Three Things (con't)

Three things I love about these socks:




1. The YARN. Wow, I've wanted some of this forever. It's a little pricey, so I waited and waited and then kept waiting. This particular skein was part of a Mother's Day gift for me, and I was almost afraid to knit it up. Would it live up to my expectations? Oh, yeah. It sure did. The twist, the fiber, the colors... I want to make PJ's out of this stuff and wear them from now until forever. Yummy. It's Duet Middy in Pebble Cove by A Swell Yarn Shop, and you can find it at The Loopy Ewe. (Just in case you wanted to get some and send it to me.)


2. The contrasting toes.




3. How well my short row heel turned out. Now, I realize it's not perfect, but I like them and I haven't done many thus far. I think I might be leaning towards these for a bit...

Three FOs I haven't blogged yet (besides the Duet socks):

1. My first washcloth! A gift for Irene's teacher at the end of the year. I packaged it up with some body wash and lotion, and I think it's kind of cute. Too bad I didn't think to take a pic until it was all packaged up. What? You've never been on a knitting deadline before? I was in a hurry...




2. Crusoe Socks in White Oak Studio's TVyarn in the Four Weddings and Funeral colorway.




3. Camera Sock (at least I don't think I blogged it) for my tiny camera. I keep it in my purse, so I can get all kinds of fun on-the-fly pictures for the blog. All right, all right--I WILL get lots of fun pics.





Three things I've celebrated recently:


1. Keegan's graduation. You saw that on last blog. How funny was the picture of Irene and Spencer cheering in the seats?


2. My niece Holli's 2nd Birthday.




3. Father's Day. Here's a quick one of me with my Dad...





Three things I'm dying to knit:


1. Some sort of lace wrap or stole. But I'm afraid. Very afraid.


2. Malabrigo Loafers. Out of this:


and this:



3. Pair of mittens from the Selbuvotter book using one of these and a colorful sock yarn:





Three WIPs:


1. Lucky Leafling socks. I did have 4 inches or so knitted up, but the gauge was too loose, so I had to frog and start over.



more on the yarn and pattern in a minute.


2. Lettuce Leaf Scarf. Hopefully this will break me in for that lace shawl...

Again, I didn't take a picture yet, but I will. It's in the pretty Elmers colorway by The Plucky Knitter.


3. Wrap/Blanket (not sure how big it will be yet) in Shibui Knits Merino Kid.

No photo--this is becoming a habit--but here's the yarn:





Old WIP's:


1. The Van Socks #2. Remember these? Wow, I haven't touched them in a long time. They are still in the van, though. Wonder if that's a good sign?


2. Sunrise Circle Jacket. Still love the idea--just a lot of counting and it's like I never have the quiet time to work on it. Except when I watch TV. But I can't count very well while I watch. Plus, it's kind of warm. Please don't ask why that doesn't stop me from making a blanket/wrap.


3. The 2nd Cowl project. I love it, and it's easy and quick. I just stopped having to pick Irene up at school, and that's when I used to work on it. Maybe I should take it out of the van?



Three things you never would have guessed:


1. Brian's knitting! You remember that around Christmas time I figured out he could still knit? Well, there's more. He even has a WIP! I'm going to save the details for the next post, though. Too much for this list...


2. I met the Harlot and forgot to blog about it!



Well, I didn't really forget. I guess I just never got around to it. She came to Webs for a book signing and blew us all away. She's so sweet and nice, and just how you imagine. Plus, funny. Man, is she hilarious. Like knitting stand-up. My face hurt from laughing.


3. Brian ran a 5K a couple of weeks ago!



Well, maybe it's harder to believe if you know him...

But he did an amazing job, and I was so proud. I couldn't believe he did as well as he did. And did I mention it was about 98 degrees outside? Whew! I was dying and I didn't run!



Three fun things about Keegan's new Sleeping Socks:


1. He requested a new pair of sleeping socks, because his old pair was wearing out. By "wearing out", I mean that they had like 5 holes in them and were basically unravelling. Anyway, he wanted new ones and I made them up using the yarn I got from Qutecowgirl's Etsy shop. He wears them all the time! Seriously. Like even if it's 90 degrees outside, he wears a tank top and shorts pajamas to bed with his DK weight woolen socks! EVERY night! Of course, while it's really pretty funny, you know darned well that if that kid asks for socks, I knit him socks. You can't buy gratitude like that. He takes his hand knit socks all the way, baby.




2. I used a short row heel for them, and I did it without looking up the technique. And I think they still look good!! This one amazed me. Granted, they're not perfect, but they do look like heels. Good enough.




3. This video. Entirely spontaneous. He just asked me to take a video of his new socks. I thought--why? That would be kind of boring. Turns out it's not. You have to click on it to go and see the video through Photobucket. But it's worth it. And turn on the sound, too.

Back to School...

My class at Webs was so much fun. The instructor? Cat Bordhi!! I wasn't able to get to the 2-day class on New Pathways for Socks, but the class I took was so inspiring. It was about finding your creativity, and fonts for new ideas and concepts you can apply to your own knitting. I forgot the title, and since it's trash night, I've already taken out the recycling with the paper I had it written on. I did a bad job with pictures, though. I only have one, and it's of Cat knitting (or maybe casting on?) behind her back. Yup, behind. Crazy. Sometimes I feel like such an amateur. "I'm not worthy!" So anyhow, it's probably a cute picture, but would I want someone to put up a picture of my butt to the world on their blog? Especially when that's the ONLY picture representing me? Hmmm...I'm thinking maybe Cat wouldn't appreciate it very much. I know I wouldn't, that's for sure.

You would think that I'd have taken a picture with her (of her face, this time), but I'm a really wimp when it comes to that kind of stuff. It's like I freeze up or something. No, not even that--more like I just don't have the guts to ask. Weird. One of those things about me. Makes Brian crazy. Finally, I got my hands on her book (secret birthday moneys--hidden in the wallet) and I did find the spirit to ask her to sign the book. Go me! ...Baby steps.

I need not tell you that I love the book and am dying to jump right in. What she's come up with is amazing and it sort of blows my mind. If only the size DPNs I need weren't being used right now. More on that later. If the opportunity to take a class with Cat Bordhi ever comes your way, I highly recommend you take it. You will love it.

Here's what I brought to work on in class, by the way.



They are the Crusoe Sock pattern in White Oak Studio yarn. It's a cool slip stitch kind of thing.



So here I am, working on my socks while waiting for class to start, and Cat comes up to me and starts checking out my knitting. (Here's me all uncomfortable and nervous) And she's excited because they're socks, and all I can think is what kind of shmuck brings socks to Cat Bordhi's class when they're not "Cat Bordhi" socks, right? Duh. So she asks me what kind of stitch that is, and of course I don't really know. I say, "It's some kind of slip stitch sort of thing" like some kind of crazy unknowledgable knitting fool. Double duh. She suggests it looks like some kind of linen stitch. (The lady next to me agrees with her, so I feel even sillier, not knowing exactly what linen stitch is. But I have heard of it.) Now I feel that I have to explain that I'm pretty much a self-taught knitter and I really don't know the names for a lot of stuff. I just sort of DO it, but I can't really name it. This is why Cat is so awesome--she just smiles away and says how great that is! She says that is wonderful because I can do things my way and not the way that someone else does their thing. Then she goes, "You're lucky!!" How cool is that? So please go and see her if you can--clever and warm woman, and a real asset to the knitting world.

Anyway, back to the socks. The yarn is from the first shipment (March) of the Romantic Comedies TVyarn sock club. I don't think I ever showed you, did I?



The colorway is Four Weddings and a Funeral and it's vibrant and fun.



This is what I'm up to today. Somehow I managed to knit an entire heel flap on the wrong number of stitches last night. Don't ask me how--I have no idea. But I frogged it back and had to restart.



All right, I will end with a huge announcement that I've been wanting to share with you. You know Qutecowgirl, whom I've mentioned a zillion times? She has opened her own Etsy store! called Qutecowgirl's Barn Yarn! She has wonderful hand-dyed yarn and roving, so go check it out, okay? I've already ordered something from her and it showed up superfast.



This is DK in Barn Red, of course! Beautiful, no? I love it!! I'm not usually a "red" person, but I liked it. In person I like it even more. She threw in a cute little stitch marker, too.

My favorite part? The tiny sheep on the label! So stinkin' cute...



Congrats to you, Qutecowgirl, on your new endeavor and best of luck! My yarn is gorgeous--thank you.

Actually, I lied. I will end with these...pictures from the Stitch 'n Pitch. Maura came through--she doesn't comment much, but she does read the blog, so a little guilt goes a long way. All right, just kidding...but I really appreciate her sending these along!



Crazy amounts of knitters:


Someone getting booted out of the game (why can't I remember who it was?):


Maura and I:


Krista and I: