Wicked hates me!

I don't know what it is, but in the last month, I have tried exactly 5 times to cast on for wicked - and .every.single.time. SOMETHING goes wrong. One time the work twisted at some point to produce some rather wonky results, another time stitch counts were some how off, and the last time, the cable popped out of the socket, making a ton of stitches fall off. Rather frustrating, so for the time being, that project is (again) being moved to the back burner until it decides to be less spiteful. In the meantime, I have a pair of Monkeys (for me) and a pair of Jaywalkers (for my mom's '08 Christmas gift) started.

I honestly don't know why I had been so scared of trying socks with a pattern/design in them - they're FUN and not hard like I thought they would be. I had seriously been missing out!

The Monkeys just seem to fly off the needles - just look!
I know that there are only 3 repeats on the leg (technically making them anklets), but if I would have knit the 6 repeats, they wouldn't have fit on my leg! I still love them though and can't wait to wear them.

The Jaywalkers are progressing a bit more slowly (the kf/b is getting to me), but the pattern is very easy to memorize (a whole 2 lines - yay) so I'll be able to knit on them if I have to go out anywhere. Pictures of them will come later when there's enough progress that I think warrants a photo being taken :)

FO Photo Update!

I've finally found my camera, so I can post pics of what I've been up to knit-wise!


First up, Fetchings!
And then, Hubby's finished socks,
Hmm...I really seem to have a habit of knitting things in pairs lately!

Quick update!

Fetchings are done (aside from the "finishing" work), and I'm approx. 8 rows away from the beginning of the toe decreases for Hubby's second sock! Hurray for productive weekends! Including today, there are 3 days until the end of the month, meaning that I will definitely have finished 4 projects (of which there are 3 pairs of socks! Go me!) for January.

I am now stuck contemplating what I'm actually going to cast on next. Here's the thing - I know it needs to be 2 projects cast on at once - I can't stand the monotony of having only one project on the needles right now (but alas - it has to be that way, or Hubby's socks will never be completed!).

I know that, for absolute certain, I will be casting on for Wicked (mmm...sweater....), but am stuck as to what project #2 should be. I know I had previously posted about CO'ing for a pair of Jaywalkers for my mom (with that yarn that just isn't me, but is totally her), yet I have 3 skeins of yummy Fleece Artist sock yarn sitting in my stash just crying to be knit (and that my fingers are itching to knit, and my feet are begging for). I have some Merino 2/6 (the stuff in the main blog photo) that I think would make some beautiful Monkeys, some Nova socks in mermaid that are crying Pomotomus, and some Sea Wool that just can't decide what it wants to be.....

Oh, what to knit, what to knit!? Should I CO for the Jaywalkers? Or the Monkeys? Or the Jaywalkers AND the Monkeys?????

(P.S - photos of the new FO's - and nearly FO's will be coming just as soon as I locate the camera!)

New resolution!

I really REALLY need to get better at thumb gussets - I seriously SUCK at doing them. I just swallowed my fear over the Fetching live-stitch thumb gussets and got to it...

I managed to get through the first thumb, and as usual, there's holes to fix, and it currently looks like CRAP. I'm sure it'll look ok after I go in and sew it all up, but still - WTF!

Why can't I make pretty thumb gussets like everyone else?!?!

Two pairs down, 10 more to go!

I'm pretty darned happy (despite recovering from an icky cold - is it just me, or do they seem to get worse as you get older?). I've now finished my birthday socks and am totally in LOVE with them (photos to come after they are washed)! Not only am I in love with them, they are my second pair of finished socks of 2008! Only 9 & 1/4 pairs to go (I'm hoping to have those done by Feb.1st - making 3 finished pairs of socks for January!). It's looking more and more feasible that I'll have no problems finishing those 12 pairs this year!

I also currently have a pair of Fetchings on the needles right now (for my sister - to make up for my failure of not finishing her blanket - might make her a Calorimetry to go with them as well), and once those (and Hubby's socks!) are done - I'll FINALLY be casting on for Wicked! Yay! I've decided to go with the short sleeved version - a change from my original plans. Why? A silly reason really! I bought a cream/ivory long sleeved, boat necked shirt from Old Navy without trying it on first. It fits fabulously, however, it is almost entirely see-thru! I'm not of the hoochie-style persuasion, and it will look pretty nice with the dark eggplant purple I've chosen for the sweater - so short sleeved it is (Hubby even agrees that he thinks it'll look quite nice).

After (or during) that, I'll CO for a pair of Jaywalkers. I happen to have some KP Memories (love the stuff!) in my stash in the Cape Cod colour way that is not my cup of tea, but would be to my mom's taste - so I'll be using that, and these will be her Christmas gift.

So my friends, that will mean that after I've finished the above (hopefully by the end of February), I will have finished 3 of the (currently 14) items from my '08 knit list, and will be finished 1/3rd of my sock knitting goal! I'm pretty darned excited!

First F.O of 2008!

Yay! GG's socks are done! Now I present "Rainbow Feet":
The details...
Pattern: Basic Sock Pattern in 8 Sizes from Double Diamond Knits
Needles:US 1.5 Knitpicks DPNs
Yarn: Random Rainbow colourway sock yarn from stash (about half of what I had - maybe 175 yards?)

Rainbow Feet!




I'm well on my way to completing my pair of socks for January! As mentioned in my last post, I started these for a craft-along on Craftster, and I love how they're turning out! While they're not to my personal taste, they are cute, and the Goofy Girl LOVES them! Without further ado, here is the first rainbow foot!

I can't begin to tell you just how excited she was to find out that the first sock was done! She put it on right away and refused to take it off for well over an hour (until bath time)! Now that's an appreciated knit!

I've already cast on for the second sock, and I'm hoping to have it completed by the end of the weekend (in which I hope to have more dedicated knitting time than I've had in the last 3 days!).

I just love how hand knit socks look on little feet!

A yarn snob from birth... Oh! And more socks!

I kid you not. My son is a yarn snob. Did I mention that he's only 7 months old? It's that or he's just as in love with Fleece Artist as I am! I could put 3 skeins on the floor - and I swear - he'd go for the FA every time! Love that boy - I'll make a knitter out of him one day (he already sits at my feet and happily watches me knit - he's fascinated by those shiny sticks and pretty yarn)....

Speaking of Fleece Artist - I am hoping with all my might that the Nova Socks I bought off from someone on the Ravelry ISO/Destash group shows up in my mail box today - I'm starting to get a wee bit anxious to squish it!

In other news, I've started a pair of socks for my goofy girl. I've started them as my project for the Craftster 2008 Colour Craft-a-long. I had actually bought the yarn I'm using for my January project for last year - but obviously - I never got around to using it (it had come in the mail too late to really do anything with). I'm honestly glad that I've finally found a use for it - I've been looking at it for nearly a year now not knowing what to do with it. Rainbow isn't really my thing - but it's perfect for my goofy girl. I'm finished the gusset and into the foot of the first sock - should be finished it tonight (and hopefully cast on for the second).

Oh! And I just have to say - I LOVE how fast kid-sized socks knit up! I've honestly not spent much time on them, and they're quite literally flying off the needles. I'm using the same pattern I used for my birthday socks/hubby's socks/dad's socks (8 sizes in one pattern - I love it!), and I have not yet used the same sized needles for more than my dad's and hubby's pairs (I used a 2.5US for theirs, and a 2US for mine, and a 1.5US for GG's). I must know my gauge fairly well - I figured that if I went a needle size down from the needles I used for my socks, and knit the child's large (which is a size larger than GG would normally take - they are supposed to fit a 10-12, and GG is in the size range below that), they should fit GG pretty well. Well, lo-and-behold - they fit her leg PERFECTLY! I'm pretty impressed with myself - and I have to say just how much I love the pattern - it is my absolute go-to pattern for plain socks now!

Oh! And I spoke to my sister about her blanket - I told her I'd have it done for her sometime in the next 10 years or so - but I'll make her something else for now. I told her that I had been thinking about making her some fingerless mitts/gloves or something - and she seemed very happy with that idea! Yay - blanket be gone! So, one day soon, I will be CO'ing some fingerless mitts - most likely a pair of Fetchings!

Well, that's about all I have to ramble about on the knitting front for now - hopefully I'll have some pics to post tomorrow!


***For reference, the sock pattern can be found at http://www.doublediamondknits.com/free.html - it is the Basic pattern in 8 sizes - right at the top of the page