It's a BRAND NEW SOCK

Finally finished with SSS - Second Sock Syndrome - and on to a brand new project, and a brand new sock! I love, love, LOVE this "Falling in Love" sock!

See? S0 far, it has three little lace hearts with cables on the left and right. Sock is a bit darker - flash seems to lighten up the color a bit, but overall, going to be a pretty sock.

Not thrilled with the striping, but not sure there's much to be done about it . . . .

AND - this is my first effort with a toe-up sock - which I started with a provisional cast-on . . . so it looks like a regular sock in that regard, but the trick will be the heel. Should be interesting!

No More Lonely Socks

As you can see, the SSS (Second Sock Syndrome) is finally over! I have completed sock 2 of the Lombard Street Socks in the Aubergine Baby Silk - and the pair is O-So-Soft!!

Then, in the spirit of sweeping the decks clean, I cast on for the second RPM sock in the Koigu. I think sock 1 of this pair was completed in January.

Now, I must mention, I had every good intention of completing these. In my naivety, it seemed like a good plan at the time to start a second pair of socks, then alternate the second socks for each pair. Thought it might ease boredom, or something . . . Well, no such luck!! Just seemed to make it easier to keep knitting single socks. So, thought it should be nipped in the bud.

At least there's progress here. A lot of knitting was put on the back burner while my dad has been in the hospital and recuperating at home. Has been a very busy and tense time. But looks like I'm well on my way to getting the job done, at last!

Finally - a FO and Knitting Content Again!

I was a bad knitter - have been stuck in the knitting doldrums for a couple months now, trying unsuccessfully to finish a sock, so I bought three new skeins of Fleece Artist Merino. Got Peridot, Cornflower, and Spring Meadow. VERY pretty . . . I love these yarns with the subtle color changes. Am hoping they will knit up into some beautiful socks - yeah - like I'm gonna wake up some morning, and the knitting elves will have taken this and knit some lovely socks for me. Seems I'm gonna have to get off my cushions and start knitting in earnest - or at least in Merino yarn!

And now for something completely different - a finished object! After what seems like forever of slogging through hip-deep mud, I have managed to finish this lovely sock. Yes, it is another "loner" - a sock with no mate.

However, it has been a difficult road . . . can't even remember when this was started. I had good intentions. Once the RPM was finished, decided to move on to a different sock, come back, finish the second RPM, then the second baby silk.

You can guess the rest . . . I just want to start an entirely new pair of something - anything. Hopefully the self-discipline necessary to go back and pick up the pieces of the second socks will kick in and I'll finish. Otherwise, keep your eyes peeled for brand new socks here!

Happy to Report

Hopefully soon, I'll be back to knitting. I'll have to! Just bought three more skeins of sock yarn - enough for three more pairs of socks! Still need to finish the baby cashmere and the RPM socks - still only one of each. Second-sock syndrome (SSS?) to the MAX!

Dad is making wonderful progress. After his fall, he was home only three days before the problems started. He developed pneumonia and was in the hospital for two weeks. After that, he went to a rehab facility (lots closer to home!) for 12 days, and then came home. I've been staying at my dad's for two weeks now, and am absolutely amazed at his progress. He's been using a walker all this time, and at first he was a bit wobbly. Lately his balance is improving a lot and he stands up without hanging on to things quite a bit. Seems a bit scary at times, but I'm getting used to it. He's extremely independent.

The rehab center sent out their squad of helpers - a nurse, occupational therapist, physical therapist, and an aide who helps with his showers several times a week. It seems if we are not going to all the various doctors, we have the "visitors" here taking all our time. We did manage to get out yesterday, however, get his income taxes mailed, hair cut, bird food replenished, hearing aids fixed, and a quick stop at the pharmacy. Today, we had the visitors, and a couple contractors who installed new handrails on the basement stairs, a new ceiling fan, and grab bars in the shower. So, as you can imagine, our days are filled with lots of things that need doing.Hopefully, he will be off the walker in a few more days and I will begin staying home nights!

February Knitting

Honest! I know, it's been too long since my last post, but there REALLY is knitting going on here!! See?

The first is a shot of a baby blank in progress - for a friend who's expecting soon. I was tired of making the feather and fan blankets, so decided to find something new and different. This is the "Hourglass" pattern from Lion Brand, but it is an 8-row repeat and fairly easy to remember. Admittedly, at first, I flubbed a couple times and ended up frogging a few rows, but once you get going, it is pretty simple. Plus, in this weather, it's nice to have something warm sitting on your lap!


Then, there's the SIP - sock in progess - Lombard Street out of the baby silk alpaca yarn. Absolutely beautiful, soft beyond imagination, and all, but for now, the baby blanket is on my "hot list" of things that simply MUST get done. So - the sock sits and waits. Of course, the RPM sock(s) I was working on has no mate, so that will be next . . . somehow I'm getting to where I just want to knit ONE SOCK. Is that so wrong??


Then there's the new yarn!! I must be planning more knitting! Actually, I have to - just to use the stash I've got now!

I got this wonderful hand-dyed yarn from Cabin Cove Mercantile. Dave Daniels there does a beautiful job on the yarn. It is soft, and the colors are very intense. He also included a nice, hand-written thank you card and a small bag of mountain lavender flowers. The sock yarn is 80% Merino Wool and 20% nylon. Beautiful!



And for my birthday (a week ago!) my niece sent me the newest stuff on the market - Tofutsies!! This small skein is enough for a pair of socks - can you believe it? it is 50% Superwash wool, 25% Soysilk, 22.5% cotten, and 2.5% Chitin, which turns out to be fiber made from shrimp and crab shells, and it is naturally antibacterial!



My son and his wife got methis beautiful Regia navy tweed. The picture doesn't do it justice! Also got me a gift certificate to my LYS (local yarn store), and some tiny #2 dpns. Was kind of a knitting birthday (until you consider the bread machine!). Was an awsome birthday!













Also got myself some bluejeans colored Austermann yarn, that is so soft! It has aloe vera and jojoba oil mixed in, so it has to be soft!

New Year - New Sock!

Here we have the newest completed sock - the RPM made out of the "cursed" Koigu, Tahitian Sunset. This was given to me by neice, Gwen, when she didn't find a pattern that worked for her after 8 or 9 tries. Also took me a while to find one that seemed to look good in this yarn, and when I checked with Gwen, we decided RPM worked ok.

Also, have just begun working on a beautiful Aubergene baby silk yarn - 80% alpaca, and 20% silk. Soft as a baby's behind . . . . I am working the Lombard Street pattern from Mag Knits, and think it is coming out really pretty. Not sure if you can tell from the picture, but there are 4 lace holes running alongside a cable. Looks pretty neat, huh?

Merry Christmas to All!

Here you have it - My completed Christmas knitting . . .



Ok, I know I cheated - just a bit! Here are the new "Man Socks" I made for one lucky recipient . . . . The first ones I've knit for a guy!

And the "Monet Socks" will be finding a new home, too.

Teddy had become such a fixture sitting on my sofa that I almost forgot to wrap the little guy! Only home my niece will enjoy him . . . .



I hope all your knitting projects are finished and wrapped, and that your cookies are baked, trees decorated, and cards sent . . . . because the holidays are here at last! May all your needles be full, your yarn cast on, your cables straight, your light good, and may all your projects be completed on time!

I wish you all happiness for a wonderful holiday, and a bright new year filled with the love of friends and family, projects that fill your hearts and hands, creativity to work miracles of warmth, and wondeful people to share your journey!

Success!!

Yes, looks like this is going to work!! Colors are not pooling, not looking like a barber pole. A bit of striping, but that's ok!

So, now we just knit up a couple socks! I feel good about this and am looking forward to seeing what my niece thinks of her yarn . . . will be checking for comments!

Difficult Knitting . . .

Not sure what the issue is, but I've been busy with other stuff and can't seem to do much knitting right now. Must be the proverbial "Dry Spell" you hear about.


I finished the pair of red socktober
socks and took up the Koigu yarn my niece tried so hard to knit. She tried about five or six patterns, and I have tried four or five myself now and am currently trying the RPM socks from Knitty. So far, so good.



I keep eyeing my stash. I have it in open baskets next to my fireplace. All the yarn looks lovely. I NEED to make a baby blanket or two, I should re-start my gansey sweater after frogging due to finding holes, I've even ordered new yarn to make a Christmas present (that one's gonna be LATE!), so not sure what the problem is. I find myself dozing off on the couch, cleaning, doing dishes and laundry. It's like there's a force that makes me do all these other things, thus avoiding the knitting.


Yesterday, it was errands, grocery shopping, and Christmas shopping. Today (along with dozing for a good hour and a half), it's been doing dishes, cleaning, doing laundry - whew. Perhaps tonite the bug will get me. Maybe it's just that this particular sock yarn, although absolutely beautiful on the ball, knits up totally different from what you'd think it will look like. Doesn't matter what pattern, size needle, or whatever. Just different.


I'll keep plugging away and hope to have something sensational to show for all my efforts and those of my niece!

Socks of August - Update

Well - here is sock #1 done in the tried and true "Blueberry Waffle" pattern, and the heel detail of the eye of the patridge heel - looks like mult-colored dots with texture! How neat is that???

The Socks of August

And it came to pass that . . . 410 stitches will not fit on my tiny #1 circulars! Boo Hoo! At least all three welts are completed, and we await the arrival of the new needle. So, I got me over to eBay and ordered another circular to add to the collection.

And that left me with nothing OTN. Bummer! So, tonite, I cast on for a new pair of socks - in bold, bright, beautiful colors. See??

I bought this yarn a little while ago, and have been itching to try it. I did try the toe-up socks last week with it, but wasn't that enthused about it. Now, this, is beautiful. Am going to use the tried and true "Blueberry Waffle" sock pattern. Did that one last year and have a beautiful pair of socks to show for the effort. I love this yarn!

A Day of Two "Firsts"

Progress on the Koigu socks has come to a total standstill - not enough yarn. Eventually may rip it out and try something else.

Today was boring, so it became a day of firsts.

My very first swatch - is the Guernsey yarn for the Grace's Cardigan. Actually came out right on the money! Notice the "Channel Island Cast On" that makes the nice little picots on the edge. Decided to throw those into this just to see if I could do it.



Following that success, I then tried my first "toe up" sock - not too bad for a novice!

Strange Phenomenon

So, I sat here today admiring the first completed Koigu sock. I must admit, it came out rather nice. See?

And I sit there, thinking how nice the multi-colored yarn is - how the colors go so good together, how much I like the little flecks of dark blue and green and a bit of red and rose. It is just a lovely combination of colors - and they are very pleasant to look at for long periods of time . . . .

I should know - they MATCH the sofa and love seat I've been admiring for the last 11 years! How strange!

Air Conditioning is Great!

It has been so ghastly hot in St. Louis (103 degrees today) that I've just stayed in. No grocery store, no yarn shop, haven't even stuck my nose outside! It is 9:30 p.m., and still 87 out there. Nope - have stash, will knit.

So, I've been working on the first Koigu sock on and off all day - and am almost finished! I think this is beautiful yarn and works up great! I have to thank Wendy for getting it for me at the Sheep and Wool Festival and Jeff and Alicia for helping her dig through the mill ends to find these!

Just a few more toe rows and it will be finished. All I can do is hope and pray there's enough yarn left to make another one just like this one! Keep your fingers crossed!

Let the Knitting Begin!!!

If you've come from visiting my original blog (see link at right) you know that today was my last day working a temp job held for the last nine and a half months and that I've come to love a great deal.

Ok - so now I'll be home, unemployed, for a while. If you're on MSN Messenger and have me added as BlueLady486, you will see my personal message "Will Work for Money."

So - I bought this 4,500 yards of 5-ply Guernsey wool from Frangipani in Cornwall, England (I've truly lost my mind). It is a beautiful teal color named "Deep Ocean" and I'm planning to start knitting the Grace's Cardigan (link below) during this period of unemployment. I am also working on a pair of socks now, and may start another pair.


















This from the lady who tries mainly to knit one thing at a time and complete that project before I begin another. I know - I know - My niece is a bad influence on me! So, I will begin the sweater once I get the required needles and figure out exactly what a "welt" is!














This is the beginning of the Koigu socks. Bought at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival by my niece last May, is kind of mill ends and neither color is enough for a pair, so I will knit this band at the tops, the heels and toes out of this nice periwinkle. Think they will be stunning!

Better - the Second Time Around!

Yes, fellow stick wielders! I have managed to finish the Pomatomus Socks at last! I must admit that the second one went much quicker than the first - due in no SMALL way to the fact that I didn't have to rip out even one row! I'm so jazzed about this!

Please also note that I didn't embarrass myself further by posting these socks on my feet - thereby showing off my "pasty white legs," as my niece told me after the last pic.

So, onto sock #2 of what I'm lovingly calling my "clown socks." Regia's Nations Fun colors. What a trip! Sad, tho, that the ONLY red shows up on the heels! Perhaps another pair . . . .


Also, I have found three beautiful, ample-sized sweaters that I can't wait to try. They are the Elegant Shirt Yolk, the Two-Sided Square, and one called Grace's Cardigan (no, unfortunately, I'm not going to make this for my sister-in-law, Grace just because it's her name!) from Blackberry Ridge. All beautiful, all patterns ordered, and me sitting here waiting . . . .

Hopefully that means I'll be posting some pictures of half-finished sweaters soon! hehehe

There Has Been SOME Knitting Going On . . .

Am pleased to say that it only took about a MONTH of knitting and frogging to complete ONE Pomatomus Sock!!! So, like a trooper - I cast on the second sock, did exactly two rows, then returned to my rainbow socks below :)




Aren't these turning out cool???? I'm in love.

When Bad Things Happen to Good Socks . . . .

Ok - I've been pleasantly knitting along on some lovely socks. Been looking forward to knitting this yarn up. Finally was able to get Pomatomus pattern to work and look neat . . . . see?

Really neat - takes the stripey yarn, adds interest. Basically, a neat thing!

So . . . I decide it is time to order some more yarn - stuff I've been coveting for a couple months. Is Regia's Nations Fun colors, and another one. They arrived in Friday's mail . . . . . .

The poor Pomatomus has been set aside (believe me, I can't figure out what to do with the pattern over the top of the foot anyway . . . .)

Now, there are socks I can knit and not have to think while I'm doing it. Yippee!!!

I love this stuff!! Fun colors, crayon box colors really, in nice, VISIBLE stripes. One blogger actually said "don't look directly at the socks!" hehehehe Those are the kind of socks I'll really wear!

So, in all this, I have achieved a big revelation about stash yarn. Please accept my definition below:

STASH - n., relates to yarn that was either so beautiful, soft, pretty, different, or cheap that required purchase. A pattern or item was in mind when the purchase was made. We took the yarn and danced all the way home with it and sang songs full of glee about our purchase - like hunters bagging Big Game. Then, a day or two later, we do the same thing with other yarn - more beautiful, soft, pretty, different, or cheaper than what we just got. New patterns have been discovered, or items you saw on a friend that just HAVE to be knit. Repeat this process 10 or 20 times, and you achieve "STASH." Only the newest stuff is your favorite - and the stuff that is more than 24 hours old is no longer as wonderful as it was when you got it.

At least, that's MY take on it . . . .

It's a . . . . BEAR!!

This is the latest addition to the family . . . a teddy bear and the answer to the "what is it" below!! He's made from the free yarn so many knitters got recently . . . with a bit extra purchased from the store. Took slightly more than 3 skeins, but he's still adorable!


Isn't this the wildest color you've ever seen?

Remember my jaywalkers? This is the same yarn! Then I must have tried another 5 different patterns before admitting defeat and just going with this, which is a slip stitch cable. Am pleased to say I added probably another 1.5" after taking this pic, and fully intend to complete the first stock tomorrow!

Jaywalker Blahs

Ok - you saw the picture of the jaywalker sock on the tall white plastic glass - when I tried it on, it went nearly to my instep. So, I frogged it and started over. Instead of the 1s, I used 2s. Looked beautiful! Got about 5" long, and tried it, and it barely fit over my heel. Not sure whose feet the pattern is written for, but obviously not mine. Never thought my feet were particularly strangely sized, but there's no way this thing is sizeable for my foot. On the 2s, the cuff is too loose and the leg too tight. I can only imagine what would happen once I start doing the body of the thing. A regular sock is 68 stitches and I make those on 2s and they fit everybody great. This pattern calls for 84 stitches and the leg is still too tight. So, if I upsized it by using 3s next, the foot and cuff would droop and the leg would just barely fit.

I officially give up . . .