Yarn Rogue - Tangled tales from a game knitter

I LOVE my Namaste!

2010-06-24T03:38:00.000-07:00

If you've been on Ravelry for any length of time, you may have heard of Namaste knitting bags. Actually, they are so stylish that many people (including me) just use them as purses (though I have a sock project in mine as well.) They come in great colors and are made of an animal friendly material, but look and feel very much like leather. J. leigh will be giving a Monroe bag away. Just go to her blog, follow her instructions and you may win yourself one!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T09:53:00.000-08:00

I'm making two resolutions for the new year....I hope I will be able to stick to them and they will be beneficial to me.

I'm still trying to work out the details of the second one, but the first one is to challenge myself in my knitting. I'm going to try different techniques that I have, so far, stayed away from. I'm going to learn intarsia this year. I really want to do thing like the Nordic mittens and hats that I lust over on Ravelry. I'm also going to learn better finishing techniques that keep me from knitting more sweaters. I've only made 2 complete sweaters because I really hate sewing all the pieces up.

My second resolution will be more difficult, because I need to figure out ways to carry it out. I want to be more environmentally conscious. I've done a few things around the house this past year that made me feel good about my green footprint as well as saving money. And I'd like to do more.

One thing that I did all year, was to make and use my own laundry soap. It's so much cheaper (I spent about $14 on the ingredients to make the soap in 2009) and no nasty phosphates dirtying out water. I also stopped buying papertowels and napkins and now we just use towels, dishcloths, and fabric napkins in the kitchen. This was mostly because we've been short on cash this year, but I realized how much less trash we are creating by doing this. So one thing I can do is knit some more dishcloths this year:)

Anyway, I'm going to reseach the environmental aspect of my new years resolutions and make some changes around the house for 2010.

Passing on a fellow knitters contest

2009-08-12T05:20:00.000-07:00

Melissa, crazycatladymel, just started a contest a few weeks ago. The prize is a skein of her new hand dyed yarn, Urban Legends, and a project bag. To enter her contest, she asks that you donate some yarn and/or knitting notions to Interim House, a rehab facility that has added knitting/crochet to their curriculum.
Here's the link...

Contest Winner:)

2009-08-01T13:12:00.001-07:00

Teopea, of Redqueensrace, is the sole entrant and, therefore, the winner! It's ok by me...I just wanted to gift some yarn on someone who would use it. Since Teopea is also in the Booty Club, I know she likes Georgia's yarn, and will have fun knitting with it.

Not much else of consequence is going on...I'm almost finished with Diane's Dragonflies, a pair of socks that I'm making for a friend/coworker.

She likes purple and pretty things, we have fun shopping and finding cute things together. Last month, we went to Yule Love it Lavender Farm for a girl's day out. We also keep an eye out for any chick flick's we want to see. Since she's such a kindred spirit and same foot size, I decided to make her some pretty socks.

I'm also itching to work on knitting sweaters, in preparation for fall or maybe just because I'm feeling more up to the task of knitting them. I've been nearly done with Amused for some time now, when I finish that I have a whole list of sweaters to knit next.

Contest!!!

2009-07-18T17:03:00.000-07:00

This may be a bit premature....as I don't have any regular readers. But, I'm having a contest!

I just saw the latest Harry Potter movie, and I'm rereading the book; Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I'd love to hear anyone's favorite HP moments/or characters. Please post in the comments your favs and I will choose, at random, a winner to receive a skein of Yarn Pirate yarn.

Of course, I'd love to share my favorite characters in the series. I sincerly love Fred and George Weasley. I adore that they never take anything seriously...probably because I take everything seriously:) My favorite Fred and George moment was when they went all wild as they left Hogwarts. They set off several magical fireworks and created a moat in the main hall of the school. Naturally, the professors could have cleaned up the mess quickly, but since Umbridge alienated everyone, the other professors claimed they could do nothing and left the mess up to her to deal with. It was a just punishment for that woman, in my opinion!

I'd love to hear your favorites.... I will choose a winner, at random, by July 30th.

Group Knitting

2009-05-10T11:05:00.000-07:00

Until this year, so far in my knitting career, I haven't knitted in a group. I think at first I was kind of shy about knitting in public (oh my, what would people think?!?) Then when I knew knitting was more than just a passing fancy for me, I really couldn't find a knitting group that was convienent in time/place.

Luckily for me, that has changed! My soon-to-be sister-in-law, Melissa, is a knitter as well. So we had our own Girls Knit Night Out last month. We met up at Barnes and Noble, sat in the coffee shop and talked (bitched), knitted and drank foofy coffees all evening. We even had other people stop by our table to see what we were doing (I was knitting socks, and Melly was making a purse on a loom.) It was such a successful evening, we are going to do it once a month.

I also have recently gotten reconnected with a good high school friend, Corrine. She's a librarian at a local library and one of the things she does is organize/run their monthly knitting group. So far I have been to two of their meetings. The first time I was a little shy because I usually am in any new situation and because I hadn't seen Corrine in over 20 yrs. But last week, I had a lot of fun...I helped a girl learn how to knit on circs, I talked to a lot more people, and I totally messed up my sock because I was so much more interested in other peoples work and conversations:)

Anyway, my point is...knitting in a group is a lot more fun and socially acceptable than I thought. I might even check out my LYS's and see what their drop-in knitting groups are like.

Oops, I did it again:(

2009-04-24T13:00:00.000-07:00

I bought yarn! I was trying not too, I was/am working on taming the stash. On Ravelry, I joined the Stash Sock Club group. In an effort to economize, I wanted to only knit from my stash. Today I broke down and went to one of my favorite LYS. Heritage Spinning and Weaving, over in Lake Orion, has a yarn sale going on and I had a coupon for an extra 10% off! Mercy! I had the Hubby drive over with me today (since we both got off work early) and he sat in the car enjoying the weather and listening to Sports Radio, while I got to shop the sale section and the sock section at Heritage to my hearts content.
The top three skeins, Tofutsies and Panda Soy, were not on sale. However....the bottom four, Cozy Cotton and Regia, were 40% off!!! Of course, I like the full price stuff better (and so does Ickkle, who you can see to the top right. She kept touching the Panda Soy.) So I'll just put this spill off the yarn wagon down to shopping local and helping out my favorite LYS in these hard economic times. Oh hell....I just wanted to buy more pretty yarn, I couldn't help myself.

One of the socks I'm working on is some Yarn Pirate Booty Club yarn from last year. Neptune was such a pretty colorway, I wasn't sure what pattern would look great with it. I finally picked Artichoke because I saw another Raveler, woolleyone, use Neptune for that sock pattern. And I really like them! Since they will be done a couple weeks before Mother's Day, I think I will gift them on my Mum. Sorry for the blurry pic...I'll have to take another better one when they are finished.

On the (knitting) front...

2009-04-23T14:57:00.001-07:00

I just joined Death By Socks. The signups are until May 7th and I'm hoping it will be more fun that Sock Wars was last year. Not that I didn't have fun doing SW, I just got killed in round 1. Maybe I'm faster this year, I have to be faster...I'd like to kill at least one person this year!

Just in case you have no idea what I'm going on about... Death by Socks and Sock Wars are competitive knitting games. You get a pattern, and a dossier of your "victim" and you knit that person a pair of socks. Once your socks are done, you send them off to the victim thereby "killing" them. That person must send his/her partially complete socks to you. You then finish that pair and send them off to your victim's victim. And even if you die right away, you get a lovely pair of hand-knitted socks:) The last person standing gets some knitterly goodies and bragging rights on being the fastest knitter off all!

If you are interested, I posted a handy button to join the Yahoo group for DBS.

Triumphant Return....well, not really;)

2009-03-25T07:48:00.001-07:00

I'm back from the HW Show in Chicago! It was great to get back and see the DH and DSD....and the kittehs, of course. I feel so much more relaxed, not having to be "Game On" like the previous 4 days. I like waking up in my own bed/house too...no hotels, though we did stay in a nice one.

The show was exciting as usual, and huge...there were a lot less people there than the last two years. We saw most of our vendors, a notable absence was InterMetro. It was also nice to be able to find new vendors, especially brand new ones!

Stephanie found a company that makes laptop desks for when you are sitting in bed, in the car (as a passenger), or on the floor. They are fully adjustable, and even have a mouse pad and cup holder! You can check em out at http://www.championcases.com/ , the guys there were really cool and let us borrow a couple of the desks to take to the SSG meeting to demo. We had to bring them back afterwards, unfortunately.

Another cool new vendor we found was selling bamboo kitchen tools that used a biodegradable head that is replaceable. Since most people are trying to become more "green", it is product I really hope we bring in. The tools were really sharp and unlike any others I've seen on the market.

There was also a vendor, in Michigan no less, that made some really nice wooden pantry items. I thought they would really complement the other items we already carry. Also, I believe they could be repurposed for other rooms/uses. I can't remember if these things were in-stock and ready to ship, they could have been prototypes. A lot of the things I liked were:)

Up for a Contest?

2009-01-24T06:23:00.000-08:00

Elevenses is having a little competition, step over and take a peek!

She's got a load of lovely prizes, books and yarn...what could be better? And though I have doubts on my readership, if you do enter the contest from here just mention that Yarn Rogue sent you:)

Ack! no photos today....

2008-12-28T14:44:00.000-08:00

How sad, I've left my camera at Mom's. So my pics will have to wait... However, I'd like to post my most favorite Christmas picture evah!

Behold, the Christmas Snail!

I found this anerable snailio posted on CuteOverload the other day. Who on earth would think to make a sweater for a snail?!?! It was the most respected (by me at least) Resurrection Fern . Check out her blog to get the story on this cutie-pie snail. I should have known that it had to be an Etsy seller who came up with something so cute and crafty:)

Btw, I love Etsy. I tried to buy all my gifts from etsy.com this year. Either that, or make them myself. Of course, I'm way behind on the things I was suppose to make. My brother's socks are still non-existent. I did finish the Mojo socks for Auntie, but Kathy's are only 45% done. For some reason, knitting socks are starting to hurt my wrists. So instead of going through the pain, I'm making Kathy a Crofters Cowl instead. It's so lovely, I'll have to buy more yarn and knit one for myself and one for Mum.

We have all the kids until Jan. 4th. Yes, its pandemonium here:) Of course, the kids would be disappointed with only hand-made gifts...so they got a Wii and accessories and games. Their Dad loves to spoil them. At least that keeps them busy. I don't think we've had any kid TV since Christmas (thank goodness). I do approve of Dance Dance Revolution, anything that get us off our butt and exercising:)

A little out of date...

2008-12-23T04:27:00.001-08:00

I haven't blogged in a long time....In part because I got married on September 13. So I was spending a lot of time planning the wedding, then afterwards I've been trying to get use to my new life:)
My DF is now an official DH, and I have 5 step kidlets...Phew! Just before the wedding, we had one of his daughters move in with us. So that really made things interesting at home. No more doing whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted (walking around half clothed, adult funtime, ect...). And lots of making sure she was getting homework done, had lunch or money for school, and enough clean clothing. I'm glad we only have one child so far, I don't know if I could have handled 5 right off the bat:)

We do get them all for Christmas. I think my hubby will be picking the others up tonight and we will start the festivities. We got them a Wii and some games as their big present. I'm kind of excited because I know we sit around too much at home, and this will (I hope) get us off our butts.

Woooo, a contest!

2008-06-03T05:33:00.000-07:00

Simply Sock Yarn Company is having a contest with yarn (of course) as a prize. You must enter by June 8th. Enter here http://simplysockyarn.typepad.com/simply_socks_yarn_co/

Who doesn't Love a Discount?

2008-06-02T18:28:00.000-07:00

We are having a friends and family discount at work this month. Mention this in our store and get 20% off your purchases, even closets! This is the email from my boss announcing it.

Dear Robin,
It's time for the Organize-It Friends and Family Event.As a way of giving back to the people who help make our company great, we'd like you to offer your 20% employee discount to all of your friends and family members. Simply forward this email, or print it out and give it away. Make sure to tell your friends and family members that they are more than welcome to forward this along to their friends, too.The Friends and Family Discount is good on any purchase made through June 17th, 2008, whether it's a cabinet organizer or a fully custom closet. The discount can be used either online at http://cts.vresp.com/c/?OrganizeIt/b5024e4458/b6d4de51e7/48ca515286/cmpid=em400 or in our Shelby Township, Michigan retail store. For online purchases, use the discount code FF24RP during checkout. If you'd rather come out to visit us at the store just print this email and bring it with you. Need directions to the store? You can find them here. Thanks again for helping make this year a great for getting organized!

Regards,
Chris
Organize-It General Manager

You can find our retail store and closet design showroom in Shelby Township, Michigan. Organize-It is located on the northeast corner of 25 Mile Road and Dequindre.Click here for an interactive, zoomable map to 2079 25 Mile Road.
Store Hours:Weekdays: 9:30 - 8:00Saturday: 9:30 - 6:00Sunday: 12:00 - 5:00

Well it doesn't paste and copy so well....but you get the picture:)

My death....in Sock Wars

2008-05-19T17:35:00.000-07:00

I left work today to get some lunch at home....and died a horrible death at my mailbox. Yes, I received my death socks. Rozstitches from sunny FL, sent me a pair of pink/fushia/yellow/grey socks made from Tofutsies yarn.

Which you can see here, to the left:) Although she killed me, I must admit, Roz did a nice job. I love the colorway and the fit is pretty good:)

I'm sorry I wasn't able to work on a second pair of sock, but I'm also sort of happy to be relieved of the stress. I feel good that I got in one kill...Sock Princess in Tacoma, WA. Unfortunately, my kill will be legal tomorrow and Roz got me today. So Sock Princess will send her SIP to Roz and hopefully Roz will get further in the war. I believe her assassin is dead, so that should give her a bit of an edge.

Anyway I'm more excited now about finishing other unfinished sock projects that I have laying around. So, maybe Sock Wars again next year...

Sock Wars!

2008-05-14T08:09:00.000-07:00

I've been working on my weapons to assassinate my target. I'm finished with one sock and am about halfway on the second. I needed to take a break though, my fingers are getting sore with my efforts. It's also driving me insane when I hear the post woman come by...I'm so afraid I'll be killed before I get a chance to mail off these socks! Yikes! I'm picking up stitches for the gusset right now....as soon as I get a bit further on, I'll take pictures to post here as well as on Ravelry...*gets back to knitting*

Games, Books, and Movies update....

2008-04-29T20:32:00.000-07:00

Hullo,

I had the DH take me to see "The Other Boleyn Girl" a couple weeks ago. I really, really enjoyed the book, so I had fairly high hopes for the movie. Dashed, completely dashed.....I shouldn't have hoped they would get it right. I know its not a historically accurate book, but the movie just twisted everything all to hell. Not to mention totally leaving out almost any reference to politics. It's only saving grace was the costumes, which weren't 100 percent accurate, but were close enough to please me and beautiful to boot. Crap movie, it made the HBO series, The Tudors, look tame.

Books, beautiful books!!!! A friend of mine gave me a ton of Mercedes Lackey books on MS Reader! Squee!!!! I'm excited...but it may take a while to read them sitting in front of the computer. I read much better, snuggled up in bed or curled up on the couch. Maybe someday I'll get a Kindle or other type electronic hand held thingy. Anyway, I have most of the Valdemar series, Elemental Masters, the Bardic tales, and other various Misty books.

On the gaming front, I've been wrapped up in DOMO (Dream of Mirror online) a free anime style mmorpg. Its cute and has nice graphics and music. Other players complain about the music, but I like it and the DH walks around whistling and humming it, so he likes it too:)

I also stopped in on my favorite MUD tonite, Emperia. I've been playing on this mud for quite awhile and lately its been fairly slow. Tonite, however, a nice number of people hopped on! So it was nice to say hi to friends I haven't seen in awhile. I hope more of us get back to being regulars on the MUD. I'll probably visit again tomorrow. I practically have the day off! Woo!

Jeeze!

2008-04-03T17:25:00.000-07:00

I think Ravelry has taken over my blogging life. I no longer feel like posting my FO's due to the ease of posting them on Ravelry. Not to mention the fact that more peeps will see them on R, than here. Well....I may just end up posting less about knitting here than previous. Or perhaps I will post about my other crazy obsessions....reading, gaming, movies, food.

Speaking of food, I'm starving....time for a run to the border? mmm....cheesy, beefy, melty. Yup, bye!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-22T18:04:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful day today:) I woke up just in time for watching the parade on tv, and made breakfast for my honey and me. Lots of lounging around and knitting....I'm finally working on the second sock from the pair I started in August. It'll probably look all different than the first one, which is why I'll try not to let second sock syndrome hit me again for so long.

After cleaning up, I threw the green bean casserole into the oven and waited for the honey to get hisself all showered and shaved. Mom, of course, called and asked where we were. But as long as I was going to be earlier than Auntie, I knew we were not in trouble:)

At Moms, Katie loved the baby hat and sockees I made. Mom gave her a pink Red Wings jersey for the upcoming little girl....oh, and we got to see the ultrasound pics! Wheee, it will be fun having a bitty baby around:) Her due date is March 31st, so not too much longer....

Oh dinner was sooooo good, and we all ate so much. I got very little in the way of leftovers, boo hoo! Heh, actually....since the honey got a turkey from work, we get a whole nother Turkey Day with his kidlets on their next weekend!

Welp, I think I have to go delete all my Ghost Hunters from the DVR...aparently they have had a marathon today. My honey is slightly annoyed at all the GH that were recorded....hehe!

Two days til Turkey Day!

2007-11-20T06:22:00.000-08:00

Oh yum, I love Thanksgiving! I always eat too much, and wish I could eat more. This year, I get to make the green bean casserole, which we didn't have last year...and someone better make the sweet potatoes, or I'll be rather sad.

As far as what I have on the needles...I finally started my Brothers BMF scarf. Its the first thing I've tried with lettering involved. I'm hoping it turns out, I'm not to sure if floating the yarn across the back will work. Its suppose to be fiber backed or backed with a plain knitted scarf. I'm using the Crime of Fashion scarf from MagKnits. http://www.magknits.com/Aug05/cof.htm

Only I'm using black and grey and it will say /// Caution /// Bad M*!%fucker ///. My brother requested the BMF, I'm not sure yet if I will spell it out or censor it. My bro is weird...8P

I also finished the baby socks for Katie's baby, which we have just found out will be a girl. I think the cap and socks look a little girly anyway, so that works for me! Actually, its nice because we have a baby boy in the family, and at least the new little girl will get just as much attention.

Free Time!!! Wheee!

2007-11-05T14:06:00.000-08:00

Yay...I've got some time away from work. Lately, it's been all-consuming. However, its nice to get in some me-time:) I got yarn in the mail today..woo hoo! Some skeins I bought on Etsy from Knit Me Up. A green mixture called Chloe.
I had also bought one more skein of the black, turquoise, and cream yarn to finish off the socks I started in August. I'm hoping to be able to finish that pair to wear now that its cooling off.

The green and cream yarn, I will use to make a pair of socks for a Christmas gift. I'm not sure who for, but at least they will be pretty and soft. Anyone of my female friends/relatives will love them...maybe with the exception of Heather. I have to finish the black and purple socks for her!

I also wanted to post the socks I started with my latest YP yarn booty. The colorway is called Killer Bees, I used a pattern called Crosshatch Lace to knit them up. I love the way the colors are getting distributed...no bad color pooling at all! The color reminds me of the early 80's when everyone was wearing those crazy flourescent colored clothing.

Back then, when I was 14, I had a pair of lime green fingerless gloves, a hot pink sweatshirt, and lime green socks. I wore them all together and thought I was the coolest looking girl ever! Lol, I wish I had a picture of that outfit:) I'd post it so I could give ya'll a good laugh!

Day off! Woot!

2007-10-17T08:00:00.000-07:00

Yay, today is my one day off this week! I didn't even sleep in though, I had to get up at 7:30 to put my bags out for Purple Heart. I'm glad I didn't miss them....at least, I saw my neighbors bags were still on the porches.

I've got so much cleaning to do, but I'm being lazy and not doing a thing! Well actually, I've been spinning all morning, hehe. I feel like I'm getting better, but I'd still like to take a class to learn better technique. Well, maybe soon.

There is also new yarn booty on the way from Yarn Pirate! *booty dances* I probably shouldn't be so excited since I have the last two months of booty sitting, unused, on my desk. I really haven't been knitting much since I got my wheel. I need to hop to it though, I have several unfinished projects, and serveral more that have to be started. Not only the spinning wheel, but the new computer has kept me from knitting (and cleaning, laundry, ect...). My free time goes so quickly when I start looking at things on the internet. Bah...ok...I'm feeling sufficiently guilty, I'm going to go get started on my housework...*waves*

Voila!

2007-10-01T19:22:00.000-07:00

Here's my new addition....It's a lovely Baynes from http://www.spinningbunny.com/ , actually from their Ebay shop (Seller ID= ssilk1). The woman I communicated with was Susan and she was just lovely answering questions and getting the wheel shipped out to me. I bought it Wed. and it got to me by Friday! Amazingly quick ship time. Course I live in Michigan and this was coming from NY

As you can see (top bobbin) I've already been spinning away. I'm doing ok...I need more practice, but I think I'm getting the right technique. I've already made a two-ply from what is on the bobbin there and the gorgeoso roving on the floor. The roving was practice wool from Spinning Bunny...so soft and plushy feeling. I know I will order more from her when this stuff is gone.

Here is my two funky skeins of handspun. I named it Disco Berries. I suppose I should have put something shiney in it to represent a disco ball, but oh well...hindsight and all.

I'm going to try to make it into a hat, though I'm sure I need to spin more to have the yardage for it. I spun it so fat that the roving didn't go very far. I do love thick and thin though:)

Oh oh Oh, I'm soooooo bad!

2007-09-26T15:14:00.000-07:00

I bought a spinning wheel. I bought it with credit....and I really only feel a little guilty. Mostly, I'm excited because it should come on Monday. It's a Baynes double treadle that I bought from http://www.spinningbunny.com/ or actually her eBay store. It's unfinished, but that is okay because I don't even know how to spin on a wheel yet. I'll have to take time to sand and stain it, all the while trying to figure out when I'll have time to take classes at Heritage. Their classes are on Saturdays, and I always have to work then....so not too sure how I'll manage. I may have to just watch YouTube videos and figure it out on my own. Anyway, I'm all butterfly-ish and happy tonight:)

As for the Alpaca festival, it was interesting but lacking in the scads of yarn and fiber that we thought we'd find. At least it was free (parking $3) to go and look around. It was, for the most part, an alpaca show. So we got to see lots of the odd looking animals...fluffy or long haired with long necks and big eyes, and they don't seem to make any noise. So afterwards we went to lunch and shopped at Birch Run, the big outlet mall in Michigan. All in all, a pretty full Sunday afternoon.

Alpacas anyone?

2007-09-22T16:54:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm hoping to go to Birch Run tomorrow for the Alpaca Fest with my mum. I'll try to take lots of pictures to post. I hope I can find some nice yarn as well! The guys at work were teasing me about being strung out on yarn, telling me that I might work my way up to worse habits. But I think yarn is a pretty safe addiction...well maybe not for my bank account. It makes me feel good!

Talk like a Pirate Day!

2007-09-18T15:52:00.000-07:00

Arrr! September 19th be Talk like a Pirate Day! Yarrr! To see more go here http://www.talklikeapirate.com/piratehome.html

Hee hee, my Wenchly friends at the International Wenches Guild http://www.wench.org/and the Yarn Pirate http://www.yarnpirate.com/ reminded me of this special day. It makes me want to knit an eye patch or something Piratey.

The book, Naughty Needles has an eye patch (Pirate or Nurse Elle style). I also saw a kitty eye patch on Ravelry and on Knitting After Hours http://www.katesandusky.com/patterns/kittyeyepatch.html

However, after putting a baby hat on the cat (Ickkle, pictured left), I doubt she will let me get close enough to try an eye patch on her. Why can't cats be as silly as dogs and let themselves be dressed up?

If Ickkle won't wear one, maybe I can get Sally (pictured on the right) to wear the eye patch. I think she'd be cute with her orange and black patches with a pirate's eye patch.

Oh tiring day!

2007-09-17T15:12:00.000-07:00

I'm at home briefly before going back to work. We are so far behind that we are going to have a late night pizza party/ work party to try and get caught up. I suppose its a good thing that we are busy, no getting laid off at this company!

Up above you can see my finished Rum Runner socks (finally!) The left one knit up with thicker stripes and I like it a bit better that way, but I'm happy how they both turned out. The pattern was found in More Sensational Knitted Socks. That was an awesome book for someone new to knitting socks, it has a lot of info on how to get the correct sizing as well and many different patterns, different heels, and different ways to knit socks. I'm so glad I bought it:)

I had quite a bit of yarn left over (I like my socks short-ish). Georgia, the yarn pirate, http://www.yarnpirate.com/ had made the Sweet Baby Cap for her baby, it was so cute that I wanted to make one as well. I commented on her blog that I didn't have any new babies in my circle of family/friends. Not 20 minutes later, I found out that my step sis is expecting in March! Woo hoo! So I got to knit the Sweet baby cap after all! :) I love how it turned out. The pattern can be found here http://grosblog.wordpress.com/2007/05/16/sweet-baby-cap/

Good news and yummy yarn!

2007-08-28T14:34:00.000-07:00

I got my Ravelry invite this morning when I woke up! Needless to say, I was a few minutes late to work because I spent too much time trying to explore the site. I found a friend, Crazycatladymel. I know her originally from the Mich Ren Fest, and adopted one of my cats from her, so that was fun to see someone I know right away!

I've also got a Yarn Booty pic. Its been, I think 2 weeks since I got this months yarn.

This is a BFL yarn called Calamity. I haven't even started in on it yet, since I'm not finished with last month's Rum Runner. It feels a lot springier than RR, and its still a Superwash! Yay! Can't wait to play with it, but I sort of want to see what pattterns some other people in the club are using on it.

Finished Sock

2007-08-23T16:01:00.000-07:00

This yummy super soft sock is finished!

It was done in Tiffany colorway from http://knitterpated.com/. She generously let me test her handdyed yarn, and I love the resulting sock! Its so warm and soft:) Of course now that I made one sock, I need to buy another skein to complete the set!!!

The pattern is Groovy Socks, found here on Sock Pixie's blog http://www.sockpixie.com/catalog/item/4635135/4736175.htm

Yarn Booty Socks

2007-08-22T16:58:00.000-07:00

These pics are from the Yarn Pirate Booty Club yarn. It a yummy color especially for her club called Rum Runner. I've only done one sock so far, and sort of misplaced my #2 circular. Yes, I'm sorta proud that I did it on only one circular. I read about doing it that way on someone's website....of course I can't remember whose (bookmarked on the dead computer). When I find it again, I'll link to her site. You just need a long circular to do it, its very easy. Anyway, heres the pics.....

Finally new pictures!

2007-08-22T05:31:00.001-07:00

So I made an effort this morning and unhooked the camera cable from my poor dead computer and got it hooked up to my fiance's. I think there were 50 misc. pictures in there from the last time the kids were over. (Molly took control of the camera and took a ton of pictures of all of us, mostly when we didn't know she was going to take any.)

First two shots are the nearly finished sock made from http://knitterpated.com/ yarn. It's 100% Merino and so soft and squishy! I've really enjoyed working with it

Yes, sorry, the camera strap got in the way. Almost finished...probably be done by tonite or tomorrow night. Such cute colors! Black, white and aqua. I've never worked with black yarn before, the dye seems to come off a bit on my finger tips, but maybe that is usual with such a dark color. It washes off right away, but I think I'll wash in cold water right away to cut down on color transfer. Oh and these socks are so soft, I'm going to love, love, love em! Even my finance (er, fiance) thought they were soft....and he's usually very non-commital ("Nice, honey!")

Ugh...to be without computer:(

2007-08-16T05:16:00.000-07:00

Well, its been awhile since I last posted. My computer has fried and I'm using my fiance's computer until I have enough cash to get a new one. So no new pics today since I don't feel like trying to hook up the camera cord to Bill's puter.

New stuff in the works....I have half a pair of socks out of YP's Rum Runner from the Booty Club. And I have to get the second one done quick. Georgia has just sent out emails that she is sending the second batch of yarn soon! Yikes! I mean, Hooray!!!!!

Also, I'm testing some lovely yarn for Knitterpated http://knitterpated.com. She's got very pretty hand dyed sock yarn in her Etsy shop. The color I picked is Tiffany; aqua, cream, and black. Its soooo yummy and squishy, 100% merino. I did start a sock, but frogged it because I wasn't happy with the pattern. Any way I promised her I'd try it out and post pictures for her....glad I did!

I bought a drop spindle on Etsy from mainewoodsyarn, she included some roving as well in several different colors. So I've been playing with that a bit as well....it's a lot more difficult than it looks!

Finally, the Michigan Rennaisance Faire http://www.michrenfest.com, so I have to pick out what to wear (yes, I dress in garb!) It's suppose to be lovely and cool this weekend, so perfect weather for a bodice and a couple of skirts! I can't wait, yay!!!!!

Woo Hoo! Sock Booty has arrived!

2007-07-19T14:32:00.000-07:00

Oh most beautious yarn! I was hoping that my package from Georgia, the Yarn Pirate, would be in the mailbox when I got home....and it was! It was immediately ripped open and rifled through. An oh-so-lovely Club color, Rum Runner, in superwash merino. Aqua, copper, mauve, and burgandy...its sure to knit up into some very pretty socks!!! Also there was a YP pin, and a bar of handmade soap (tagged limited edition soap, yarn pirate booty club) from http://www.goodsoapworksofathens.com/, smells sort of cinnamon-ish.

Of course, then pictures had to be taken. In the process, my cat, Ickkle, had to check out the yarn as well. She seemed to approve, and as long as it doesn't get rolled into a ball, it will be safe and ignored by both cats. Any yarn balls left unattended are up for grabs in our house.

As far as what I'm working on right now...I've got a Mary Jane pithy hat on the needles, but haven't gotten far. Actually, I had frogged what I did and restarted. It took me a few rows to understand all the yarn overs. Now I have it down in my head, things should go much smoother the second time. I'm using some pretty Noro that was in the stash. Pictures will be posted soon:)

F.O. Pic!!!!

2007-07-12T15:09:00.000-07:00

Here's the lovely Mom Bday socks....just in time as her bday is tomorrow:) The pattern was pretty easy, it was sort of a blend of my own thing and Bronwyn's California Wave socks, found here: http://home.bellsouth.net/p/s/community.dll?ep=87&subpageid=5299&ck=
Like I mentioned, pretty easy, the pattern is 7 rows k, then 7 rows k2 p2 rib. I didn't understand Bronwyn's directions for the heel, so I just did it my own way. I also did the bottom of the feet in just plain knit as I thought the pattern on the bottom might feel weird. Just my own personal opinion. In any case, I'm pretty proud of how they turned out. Now I feel ready to use more expensive sock yarns! Yarn Pirate! Woot! I'm excited to get my booty!

Mom's bday socks!

2007-07-11T16:46:00.001-07:00

Hooray! My day off was quite worth it, since I finished the Bday socks for my mom. They have been washed and are drying as I type:) I'll post pictures later, when they are dry enough to try on. I'm hoping she likes the color. I did em in OnLine in color 790, shown here http://www.littleknits.com/products.php?cat=385

I also worked on a sweater that I already had made and frogged out once, because I didn't like the fit. I'm not sure the new style is much better, but I think I'll keep it as is. I'm really, really done with it! I think I'm sick of the color. But I'll get pictures as soon as I wash/block/and add buttons.

Phew! I'm done in...at least today was cool and I had the house open. I'm so ready for fall!

Quick post

2007-07-08T16:40:00.001-07:00

I'm working on a new pair of socks for my mom's birthday. I have one done, and am working on the second. Not a difficult pattern, since I wanted them to look good and get them done quickly. Her Bday is July 13th. So nothing else exciting going on. The Yarnpirate will be sending out Booty Club stuff pretty soon, so I'll post pictures of the goodies as well as pics of the bday socks when I'm done wit em:)

An older FO

2007-06-29T15:05:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of my Jayne Cobb hat. I'm particularly proud of this one, even though it is not all that attractive. The tv show Firefly is one of my favorites, even though it was cancelled in it's first season. One character, Jayne, received a knitted cap (like this one) from his "Ma". I found a pattern on www.craftster.org and had to make one! This was a few monthes ago, but I want to post it anyway:)
As for the manic expression on my face...i'm probably thinking something along the lines of, "Shiney! Let's be bad guys!"

Whee! New FO!

2007-06-24T18:25:00.000-07:00

Finished the second sock today! My first pair of socks:) I'm pretty thrilled. The second one looks nicer than the first, and I do believe that it was because I messed up the gusset, as I thought. And now I don't have to feel guilty about spending money on the Sock Club, because I know I can knit socks now! This pair was knit so plainly, my next pair should have a challenging pattern. So the rest of this evening will be spent in looking for a fun pattern for my next project.

One finished sock

2007-06-20T15:15:00.000-07:00

Finished my first sock, I'm working on the second already. Hopefully have that done by this weekend. It's in Skacel Trampoline - tiger striped http://www.littleknits.com/proddetail.php?prod=SkacelTrampoline229

Cute colorway, but mine doesn't look much like it. The top of the foot is all orange and white. I guess it could be that I messed up on the gusset... Oh I'll get it right on the second sock! *stamps foot!

Yay! I'm in the Booty Club!

2007-06-15T18:44:00.001-07:00

I'm beaming right now because I'm in the Yarn Pirate's sock club! Her yarns sell so quickly, I was sure there were a 1000+ other knitters out there refreshing their browers (as I was) to beat me into the club:) So I get 3 fun filled months of cool colorways and misc. booty (gotta have the booty). Try not to drool...

Does this happen to other new knitters?

2007-06-10T12:35:00.001-07:00

I'm not sure why but I can't ever get pieces, that ought to be, even. One arm is always different than the other. Then I have to frog part of it or the entire piece and start over. I'm making a chunky, short cardigan and this happened with the arms and the front pieces. I fixed the front piece easily, but I think I must have made one arm in a smaller size! Maybe I just need to circle all the size indicators in a pattern? Hmm...