Good times...

Wow! I have alot of exciting things coming up it seems... :)

The Knotions Preview has come out today, and it is very exciting to see my design included.http://www.knotions.com/issues/winter_2008/preview.aspx
Classic Aran Hat, is the one.

There are going to be so many beautiful things in the issue; i have already begun to queue things i want to make :)




Here is my hat. I would like to make it once more before the issue goes live, as I have given the hat in the picture away as a gift.


Lately though, I have really been getting crazy on some holiday knitting with my latest pattern that i have self-published, Primordial.


I really love knitting this hat, and am now on #6, making this the only project I have ever duplicated more than 2x, lol. This one really just kind of pleases me equally each time. It's relatively easy to work, and produces very nice results. Here it is:


I really couldn't be more pleased with this pattern, and I send out extra thanks to Ashley for being my model. :)
The pdf for this pattern is available for $3 at ravelry.com


The first annual NW Arkansas Fiber Fest is coming up, I'm about to be published in the next Knitter's, the sweater i've worked on for so very long is finally finished (pics soon to come!).
Wow! What next? :)

O yeah, and it's starting to be my favorite time of year outside... the time when i can actually wear the things I spend so much time knitting, lol.

/grin

... so for now... good times.
Good times, indeed.

the time is nearing!

it's nearly time for my design to come out in Knitter's 93! I am really getting more and more excited, lol. :)

I finished a sweater that i've been working on for a very long time also, I am just waiting for the perfect button to arrive from Canada. It's funny i should mention buttons, because today, while thrift store shopping, I came across many jars of old buttons for $2 each. I nabbed up a few and the ladies back at the shop and I had great fun sorting through them. I even found one that would be nice on my sweater, black mother of pearl, and even the right size. I am holding out for that perfect button though... a sweater that took me a year to knit deserves no less! lol

silly me.

I've been working on a spinning wheel lately... trying to figure the thing out, lol. So far so good.

I ordered the red fiber from http://www.indigocrane.etsy.com, and it is beautiful!

I really, like the color combination and i think i will knit a scarf up with it. Not sure yet.

Spinning provides a different kind of crafting peace than knitting does... spinning is totally mindless and can be done whilst totally letting go of any and all thought... unlike knitting which sometimes requires every bit of attention possible, and then some...

Above is the lace fichu by Cynthia Guggemos in progress. This piece is being knitted up in Artyarns single ply cashmere in dreamy hues of cream and beige... and it really has to be the softest thing i've ever touched.

It's been a long time since i was in the mood to crochet... but i was flipping through interweave crochet for this fall, and i couldn't resist the Austen Lace Muffler... it's simple and very pretty.

Not sure how it will look on me, but i had a fantastic time making it and selecting the yarn for it.

:)

And now in knitting related news...

Here's to the Eastlake Sweater from Norah Gaughan Vol. 3
An interesting and quick knit... considering im a whole 14" larger in the chest than this sweater is... of course it seemed to go fast! :)

Close up of interesting back of neck detail on the Eastlake

Jojoland Autumn shawl, finally finished


I know, it could be more interesting if i posted things about knitting every now and then... so here's to the two finished objects that i've managed to tidy up and weave in the ends of to finish off the month of September!

It's been forever and a day...

I know, dearest non-existent friends, it has been so long since i posted. But, alas...my camera is broken, so no new pictures of projects to post. Nothing really all that interesting has been going on anyway. At the moment, I am working on a shawl from Jojoland, the Autumn shawl, which is neverending. Logically, it should be finished by now, but something about it is giving my mind a work out...It's easy enough, it's just something about it seems so much like climbinb mount everest or something...Also atm, i am working on the Eastlake Sweater from Norah Gaughan Vol. III, in the fantastic woodsy green pictured. It's being made in the second size for the model at the shop... O how i love to create beautiful pieces which I will never be able to try on... :) lol

Also, in more exciting news (more exciting for me at least), I have been accepted into the winter edition of Knotions online magazine! Yay...this pattern was submitted twice before acceptance. But I am very pleased that someone liked it enough to include it in their publication.

In exchange for knitting the Eastlake Sweater, i have come into ownership of 5 balls of some fantastic rowan...dark grey, I could probably get an image of the color off the internet...maybe i should...let's see: nope... i looked for a picture for about 5 minutes... didn't find a suitable one. So, if you know what chashsoft looks like...it's plain, with a touch of sheen. And it's darkish grey. That's all that you really need to know, because unless you can feel the fantasticness of this yarn, then all you see is grey yarn. We'll leave it at that.

Anyhow, for anyone who actually drops in to see what randomness i have for the day, here's some for you.

Until next time.

Busy as a bee...

I know, It's been like a week since i've posted, and last time i posted it was to show you something I have for sale. Sorry. It's just that when I stopped offering the pdf's for a few months, people bugged me to no end about where they could find them. Now that they are again available, nobody is interested. :) That kind of thing cracks me up.
I've been really busy with things like, being sick, making money, and knitting up the pieces for my upcoming magazine spot, which I am actually kind of nervous about.
I want to design, but my creativity is literally zapped as of late. Maybe it's the 100 degree weather we've been having from about 9am to 9pm daily. I don't know. All I know is that it apparently isn't something that slushies can remedy.

The design world is really *so* competitive! One wouldn't think that knitwear design would be that competitive, but, let me tell you, the people who love to knit, *love* knitting. And after a certain point, to be able to knit well just isn't enough. Once the meduim is mastered, the urge to create things as you wish begins to crop up.

Well, Im off to attempt to knit up the remaining 300yds of yarn for the magazine, so I can wrap that up and think of maybe designing a few more winter pieces before all of the winter deadlines have passed. Winter is of course, my favorite after all.

Old School Inspired Amigurumi have returned!

For those of you who may be interested, I will begin to offer my pdf's for the previously available amigurumi patterns for Mario, Princess Leia, and our hero of time, Link. Visit my shop at http://www.netofbeing.etsy.com/ to view further details about these patterns.

Here are some pictures of them:

Love hurts...

It's hard to get used to rejection. The emails arrive. They say: such and such knitting magazine, blah, blah, blah. They always start out sounding so hopeful too. O well.

I suppose 1 acceptance/2 rejections isn't so bad. Plus I still have 2 more out there awaiting approval/denial. Maybe they will be accepted? lol Wishful thinking im afraid. I suppose there are designers out there with way more time and support than me. I have way too many responsibilities on my plate to actually pursue design as a career. Or even as a hobby. To put out a few designs each month is a lot of work. And seeing as the success rate is so low, it's a wonder anyone becomes successful at it. Maybe I should just self publish on Etsy. I've tried that though, and there are only so many people who want my design at first, then it just kinda tapers off. Oh well. I design because I love it, not because i think i can make a living from it.


On a happier note (maybe not a note many of you will get but, whatever), I have officially passed through the portal!
Time for something new and more interesting! Yay! /patting myself on the back
I figure i might as well try to hit 70 while I'm waiting to maybe start what might be a job that is going to consume way more time than i'm used to... Oh well, I need the $$

I really, really want to make the Wakame Lace Tunic...

It's not very often that i want to make an item this much. The last time it was a pretty dolman with cables and lace... I haven't finished it yet though, still about 60% of the yarn left to knit.

My excuse is that lamb's pride is too hot to knit in july...

So i want to start the Wakame tunic... of course, to make it in my size with the yarn called for would cost almost $200 which is way too much. So i thought i would substitute with Ultra Alpaca. I am pretty sure this is one of those things that is best in the yarn it was designed with, and i've seen some versions of it on Ravelry in heavier yarns which turned out a bit more bulky looking, but i think it should still make a nice piece for fall and winter in the ultra alpaca.

Here is the color, but i think it is more green irl...

so my excuse for not finishing the other is that it is wool and mohair so i begin a sweater with a yarn that is alpaca and mohair. Whatever.

Im knitting the swatch right now but im not sure if i will knit the piece with it... we'll see.

_______________________________________________________________

On a random note, here is the picture that my blog is named from:

The artist is Alex Grey. He is so brilliant and inspirational. :)

Anyway, enough randomness...

Ari: This is why you want Ashley to learn to knit like a goddess... lol

Cuz this is a pretty fancy hat! /wink
This pattern of course is the 'We Call Them Pirates' hat from http://helloyarn.com.
The best part is: the pattern's free Yay!

mmm...Rowan Cashsoft...

Here are some pics of a sweater I just completed for a display. It is made in Rowan Cashsoft Aran in color 'burst'. The Sweater took 11 balls. The pattern is Mia from Junior Knits in the largest size (38" chest). The dress form just so happens to be a 36" chest, so the piece looks like a short type sweater for an adult. I think it looks nice on the dress form. The pattern was fast to work up. I made it from start to finish in about 5 days. My only complaint about the pattern was that there were no instructions to finish the edges of the sleeves or waist hem in order to reduce the inevitable curling which comes with stockinette. This was easy enough to remedy though, I simply crocheted an edge. Overall, I liked the pattern very much and I think it would be so easy to make it in even larger sizes, with various mods for adults.

I even felt the need to make a matching kilt pin and necklace to go with the piece. Silly me.

So, the ice is starting to break perhaps...

I have recently received word of something very exciting. One of my designs has been accepted by Knitter's Magazine! I am very pleased to have this opportunity to begin my journey into what is the vast and ever changing world of knitwear design. I really can't say much about it at this point (and I certainly can't show anything about it!), but I am quite happy to hear this.

And now for news on the Gilligan hat...The news is: I love this brilliant hat by Vyvyan Neel!

Here are some pics of her fabulous hat:

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Vyvyan/gilligan

This hat is very clever and utilizes yarns with long color repeats very nicely. Thank you Vyvyan for sharing it with the knitting world! :D

My Mother Crochets and Knits as Well...

My mother knits, as does her mother, and as did her mother's mother, and who knows how far down the line of my ancestry this skill, nay, way of life has been passed. It's funny though the way it seems to be working.

My great granny crocheted delicate edgings around the edges of handkerchiefs and linens.

My grandmother, uses no patterns under any circumstances, and her knitting turns out well, let's just say adventurous. My mom knits from patterns but is more of a starter than anything, however she makes beautiful thread crocheted items that i myself would never actually finish.

I wonder about my Granny Great's mother and her mother's mother.

Oh, how fantastic it should be to explore the threads of my family's past.

Projects made in times of love and war, in times of sorrow and hope.

The Items above were made by my mother for my daughter.

They mean so much me, words can't describe.

I can only wonder, will my daughter pick up the threads of her ancestry and continue this tradition of women who loved to stimulate their minds

in ways that only the hook or needle and thread can do?

I suppose time will tell huh?

Ok, enough of my gushy sentimental self...

it's funny how serious i really feel in comparison to how i seem to act.

Knitting For Noggins 2008

It all started last night when it ocurred to me... maybe Ravelry needs a group for Knitting for Noggins. And, to my surprise, it did! I started the 2008 Knitting for Noggins group this morning and now have almost 70 members! Wow! Of course, I did a bit of work for this kind of response. I literally sent out invites to every Ravelry member in Arkansas, and to about half of the folks in Missouri. This is the 3rd year for me to participate in this event, and I thought it would be neat if others who enjoy knitting for this wonderful charity drive could network through Ravelry.

While there are a total of 7 drop off spots which are listed both at the Arkansas Children's Hospital website and on a thread at the group, I will be collecting any hats sent to me and dropping them off at Knit Wicks in Rogers, which is about 5 min. away from home.

So, if you're feeling generous with your time and skills, whip up a few of these hats in your preferred method, or come on out and knit (or crochet) with us!

I look forward to the development of this group, and hope that everyone who joins finds the support and motivation they need to help ACH feel super warm and loved this winter!

Thanks to all who felt the call to join me at the Knitting for Noggins 2008 Group!

Sometimes I tat lace...

Every now and then i get the urge to make an item so utterly useless, i find myself tatting lace. It is so pretty, but really isn't too functional. This piece pictured is what became a tatted necklace with handmade bead charms. :) I haven't really ever tatted anything large, mostly bookmarks, necklaces and charms. I once started a doily but i messed it up like 6 times so i decided maybe it wasn't that pretty after all... lol

The thing with tatting is that essentially, it's a bunch of knots. If you mess it up, there really isn't much going back. No, tinking, frogging, and definitely no ripping. You just bite your tongue, snip the offending piece that you have made thus far from the ball... and start over, with stronger concentration if you intend to not repeat this unfortunate situation. :( It is so dainty and pretty though when it comes out nice. And cheap. Just a ball of crochet cotton and you're set to make hours upon hours worth of lace. for $1.99 + tax. And sometimes if you're lucky, you can even get the ball of thread for like .99 at hobby lobby on sale.

So, i sent off the mohair scarf to it's future owner. I am really a bit nervous though i was pleased with the piece (obviously, i made it the banner for this blog... lol) This piece was very special to me. It was a sweet gift from a man to his lady, who recently found out she was with child. He thought it would be nice to give her something that would make her feel nice. :)

So as a mother, I am very busy... this scarf was made during many activities: bathing my child, waiting for some part of dinner to finish cooking, lotsa things that i hope the recipient may enjoy for many years to come. :D

Anyway... until later.

ahh... silk is so... dreamy

Ahh... the exact colors escape me, but the silk was so beautiful i couldn't stop knitting it. The wee hank of Tilli Tomas that i indulged in, only because it was on clearance, is gone... rather, transformed i should say. I started it one day, and finished the next. I would post pictures but the piece is something i should hope to submit to a magazine, if i would stop being lazy and prepare the package.
So here is my official yarn review of pure & simple:
the hank comes with about 260m (so about 280 yds i think) and no i am not clear on the yardage here, and i am too lazy to hop up and get the yarn label...
I found the yarn to be consistent in weight, with a very interesting and slick hand. There were no knots or wierd fuzzy spots, though silk does seem to pill up naturally. I found the colors to be so deep and rich with an incredible sheen, it was hard to put down. So the colors were intense, maybe a bit too much for the silk to take, because this yarn discolored my hands more than any yarn i've ever knitted. My hands and nails are still teal... :( I don't like to knit with terribly expensive yarns that discolor my hands. Aside from this, i loved this yarn, and if it weren't for the color that couldn't stay off my skin, i would buy more *on sale of course*... lol
At first glance i wasn't sure what to do with just one hank of the coveted T. T., but soon the ideas began to emerge. This yarn simply flowed through my hands, the knitting pooled in my lap, then at my feet as it grew on and on. The ball of yarn sat there like some exotic critter... Even the yarn in a ball looks incredibly luxurious... it would be pretty just sitting in a bowl on my coffee table or... (omg, the silly ideas i get)

I just love to create fabrics of quality... fabrics like those that few in modern america have really experienced. A lot of things in my life as an American (or who knows how i would feel elsewhere so... nothing against the country in particular just saying this is how i was raised) seem so cheap and manufactured... sometimes it is just nice to touch something real... something that was made over much time, with great care.

I work at a job where i travel with coworkers to different jobs so i am on the road a lot... which pretty much = me getting paid to knit (it's min. wage but no matter...)
In the van sometimes someone will pipe up and be like 'what are you making?' (since they are no longer surprised by the knitting...)
I just hold whatever it is out to them and say 'well, it's this, made from such and such fiber... touch it'
I get so much pleasure out of knowing that i am letting someone touch something that may be a totally new sensory delight for them... who knows, maybe the person has never felt pure mohair, or silk lace, or angora... :)
If you're fiber challenged, i am there to help... and i pity the person who mentions wanting to learn... especially when i have a free moment. I usually carry a ball of yarn and a pair of needles extra for these occassions. But i am not a very good teacher... there's the catch-22. I am more of a 'watch me then you do it' teacher, which is good for some people but not for others.

it's funny, i write this blog, but i don't think anyone reads it...
if you are even a semi-regular reader, please drop me a comment of some sort to let me know that at least someone is interested... :D it would be much appreciated.

cuz all i hear at this point are *crickets* which is fine too, because i get a bit shy when i know people are reading something i am writing.

well, more on my knitting adventures later. toodles.

Yay XD

It's done! This was a lot of black knitting! A lot of knitting that's a) hard to see and
b) if you were to drop a stitch it's lightly fuzzy so you can't see the dropped stitch easily always... so while blocking out there is this holding of breath... watching as you block a bit heavily to see if any stitches will pop a way from the rest of the piece... That would have been so terrible! Anyway, i am pleased with this piece. Knitted in Wagtail mohair 4-ply it is the leaning ladders stitch pattern from barbara walkers treasury IV. Also Veronik Avery made a scarf from this which is on knitty.com at this time. I used a different yarn, needle size and stitch count than she did, so... i really designed this as much as she did that. I was having a heavy eye on that particular stitch pattern lately as a matter of fact anyway. :) o well, another scarf, another time i suppose. Maybe my scarf that's in submission at this time will do well, who knows. XD

#4, your time has come! Your are going to the Island! (sorry, had to think of a wierd movie reference...)

At the request of my 4th target, DJK, i have posted pics of the detonators headed her way, so that the anticipation may build... i do hope they fit this time. :) Ms. K, let me know how you like them please.

Below is the restarted mohair scarf...finally knitting yarn i haven't knitted as of yet. :P

Win some, lose some...

Bleh... i was working on the black lacy scarf when all of the sudden, one of my lace ladders was looking a bit large but not because of any dropped stitches, i just did SOMETHING wrong... i thought 'maybe i'll work a few more rows and it'll work itself out', but no. So i thought 'maybe i'll take it down a few rows'... this is when it became unfixable and i had to rip out about 6 hours of lace knitting... and Mohair to top it off, so i had to scrap the last few inches of the piece because it wouldn't come unraveled.
:(. woe is me. So i've started again and am back up to about 4" long... (let's not mention the nearly 30" i ripped out though.)

Also, my socks in progress arrived today. The first sock isn't even through the heel and the gauge is off. I'm going to blame these things on the pattern though, because apparently everyone is having a hell of a time with it. Plus, the pattern calls for sz. 2 needles and i think alot of ppl just used that without checking gauge.
My target was so nice, she included a post card, a nice yarn in bearable colors, and to top it all off, the needles. A nice set of needles. I think maybe i should email her to be sure that this was what she intended, but i think it must be. She even included the package that came with the needles. Colonial Rosewood 5.5" dpn's. Nice. I've never used these and don't know anywhere locally to find them. Plus i love dpn's shorter than 6" for socks. Too bad i need sz. 1.5 (2.5mm) for most socks to achieve 8st/in.

So, i guess we win some and we lose some. Either way, life goes on. :)

Waiting Game. :P

World of Warcraft brings interesting things to my world... :)
This is a very nice beginning to a lacy scarf that coincidentally will go to someone i randomy met through the game. This person is great conversation. It is wagtail yarn in black... mmm yummy. I love to work with this yarn, it has a nice sheen and drape, which is hard to find in other fibers. Different fibers can cause the same piece to turn out many different ways depending on the look which one desires to fabricate. I think this will turn out to be a nice scarf. The stitch pattern is from Barbara Walker Treasury IV (it is IV i think... either that or II). Also, it is a very popular scarf in Alpaca Sox @ knitty.com right now (yarn and needle arrangement courtesy of Veronik Avery... /wink).

Hmmm... my favorite scene from the movie The Fountain

I like to do things besides knit...

A picture i took of an umbrella... :)

And in Sock Wars News...

Here is a picture of the package i sent to my second target... Im so glad that this pair fit! :)

Here is the pair i received from my assassin in alaska... before i took over my mom's target.

It's funny, Julie said that i was a fool and a 'bloody fast knitter'... lol. Nice compliments from the Irish. I thought i would post a picture of the socks i received, so that the maker may see. They are a wee bit large, due to a variety of factors, but the yarn is beautiful, I love tofutsies.

So, i wait for the next pair to come in the mail for me to work on for Sock Wars III... even though there is no real appeal to play except the notion that my socks may very well get lost in the mail... allowing me to run rampant and slay many... lol. I would think that huh? I finally got motivated to look for my new assassin and target to be sure i know what is going on when the socks in progress arrive. Looks my new target should be on its way soon and there about 8 above me on the list before my assassin so who knows where my socks are and when they'll get to my new assassin... /grin This is me laughing my ass off...luvn it and waiting for #4.

So what exactly does a merciless sock slayer such as myself look like you might wonder...

Not an old lady... yet lol

My third target has been dispatched! Here is the list so far:

Rynna

Sock Mama

Clementineknits

Here is the pair of finished socks for target #3

The person who started the socks didn't do a sl st heel, so i followed suit with the second sock.

Ahhh... i've been soo busy lately, with deadlines, a job, and just life in general to keep up with...

Sorry i haven't been around for a few days, lotsa things that have been piling up for a little while finally required my full attention for the weekend.

I am now working on my socks for my third target in sock wars III, and the socks in progress that i received were knitted with the wrong heel. :P so it took me a few days to decide whether to frog a total of about 4 hours of work, or whether to press on and just make the heel on the second sock the same as the person who started the pair did. I've really actually lost any and all motivation for sock wars. :( Lots of other opportunities have just begun to become apparent lately so i've been acting upon them... lucky for my target huh? I'm almost done with the pair however... lol

Here is an example of some of my thread crochet work. It is a filet crochet bedspread from an issue of Magic Crochet (which unfortunately i don't think is in print anymore but...). I started it in high school... and i graduated 6 years ago so... plus i only got about a foot and a half into it... after many, many hours of work. The piece is about 6" long and about just as tall. I figure at this point, to finish it would be problematic, the thread is now something like at least 8 years old and is discolored, so to add on new thread would be very visibly non-matching. Someone suggested to dye the finished piece but the motivation to finish has left me. It is a gorgeous design though. :)

I've discovered a renewed desire to sew lately, though i never was very good at that.

It all started with the quilting shop around the corner from the yarn shop.

It's called the Rabbit's Lair in downtown Rogers and it is so delightful to visit. Of course, me being from Rogers, i have a special love for the downtown area, especially since my grandfather used to have an optical shop downtown when i was little. I have many memories of my grandmother and i wandering the downtown area, visiting parks and shops and such.

It's funny... how did i come to knitting? I started with crochet in jr. high school and for the longest time i thought knitting just wasn't as good... and i refused to learn. Haha.

Now i will hardly crochet for anything... mainly because it hurts my hands.

I've also been busy with some design submissions, but of course i can't show or say much. :)

Well, good night for now. Cya.

Here are the socks i sent to my adopted target...

Here are the socks that i made for my new adopted target, and i am very pleased to announce that this pair actually fits! :) The yarn pictured is Regia Galaxy and the stitch markers pictured were made by me as well. I liked the idea of making stitch markers to go with the packages but now that i'm seeing on the ravelry forums that people who don't receive gifts with their socks are getting upset... like 12+ hours of my time to make something that more than likely not even fit isn't a gift enough :P

Im grateful that my target posted this picture to her blog because i didn't get a chance to photograph them before i mailed them off (i forgot my camera at the yarn shop over the weekend :P)

So now i await my new target, and with no signs of life from my new assassin, im feeling rather cocky about the whole thing... after all i did knit 2 pair of socks for two different targets within a week of the start of sock wars III, didn't know i could actually knit that fast. My new assassin hasn't even checked alive or dead... so ??

Anyway, enough for now. :)

Well, i thought sock wars was over for me...

I thought sock wars was over for me, but with Julie's consent, i have adopted my mom's target, who i have already taken out. Unfortunately i didn't get any pictures of either package before i sent them out because i left my camera at the yarn shop :P

Here's a picture of some teeny tiny Lorna's Laces socks that i made to experiment with toe up, a jojoland melody sock i knitted to the maximum extent of 220yds, and a pretty claudia hp sock in color 'begonia'. I couldn't figure out how to take the extra picture away so i thought i'd at least arrange them in an attractive fashion... lol

The right to bear arms...

Here are my sock wars 'detonator' socks which i hastily crafted for my target in Michigan.

They are now on their way, as my assassin has informed me are mine. :P

Also, after a little research, i have discovered that my assassin is 63 yrs old! Wow!

That Granny knits! I thought maybe since i'm younger, that i would have the advantage of baing able to handle late nights better, but really, 3 days is enough time to knit a pair without staying up late at all... :) o well, i was hoping to be in the slow part of the chain

so i could take out a victim or two more but, kudos to you Myler!

Oh yeah, and btw, Myler, enjoy knitting sz. 12 socks for what may become your new victim who lives in the UK..... HAHAHA :P

So this is the view if you're standing at my stove. Lol... and yes, im single. Of course, what guy wouldn't bitch and moan about this kindof shameless crafting sprawl. :) It's ok though. Pictured is the koigu sock #1, tofutsies for sock wars III, noro for later, and some scraps here and there.


About sock wars III... :P
I got all psyched up about it and it turns out that my assassin was all low-key about things (i couldn't even see on ravelry that she was doing anything) until she finished my socks, then she proceeded to post on sock-wars.com about how she would send them first thing monday. So, :P
I'm a little disappointed that i didn't last a little longer, only because i got so excited about it in the weeks building up to sock wars. O well... i would say that there's next year but with the way the thing was so disorganized this year i don't know. At least i get a nice pair of socks out of it... hopefully she has similar taste in colors... or else i can give them to my sister or something.

Anyway, on to new, more pertinent things. I need to knit up some stuff, i've been feeling a bit overcrowded with all of the yarns cluttering up the 15 foot radius surrounding that which i call my beloved recliner. :) I'm a dork and i've organized my yarns by whether or not i have the labels anymore (and if i do, whether they are still available or not). So basically organizing to figure out which ones are suitable for designing with. I've got too much yarn. It helps me stay single trust me. Getting a new ball of cashmere is like ... well, you know /grin

About cabling... people say it takes up more yarn than regular knitting... upon closer examination, this makes sense. The cabling causes the fabric to pull together more, meaning less fabric for all the stitches you're knitting... so you have to knit more rows (chiefly more stitches across though since the cabling draws the fabric horizontally) to achieve the same amount of fabric. I love to knit cables... they are so... logical.

Any way, now that sock wars is over for me, i don't know what to do... probably i should just go to bed... it is nearing 3am after all...

Sock knitting injury...

hmmm... any other sock knitters notice injuries of these sorts? Ok so the picture is kinda blurry but do you see the big red spot on the side of my nail? i think i acquired it from many hours of sock knitting... :P

ouch.

Here is a neat old knitting book from the 40's.

I found it at Friends of the Library bookstore for $1. It's got some interesting pictures for sure.

Here are some stitch markers i made to send to my target along with the finished pair of socks. :)

Oh yeah, i finished my first hank of handspun yarn. Spun on a high-whorl spindle and plied together with noro sock yarn. Not the most fantastic yarn by far but i'm going to treasure it because i hear from experienced spinners that they can no longer produce a thick and thin yarn to save their life... :)

<-----so there it is!!

Over the last few weeks a few people have posed the question of ninjas vs. pirates to me... mulling this over for a while i really couldn't decide... but i've come to the conclusion that forced to side with only one i would have to go ninja. So in the spirit of coming out of the ninja closet i have a very special surprise knit coming up soon in the next month or so...keep an eye out if you too are on the ninja side. :)

Anyway, i think i've over-excited myself over sock wars... i've managed to convince myself to try to finish the pair before the post office closes on saturday... or maybe im crazy /grin

No matter which way my motivation goes with regards to sock wars it begins for me at around 7am tomorrow... so better head off to bed kiddos /wink ;)

ahhh... time for spring cleaning

Ahhh, my yarn stash in its entirety. All yarns in the basket however, belong to Elizabeth from Knit Wicks in downtown Rogers, AR. She likes to say 'here, do something with this...'. I figure it's time to go through and choose some to knit up right quick before sock wars kicks off (oh, and btw, i have it all figured out and i am expecting the email from sock wars around 7am...lol)

I would love to post more pics of projects but for the most part many of my projects are either things i am designing or making to sell, and to reveal them early might ruin the element of surprise. /wink

Here are a couple of things i made over the last couple of months however:
Made from the book Lace Style, very easy and fast, i made the small size and it only took 3 hanks of rowan summer tweed

Here is a sock that i made from Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters.

I wanna knit more socks like now but i don't want to get burned out on sock wars just in case i do end up lasting awhile.

Here's my weapon for sock wars III, not to metion the 8 addi dpn's in waiting. :) I fluctuate between being super excited (to the point where the other folks who frequent the yarn shop laugh at me) and more interested in knitting scarves to test drive stitch patterns. It should be fun.

I really don't know why guys bitch so much about the knitting... i mean come on, i always hear guys complain that their gf's never wanna give them time for video games and such... so, what's the difference? O i better shut up, i'm beginning to feel an extreme feminist moment creeping up. :P

I always give those instant gratification knitters a hard time but, when it comes down to it, it's fun to knit something on sz. 17's and watch it just grow off the needles. So, in the future i'll try to be easier on Twinkle... /wink

Anyhow, today not much progress to show for, except some things i made for etsy, but to post them here would be like a spoiler so...

until later.

So i officially am a 'sock knitter' i suppose...

everyone at the yarn shop always refers to me as a sock knitter (either that or a lace knitter, which i definitely am not), and the more i think of it the more i know they're right. I literally have a sock on the needles at all times. My preference is sz. 1.5 addi turbo 6" bamboo dpn's. I like the stablility that dpn's offer. I've tried magic loop and two circ's but i just can't stand all of that needle floppin' around. Plus i find that with magic loop the stitches at the sides get stretched out :(

I swear by toe up because i prefer a long cuff. But now that i know about how much cuff you can get with the different common yardages of sock yarns, i could work a sock either way and probably end up with a near maximum length cuff.

I also think that the cast on of the toe up variety has so many more uses besides socks, and it is a not-so-secret goal of mine to get every adventurous knitter i know to learn this uber-useful cast on. Hell, you can even find videos of it at youtube.com. (o and btw, if you haven't been to youtube to check out the videos of the masterful miriam tegels, i highly suggest doing so)

I love all types of sock yarns (of course some i adore more than others). Right now im lovin some Koigu painter's pallette. This is my first time to knit this yarn and the colors are really... transporting. They take me away. The yarn itself reminds me alot of Claudia HP, with similar yardage and a similar price, however, i think the Koigu colors are prettier. Shown at the bottom of the list of pictures is my koigu sock that im working on... the pattern is my own and if i'd actually write it, it'll be available through ravelry soon.

About all of the pictures:

-Up at the very top is a gathering of my socks (tofutsies X2, lorna's laces, wisdom yarns, and sockittome)

-2nd is a close up of some of my tofutsies socks which i did up in a lacy pattern

-3rd is a close up of more lacy tofutsies socks (looks like i have fat ankles... these actually stretch up to be almost knee-high socks)

-4th is a close-up of some lacy sockittome socks, the pattern is one that i carefully adapted from a 1915 knitting book (i looked for this specific stitch pattern in the B.W. treasuries but i found none that were exactly it... either that or i overlooked it)

-5th is a pic of all my sock yarns in waiting

-and finally the koigu sock i've been coveting :)

I love many sock yarns... i especially like sockittome and lorna's laces for their fabulous colors...

I like almost any regia sock yarn as well. Tofutsies is a great summer sock yarn i think, as would be Opal Cotton (which i haven't tried but it feels spectacular).

Speaking of tofutsies, i am sooo ready for sock wars III it's not even funny anymore... lol, in fact maybe i should be a little embarrased by how excited i am. After all, it's not often that i get to be competitive with my knitting. :) I will be using tofutsies with my 1.5 addi dpn's. Sign-ups are now closed but you may visit sock-wars.com for more info anyway if you're unaware of it and interested...

Anyway, enough about my crazy sock knitting for now. Maybe now that i actually have the internet in my home (granted i can pull myself away from WoW long enough to blog) i can begin to post here regularly.

So for now, toodles!