Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy...

OK, I am excited!!! several of my designs are being sold at The Loopy Ewe. This alone makes me very happy.... but what really brings a big grin to my face is that when I last checked, 2 of them had sold out. How cool is that. I am so unbelievably happy :) OK enough of the shameless plug and onto knitting.
I have been plagued with a headache and sore throat, chills ...etc this weekend and yesterday. I feel a little better today. You know you don't feel good when you can't even muster up the energy to do some light knitting. I have been knitting on a baby blanket. It is pretty mindless knitting, and other than the fact that the huge needles hurt my arthritic hands, this is what I worked on, well off and on anyway, this weekend. I should be further along on this, but I was late in getting the yarn for it. The baby is due next month and I am hopeful it will be done before that. The yarn is Plymouth Encore, machine washable, which is a must in my mind for any baby knitting.

I can't remember when it was, I am thinking in August, I won some Peaches n Creme from Romancing the Yarn. Barbara had bough several balls, and was not happy with her dishcloth knitting results, so she had a give away, with the stipulation that if you are a winner of the cotton, you show the dishcloth you create with it. This is the dishcloth I made. The variegated is what I won and the black is from the cotton stash. The pattern is of course the Ball Band cloth. As I was weaving in and trimming the last end, I showed my DD1 the new cloth I had made just for her, you know, to make that dish washing experience more enjoyable. Let me just tell you, she was less than enthusiastic about it. I was shocked :) And I even put trim on the sides so it would be prettier, just for her.

And lest you think I have abandoned sock knitting, I have a few progress pictures to show. The Wollmeise in the Zenzi colorway are coming along nicely. The design in this sock reminds me of pretzels, so I have named it Pretzel Twists. Karen thinks the yarn makes it look like chocolate drizzled pretzels, yumm!!

And the Classic Elite Sox yarn in Baby Blues is becoming this. It is so soft and nice to work with. I was worried it would be splitty, but it is not. The color in the larger view is more accurate than in the other. I may take the foot out and carry the lace down the instep. Any suggestions for a name for this one??

I think my flowers are confused by the weather. I cannot for the life of me remember the name of this one, but it has looked exactly like this all summer. Through the heat and the drought, and with no care (shame on me). I seriously think it has thrived being neglected. I searched the yard and the neighborhood for some changing leaves, but no luck. It is cooler today, and very little humidity. It was 90+ yesterday, but they are promising more seasonal temperatures for the rest of the week. Sock wearing weather is coming... yay!!!!

How Does This Happen So Fast

Can someone please explain to me how you can come home one day with the most precious gift, small and helpless, and the most beautiful thing you have ever seen and then in a blink of an eye, she is a beautiful, independent young lady. Yesterday was my firstborns 16th birthday.....how did that happen? It boggles the mind. Happy Birthday my dear sweet daughter.

I finished a set of fingerless mitts for her and a hat she requested. I thought I was safe posting them on my Flickr site, thinking she wouldn't go there ... but she did. Apparently she likes to frequent my sites in her Web Page Design class at school....who knew. She was thrilled with them . She wouldn't stop messing around, so I couldn't get a good picture of them on her, but I have a back up.

I started another pair of fingerless mitts. I will have to ask DD1 just how many pair of these she is going to need to gift this Christmas, they can be addictive I tell you. The center panel is borrowed from the 365 day stitch calendar. I really like these, and she says they fit great! They are being knit in Lorna's Laces Sport in the Somerset colorway.

Well I have a ton of things to do today, so I must scoot. Just a short post today.

It is unseasonably warm here today, but not too humid which helps. I want the cool crisp fall weather, I have socks I want to wear :) I am sure it will get here eventually.

Have a great day all.

Its Monday ....

..... time for the weekend knitting update. I worked Saturday night so I didn't get as much knitting done this weekend, but was still pretty productive. I finished a pair of socks for DD1 for her birthday and started another pair for her. I need to safeguard my socks by knitting her more of her own. She likes to sneak mine onto her feet, and she is hard on socks. She doesn't mind wearing them outside with no shoes on (gasp). This pair is knit in some Cascade Sassy Stripes I bought a few years ago when it was on clearance. Same dye lot but one is definitely a different shade than the other. I have more of this so she will be getting at least 2 more pair of stripey socks. They won't get done for her B-day Wed, but she will get them.

This weekend was the annual Scottish Festival at an almost local apple orchard, The Apple Works. We love to go to this every year. I always think of Forrest Gump when I go there. You remember Bubba and the shrimp, well that is what it is like there, .... but with apples. Apple pies, apple bread, apple dumplings, apple cider, apple cider slushies .... you get the picture. And great Scottish history and music. The music is what we really look forward too. We probably have no more than a drop of Scottish blood in us, if even that much, but we love to listen to the music. All that Scottish music and the men in their kilts made me want to get my Black Watch Lorna's out and knit with it.... it may be put into the queue. I can't believe I didn't take my camera along, it must have been the sleep deprivation from working all night. I only slept for about an hour or so after work since I was late getting home ( let me tell you ... 6 AM is the worst time for a night shift nurse to get a complicated admission). I did however remember to take along another plain vanilla sock in progress to work on. I will try to get this pair done by Wed. As you can see they are being knit in the Regia I won in a blog contest this summer.

And the Wollmeise won ... I cast on with it. I have even come up with a name on my own for this one . This is the Zenzi colorway. Have I mentioned how much I love this yarn :) I am also working on a baby blanket for a friend at work, I will show that later when there is more to show.

And look what I got in the mail. Classic Elite Alpaca Sox in Baby Blues from The Loopy Ewe, and my replacement yarn from Cherry Tree Hill. It is the Sockittome in the Misty Moor colorway. I love them both.

Well I am going to knit for a bit, before the kiddos get home from school. Have a great day all!!

A Productive Weekend

Knitting wise anyway. The eldest was dog sitting this weekend, so we were somewhat housebound, the CW was busy with youth group stuff. They went to a popcorn factory about 15 miles from our house ...Black Cherry Vanilla Popcorn is yummy, but the dill pickle... not so much. I may have to go check this place out, apparently it has been featured on the Food Network and I didn't even know it existed. So, I got to knit ... a lot! I finished the first sock in the Zig then Zag design in the Stone Barn Fibers in Lamurple. I like them!!

I cast on and finished one fingerless mitt, knit in some left over Wollmeise in the Spice Market colorway. I like these too. So does DD1 and 2 but the youngest's hands are too small. She was a little sad about that.

I finished the mitts I started last week. Knit in the Louet Gems Sport in the Sage color. The girls love these too, I am afraid they may not make it to become Christmas gifts. Apparently, a girl can not have too many pair of these. Both of the mitt patterns will be available some time in the near future at The Loopy Ewe I need to get the patterns typed up and printed.

And I made some progress on the Spritely Goods socks. Karen says it reminds her of tulips blowing in the wind, so she suggested the name Dancing Tulips. I really wish I was more imaginative when it came to naming things, but I just don't have what it takes for that. I am really enjoying knitting this sock .... but the Wollmeise is calling my name. I thought knitting the mitts would help, but the Zenzi wants to be knit. I think I need help, the Knitter's ADD just keeps progressing, it is almost out of control!

Dual Purpose Knitting

I joined 2 KAL's this week, the Fingerless Mitts For Fall and the Fall Cable KAL 2007. I hope to get my sweater done this year. Well, I hoped to get it done 6 months ago, but knitting all those socks gets in the way of finishing other things. So, I decided a little dual purpose knitting was in order. Thursday is allergy shot day for the CW, so I took along a cake of Louet Gems Sport wt and cast on for these mitts. They went to the frog pond no less than 3 times, but I am happy with them now. I will write down the directions as I go for the second one. I think they fit DD1 perfectly.

And these new socks will count for the Fall Cable KAL too. They are little further along now. This is the Spritely Goods in the Manzanita in Bloom II. I love the colors in this yarn, and it is so soft. I am starting the toe decreases on the Lamurple sock, and I wound the Wollmeise the other day. I cast on with it and started to knit, but the design was getting lost in the dark shades of the yarn. It looked beautiful in the light shades though. I will let it rest for a while and then it will be put back into the queue. As will the Spring Morning colorway, it too went to the frog pond, as expected.

Well, the CW is patiently waiting to get on my computer. The kids have there own, but mine is faster and he likes to play his games on it. I hope everyone has a great weekend, filled with lots of family fun, or knitting, or both!

Weekend Knitting Update

Well, there really wasn't a lot of weekend knitting since I had a monster migraine all day Sunday and into yesterday. I did however, get a little done on Saturday. Karen gifted the STR medium wt yarn to me last year. I have cast on several times with it and off to the frog pond it would go. I think it just wanted to be plain vanilla, or close to it anyway. The colorway is Scottish Highlands. 5 x 2 rib all the way, on size 2 dpns. I love the color and what a quick knit. Thanks again Karen for my very first STR yarn. I think I am going to knit the Lover's Leap prize yarn in the Hearts-a-Plenty design.

And I have knit this sock in a different yarn, but I wanted to knit it in the Lamurple from Stone Barn Fibers I got from The Loopy Ewe The design is my own. I really don't like the feel of a short row heel on my foot, but I love the way they look. So, I keep trying different methods, trying to find the one I like the best. I like the look of this one, but still don't care for the way it feels on. I think I will stick with my heel flap.

My Wollmeise came in the mail at the end of last week. It is in the Zenzi colorway. From The Loopy Ewe, of course. I have it sitting here by the desk. I want to wind it, and will probably cave in here shortly. I wanted to get the designs ready to ship off. Sheri, at The Loopy Ewe is going to be selling some of my designs in the near future. I hope to get them mailed out to her at least by Friday. So, if you have been asking about some of my sock designs, keep an eye out for them there. She just posted my pattern for the last Wollmeise Sock, (which I neglected to give a proper name), on the free pattern page .

Hmmm, I think that is it, nothing else to share today. I will sit here and enjoy my Citrus Green Tea and enjoy the quiet for a few more minutes before the youngest comes bounding through the front door. They have ISTEP's this week, so she will have a lot of energy to burn, and a lot of talking to do.

1 Step Forward 2 Steps Back...

Well, not quite. but, 1 sock finished, 2 socks started.... instead of finishing one of the several others already in progress. Just off the needles, are the socks my sister has named Hearts - A - Plenty. I knit these in Gypsy Knits in the Rose Garden colorway, purchased from The Loopy Ewe. I am very pleased with the way they turned out. I had nursery duty on Sunday at church. We haven't been having many kids in the nursery here of late, so I took my knitting along, just in case :) I was able to put several rows on. Immediately after the service was a picnic and fun and games for the kids for Rally Sunday. I had my knitting bag out in the hot sun with me and decided to play a few games. While my knitting bag was unattended, someone was curious I guess, because when we were ready to leave, the socks were off the needles, yikes, and lace too. My family was forced to wait as I carefully picked up the stitches. Even though we live super close to church, I was not willing to chance any of those yarn overs disappearing. Anyway you can see they survived the ordeal, and I love them.

I started 2 more pair, but I am not certain they will stay on the needles. I see a trip to the frog pond in our future. The first is in Yarn Love in the Spring Morning colorway. I think this yarn is too busy for the design. I had started this same design in another yarn but it was pooling so much that it looked like the front of the sock was purple and the back was turquoise. Now I don't mind a little pooling, in fact I like it most of the time, but that was a bit much, even for me.

The second sock is in Lorna's Sport in the Devon clolorway, I love this color. And everyone who knows me knows I love Lorna's Laces. Not much to see in this one so far. It is going to be a textured socks. I will knit a little more on it before I decide whether or not it needs to vacation at the frog pond too. Both of these yarns came from, yes that is right, you guessed it, The Loopy Ewe, my favorite online sock yarn shop. I should be getting a hank of Wollmeise this week from there, so I fear both of these socks will be neglected :) I do love the Wollmeise. Sheri should be getting more in stock in the next month or so.

Well it is allergy shot day for the CW (my son the computer whiz) so I am off to round up some knitting to take along.

Have a wonderful day!!!

I think it is Lady Bug Season

I have been a lucky blogger here lately. I won 2 contests. And the prizes for both involved lady bugs, which I love. Alisha has been having monthly stitch marker give aways, and I was a lucky winner. And the pretty lady bug markers came in a really neat beaded pouch, I love them !!!! thanks Alisha.

And Kimberly, has been playing BINGO, great fun I might add, and I won some of her beautiful, hand dyed yarn ... in the Lady Bug colorway. How neat is that. Isn't it pretty?!! Thanks Kimberly!

Wed. night was the quarterly 6.5 hour staff meeting at work. We sit and listen to them talk to us for 6 of those 6.5 hours and I get paid to sit, listen and knit. I was able to finish a pair of socks and start another one. Unfortunately, the one I started was one of my own designs ... I am terrible about writing patterns down as I go, and I didn't take the finished sock with me, so the 3+ inches I knit went straight to the frog pond. I shorted each cable repeat by 1 round ARGH!!!

Anyway, I finished the Spanish Moss socks in the CTH, Sockittome in the Spanish Moss colorway. I got this yarn from Sheri at The Loopy Ewe I don't know if this colorway is still in stock, but I think she still has the Sockittome in stock. It is really soft and squishy. The design for this one is also my own.

Well, all the kids are home from school now, and want to talk, all at once too. So I better go listen to what went on in their day.

Happy Knitting All!!

I Was Tagged

And in my haste to get that cloth knit and shipped back out I forgot to take pictures of everything. My hands kept going numb from the speed knitting of cotton ... give me some size 1 dpns and some squishy sock yarn any day. But this was fun. It is not a fancy cloth, but hey ... I was in a hurry. The pattern is Garter Stitch Lace Facecloth. This cloth and some Sugar n Cream is on its way to Missouri, with a few other goodies in the box. Not a bad turn around time, I got the mail at around 2 PM and had this back to the post office before 5PM.

I made a pair of baby socks with some left over Lorna's Laces Sport in the Irving Park colorway. I hope they will fit a 7 month old baby. I didn't have one to try it on, so I am keeping my fingers crossed it will fit come Fall. 36 stitches and a short row heel, no pattern required.

I don't have any other finished pair of socks to show, but I do have some singletons. They are basically the same pattern knit in Spritely Goods Peppercorn, Opal Uni I can't remember the number, and Cherry Tree Hill Sockittome in Spring Frost.

That is all I have for today. I need to go pick DS up from confirmation class.

Happy Knitting !!

Yay!! ... there was enough....

....yarn to finish the socks. I even had a little left, about 4 or 5 yards I would say. The yarn is The Knittery Merino Cashmere and the colorway is Grace. 64 stitches on size 1 needles. The design is my own. I think I may need to buy some more of this yarn. I got it at The Loopy Ewe and I know it is in stock :)

And for my August UFO Resurrection, I dug out this sock. I had forgotten all about it until I was searching through the stash for something else. This poor sock hasn't seen the light of day since April. I was beginning the gussets when I last worked on it. I am almost ready for the toe decreases. Darn those size 10 feet. I thought about letting DD1 have them for her Birthday in October, but she likes a plain vanilla sock, so the cables just will not do. I don't have enough blue socks anyway, so it is just as well I keep them for myself.

And just because I had empty needles, I started this pair. It is the Spritely Goods in the Peppercorn colorway (from The Loopy Ewe). The colors of this yarn were calling to me. It knits up really soft. I made a few minor adjustments to the design I am using for the blue sock above. It is knitting up pretty quickly, I started it this morning and knit on it as I chatted with Karen on IM. If only I could type with my feet I would be set.

Well, I better get off here and take the boy child to get his allergy shots. I don't want to go out as it is 99 degrees with a ton of humidity. They keep threatening us with rain, but it is everywhere but here.

Happy knitting all !

Added 8/24/07 Contest alert: and it is an easy one. This Kitten Knits is celebrating her 1 year blogiversary and is having a contest. Just go leave a comment on her blog.

Running Out of Yarn

Oh my that was close. I was working on the sKNITches socks this weekend, and when I finished the first sock I thought to myself, "this doesn't look like much yarn." Wanting them to match, I wound a little off the ball so I could start at the same place, and cast on for the second sock. When I turned the heel I was pretty certain I wasn't going to have enough, but on I knit. And then I got to the point (to the left) in the picture..... crud, and so close. It was funny though, as the ball was getting smaller and smaller, I found myself knitting faster and faster, as if I could out knit the amount of yarn I had left. Then I realized that the faster I was knitting the tighter my gauge was, making that small amount of yarn go even less in distance. I began searching the Internet for another hank. I bought this at The Loopy Ewe but they are sold out :( And then the light went on. I had a tiny bit from the beginning of the second sock. Those toes don't match, but that sock is finished. And I think I have about a yard of yarn left :)

But I fear that is not the end of the yarn shortage. I don't think I have enough to finish this pair. These are knit in The Knittery Merino Cashmere sock yarn in the Grace colorway. I am going to work on these tonight. It is still in stock, well the last time I checked it was, at The Loopy Ewe, so if I do indeed run out there is a chance I could get more. I knit this same sock in CTH Sockittome and had plenty of yarn left over. The CTH has a little more yardage 480 as opposed to the 458 in the Knittery yarn. I am keeping my fingers crossed, well maybe my toes so I can still knit. I hope the knitting faeries will be with me as I finish these.

Happy Knitting everyone!!

School Days ...

Today is the first day of the new school year for my babies. The youngest one is the only one that will still let me photograph this momentous day. She is the only girl in the picture. She was so excited, she came in and woke me up way before the alarm went off, which was a good thing since her older brother still hadn't drug himself out of bed. The older two get on the bus 45 minutes earlier than she does. It was so fun to watch the other moms who are sending their little ones off for the first time. It brought back memories of DD1's first day of school. DD2 (in this picture) was a week old, and I was standing there with her in the baby carrier, my 3 year old at my side, I had every piece of photographing/filming equipment we owned hanging around my neck, trying not to cry as my eldest child stepped onto the bus. She was supposed to climb up the bus steps and turn and give me a wave to photograph. She climbed on that bus and never looked back, and I cried my eyes out as the bus drove off with my baby. I followed the bus to school to make sure she got there OK, she thought it was so I could take a picture of her getting off the bus and walking into school for the first time. I thought the mom of the little blond headed boy was going to hyperventilate as she watched him get on the bus. It is so hard to let them take these big steps on their own.

DD2 celebrated her 10th birthday yesterday. We just had a small family celebration yesterday. Once school is going full swing, we will have a friends party. It is so hard to schedule friend parties in the summer, everyone is on vacation, and the week before school seems to be the worst. Here she is cheering herself on because she was windy enough to blow out ALL 10 candles in one breath. She is too funny. She requested a DQ ice cream cake, which is fine with me. I don't have to spend hours decorating a cake that way.

Now, onto knitting... I finished the Wollmeise socks. These are knit in the Spice Market colorway. I love, love, love this yarn. I love the feel of it, I love the sheen it has, and I loved knitting with it. The Loopy Ewe is going to be getting more sometime soon, and I will be up for that sneak up. Sheri calls them "sneak ups", I refer to them as "drive by yarnings", because the yarn is here and gone before you know it, and so few witness it. Esp. if it is something that is hard to get your hands on, like the Wollmeise. And to celebrate finishing the socks, I wound more yarn and started another. The sKNITches in the Handsome Devil colorway. This yarn is unbelievably soft. I am enjoying working with it. And it has great stitch definition.

Well, DD2 will be walking through the door in about 5 minutes and will be talking my ears off, so that is it for today. Have a great week and Happy Knitting!

Better Late than Never.....

The throw is finished. Well close enough to say it is anyway. Here it is, damp and laid out on an old bedspread, ready to be pinned out. The fan is on to hasten the drying process, the finish line is in site. Yeah, yeah, I misssed the Aug. 9th deadline. The in laws are coming over tomorrow for DD2 10th birthday, so I got an extension. It feels good to finish something big.... who am I kidding, it feels good to finish anything. Now I need to do some house cleaning.... yuck!

Look what the mail man brought to me the other day. I was a lucky winner of a blog contest. Some yummy STR in theLovers Leap colorway. Thank you so much LaVerna for a great contest and the lovely yarn. I will have to wind it now that the throw is finished. I think it wants to be something textured.

Well just a short one for today, I must get the house tidied up a bit. Enjoy the rest of the weekend and Happy Knitting!!

Groupie Status Achieved

Two posts in two days...... unusual for me I know. But I was so happy when I got the mail today, I had to post again. I have attained Loopy Groupie status at The Loopy Ewe I am so happy. It has been my goal since I found them to become a "groupie" I wish my yarn budget was much larger, so I could have met this goal quicker. Isn't that a nice project bag, you can see everything you are carrying, making it easier to locate those little items that like to hide in the bottom of the bag. And I got a hank of Yarn Love in the Spring Morning colorway. One I would order for myself, it is very pretty. And also some samples of Soak Wool Wash. I love that stuff!

And for my order. I bought sKNITches Syncopation in the Handsome Devil colorway. It is lighter in color than I thought it was going to be. On my monitor it looked like a charcoal gray, maroon and tan. In person it is a dusty rose, blue/ gray and tan. But I still love it, so that is great. And the other hank is Gypsy Knits in the Rose Garden colorway, which is also very pretty in my opinion. I am going to have really warm feet this fall and winter, that is assuming I can finish more than one sock in each colorway.... that SSS you know.

The Wollmeise was screaming at me to wind it and knit with it last night. Not wanting to be a negligent knitter, I granted its wish. That is one big hank of yarn. I thought my arm was going to fall off before I finished. This yarn is a very tightly spun yarn, and has a nice sheen to it, and it is a joy to knit with. I will be buying more of it, and I think Sheri is expecting more sometime this month :)

Well I am going to go fondle the new yarn, have a great day!

Contest alert: wonderful goodies for the prize at Shut Up I'm Counting don't you love that name, go check it out.