benefit would be that you would just be making sure that the dye stays fixed. I am glad you love them. I was afraid all of the processing made them too fuzzy.

I am going to apologize in advance for lack of knitting progress. Being a ring momma takes some time, and I am WAY behind in my quilting. I have to start and finish piecing two blocks today. Not a biggie, but I have not pieced for months, and I can't waste my fabric with any mistakes today. So keep your fingers crossed for me!

Yarn P0rn Friday and Loppyness

See Yarngineer's hand.

See Lisa Souza Sock! Merino.
See Yarngineer's hand pet the pretty Sock! Merino.
Isn't it just lovely? The color is GingerPeach. This is the yarn that Lisa Souza comp'd me since I had problems with the burgandy Sock! yarn bleeding onto my hands and needles. I have been hauling this skein around like a tribble, taking it out for my friends to pet it like yarn p0rn.


I believe I have made a mistake in my Clapotis. Not a major one....I just must have been hallucinating due to improper caffeination of my cardiovascular system, thinking that I had place in stitch markers in my last Second Section repeat. Alas, no. The total number of stitches is correct, but maybe lopsided in distribution between the two ends of the piece. So, I will frog back a few rows and try to handle by business better.




I have also completed the heel flap for my first Cedar Creek. Isn't it beautiful? I love how the color has a sort of checker effect, due to alternating slips, knits and purls between the two sides of the work. I had started the heel, but frogie-olahed back again, because I was lopsided on the two sides as to the # of unworked stitches.

Wait, I see a trend of lopsidedness here. The need to drink more coffee and be more strict about my counting of the pattern! Well, I better skeedaddle if I am going to make it to the Lizard Ridge KAL.

What a great weekend....

The SC Knitting Guild's Knit In was a success. It seems the classes were well run (I missed mine..boohoo), and people had a great time. It is nice to see things return to normal. I got to meet great people, including Fiberitis and her mom. I also got to meet another civil engineer attending grad school at Clemson who knits. It is fun to meet people from other towns who come all the way to Greenville to join in the fun....and who aren't scared away by the wacky antics of some of our guildmembers (you special people know who you are).

I made further progress on my Clapotis. I am still on the second section, but only have two more rows until I am in the third section. Sorry, I can't get my circ to not bend.

I completed one of my knitting resolutions! Well, it is not completed, but an ongoing process. I started to learn to crochet, thanks to a good friend who travelled back to SC from FL just to see her friends at the Knit In. We miss you Sandy! It is the head for a little amigurumi birdie.
Yeah, it is a little mishapen, but I can fix that with stuffing. I am already pretty fast at single chain crochet.

My Sockentine Pal's socks are finally done blocking. I will try to mail out the box tomorrow. I need to at least post this on LnV sock marathon site before I forget.

What is wrong with me? I have no will power to resist sock yarn and such. Here is what I bought this weekend.

The Universal Yarns Poems is exactly like Noro Kureyon, only softer and it comes in pastel colors. This will be used for my Lizard Ridge throw KAL and I bought it at Yarns Forever. The Lang Jawoll Sock Yarn is in University of Texas Burnt Orange, khaki, red and black and white. So it combines all of my school colors for Cornell and UT Austin. Yay! Guessin' them socks are for me. I also bought a Interlacements beaded scarf kit to make for my MIL's birthday. I will try to post a picture later, because for now I am worn out running around taking pictures of everything!

Yarn Porn

I was so excited to stop by my friend's store, Yarns Forever. It has been a long time since we have talked in person, because she has been busy really learning how to dye her own yarn to sell under the Creatively Dyed name, and I have been traveling alot more. I was so thrilled to see that she has a new twist of sock yarn that she is dying, and there were two colors that I really loved. One of them was Ocean Breeze. I don't see the other colorway on her website yet. I had to put off buying some, as I promised to finish knitting one pair of socks before I buy any more sock yarn. I need to start killing the mileage that I have acquired on all of my travels! Maybe I will have to start buying cheezy tourist shirts instead!

I forgot to say that I also bought a cool little magnet board thingy at her store to help me keep track of my spot in my sock charts! Yaaaaaay!

I also spent some time today buying chocolates, candies and fun little things to put in my sock pals packages. I don't want to describe them here because it will ruin the surprise! But, never fear sockie pals, I am still thinking of you!

Snikky, snikky, snikky....

So I have told you all that I have signed up for the Sockentine Swap on the Knitting Help Forum. Instead of using the Claudia Handpainted Santa Fe sock yarn, I have decided to order some Lisa Souza Sock! Merino in a special colorway for my swapee. It seems none of the sock yarns in my entire sock yarn stash will do. And no, I will not reveal my color choice here in case my swapee decides to visit my blog. The color is so specific to her preferences (I think) that she will know I am knitting the socks for her. So you all will just have to wait to find out!!!!!! I am excited, since I have not tried Lisa Souza yet. I will have to wait an extra few days because they need to dye the yarn since they have ran out of that color.

I am at the same time totally bummed that my Sundara Yarn Petals Collection has not arrived yet. Don't get me wrong, I totally understand the situation. It is just that I am afraid someone may take any boxes that are delivered if I am out all day or travelling. My neighbor has not been the best at picking up my mail AND my packages, even when I warn her that I am expecting packages. Oh, well...just keep your fingers crossed. I have only just joined the club, so I am anxiously awaiting my first delivery of her gorgeous yarn!

And I need to finish writing up the pattern for Samantha's Baby Blanket. I kept the blanket a few extra days in order to try to figure out everything that I did (No, I did not keep copious notes for once! Shocker!) have all sorts of hideous scrawled notes on a piece of paper from trying to reconstruct the pattern. I will try to post it tomorrow after I write it up all nicely.

I have been having so much fun listening to knitting podcasts while driving around running errands. I really love Lime N Violet. They make me feel like I am back in NY or TX sitting around with some wacky best girlfriends, where no topic is off limits as long as it is treated to a huge dose of humor. Thanks ladies for making me feel at home away from home....

Speaking of Texas, I am totally geeking out over the washcloth pattern that my DH's coworker found for me. It is a Texas Longhorns one, so y'all know I am going to be searching for some dark orange Peaches N Cream for this one. Please, let me know if you have ever seen any Sugar N Cream or like brands in a burnt orange. I would love you forever for the help!!!! Maybe I just need to get off my butt and head over to Hobby Lobby and AC Moore to find some. But I honestly don't recall seeing any. I just searched on google and apparently there is a color called pumpkin, so I am going to have to look for it. Joann.com carries it, so if I am desperate, I can order it. But I would hate to order $5 worth of yarn just to incur $5 shipping or something. Yuck.

I have picked up work again on the Bob's Meadowlarks. Will post pics later.

Stitches East Review

Just returned from a 5 day trip for Stitches East 2006, where I was helping a friend run her yarn store's booth. This post is a little late as I am still catching up on sleep and have just started blogging today! It was a great experience, and wanted to share my thoughts with you all on a few things. I am not a vendor, nor do I work in a yarn store. Just a fellow yarnaholic.

Classes:
I took three classes while there.

• Learn to Love Intarsia with Sally Melville - A+ Class. Sally is friendly, personable and teaches many useful techniques in a short amount of time. These techniques are useful for intarsia as well as other types of projects. This would be a good class to supplement your reading of her third book, The Knitting Experience: Book 3: Color (The Knitting Experience), before you have tried to tackle any of the projects in it. Those in the class who had already done some of her projects in the book STILL learned how to better accomplish the techniques. This was my best class at Stitches.


• Fair Isle Knitting with Beth Walker-O'Brien - A Class. Beth was great, made you feel like you were being taught by a friend. She is also friendly, personable and made sure that she moved all around the classroom to help everyone. She demonstrated techniques from many locations in the classroom, as well as to small groups. Everyone in the class had practiced knitting in the hand they are not used to knitting in well before the class, so we were able to move at a fast clip. (I highly recommend doing this by knitting a few washcloths, like the "Back to School" free patterns on Knitty.com using inexpensive Sugar N' Cream yarn. You will be respected and much liked by your classmates for being prepared AND you will get more out of the class by already mastering this.) She shared her contact info with everyone, so that we could email her at anytime with questions. Be advised that she is getting divorced, so that you can find her under her maiden name Beth Walker at future Stitches events.
  
• Intarsia without Fear with Edie Eckman - B Class. I thought this was a good class until I took Sally Melville's. Edie will teach you a few traditional techniques with humor and patience, while Sally Melville will teach you many more techniques.

I feel that The Market could have been run a bit better than it did for the vendors, from my observations. It seemed there wasn't enough communication with the vendors on the procedures for setting up and breaking down. You could tell that no one with real logistics or planning experience was put in charge of that operation. :) I hope they can fix this in future Stitches East. It will make it easier for the vendors to participate. Also, vendors did not receive doorprize entry forms for the customers, nor were they giving them out with every purchase when they did! As a result, many people did not get to enter into the drawings as much as they should have. So be sure to ask for these next year!
Food - Either plan on eating great french fries and greasy food at the concession stand, eat at the great pubs across the street, or pack your own lunch. I did the latter two choices. Also, Starbucks is located on the third floor, so be sure to hit that for caffeine-assisted learning!

This is obvious, but budget plenty o money for your purchases, and bring a list of what you wish to see and buy. The Market is a great opportunity for you to see all of those cool yarns and gadgets you have heard about but can't find locally. The list also helps you stay on budget! I found extra yarn money by cashing in my coin jar before the trip. (Don't laugh, it works!$60 worth! Thats 3 skeins of sock yarn!)
My Stitches East purchases:

• Socks That Rock by Blue Moon Fiber Arts - I bought 4 colorways of the lightweight 100% Superwash Merino Sock Yarn: Lucy, Fred Flinstone, Metamorphic, Blue Brick Wall (a gift for a friend). I also bought one colorway of their Seduction Sock Yarn, which is 50% Merino and 50% Tencel, in Nodding Violet. I also bought three of their sock patterns: Central Air, Cedar Creek Socks, and Lavender and Lace. If anyone has worked any of these patterns, please let me know your thoughts.

• Tiny Toes by Interlacements - I bought one colorway #402 Taiga. It is a variegated green colorway.

Super Socks & Baby by Tess Yarns - I bought a colorway with greens, blues and purples, but since it did not come with a label, I do not know what it is called. I am guessing that it is the Rainforest colorway.

Sunflower Kit by Decadent Fibers - this is a needle felting "recipe" for me to make sunflowers to decorate my house.

A "K2TOG" magnet from ModernYarn - I find this romantic, like my husband and I knitting our two lives together....okay a touch of gooshiness, sorry. Moving on....

Even though this is my birthday month and had a birthday present budget set for Stitches from my DH, I had to limit my purchases, as I had gone to SAFF the weekend before and spent way too much there. I will share my purchases from that in a separate post!