Teaching Plug

I'm teaching 2 sock knitting classes in the month of April. The beginner one will be here and the more advanced one (which is the last weekend on April and the first weekend of May) will be here. I'm planning on spending tonight finishing off some UFOs and then tomorrow working on getting the patterns and handouts written for the classes. I'll also try to blog tomorrow to start off April on the right foot (I only blogged 6 times in March! What?!?). I'm really excited about these classes and the shops that I'm teaching in are owned by two extremely nice and helpful people. Gotta run Wheezy and I have a birthday date!

Crazy Busy

I've been crazy busy with Becky visiting, new Godbaby, Birthdays, and Sock Madness. Here's a picture from the last round of Sock Madness. The yarn is Fat Sock in Abyss from Hello Yarn. I like the pattern a lot, but I would go up to size three needles the next time. On this round of sock madness, I chilled more and stressed less. I even went places and had time off for a mouse disaster. I'm moving on to the top 32, but with my birthday this weekend, I'm thinking that I'm not going to be real strong on this next round. EB and Andersen have been complaining that I'm being anti-social, but its really not that much knitting and more socializing with other people (mostly small children). The fact that I no longer have an assistant also cuts into what I can get done during school hours, and what I have to take home (I have a stack of around 60 young adult and kids books to read). I'll be glad when summer is here, when I can laze about and knit lots of socks. Only 10 more weeks of school!

A Week Off

This past week I was off from school (Spring Break Baby!). Now that the week is over, I can see how little I've accomplished. My only FOs for the week were the Mad Cow Socks, a shop model sock (Monkey out of Schaefer Anne) for That Yarn Shop (linked in sidebar), and a diaper cover for Godson. Were did my week go?
I'm hoping Sock Madness will fall on next weekend. I return to my fuller than full time job tomorrow and will need to be there overtime this week (New Books! *Squeal*). I need the following weekend off for birthday celebrations (I turn 26 on the 30th of March). I'm not going to get super competitive this round, I have too much to do. Good luck to everyone participating!

Recovery

I think I've recovered enough to "speak" about sock madness. Sock Madness began around 7am central time. The patterns were emailed and the race began. People immediately began posting questions and progress on Flickr. This caused me to feel as if I were being left behind (totally not the case) and obsess about the whole thing until I finished my first sock around 3pm. At this point I began to loathe these socks. I hated just about everything about them from the colors, to the jogging, to the short row heel (don't get me started on that heel). I took a break to babysit Godson and Thing One. It was around 9pm when I started sock #2. By this time, thoughts of burning the socks came to mind (after I posted finished pictures of them on Flickr, of course). I spent almost the whole night knitting (the time change did not help matters either). I had been checking Flickr and seeing the first people posting finished pairs f socks sent me into panic mode. I felt that if I slept, I would be eliminated (also totally not the case). Overall, I think I was the 3rd person to finish in my division (which at this point, is not officially full yet). I immediately swallowed a bottle of some Advil and passed out took a nap. I had a knitting hangover for all of Sunday and most of Monday (thank goodness for Spring Break). I do not hate the socks any longer and really can't wait to start the next round. I promise I will not go off the knitting deep end freak out over this any more.
Specifics on the socks:
Pattern: Mad Cow from Sock Madness Round One
Yarn: Firefly and Gold Hill by Lornas Laces gotten at The Loopy Ewe
Needles: Size One Knitpicks Circulars
Method: Top-down
Alterations to Pattern: None, I did go with 5 strips on the leg, just to be on the safe side.
Person Receiving the Socks: Mom

Its' a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

2 Skeins of Lorna's Laces Sock Yarn (from the Loopy Ewe): $19.50

Bottle of Advil: $6.00

Twelve Pack of Diet Dr. Pepper: $4.00

Knowing that you could knit a pair of socks in 24 hours: priceless

I'll have a more detailed Sock Madness Post later. Right now I'm still recovering

Busy Bee

I've been too busy to blog lately. Mostly because this little guy came a wee bit early. This is Andrew Todd (no, he's not mine. I did knit the blanket, though). He was due the 12th of March and came the 2nd. We totally have been shaping his hair into a Mohawk since he was born. Remember how I said I was getting a godchild? Andrew is it. Mom's using cloth diapers so I'm getting to knit lots of these:

This is a baby soaker from here. Momma and Andrew love them and the newborn size fits him very well. He is also getting some baby kimonos from The Mason-Dixon Knitting book. I made those out of Plymouth Encore and will show pictures soon. In the meantime, I'll be knitting lots more soakers and baby stuff before sock madness begins (Sock Madness side note: I've changed my sport weight yarn to some from Hello Yarn. I felt that it might be more of a "true" sport). I'm off to knit!