Finally!


Yay! Finished Monkeys! Less than a day without hand-knit socks to wear (I'm hoping this doesn't become a trend!)...

I seriously procrastinated with these socks. They should have been done WEEKS ago. Ah well, they're done now, and I love them! Hello pretty socks!

This means that my February goals have pretty much been completed (not as far along on Wicked as I'd like to be, but that's what happens when the cables break & it takes 2 weeks to get replacements in!), and I have now completed 4 of 12 pairs of socks for 2008.

Speaking of socks... The Jaywalkers...I have a bit of a dilemma with them. As much as I like how they're turning out, I'm nervous about them. Why? They're being knit of the same yarn type as the Birthday socks, and I don't know if I want to put all that time and effort into a gift to have them wear out so easily! I'm seriously considering just frogging them and destashing the yarn on Ravelry... I'm not so sure I want to take a risk on this yarn again...

Speaking of which, I'm seriously considering re-knitting the hole areas on the birthday socks - it looks like I should have enough yarn to do it.

I also seem to need to rip back J's rainbow socks a bit to add some length in. Go figure she would have a foot growth spurt now...

The death of socks...

My knitting soul is crying. Seriously. Less than 2 frigging months of wear, and look at what happens!


Oh, Birthday socks, How I loved you
So cozy and warm,
You fit just right
Not too loose, and not too tight...

I loved knitting with the Knit Picks Memories. I loved how it felt on my feet...

However, I did not enjoy how it pilled like there was no tomorrow, and I'm definitely NOT digging these holes! I've not even managed 2 full months of wear!!!!!!!! Scratch that, I don't even think it's been a month and a half....

Birthday socks, you will be well missed....

Have I lost my mind?

I just signed up for SockWarsIII.

Can I do it? I sure hope so!

WIP Reports...

Currently OTN:

Wicked: Stalled until new options cables arrive (one broke, the other is well on it's way to breaking) - Hopefully cables will be in by the weekend!

Monkeys: About to start the foot on sock 2 - somewhat suffering SSS on this one (that or I'm pining after Wicked too much)

Jaywalkers: Stalled on the heel of sock 1. Don't get me wrong - I love the pattern, but the needles (smallest I've used yet) are really killing my hands. Plus, I have forever to finish them!

Charity hats: #3 is cast on

Oh, wait! I never posted about charity hats, did I? I've decided that, in an attempt to rid my stash of those yarns that are nice and soft, yet I have no other purpose for (read: single or half balls of acrylic from when I was first starting to knit last year), I'm going to knit baby hats for the "Hats for Alex" campaign (you can read about that HERE )

It's a good cause, and a worthy way of getting rid of what you might not use (but aren't willing to throw away either!). If you have the time, I encourage you to check it out! My goal for this year will be the same as my sock goal - one a month, or 12 hats total (something that I think is an easily attainable goal).

2 hats down (Pastel green hat not pictured...still need a photo - oops!)....



10 more to go!

My knitting area and flashing my stash!

So, after reading a thread on the "Reclaiming the Home" group on Ravelry, I finally got around to taking a few photos of my knitting area and how I store my knitting stash. So, Without further ado, I present....


My knitting area!

This is such a pleasant place to sit and knit - especially on a sunny day like today! I have everything I need within my reach, and I have a good view of where the kids are too!


This tower is where all of my yarn lives.



On top, I have a basket for my WIPs


as well as a basket for my knitting books, patterns, stitch markers & etc.


My random balls of yarn and single skeins live in the top drawer,

Sock yarn in the middle drawer,

and sweater (quantities of) yarn in the bottom drawer.



Last but not least, my needles & finished projects (that still need attention for something, or need to be wrapped) live in the knitting basket beside the tower.
The chair beside the basket also doubles as a table to hold a drink, or a place for the Goofy Girl to sit and watch me knit.

So, that's my stash & knitting area. I like it, even if it is right smack dab in the middle of the chaos - it's still my own little spot!

Hmmm....

I have a bit of a dilemma - it's one that I have many months left to solve, but it's something that I'd like to get out of the way as soon as I can (so I don't have to worry about it later on).

I *had* been planning on knitting my MIL some reusable grocery bags for Christmas (she never takes bags from the grocery store). I thought though, that I would ask her what kind of knit things she might like at gifts - just to make sure that I wouldn't be wasting my time on something she wouldn't use. Yeah, I kinda regret it a bit now...

She wants a sweater....and a "fluffy" one at that...

Well, lets just say that MIL's and my tastes couldn't be further apart (her tastes range from loud sparkily/glittery shirts to those floral print t-shirts that you might expect a Grandma to wear, while I'm more of a jeans and t-shirts/sweaters with a dressy/funky shirt thrown in here and there kind of girl), and what her idea of a nice sweater is about 1000 miles off from what I would like, and well, it would be in a yarn that makes me want to run and hide. Oh, yes, and it would be in a 3-4x size. Don't get my wrong, I have nothing against plus sized knits (I'm a borderline plus sized gal - I teeter the line - myself), but knitting something that size in a yarn that gives me the "ICKY" kind of shivers, it's not my idea of fun. To be completely honest, if I was ever insane enough to start the project, I don't think I'd ever finish it.

For this year, I had a good excuse to bow out (I had previously been telling her about my saga with Wicked - she knits too), so I lucked out - BUT - she told me she wants one when I'm" ready to knit something like that"....Which, in all honesty, will be never - but I didn't tell her that...

Maybe I'll be able to play the "Oops, I forgot" card next year , or hopefully, I'll get lucky and she'll forget that she ever asked (Christmas '09 IS a whole 22 months away after all!).

In the meantime, she's asked for a "toque" , so now I need some sort of interesting hat pattern. I have 2 on my knit queue for this year already, but one is for me (Odessa - and I'm not giving it up either!) and one is for my best friend's Christmas gift. This leaves me somewhat clueless - I guess I aught to take a peek on the Ravelry pattern browser and see if I can find something that catches my eye. If anyone is still out there reading this - do you have any suggestions?!?

Slower than molasses...



That's how the progress on these Jaywalkers is going! Seriously, I can work on these for an hour or 2 at a time, and they just don't seem to get anywhere. It's gotten worse now that I'm at the heel flap - I seem to have gotten heel-flap-itis. I just seem to have little to no desire to work on them - which makes it a very good thing that they don't have to be finished until the end of November. That reminds me - I've decided that they'll be going to my sister - that way I won't have to worry about them not fitting. Now I just hope she doesn't mind following the washing instructions!

Brain will not compute...

I am a MORON. Seriously. I cast on for the 6th attempt at Wicked today. I managed to get to the point where there was only a quarter of an inch left on the collar when I take a look and think "this doesn't look right". Yes, that's right - I forgot the regular ribbing row! DUH!

I feel so incredibly STOOOOOPID. I'll try again tomorrow - and should it not go well, I'm knitting this satan spawn without the crossovers!

Birthday socks...


I've been forgetting to post a photo of these although they have been finished for nearly a month (and have been worn a few times now)!

I *LOVE* these socks - they're nice and soft and cushy - BUT - I do have a small issue with them. The yarn (KnitPicks Memories - a discontinued yarn) seems to start pilling the moment you start to put the socks on your feet!

Ah well - I love them anyways - especially because they're so comfy, and I enjoy the way they stripe!

Another FO

The edges are a bit ragged, and I don't think the yarn was right for the pattern, but I still kinda like it anyways!

Pattern: Mochimochi Land Free Hearts
Yarn: Elann Sonata in Ruby (left-overs from a Tuscany Shawl)
Needles: US3
Time to complete: Approx. 20mins (including finishing)
Mods: Used DK weight yarn instead of worsted weight, didn't felt (used cotton yarn), went down a needle size (to try to compensate for lesser weight yarn).

One little monkey...



Well, it's not exactly little (I have us 10 wide feet), sock #1 of the Monkey socks is done! I L-O-V-E LOVE it - as does GG (as you can obviously see!). Even Hubby thinks they're pretty spiffy! Yay for spiffy socks!

After this project, I'm going to take a quick detour from sock knitting to knit up some cute little Mochimochi Land hearts as my February project for the Craftster 2008 Colour Craftalong. It'll give me an oppertunity to use up some of the left over yarn from Gramma's Tuscany shawl. These will likely end up being ornaments for the Christmas tree for next year (might even whip up a few as gift tage - we'll see) - yay for advanced crafting!

After that, it's back so my current sock knitting obsession and finishing up the Monkeys and more work on the Jaywalkers!

Oh, and a little note on the Jaywalkers - I'm now trying to decide if these should be going to my mom or my sister. Why I may be changing my mind - I can't remember if my mom has the insanely muscular calves like I have (that would prevent them from fitting her). If it happens to be that way, at least I can gift them to my sister (who I think would also like them - especially because they'd be nice and warm for skidooing )....

Decisions, decisions.....

Jaywalker progress

Welcome to February! I'll start the month off by showing how much progress I've made thus far on the Jaywalkers for my mom - please excuse the craptacular photo.

I have to say - I wasn't really feeling the colourway (although I know my mom will love it) of the yarn before I started knitting, but I have to admit that I kind of like it knit up in this pattern.

I spent all of my knitting time yesterday working on this (slow progress - I think it's the smaller needles - smallest I've used to date), and I'm very happy with how it's looking. Hopefully I'll be able to finish these, the Monkeys and one other project (yet to be decided) by the end of this month!