I Love A Good Mystery!

A long while back I discovered Goddess Knits and her amazing shawl pattens. At the time I found her I was interested in her Shawl A Month Club.
For once I resisted temptation and did not join.(Although I strongly hinted to others how great a gift it would be..no one got the message.)
Now I am really bummed because she stopped doing it.
However, I noticed something called a Mystery Along on her site..and discovered that periodically she does a Mystery Sock and A Mystery Shawl KAL.
The deal is:
You pay $3.50 per KAL and join the Yahoo Group.
Once a week, for 5 weeks, you receive a new "clue", in the Shawl case it is a new chart and instructions. And if you keep up with the knitting.. in 5 weeks you have a new shawl (or sock).
I was a little late to the party on the last one..so my first shawl is not done yet. However, I have seen many finished and the results are amazing!
Each shawl is different. The last one was a circle (this one), and the current one is a Shetland Style triangle. (You knit the triangle from the bottom center up, and then do a knitted on border..Cool!)
I am learning a lot of new techniques and having a blast! I love that I have no idea what the outcome is going to be, and that you can only do so much a week. (And as we all know that is a good thing for me!)
This time around I got in at the very beginning of the KAL, and I plan to keep up with the clues so that this time it truly is a mystery.


So I picked out my yarn:

Knit Picks Gossamer in Rose Garden (wild isn't it?)

The first clue was released last Saturday..and I promptly got to work:

Unstretched Stretched

I'm thinking it looks rather Tiger'ish. Not to sure how crazy I am about my yarn choice..but since this is a Mystery I am going with it. Don't get me wrong, I love the colors, just not too sure about the whole striping thing, I am hoping it will get better as the shawl gets bigger.

We get the next clue tomorrow. I can't wait to see it!

It ain't much, but it's somethn'.

Remember this picture?

That would be my progress on the Forest Path Stole as of 2 weeks ago. But now..look at this!


Big difference don't you think?

What? You can't see it? Here is a close-up shot of all the progress I have made:

That would be 2 full rectangles, A triangle and a partial rectangle in action.
I know you are gob-smacked.
At this rate I should have this done in time for my 40th birthday...And 10 years might be pushing it.
So, remember about a week ago when I said I had a plan for my WIP's? Well the plan go's something like this...concentrate on one big project, and one small one, before moving on to another project..Amazing concept don't you think?
But anyone that knows me knows that I can't do it. But I am going to try.
How about this..for every three projects I finish (as of now), I get to cast on a new project. I still must do my UFO per month, and a Sweater per Month..but that will be added into the afore-mention plan.
The only exclusion to this rule is Sock Madness, and store samples.
I think that is do-able.
I shall now go organize my sidebar into priority of projects.
I'm weird, I know. You don't have to tell me, I am well aware of that fact. =)

Breakin' The Law

Although "Jaywalker Craze of 2005" is done and gone, the pattern seems to just keep growing in popularity.
About a week ago Grumperina announced that over 500 had been made (and that is only the ones that she knows about.) Wow!
So of course, I had to find out what all the fuss was about.

No, those are not holes you see there..I am not sure what it is..probably light reflecting off something..yada yada. I never did understand physics.

What we wont do for pictures! This is my foot propped up on the fridge. I was trying to get a good picture of the sock without showing off my very white, very hairy legs. Hey it's still March, talk to me in April..maybe I will have shaved them by then. =)

Anyway, I am really liking the way these are knitting up. The pattern is fun and easy. And what it does for the yarn? YUM!

There is only a slight amount of pooling in the foot. And I think that is a result of only doing the patterning on the top of the foot,while the bottom is in stockinette. But hey, I can deal with that.

These are somewhat slow going because I keep getting interrupted by other things..like store samples, sock madness, Dulaan knitting, Forest Path Stole, etc.etc...but I am loving every minute of it.

I very rarely do a project more then once, but I am already thinking about other yarns in my stash that would look great in this pattern. People say Jaywalker's are addicting. I can understand why.

Oh BTW. These are the socks done on the 000's and they are being done with Socks That Rock lightweight..I misplaced the yarn band so I don't remember the color. I hate when I do that! Hopefully a little cleaning will help me find it. If anyone knows the color, give a shout out OK?

Oh and if anyone is wondering where to get the pattern..here it is:

http://magknits.com/Sept05/patterns/jaywalker.htm There is also a variation for toe-up, larger sizes, and baby Jay's on Grumperina's blog as well.

Until next time...

America's Next Top Model

OK, I know that there are a lot of cute babies out there. And I know that I may be a little biased considering I am her great-aunt..but ..

I think Miss Sophia Claire gets the grand prize when it comes to the cuteness. and what a sense for style she has!



She is already such a girly girl. Check it out:

She already understands the importance of fantastic footwear.

(She has a pair in every color..made my her Great Grandma)

She wears all the latest fashions:

(The ever popular Peapod set..all the cool babies are wearing them.)

She knows how to pose for the camera.

(Have you ever seen a baby model a blanket a like that? Me neither. She's unique.)

Gerber baby watch out! There's a new kid in town!

And you know..if she decides modeling is not her thing...

She could always be a lion tamer:

Or a boxer. Look out!

Welcome to the world baby girl! We are all so excited that you are here!

Satisfied!

I feel kind of bad.

For the few regular readers I have..I bet this Sock Madness stuff is getting kind of boring isn't it?
Please bear with me. I promise I have other stuff to talk about..it's just this thing kind life keeps getting in the way of my blogging time. And so when I do blog..it's about the madness that has taken over (kind of.)

Anyway, this is how I spent Thursday night, and ALL DAY Friday:

With the professor next to me almost the entire time.

And I wonder why I have gained 20 + pounds this last year..but I'm happy..(er).

So here they are:

This is my tried-real-hard-to-do detail shot. Didn't work so well did it?

Well, they are really cool. There is a spiral that wraps around the leg, an eye of partridge heel (my first time), and a stockinette foot. Oh and the cuff is way cool as well..It's called an "oblique rib".

The pattern is called (mad)tini socks..hence why this next picture is my feet posing with a martini shaker. Now if only I had had some vodka on hand..I could have used a stiff one after that marathon knitting session!

A reminder: the yarn is LL in Camelot (nicknamed Snickers) and I did them on size 2 Knit Picks Options Magic Loop Style.

Guesstimated time from start to finish??? Around 30 hours. Yeah baby!

And that my friends..is why I am satisfied. The Snickers did me well.

ROUND 3 HERE I COME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(oh, and by the way...my niece took some adorable pictures of my grand niece Sophia. A more photogenic baby I have never seen. And the best part..in some of them she is posing with my hand knits!..Tune in tomorrow!)

Locked And Loaded!

I got the coke. I got the candy. I got the ready-made food.
I got Ice cream (Neapolitan sandwiches and slow-churned yellow cake batter).
I got beer.
Was going to buy myself some "incontinence pads" (Depends)..but I thought that might be going a little too far....=)
Hey that astronaut lady did it!
Oh man, did I just say that? Sorry all, I don't mean to offend!

I got the yarn wound and ready to go..and I swatched. Holy moly! I got gauge on the recommended needle size..well, there is a first time for everything!

The yarn is Lorna's Laces in Camelot. Exclusive to Angelika's Yarn Store..(this place is great!) But as I have already said on Flickr...it reminds me of Snickers..damn..I forgot to pick some of those up..you know I am going to crave them!

But the most important thing I did to prepare?

I stocked up on the drugs.

Round two of sock madness begins tomorrow. I am competing against a woman in Japan! How cool is that?

As B just said, "East vs. West..It's a battle to the death". That's a little dramatic don't you think? Oh, he just amended his statement, it is now "A battle to the cuff/toe."

My competitor has had some issues getting her yarn for this round..I feel kind of bad, like I should wait until she gets her yarn so it's a fair fight..

But, then again..we were all given the supply list weeks ago..and they say all is fair in love and war... (she did order her yarn, but the post people screwed up and she never got it..total suckage there!)

I have so much to talk about. But I am going to save them for later posts. Got to make you come back for something!

BTW, Debbie, if you get this far..I am still working on FPS. Slowly but surely....the madness and store sample has caused a bit of a glitch in my progress..but I still love it!

I'm a sucker for store samples.

So I went to Yarn Yoga (the cool kids call it Ya Yo) last Friday. When I got there I saw a table full of yummy yarns and cool patterns that needed to be knit for the store. Not only do I get the joy of knitting with these awesome new yarns..I also get store credit for them.
So even though I have more then enough on my knitting plate, I couldn't resist. It's mitered squares for God's sakes...the ones that you attach as you go..and they yarn was so cool I just had to snatch it up!

See for yourself:

The yarn is Plymouth Boku. It's 95% wool, and 5% silk. It is very similar to the Noro I love so much, but at a fraction of the price. ($6.99 for 99 yards).

( Wow, that is a much darker picture then I thought it was. Sorry about that..click for big.)

I really like working with it..But I have to say that I still love Noro more. The colors in the Boku are much more subtle. And I am anything but subtle. =)

Still, I think this is going to be quite spectacular when it is all done.

Six squares down, Thirty eight more to go!

This is going to be my #1 knitting project for now, along with the Sock Madness craziness.

Trust me, I know I need to get a handle on the projects, (I have not even begun to talk about that new project I started last week...), But, I think I have a plan.

Famous last words.

Still Waiting...

All that craziness of last weekend with the sock knitting. I finished Sunday..it is now Thursday, and we are still waiting for 2 more people in my division to finish.
Don't get me wrong, I am not picking on anybody. My division is the "novice" division after all. And even though I may be considered a novice by the amount of socks I have completed..the ones I have made thus far have made me quite experienced.
I have done both cuff down and toe up socks. I knit lace, I understand cables, I know how to read charts. I have done color work. etc. etc.
And I get that many of my team-mates/competitors are brand new to the joy of socks. I am cheering them on whole heartedly....

It's just hard to be patient when this is staring at you:

Begging to be knit.

I know they will all get there day..but well..the wait is hard.

So go, go, go my fellow novices! Turn those heels, do that extra repeat, kitchener those toes..(or if you are doing them toe up) bind off that cuff!

At least I have a few things to distract me (see side bar)..but they are not keeping my attention. My heart is all about the madness right now.

I even started a new project..I know, I know..to try and get some excitement around here..it's OK, but I feel guilty about all the other stuff OTN's. And to be honest, I am having a really hard time concentrating on anything. All I can do is sit for small periods of time with one project or another, before I get up to check the stats of the competition once again.

It's official, Sock Madness really does cause madness..at least for this knitter.

It Has Begun..

I signed up: Sock Madness 2007


I chose the yarn:

(Crystal Palace Bamboo Cotton in Fern and Sprite Green)

I Knit:

And knit some more.........

I finished!

And I had more then enough yarn left over..even though I had a last minute freak out and almost swapped for different yarn.

I did these on size zero Addi's in Magic Loop.

Started March 10th at 6:30 am (yes that's correct)..and finished March 12th at 12:30 am.

Other contestants finished these in a day..the first pair were finished in about 7 hours. Now that is CRAZY!

Good news........I am on to the next round.

Right now, I am tired. But that was SO much fun! I am really pleased with myself that I finished so quickly.

I work well under pressure..maybe I need a competition for all my UFO's...

Excited? Who me?

Not at all.
Just because Sock Madness starts tomorrow, and I have been looking forward to it since November, is no reason for me to act like a kid waiting for Christmas.

It's not like I have yarn for ALL 7 patterns lined up and ready to go..or that I have had that done for over two weeks. Nope, not me.

Err, well. OK. Maybe I did..but it's not like I ordered more yarn (Apple Laine and J Knits) from The Loopy Ewe just in case I was not happy with my solid color choices. (The Regia and Frog Tree.) Nope, not me. I am the queen of self-control.

Wait..I think I just heard the Mailman........

False Alarm. OK where was I? Oh yeah. I am the queen of self-control.

Alright FINE! I did order more yarn from The Loopy Ewe. And I have had the yarn selected for over 2 weeks, and I am acting like a child who can't wait for Christmas.

And you know what? It feels great!

So the yarns you see above are

At top:STR (the wound stuff)..not sure of colorway, I need to dive for the label..and Yarn Pirate in Sonoma. I am still not sure which one is going to make it into the competition. The STR is ready to go..but that Yarn Pirate is screaming at me!

On the Far Right: Schaefer Anne in The Strawberry Fields Colorway. This is stuff is HOT! And I have a whopping 560 yards of it. I can't wait to see the pattern designated for this yarn.

Next the the Schaefer Anne: Lorna's Laces (of course!) sport. In the Camelot colorway. I could not resist considering I am also a member of the Knitters of Avalon KAL.

In the middle: The blue is Regia Silk, and the red is Frog Tree Alpaca. These 2 will most likely be replaced by the last minute yarn purchased from..you guessed it..The Loopy Ewe!

And finally on the far left: 4 skeins of Crystal Palace Panda Cotton. There has been some buzz about this yarn..and now that I have some and have swatched with it, I can understand why.

It's soft and springy and the price is definitely right. Plus the cute little skeins are adorable. Everything about this yarn says "happy" to me.

And that is why I am so happy that my first socks will be done with this yarn.

I am thinking the green combo: (Fern and Sprite Green).

But if these colors are not contrasting enough for the first pattern..then they will be saved for a later pattern. (We know there are 2 patterns calling for a skein each of solid and variegated.)

So here is my back up..no flash because that yellow is hard to photograph!

The colors are yellow (duh) and college prep.

Plans for today:

Get yarn and needles set for the 300th time.

Set coffee maker to go off around 6 in the morning (pattern e-mails around that time.) What can I say? I am hard core!

Work on FPS and Jaywalkers

Set up my Books on CD.. I have One for the Money, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, and The Secret Garden all set to go,and I am currently listening to A Confederacy Of Dunces.

Read some Myst's of Avalon

Get ready for my hot date with B tonight. Dinner at a new restaurant, and a play.We are so cultured!

Thank goodness I have a hot date with B tonight..otherwise I think I would positively burst with anticipation!

Yo Ho Ho and a Bottle Of...Wait Where's the Rum?

Guess it's time to restock the cabinet. Yeah, like we have a cabinet..more like the shelf above the fridge..you know what I'm talking about.

So here is take 2 of the We Call Them Pirate Hat. The first one was so huge it fit me like a flapper hat. ( I spared you the pictures of that fiasco.)
But I was bound and determined to get it right..so after a few yarn and gauge issues..I came up with this:

Modeled by the Lovely B of course.


I ended up using Knit Picks Merino Style that I had in the stash..and a size one needle for the main knitting, and a size zero for the lining. Hey, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.


Here's a top action shot for you. I tried to block it, but I just could not figure out how to get the top to be pretty. I think I may try harder tomorrow by wetting it and stuffing some bags inside to form the hat.

It was a fun project..my first successful foray into the stranded knit work world. It is very warm due to the wool ( I used it for the lining as well, it is really soft.).

However..I have a "thing" with hats (not all hats just some..they make me feel like my head is getting squashed and give me headaches.) so I think this is going to be for B. He seems to like it, the hat is still on his head while I write this.

So now what..look out Alice Starmore 'cuz here I come..yeah, riiiiiiiiight.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

I don't know who said that, but whoever it is must have been a crafter. Because who else could understand that quote better then us?
About a week ago I said that I took the Forest Path Stole out of time out, and then left you at that. But this week I feel I have enough progress to justify some pictures. I do love the pictures people, even if I am not the greatest at it... like some people.

So first we have a full view shot being modeled a la couch..

Yes, I finally got through those darn blasted triangles that were giving me so much grief..and I even got one each of the lace panels done.

Here we have the Birch Leaf lace:

I noticed another mistake in the chart for the birch leaves. The final right side row should be a slip 1 with yarn forward, k9, sl1 k2tog pass sl st over, k6, k2tog, k1 and then ssk last stitch of row with the 1st st of unit (if you have this pattern that should make sense.) This is for the odd numbered tiers..the even will probably be a little different.

And here is the Lily of the Valley:

Yes, this is the pattern that has the nupps that so many knitters dread. But in all honesty, I think they are fun. The trick is to do the yo and ktbl part very loosely, and then when you come back on the wrong side it is a lot easier to do the purl 5 tog (just make sure you got 5 loops..and not the yo's that are on either side of the nupp.) Again, if you are doing the pattern, that should make sense.


And finally, here we have the Fern lace pattern:

This pattern is super easy. I really don't have much to say about this one.

(The hands in the pictures are B's..is it just me that thinks it is kind of sexy to see masculine hands with the delicate lace?) OK, maybe I am weird.. I'll shut up about that. =)

So what do I think about this pattern now that I have picked it back up?

I LOVE IT!

I have to admit the mistakes in the pattern still have me a little peeved..(I forgot to mention the k3tog symbol that never made it into the chart key..it's in the charts, just not in the key..where is Sherlock when you need him?)..but now I think all the mistakes have been found and dealt with..and I have to say I am enjoying myself.

I like that each lace section is 20 stitches (more or less) and 40 rows. They get done pretty quickly, and then you move on to something different..it breaks up the monotony a bit.

Keep in mind that I am not even finished with tier 1 yet, check back when I am on tier 18 (there are 23 tiers in all..and 103 lace panels..jeesh!)

But right now, I am addicted to my FPS. I wish I could work on it solely, but I have been trying to finish other projects (FO Tomorrow!)..and guess what is starting Saturday?

Sock Madness!

Here, have a bite of this apple...

It won't hurt you, I promise. ;)

It may look innocent....



But it is Wicked for sure.

Yes, I know this is not the most flattering picture of me, and the mess in the back ground is a little embarrassing..but please ignore that and enjoy the sweater will ya?

( In my defense this has been a rough week, and I'm not feeling well today.)

OK here are the specs for this one:

Yarn: Patons SWS,about 5 1/2 balls

Needles: KP Options Size 5

Time to make: Started February 1st? 2nd? Somewhere around there, and finished on the 26th.

All in all I really love the sweater..I just wish I was in better shape. Guess it's time to lay off the Krispy Kreme's and french fries. I will definitely be making one in black so I can wear it as part of my uniform for work...just got to make a little room for it in my knitting goals.