Project Spectrum

I've joined in on this fun project!

I chose to start (albeit a little late) because I miss my camera and need to get out and shoot like I used to. I figure this will be a good way to get me to do that!

So here's my humble start - just in time for the beautiful blues to wrap up. Oh well. April's and May's colors are green, yellow, and pink, and I've already got something in mind for that!





















1. Jellies, 2. Cold War, 3. Nuzzle, 4. Sky Blue, 5. Hubby's sock, 6. Entrelac Bag, 7. Entrelac Bag, 8. Entrelac Bag Bottom, 9. Entrelac Bag Handle

Spring Has Sprung!

Indeed it has! It's been lovely outdoors lately. Spring has brought days with sun and gentle breezes and days with cloudy skies and the scent of spring rain in the air. Days with temps so warm you forget that just a couple of weeks ago we were still bundling our loved ones in mittens and scarves and drinking hot cocoa to take the pink from our cheeks.

Spring has made its presence known here in Minnesota and it's welcomed with open arms by my family. We're more than ready to bask in the warmth, to let the sun kiss our bare skin, and to enjoy a plethora of outdoor activities.

Good-bye, Winter. I won't shed a tear for thee as I shake off the last dregs of cabin fever and enjoy a bit of a renewed spring in my step.

Halt!

There's a Jaywalker in our midst!

As you know, I finished the fabulous Monkey socks the other day.

You don't know, however, that I finished hubby's blue socks Sunday night. Pictures soon!

So, what's a girl to do when she's got brand new sock yarn and not much else on the needles? That's right! More socks for moi!

Last week I made something to display in the store as a sample. When I brought it in, Steven said for payment for making it, I could pick out a couple of things from the store. I picked the needles I borrowed to make it and a skein of Austermann Step Sock yarn in colorway 13 Holz (wood).

I love the colors in this! I knew from working on hubby's sock that the yarn would stripe in beautiful long and short color progressions. This time, though, since my sock has more contrast in colors, I wanted something that would play up the stripes so they wouldn't just be plain old stripes running on my legs and feet.

Enter the Jaywalker pattern written by Grumperina! Now, this is a pattern I've been tossing back and forth in my mind for months now. Should I make them? Everyone and their brother has made these socks, which made me kind of leery of knitting them. I guess because I didn't want to seem like a bandwagon jumper.

And also, because really, I hadn't yet seen a yarn that really said to me, "I want to be Jaywalker socks!"













But this yarn did. Despite the fact that when I cast on for them yesterday, I ran into a few problems (which were my own fault - I was in a hurry and had no business trying to cast on for a pair of socks at that time.) Anyway, yesterday afternoon I finally sat down with some time and patience and started them properly. And knitted. And knitted.

You know how sometimes you find something that you really really like and it just captivates you? Entrelac is like that for me.


And so is this sock. I love how the stripes are playing out. Some large, some quite small.

At the rate I'm knitting on this baby I expect to have my Jaywalkers done by next weekend!

Well, maybe.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Er, what's left of it.

Go drink some
Guinness for me!

Cheeky Monkeys!

They're done!

Details:

Pattern: Monkey, Knitty, Cookie A
Yarn: Anne from Schaefer Yarn Company, Rosa Parks colorway, 1/2 of hank
Needles: Addi Turbos US1 32" circular
Started: February 28, 2007
Finished: March 16, 2007

I want to profess my undying love for these socks right here and right now. Easily my favorite out of all the socks I've knit to date.

Cookie A is a wonderful designer and her patterns are *really* well-written and easy to work.

I'm sure I'll be doing this pattern again sometime. Or maybe another of her designs: Pomatomus.

But we'll talk about that another day.


This yarn is awesome. I love the mohair content in it. Not too much to make them fuzz like crazy, but just enough to make them soft and beautiful.

These will be making their inaugural debut tomorrow while I'm at work.

I can't wait to show them off!

PS - be sure to click the pics to see larger versions - the detail in the yarn is worth it!

@!$(%#

This Monkey has been a very naughty little monkey.

Tuesday night I did the short row heel. And then 10 rounds of the pattern after the heel. And everything was going great.

Until.

I put it on. And realized I forgot to "unwrap" one of the short row wraps, which, to put it bluntly, means I left out TWO ROWS during the heel.

Now, that doesn't sound like it's all that bad. The heel closed, it went together beautifully, and no one would ever notice. But I would. Because right there at that diagonal line where the short rows line up and the sock changes from being on the ankle to being on the foot? Yea. Too tight.

@!$(%# @!$(%# @!$(%# @!$(%#

A LOT more yarn came out of the sock, along with a lot of choice words.

I'm so mad at myself for this. That's the last time I'll knit late at night with little sleep.

Edited to add:

Everything's good now. Monkey and I have made up and there's a shiny new short row heel (and some pattern rounds) where there once was a pile of crinkled yarn.

And best of all, it fits perfectly this time.

As Told By my Five Year Old

I was sitting on the couch earlier working on my sock when my younger son started telling me stories. I thought, "How cute would it be to have him narrate one to me to put on my blog?"

Here are a few that he told me as I typed verbatim. "Home" seems to be a bit of a theme in all of his prose. Enjoy!

One day there was a little piggy and he stayed home. But one day, he got disappeared. And and he went all the way home.

The End.

Well one day there was a little piggy and he stayed home. Well he saw a bat in his school, but all theotherday. (the other day was said very very quickly, hence no spaces between the words.)

The End.

There was a little boy named Lucas and he stayed home with his ants and he just don't let go of the ants and he went all the way tiny because the ants made him tiny.

So Lucas was on the blue team and he was really and the ants said, "Don't let go!" and he lived Happily Ever After.

The End.

Well one day there was a different Cars and but one day Lightning was a bull driver and 75 was lightning.

The End.

One day a kitty got on a balloon and kitty went all the way up to space and the kitty was so afraid it didn't let go, but one day it let go of the balloons and the balloons popped and the kitty went all the way home.

The End.

Well one day there was a little chicken and he crossed the road, he don't know why and he blowed away with the wind and he went all the way home.

The End.

Oh Well

I was going to blog, really. I had the best intentions.

But, eh.

So I'll give you some eye candy instead. From the archives.

Whew!

Isn't this yarn pretty? It's Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Wisteria.

These will be for my mother in law, who put in a request for socks via my sister in law. Her favorite color is purple and even though we carry a plain LL purple, I thought I'd splash her socks up a bit with a few more colors.

I also, as you can see by that beautiful yarn cake, bought a ball winder last night! Oh heaven! It's so much easier than rolling yarn into a ball by hand, and it makes a center pull cake!

Can't get any better than that.

I'm going to attempt (key word here, kittens) to knit her socks two at a time on Magic Loop. We'll see. I bought a US 1 Addi Turbo 60" circular set last night (loooooooong cable!) and we'll see how it goes.

While I was at the store yesterday I also bought goodies for Nett, who won my blogiversary comment contest. I hope she likes them! I'll show pics after she's received the package - don't want to give away the surprise!!

Drum Roll...

And the winner is....

Netter from Nothing but Nett!

More details to come - I'm off to go shopping for the goodies!

Congratulations, Nett!!

Happy Blogiversary to Me!

My blog is a year old now!

Gosh, that's a lot of writing.

About crocheting. And knitting.

And, well, some crap in there, too, you know, for flavor.

But now that I've hit a year, it's time to step things up a bit! I mean, after all, my blog's "grown up" (go with me on this.)

So I think that means more writing about, well, anything, in general.

Oh, and maybe some writing with Vodka. Because that makes for a very interesting post.

Well, maybe not interesting, but funny.













Enough of that. To quote Ross from F·r·i·e·n·d·s, "I believe the word we're all looking for is ... anyway...."

I've got stuff to show you!


Don't you love my mis-matched socks?

The blue one is my hubby's sock and of course that beautiful multi-colored sock is my Monkey sock. Oh, and with their corresponding mis-matched mates on the needles.

I finished these on Monday: mine during the day and hubby's at like, 11:00 at night. Eeesh! I dreamt of sock knitting.

I made some alterations to the Monkey pattern. As some of you may know, I'm not the biggest fan of heel flaps. And since the Monkey pattern calls for heel flaps, well, I changed it and did mine with a short row heel. But I didn't stop there! I short rowed the toe, too, because heaven forbid I actually follow a pattern to the letter. (It's a sickness... I don't know why I can't do it.)

Anyway, this was the first time I'd ever done a short row toe and oh, it's SO nice to wear. The fit is fabulous and there's zero bulk. I showed it to hubby and told him all the details (and watched his eyes glaze over with that look of "Oh MAN do I have to listen to this again?") and asked him if he wanted me to do the toe for his socks the same way. Well, then his eyes came back to life and focused again and he said, "Yea!" (Love you baby, sorry I torture you with knitting details.)

So hubby's socks are short rowed in heel and toe, also.

Cute story about when I was working on the heel of his. Last weekend hubby was volunteering at a bike show in Minneapolis and the boys and I went with him. We were going to just wander around during his shift and then we'd all walk around together when he was done.

When we got there, the kids saw they had these HUGE jumping tents for kids set up, three of them, actually, and the boys literally spent all but 20 minutes of my husband's three hour shift jumping and playing in those things. I was SO grateful I brought my knitting with me.

I parked myself in a chair and worked on hubby's sock. It was the first time I'd ever knit in public. How exhilarating! A few people asked what I was doing, most just stared at the crazy knitting lady.

But I didn't care! I got the leg finished, short rowed the heel, and did about 15 rounds into the foot during that time. And all the while I was smiling to myself at what a good idea it was to bring my knitting. I would have been bored STIFF without it!

---

And now... what you've all been waiting for! The contest!

I have to work tonight (last minute thing), so I'll draw the winner tomorrow morning. Sorry! Hope you can wait one more day! I'm excited!

And with that, I'll leave you, kittens. Go forth unto the world and create something.

Or, well, just go on with your regular day.

Happy Birthday!

To my darling baby boy, who sadly, is no longer a baby.

He's a proper big boy, all at the tender (and hard to believe) age of five!

Happy Birthday, C!! Love you, Bubs!

Boys Who Knit, (& the Mom Who Is Proud of Them)

So I'm knitting last night, and my youngest son, C, comes up to me and says, "Momma, I want to knit like you."

Well, how can I turn that down?

So I got out my biggest needles (US 10 1/2) and some soft creamy white yarn, and set off on teaching him. I had him sit in my lap and put his hands on the needles where they needed to be, then I held his hands, and we knit like that for about two rows.

After which he was delighted, but firmly said he was done.

Then my older son, T, said, "Well, I wanna learn."

(Keep in mind, this was the same child who said he didn't want to learn to knit when Steven told him I should teach them.)

So I had T sit in my lap and we did the same thing. And he knit for a couple of rows. Then I let him try it by himself. I saw he was having trouble knitting Continental like I do, so I showed him English style, which (from my teaching experience) I think is easier for kids to learn.

He sat next to me on our loveseat last night knitting his white swatch while I sat knitting on my sock. Well, I had my knitting in my hands, but I honestly wasn't doing much.

What I was really doing was watching my little boy maneuver the yarn and actually make it work - watching him as he knit his stitches, so carefully. Watching as the lightbulb went off in his head that recognizes the joy to be able to create from our hands.

He now totally gets why I love knitting: the joy of creation.

He wants to make himself a scarf, maybe some mittens, and a hat. He said he really thinks it would be cool to wear something that he made himself.

Isn't that awesome?

Sock Day!

Today, for me, is all about socks.

Knitting socks, wearing socks (of COURSE! It's cold here in Minne-SNOW-ta), and darning socks!

Hubby and I love wearing these wonderful wool socks from Eddie Bauer (plus the ones I make.) Trouble is, some of the pairs we've had for a few years are starting to wear out, or actually break open holes.

Hubby brought me a pair a few days ago with a dime-size hole in the toe and asked if there was any hope for them. I looked carefully and said, "Sure, I bet I could fix these."

Yesterday I decided I'd dive right in. I looked up darning socks on the net and found a great tutorial. Sock in hand, burnt out light bulb placed inside (what? I'm not proud), and some leftover yarn from these socks and I was good to go.

It was so easy! And took about 20 minutes to fix. Hubby was uber pleased. (He'll get a kick out of it that I said uber when he reads this later.)

Fast forward to today, he asked if I felt like fixing any more of his socks. He brought me three pairs: two of which had dime-sized hole(s) in the toe, and one poor pair that had four ginormous holes in the ribbing on the leg. I told him there was no way they could be fixed - they were really really bad. So we tied knots in those and gave them to the dogs.

The last pair I decided to shoot pics of the process. Enjoy!


Ohh, the poor things. These had two holes in the toe. Luckily these were knit with reinforcing thread all the way through so they were much easier and quicker to fix since the wool was the only part to break apart.







This pic is after the first row of duplicated and new stitches. You can still see some of the bare reinforcement thread.













Here you can see the hole closed, just one more row of duplicated stitches and it'll be good as new!













And here's the finished sock with both holes mended. I found this process not only rewarding, but also fun! (Excuse the dark areas on hubby's sock - he wears a lot of dark shoes.)













And here are the two pairs that are on my needles right now!

A pair for me:













These will the Monkey socks from Knitty. The yarn I'm using is Anne from Schaefer Yarn Company in the Rosa Parks colorway. I love how they're striping! I hope I can get the second sock to stripe this way. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Here's a close up:













Aren't those colors gorgeous?

And here's a pair that I'm working on for hubby:













These are just a variation on my own sock pattern with Austermann Step Sock Yarn in the Jeans colorway. I love how these are turning out and they're so soft and squishy!

So that's what I'll be doing today while we're getting buried under the snow.

Uh, yea. Did I forget to mention that? There's about 3 1/2 feet (FEET, people) of snow outside my front door.

Minne-SNOW-ta is friggin' right. Land of the Great White Shroud.

Oh My

Ok, this is a horrible horrible photo, I know.

But that's because it's still on the needles and unblocked. It wouldn't cooperate, either, no matter how many times I tried bribing it with stuff, to lay nicely.

So the photo had to be taken with it pinned on my blocking pad. Which of course creates a really sh*tty background.

Trying to see how wispy it is with little red grid squares underneath is asking a lot, I know.

But bear with me.

Can you see? If not, feel free to click on it. I made this photo larger than I usually do, just so you could see more of the stitch detail.

Or rather, the space and loveliness between the stitches.

Lace is quite an adventure.

Countdown!

Hello, Kittens!

All right, I decided to join in on the Blogiversary celebrations! My Blogiversary is coming up on March 8th. (See the little ticker up there?)

You know the drill. We're going to have a little contest.

Each time you comment over the next nine days, I'll put your name into a drawing. On March 8th, I'll draw a name, and that person will be the winner of a prize! Or maybe a few prizes, we'll see. I mean, after all, I work at the coolest yarn store ever, I got hookups. (I like this way better than whoever comments most like I had it originally.)

So all of my dear and regular readers, please keep commenting. Also, all of you dear and lovely lurkers who quietly read, it's time to come out of the woodwork! I'd love a little check in from you, too! (I mean, again, I can guarantee ONE of the prizes will be yarn. And who doesn't love yarn?)

Happy reading (and commenting)!

For Future Reference

Wool? Yea, doesn't smell so good when it burns.

Don't ask me how I found this little gem out.

Third Time's A Charm?

Man, I hope so.

This is the third lace project I've started in the last month. The first was out of superwash variegated that hindered the lace pattern more than anything. The second was from the same yarn in the photo above, but I just didn't like the pattern.

And then I saw this. It's from Interweave Knits 2003 Summer (?) issue. It's absolutely exquisite.

But I didn't know how to get hold of the pattern. Then I looked closer at the picture. Hmm... that looks an awful lot like Entrelac. Hey, I can do that!

After deciding that Susan Pierce Lawrence's Branching Out from Knitty would be perfect as the lace part, I did a little calculating and cast on.

So, yet another Entrelac project. Will there never be an end to that for me? Honestly, I hope not. I really enjoy it.

And if I'm going to do lace, it might as well be lace I'll really enjoy knitting.

Doin' The Work Dance

I get to go to work tonight!

I'll be back later with details!

The Knit-Out!

Whew! What a busy weekend! I'm still recovering.

And all I did was sit!

Well, that and teach.

I taught a lot.

I was supposed to work just an hour shift both Saturday and Sunday teaching crochet. But, there were so few volunteers to teach crochet that I ended up teaching for 3 1/2 hours on Saturday and 4 1/2 hours on Sunday.

There were so many people who wanted to learn - it was great! My favorites (and the ones I consider the greatest achievements and privileges to teach) were:

• A four year old little girl who picked it up so fast I think she just might be a prodigy. I mean, this girl, after about five minutes, stopped doing the basic single crochet stitch and started with all of the other stitches, complete with doing things like shells and what not. And she only needed to be shown once.

• Four different left-handed crocheters. One of them was an elderly woman who said her aunt refused to teach her when she was young simply because she was left-handed. Imagine that! Missing out on something you wanted your whole life just because of that! After a couple of minutes, she too had that hook flying. Not to mention she had the biggest smile on her face.

• A very special little boy who was very eager to learn. His mother thanked me for my patience with him.

• Basically all of the knitters that I taught.
  

Even though teaching was great, I was exhausted when I left the mall both days.

I did get to wander the exhibits a little bit on Sunday after I left the teaching area and got some free samples of yarn, hooks, needles, and patterns. I also turned in the square I made for Warm Up America.

I unfortunately didn't meet up with anyone from blogland or the knitty board, but maybe some other time!

All in all, I'd say the whole event was a raving success. And I scored a sweet job out of it. Yay!