2008 Knitting Goals

Goal Number One: Get all the yarn I own to fit into the 16 clear plastic bins that I have. That means knitting from the stash, alot.

Goal Number Two: Complete the following 30 projects so that I have room in the stash (I think I have the yarn for all of them and I do have all of the patterns)
1. Clapotis
2. Pea Pod Baby Set From Interweave (because you know someone I know will be having a baby). I have enough of Knitpicks Shine to knit 1 set for a boy.
3. Cinder's Fairy Godmother Scarf. I have the beads and the lace-weight yarn. Now all I need to do is knit it.
4. Simple Shawl from KnitspotI have enough Alpaca to knit it.
5.Cherry Blossom Socks by Silvia Harding. I'm thinking about using some Yarn Pirate for that.
6. Ms. Marigold by Sarah and Rachel of Zephrstyle. I have enough Berroco Pleasure to work it up if it gets gauge.
7. Kathy's Fingerless Gloves. I don't have the yarn for this one, but have asked Melissa from Stash to get it for me.
8. Red Light Special by BrooklynTweed. I have enough Dale Baby Ull to knit this. I would just need to figure out what to line it with.
9. Wavy . I have enough Cascade 220 for this.
10.Penllyn Socks by Lisa Parker for Wildhorse Farm Designs. I seen a bunch of these knit up and they are very pretty. I have the materials to make a bunch.
11. Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap. I have enough sock yarn to make these and baby socks to match for quite a few expectant mothers.
12. Branching Out. I have the Silky Wool to make a bunch of these
13. Dashing. The plan for my father for his birthday for next year. I have a tweed Alpaca that looks like it would work perfectly.
14. Endpaper Mitts. I have the Louet Gems for this.
15. Vog On. They seem like the perfect Summer Socks.
16. Shifting Sands Scarf. It seems like it would be perfect in some hand-dyed sport Weight that I have.
17. Hearts. How can you resist these guys for Valentines day? Perfect for using up little scraps of leftover yarn.
18. Mountain Peaks Shawl. Perfect for using up some of my laceweight.
19. Marina Piccola. I have the perfect yarn for this thanks to my Holiday Swap partner, a lovey lightweight STR.
20. My So Called Scarf. I have the perfect yarn for this, 2 skeins of Malibrigu in a varigated colorway.
21. Koolhaas Hat. Perfect for the Alpaca from Shibu that I got last week in Little Rock.
22. Sheep and Wool Hat. Because it's cute and I have enough Cascade 220 to knit a house cozy.
23. Falling Water Scarf. It's beautiful and uses a pair of socks worth of fingering-weight yarn. Need I say more?
24. Retro Wedge Felted Bag. Super Cute and uses Cascade 220.
25. Summer Cardigan by Knitting Pure and SImple. I'm thinking of making it out of some of the Noro Lily that is in the stash.
26. Secret of the Stole II. This is a yahoo group mystery stole knitalong that begins in mid-January. I'll be using some of the green lace-weight in my stash. More info can be found on the Nautical Knitter's blog.
27. Bell Hat by Pickupsticks. Perfect to use up more Cascade 220.
28. Titania's Revenge. I want to make these before the Loopy Retreat in April and wear them there.
29. Central Air Socks. Because I have too big of an STR stash and I love this pattern.
30. All the STR club kits from this year that I never got a chance to make.

Goal 3: Knit a pair of simple plain-jane socks every month.
Goal 4: Photograph the stash and get it all into Ravelry (I'm starting this today).

That's about it (although it seems like a ton) for my goals for 2008. What are some of yours?

Hmmmm....

So I need an opinion (or several). I knit this Orchid Lace Mitt yesterday and I'm not really feeling the love. The yarn is gorgeous (It's Wollmeise in the Suzanne colorway) and the pattern is very pretty also (you can find it here). But together they seem to lack something. Hmmmm... I am planning on knitting the other mitt today, just because this is a great way to use up sock yarn (and with Wollmeise's yardage I can get the mitts done and socks for someone with smaller feet than I out of one skein). I also need a pair of fingerless gloves. These will be my last project for 2007. That's kinda sad. Tomorrow I will post about my knitting goals for 2008 (I'm going to list the top 30 projects that I plan on making in the coming year, most of which will use sock yarn).

Specifics

Ignore the fuzzy photos. Apparently, my camera can't handle to excitement of photographing people in what I knit for them. I'm going to give you the specifics on some of the projects. If you're on Ravelry, you can just look at my projects page. I think this is more fun.



Project: Trick's Mitts

Made for: Trick, Becky's boyfriend of forever/partner in sin

Why I selected this pattern: From prior posts, you can determine that I was going to knit Trick a very cute snake and mouse. Well.....I ran out of time for the felting process (It would have been wet in the gift wrap, never a good sign) Trick's a smoker, so he needed some fingerless gloves so that he would no longer freeze his fingers off. I looked through several books and my queue and found this pattern in a book I already owned (always a plus when knitting at the last minute). I also had some very guy friendly Noro I got at Woolgirl's sale a few months ago.

Pattern: Medallion Mitts by Michael de Vecchio. Found in the book, Knitting with Balls.

Needles: I used size 5 and they seemed a bit small but fit Trick perfectly. I would use a size six next time around. I used my addi lace and magic looped them. Loved it. Need to use that technique more often.

Yarn: Noro Kureyon. It took 1 ball plus 10 yards of another.

Mods: I made these a little bit longer than the pattern called for (hence needing extra yarn).

Notes: I love this pattern, it was a super quick knit and the cables kept it interesting. One that I would make again.

A Good Time Was Had By All

A belated Merry Christmas to everyone. The gift knitting went down to the wire, but all was completed in time. Here's some pics from our holiday. I'll go into more detail about the projects knitted (the watch was a gift, can you get more rockstar than a purple leather pirate skull watch with rhinestones? I think not) at a later date. Today is my day to recover.

Free Patterns

I've uploaded the Vadleany Socks pattern to the free pattern link on the side and will add it to ravelry patterns selection after Christmas. For tech reasons, I can't get the 2 parts to merge. You will have to download part one (which is the first page) and then part two (which is the second page). Like always, please enjoy my patterns and have fun. If you have any questions, you can send them to me via the contact this person button on the free pattern page. Please do not claim my pattern as your own. Thanks and Happy Holidays!
LaLa

Christmas Meme

Kathy tagged me to complete this meme. So here goes...

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I like to give gifts in cloth or homemade bags when possible. I hate wrapping but the hippie in me also hates the amount of waste created by paper and gift bags.

2. Real or artificial tree? - I like the smell of real pine, but I'll be honest. I visit houses with trees in them, I'm not real big into them myself. I'm def. not a theme tree person.

3. When do you put up your tree? - See above

4. When do you take the tree down? This is getting repetitive.

5. Do you like eggnog? No. I'd rather have hot coco or hot apple cider (with or without the rum) any day.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? -Every Christmas I got something that was my favorite. Santa is awesome at my house. This year I'e gotten a kick ass pirate watch from my friend Nikki along with HeMan and SheRa Christmas Special on DVD. Rockstar.

7. Do you have a nativity scene? - No (I don't decorate)

8. Worst Christmas gift you've ever received? - My students have given me some pretty bad ones. But it's the thought that counts and any present is better then none.

9. Mail or e-mail Christmas cards? - Email and some mailed

10. Favorite Christmas movie? - Muppet Family Christmas (unfortunately, one of my evil ex roommates stole it and you can't get it anymore).

11. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Whenever. If I see something that makes me think of someone than I get it for them.

12. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Cookies made by mom.

13. Clear or colored lights on the tree? - I like the clear or just blue

14. Favorite Christmas song? -Silent Night

Credit Card Fraud

Someone stole my Chase credit card number and has been having a good old time with it. It caused my to loose out on the next round of yarn pirate sock club and has caused all sorts of other trouble (mainly not being ably to knit because I have to be on the phone and the computer at the same time looking up every little paypal payment I've made in the last few days). Totally sucks. Everyone out there, please check over everything that you need to. Trust me, the whole thing sucks.

6 days Until Christmas

Twas 6 days before Christmas,
and all through the house,
busy fingers were knitting
though not done with the mouse
A hat was all finished and packaged with care
But LaLa would still not move from her chair
The yarn was all nested, all snug in the stash
While LaLa knit on in quite the mad dash
No snake, and no mouse in a box yet for Trick
No bag to be wrapped for my good friend Miss Nic
No mittens for a Thing one or Thing two
Can you believe stuff yet to do?
And reindeer are still on the list to be knit
It's enough to cause anyone sane a huge fit
Luckily, work will be over tomorrow
That will create a lot more less sorrow
Merry Knitting to all and to all a good night!

One Present Down

So I changed what I was going to knit for Rae. I had already gotten her the cool body wash type stuff on top of the washcloth and decided it needed something hand knit to go with it. Today at work, I cast on the washcloth from Mason Dixon and got to work (thank goodness for exams). Here are the washcloth specs:
Yarn: Peaches in Creme, bought at the local Walmart forever ago (at least a year) and has been chillin in the stash since.
Needles: Size 7 circs and dpns
Total time: Around 5 hours give or take children's interruptions and going to check children out of school.
Being done with one of the items for someone on my Xmas list, priceless.

Button, Button, Who's Got a Button?

The baby bolero from Mayfield's baby girl is almost done. It's just lacking the buttons. Here's a recap:
Pattern: Child's Neck-Down Bolero by Knitting Pure and SImple
Needles: SIze 8 circulars and DPNs
Yarn: 2 skeins of Cascade 220 Superwash
Notes: Not so found of picking up stitches, but love that the only thing that needs sewn is the buttons. I LOVE the Cascade 220 Superwash. It really softens up after being thrown in the washer (Yes, I threw this in the washer on cold, deleciate cycle). I let it air dry because I'm not that brave. Great written pattern + great yarn= fantastic sweater. I would make this again, but not right before Christmas. I have enough stress as it is.

Speaking of Christmas Knitting, if you are anyone I might be making a present for. STOP READING THIS NOW




No really, Becky. I mean both you and Trick.




Are we ready?

Here's the list of stuff I still need to knit. I'm warning you, it's very scary.
1. A bag for Nikki. I'm currently thinking this one
2. A toy snake and mouse for Trick. If you haven't been here, you need to go. It's awesome.
3. The reindeer from the same site for Becky. I've seen them done out of leftover bits of sock yarn and have fallen in love.
4. Fetching for Ray with a matching Calorimetry (I would link, but that's taking up valuable knitting time)
5. Mittens for Julie and Mister (Luckily, they have small hands)
6. Socks for Grandma
7. A lace scarf for Trotter out of the Camelspun I got in PGH.
8. Fingerless gloves for the woman who sells me my Desoto Appeal everyday to take to school. She's very sweet.

I think that's it. It's only 1 project everyday to be done. I'm off of school starting on Thursday. It can be done, right?

Basics of Fair-Isle Knitting

I'm teaching a class on fair-isle knitting today and I thought I would share with everyone some of my favorite fair-isle patterns and sites.

First, if you're just getting started and you can't take my class, you might want to the video that the Philosopher's Wool Company has put together. While you're there, you should totally buy some of their kits. I'm in serious love with this. In case you needed more reason to buy from them, they are seriously nice people and always go to Maryland Sheep and Wool.

If you're still a bit confused, knitting help also has a video here.

Now that you have the basics down, there's a few things about color dominance you need to know. Eunny Jang totally knows a ton of information about everything (I would love to be in her brain for a while). While you're there, you should check out her Endpaper Mitts and other great patterns (I love the mittens).
Now we're at the fun part of looking at patterns. Some of my favorites are Fake-Isle, and the We Call Them Pirates Hat from Hello Yarn (They also have some squirrel mittens, I've been thinking about making). Interweave always has a ton of cute Fair-Isle patterns in their magazine. If you can get your hands on an Alice Starmore book, you're golden. I'll have to hunt up more patterns later, I've got to get going for the class. Happy knitting all!

Go Elf Yourself

watch me here

Holiday Swap

I am in love with Socks That Rock Yarn. I think the huge bag of it that I have can attest to that. Debi/Cockeyed happens to be a sockateer for Tina and got me one of the few of the purple/blue colorways (my favorite) that I didn't have. She also got me some great Tazo tea, Godivia Chocolates (yummy!), bath and body works lavender shower gel, lotion, and pillow spay, a great Yankee candle, and a fabulous pattern that I've had my eyes on for quite a while. I can't wait until all the Christmas knitting is done to get started. Thank you so much Debi! I loved every bit of it!

Because I Can

Swaps and Yarn, Oh My!

This first picture is my package from my secret pal, Christina. She went out of her way to find stuff that was so me. It's amazing what a great job she did. I love all the yarn. Love it! And the gorgeous stole that all the stuff is on, she made that for me. Wow! She is truly amazing. There is some more stuff that she sent that is not pictured. The chocolate (some yummy stuff called poppets in mint and toffee) were very yummy. I also have a magic bean that's not in the picture. It's getting ready to take me to the land of the giants as we speak. Thank you so much, Christina! You are a rockstar!
I'm going to save pictures from the second swap that I was in until tomorrow. I don't think it's fair to ply you with so much swap goodness at once.

Playing on Picnik

I've been playing on picnik. It's very cool. I might have to get a premium account.

Lies

Apparently, 10 p.m. is not a good time to take pictures of yarn. The swap packages are just so awesome that you have to see them. I promise I'll get pics up soon.

Dyed Yarn

My hands are currently pink, purple, blue, and black because I dyed some yarn today. Can't wait to see what the students think about that tomorrow. I'll post pics of the dyed yarn and the awesome swap packages I got this week tomorrow.

The Land of the Books

I've been super busy for the past couple of weeks with work stuff because I decided to have a book fair. Book fairs are not fun. They involve a ton of work for very little money. My students love them, though. Even if all I sell is a few books and a plethera of junk (have you seen the amount of junk?), it makes me feel like my students are interested in junk books. Anyway, very little knitting is getting done because of the book fair. I just wanted to show you what's been keeping me so busy and at school from 6:30 in the morning until 7 at night.
On a positive knitting note: I formed a Knitting Pure and Simple group on Raverly and everyone should join it. Really, go join it now.

Shirley's Scarf

The second project that I completed over Thanksgiving is the Liesel Scarf. This is a free pattern that you can find here. The scarf is not a hard knit, but it wasn't a pattern that I could memorize. It took me the car ride home to complete (I'm thinking that I knit at least 10 of the 12 hour trip).
Here are my specs for the scarf.

Size Needle: I used size 8 addi turbos. I might go up to a 10 next time to make the scarf more lacy looking. Although, for the PGH climate, more substance is better.

Yarn: I used Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted and got 22 repeats of the pattern completed. I might have been able to squeeze out a 23rd repeat, but I really didn't want to have to rip back. Thinking about it now, I could have put in a lifeline with no worries. Hmmmmm...

Other Notes: This is a project that needs blocking. It looks so much better after being steamed blocked. It is also a fairly reversible pattern. This is one that I would knit again.

Punk-Rock Socks

I'm going to try to be better about posting in December than I was in November. Time just seems to be flying this year. Can you believe that in just a few weeks, I'll be halfway through the school year? Neither can I. Here's an FO from Thanksgiving week.
The pattern is Bellatrix from Momma Monkey . (Awesome! Bloggers letting me do the cool links again). These actually started out as the fingerless gloves version and they were way too big. I didn't want to waste 4 inches of knitting so I just changed them into socks. Think of these as a loose interpretation of the patttern. They were knit on Knitpicks 16 inch circs on size 1.5. The Yarn is Yarn Pirate Culture Club (I love her stuff!). Some color did come out in the wash, but I expect that with blacks and pinks.
Now I have got to get a move on with the Xmas knitting!

Thanksgiving

I spent Thanksgiving in Pittsburgh in the land of no blogging. I had a great time causing my credit card to scream at Bloomin Yarns with my family. Matt and Emily are always a fun time and the food was awesome.
We may have gone to Bloomin Yarns a couple of times. Like always, it rocked. I wish I lived closer so that I could shop there more often. The owner is super nice and it turns out that my mom's friend Janice is working there. Some Smooshy and Claudia's slipped into the car. So did an awesome Christmas present from my mom. I just can't show anyone the Christmas present until Christmas (My mom has such harsh rules -grin-). I got lots of knitting done and I'll take pictures of it all as soon as I get it blocked.

So Cute!

Here's my teddy bear modeling the finished baby blanket. This pattern is in the November 2007 Magknits (www.magknits.com) and is called hooded baby blanket. I did everything as per the directions except I didn't bind off the main blanket and then pick up those stitches. I just knit them in the new color. I think it cam out pretty well.
Today at 3 p.m., we leave for PGH. I'm not going to take the computer. This is the last time I'll see Matt and Emily until summer, and I'm going to make the most of every moment (plus I have a ton of Xmas knitting to do). Leslie, I'm taking some Yarn Pirate sock yarn to make the Bellatrix mitts (I think I'll have enough to make two pairs).

Cold

So Nikki and I went to the outdoor mall of Cordovia. It's quasi cold here, so I got to wear the Noro Silk Garden Lite hat. I've added a button I got a few weeks back from http://lizstaley.etsy.com. Liz has a shop that sells all kinds of geeky stuff like buttons with quotes from Pirates of the Caribbean. I got that set and am currently wearing the button that states, "I am disinclined to acquiesce to your request." I love it, although others find it less amusing.
On the knitting front I finished the baby blanket during the Steelers game today (they lost to the Jets, the JETS). I'll put up pictures tomorrow before we head out to Matt and Emily's for Thanksgiving. I can't wait to see them and go visit Bloomin' Yarns.

Blogger

Blogger has been hating me and not allowing me to post. I tried posting several times with no luck this weekend. It's frustrating and I'm thinking about moving to Mac...
In other news, Mom and I are hosting part of the house crawl for the fibers guild which means cleaning up. Since the stash has gotten out of control lately, I've been knitting up lots of stuff like this:

And this:
Never mind the photo won't post.
I wonder what I was thinking to get so many single skeins of yarn. And then I realized that habit really hasn't changed much. Must clean up the stash by eliminating the bulky yarns...

Rockstar Package

Warning: This post is picture heavy, you should look away now, if you encounter symptoms of yarn/swap jelousy.






I came home from school sick today (I think my exact words to my principal were, "I think I'd better go home before I throw up on a child." He let me go home). I came home to see at my doorstep a super neat package from my secret pal. I was a little bit worried, because it had been opened and was almost falling apart. But luckily, nothing inside was damaged. My pal did an awesome packing job. I think it's safe to say, that it took a visit to customs land for a while. Inside were the best goodies a girl could hope for. I'm totally in love with kinder eggs and have been forever. They have really good chocolate and then a toy inside. It's like a chocolate Happy Meal. I'll have to post pictures of the toys after I eat the eggs (nothing is going in my stomach today). I also got a very cool felted bag with a pirate lining and a Steeler's colored bead on the outside. That was so thoughtful! Thanks Secret Pal! Of course there was lots of yarn. I can't wait to try the lace and sock yarns. I also got some kick a** stitch markers. Seriously, skull stitch markers. Freaking awesome. I know the tapestry needles will come in handy, because I'm always loosing them at classes and such. Thank you again Secret Pal! I've loved getting to know you and can't wait for the second package!

In Case You Were Wondering...

Becky (my lil sis) has her own blog, ravelry account, and Flickr. Look at the pictures I just stole off her flickr account. I guess you can figure out what we were doing while we waited for my brother's wedding to start. You can read about all her crazy knitting adventures and industrial design mayhem at http://halfbisqued.blogspot.com/. I'm trying to con her into another sock off this year. I wonder what I'll have her knit me this year :)

Needle Felting

I had a fairly productive day, Saturday. I knit the Sidekick Bag from Knitting Daily and went to the Fiber Guild Meeting to play by Needle Felting. First the Bag:

Here it is prior to being felted. It was a quick knit and I enjoyed the way that the handles were kitchnered together. There was no sewing involved in this piece, except for the weaving in of ends. I love that. It also used up less than 1 skein of Cascade 220.


Here's the bag after felting. I really lucked out on this one. I threw it in the washer with a pair of jeans and a bath towel, took a shower, and caught it at the right time. Perfect. I used a tapestry needle to sew on a bead I got over the summer as a button.

Then we began needle felting. I opted for the freeform method, rather than using a pattern. I liked making the spirals the best, although the dots were fun, too. Here's some pics of the finished product:



Edited to add: Apparently, Blogger is having some photo issues. All the pics are on my Flickr. You can check them out there until Blogger's hiccups are gone (Is it just me, or is this happening a lot lately?)

Whiplash

I've been knitting on deadlines so long, now that I don't have one, I'm experiencing what the Yarn Harlot calls "whiplash." It's a term she uses in her last book "Stephanie McPhee Cast's Off." Basically, it refers to one that has temporarily lost the will to knit. I've lost my knitting mojo. I actually went into a yarn store the other day and bought nothing. Nothing. This calls for some serious intervention. I'm going to a guild meeting today with mom. Maybe that'll keep my mojo back into gear. In the meantime, I've cast on 2 garter stitch scarves.One is for Emily's friend, who lost everything in a fire and the other is a shop model for Kathy.

Coffee Swap Awesomeness

Look what I got this week! Jennifer from http://www.rundpinne.blogspot.com/ sent me an awesome package for Coffee Swap 3. The yarn is lace-weight (5 skeins!) and Knitty just put up an extra pattern that will be perfect for it. The stitch markers are glittery (Oh, shiny!) and the coffee is delish (you can tell, we couldn't wait to get into it). I also got a Starbucks gift card, perfect for a happy on my drive to work. This was another great swap for me. I don't know how I keep getting such rockstar people.

Coffee Swap

I got my coffee swap package and it rocks! I especially love the yarn and the stitch markers. I'll take pictures sometime when I get home before dark (the plan is tomorrow). Thank you so much Jennifer!!!!

Freedom

I find myself with a novel experience, no project that I HAVE to knit. After I finish off the very cute baby blanket (have you seen the new Magknits?) that is currently on my needles, I am free of commitments. Yes, I do have Christmas knitting, but it's very little this year. I'm really only knitting Endpaper mitts by Eunny and several pairs of Fetching. That leaves me with the novel experience of being able to knit whatever I want. Wow. Now my question to you is, what should I knit?

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween Everyone! Today has been a fabulous day! First my computer tech got me a new checkout computer! I've been using the computer back in my office to check in and out books for the last three months. It seems wierd to have my desk back after all that time. There was some definite celebration going on after the computer was installed and working.
Second, I finished the Monkey socks and they will be sent out tomorrow (right on time). I love being on time. I'm really proud of getting these socks done, because I really didn't think that they had to be mailed until the end of November. Luckily, Becky told me better. This brings my total sock count for Socktoberfest up to 6. Three pairs of baby socks and three pairs of adult socks, all done.
Gotta send some e-cards! Have a happy and safe Halloween , everyone!

Can You Keep a Secret?

Remember the Secret Project I was working on for my Hogwarts Sock Swap partner? She got it today and you can see the socks I knit her at http://vikkelatvarpaat.blogspot.com (for some reason, when I got my mac, I lost the ability to do the here links). Check out her blog while you're there, she knits some really awesome stuff!

101 Designer One Skein Wonders

Looky, Looky, I got a Bookie. 101 Designer 1 skein Wonders came to the house today. It is super cute. I'm totally making the fishbowl hat for the Baby shower I'm going to next week. There's a Boy-Oh-Boy sweater in there that will go with it perfectly. I can't wait to cast on, but I need to. The monkey socks are going slowly but surely. I'll get them done and in the mail by the right time, there's just not going to be a ton of other knitting going on. No pictures again today. I went to Kathy's to discuss something and forgot the camera there again today. You'll have to wait until tomorrow. Have a great day all!

Left Behind

My camera got left behind yesterday at the shop. No worries, Kathy has it safe and sound. The shower went well yesterday. A fun time was had by all. I needed to be working on the monkey, but I started knitting The Everlasting Bag Stopper Pattern from Knitty. Bad LaLa! I plan on finishing that today, during the football marathon and then getting down to the heel flap of the second Monkey. I really don't have to send them out until Thursday. Which gives me until Tuesday night before I have to wash them. That's plenty of time, right?

Guilt

I stress about going to baby and wedding showers to an obsessiveness. I'm always afraid that I didn't do enough. Today is Dora's shower (I'll show you pictures of what I knit after it) and I feel like I didn't do enough. If Eloise was here, she would tell me (for the 15th time over the past two weeks) that what I have is fine. And for a few seconds I think, "Okay, it's enough, it will be fine, no worries." And then I catch myself planning on waking up at 6 am (on the only day I get to sleep in) to knit a pair of baby booties. I didn't actually do that, my hand managed to find the snooze in time.

With twins, the guilt is doubled. I somehow managed to make 3 pairs of socks for the girl, but one one for the boy (Luckily, one can kinda go either way, at least the number came out even). Likewise, 3 hats for the girl, 1 for the boy (I'm just going to give 1 hat for each). I also bought some stuff. Deep breath. It'll all be okay. Now I just to figure out how I want to wrap all this stuff...

One Down...

I finished the first Monkey sock at my beginner sock class last night. I had the best group this time around. They walked into the last class with at least 1 pair of socks done (some had 1.5). Very Cool. The sock class is going on the back burner for the next few months and some simple skil building classes are comming. Next Sat (the first Sat of Nov.) I'm teaching a hat from the top down class. It's one of my favorite ways to make hats (you can try them on as you go). Very cool for, insert your seasonal holiday here, presents.

Friday Night Out

Friday night, I took a full car load up to Stash to see the legendary Cheryl Schaefer of Schaefer Yarns. She spoke about how she dyes her yarn and the inspiration she gets from women (famous and not). All of her yarns lines are named after women that she knows and most of the colorways that she dyes are based off of famous women. A god time was had by all and Melissa had a great turnout. A few skeins might have slipped and hit my credit card into the machine on their way into a bag. But can you really blame me? Look at all the yarny goodness I resisted.

On the Monkey sock front, I deliberated for quite a while what to do with the Humbertoified sock. I wasn't real happy with the pooling on it and I wasn't sure about the colorway for my swap pal, so I ripped it out. I then spent the next 11 hours knitting. After knitting on it for around 2 episodes of Firefly today, I have 1 more full pattern repeat before I start on the toe. The plan is to finish the first sock tomorrow and complete the ribbing of the second. I hope to have both socks completed, washed, dried, and in the mail a week from today. That will still give them a few days to get to their destination. Then I have some shop models and a baby shower to knit for. Crazy...

That Darn Cat

ate the monkey sock I'm knitting for my pal last night. He got into my CLOSED bag and to them out and ate them! He only eats my good yarn. Grrrr.... I'm off to reknit a monkey sock (luckily, I wasn't very far into it).

Monkeys, Monkeys, Everywhere

I got so much stuff in this swap that I can hardly remember it all. Look at the photo... now look closer. That's all stuff I got. For serious... Heather spoiled me rotten. I must be the luckiest swapper, I always get the best people. I've already used the sock monkey keychain for my keys for school and the have the Mon Key covers on them. I put the one with the tongue sticking out for the office doors and the one who looks sick for the outer library doors. I've also worn the handknit monkey's and loved them. I really could go on and one about how rockstar this package is (just ask my mom and coworkers, they've heard it all week.) I loved it all.
As for the monkey package that I'm getting together... I've gotten all the Monkey stuff, I just need to knit like the wind this week. For some reason I thought the swap was over at the end of November not the first. I'll be panic knitting all week long, but stuff will get done and sent by next Sat.
The Hogwarts package is leaving the house on Monday (the socks are done and drying but I wanted them to stick around to meet some royalty of the hand dying last night, so I had put off finishing them until they got to meet her). That's my story and I'm sticking to it. You'll get to see all the pictures of the event and the stash additions in the next post. Until then, may your needles be swift and your yarn free of tangles. :)

Skein Winder

I just bought a Will Taylor skein winder. I can't stand winding skeins on the niddy noddy anymore. I think I may have a yarn problem...
I'll post pictures of the awesome Monkey package I got when it stops raining and there are no tornado warnings. I find that tornados put a cramp in my picture taking.

Buddy Walk

On Sunday I walked in the Memphis Buddy Walk to promote awareness and help for the MidSouth Down Syndrome Association. A great time was had by all. It was a beautiful day and I am so proud of the students from my school that showed up. They took time to get rides up to Memphis on their fall break to help other people. It gives you hope for the future, doesn't it?

Monkeying Around

I get the best upstream swap pals (I can only hope that I live up to their awesomeness). It's pouring here, otherwise you would get to see all my Monkey Swap goodies that arrived in the mail today. I got socks knit out of cotton. That alone is a great treat because I hate to knit cotton. I also got soooooo much stuff. I'm totally overwhelmed. I can't even think! More raving tomorrow, but I had to get a head start now. Thank you so much Heather!!!!! I love every bit of it!!!!!!!!

Socktober Fest

For some reason, I always seem to be lacking on the blogging during October. This month always makes me feel a bit behind on everything. Luckily, I have today and tomorrow off to catch up. These are Nikki's socks. I finished them the first week of October, in celebration of Socktoberfest (there's a flickr group). My goal for Socktoberfest was a pair of adult socks every week and a pair of baby socks every other week. That would be 6 pairs of socks total during the entire month. How am I doing so far? Well, I have Nikki's pair to count for the first week and a pair of really cute baby socks that I need to take a picture of. I also have my pair of baby socks for this week done (again lacking on the picture). But I've been lapse on completing a pair of adult socks for last week. I'm almost there. I just need to find time to sit and knit. Maybe I'll work on that this afternoon... Tomorrow, I'll post some pictures I took of the Buddy Walk that I participated in yesterday. And maybe some pictures of those baby socks. Maybe even a picture of some adult socks.... Who knows????

Edited to add: apparently, blogger is having some picture loading issues. I'm going to load the picture into flickr and you can check it out there in the meantime. Got it now. Bad Blogger!

Spoiled Rotten

Check out what I got in the mail this week. It's my Hogwarts Sock Swap Two package! In it were all kinds of goodies like awesome yarn, chocolates, tea, a bookmark, a Moomin, a sock pattern, and socks. I know there were awesome other things that I've missed, they were there too and they were awesome. I'm really lucky to have such a great pal! Thank you Victori! I'll get your package out this week.

Coffee and Hogwarts Swap

I got my Hogwarts 2 swap package a few days ago (bad blogger, no cookie) and it is rockstar! I'll post pictures and rave about it tomorrow. In the mean time, here are my questions for Coffee Swap 3:

QUESTIONS
1. Whole bean or ground? Whole bean, please
2. Fully-loaded or decaf?The more caffine the better
3. Regular or flavored? either is fine with me
4. How do you drink your coffee? with cream and splenda (I'm a wimp)
5. Favorite coffee ever? Pumpkin Spice Latte or White Chocolate Mochas from Starbucks
6. Are you fussy about your coffee or will any old bean do? Most anything is fine
7. Favorite treats to have with your coffee? cookies
8. Anything else about your coffee preferences? I'm good
9. Yarn/fiber you love? I love all natural yarns
10. Yarn/fiber you hate? Novelty crap
11. What's on your needles? It might be better to ask what is not on my needles at this point. Hmmmm... 3 shawls, a they might be pirates hat, 10 pairs of socks, a baby surprise sweater, a kid's skirt, several baby hats, several bags, a lace scarf, and a my so called scarf.
12. Favorite colors? Purple, pink, blue, green, and black (not all together)
13. Allergies? Nope
14. Anything you really love, really don't like, or just need to get off your chest? No dark or white chocolate, please. I only like milk chocolate. I think that's about it...

Fall/Winter

I was going through the mail from Saturday and came across some L.L. Bean and Land's End catalogs. They are filled with warm wooly winter and fall goodness. Unfortunately, these things are totally inappropriate for the 90 degree heat that we've been having in Mississippi lately. I think the thing that I miss the most about the north, besides the family, is the cool weather. I am a cool weather person at heart and love the fall and winter. That seems to be lacking down here. I'm planning a trip to visit Becky in March, so I might get to see some snow then. In the meantime, I need to prevent myself from ordering that lovely bright pink jacket with matching boots and polar-fleece vest. I can't see much in the negative degree temps happening here

Muggle and the Motorcycles (Part Two)

Wonder what I did during the field games? Yup, I knit. And I listened to people compare engines and speed and all sorts of things involving numbers and motorcycles. Everyone was very nice and stopped to admire the socks in progress.

After the field games, we sat and waited for the prizes to be awarded. Mom won the nifty hat she's wearing and something for Becky's bike.




As we were waiting, the Alabama group came in dressed as pirates. Apartently, when my dad's group went to the Alabama rally (known as the chicken rally) they wore chicken hats and this was the Alabama's version of retribution (I think motorcyclists may be odder than knitters, but don't tell Wheezy).