Sock Wars!

It's time again! Last year, I barely advanced before I was killed. I took out my target, but was assassinated myself before I had my next assignment in hand. Of course, now I know I have to stay up all night and not quit for a moment until my socks are done because other people take this game REALLY SERIOUSLY.

I love red....

The Red Scarf Project kicked off September 1!

Teenie Preemie Beanie

and Teenie Preemie Boots

A Sad Story

My poor little Opal sock didn't go to the party last night. It just didn't occur to me to bring it.

Ragged brought hers.

Needlefingers brought hers.

But my poor little Opal sock stayed home.

I Gotz Sum New Soxes

These



came out a tad short in the foot (due to my impatience to be finished, no doubt.) I'm putting them away to give my mom for Christmas since her foot is a bit smaller than mine. I can't remember the exact name of this yarn, but it's Schoeller and it has glitter in it, which I don't think you can see in this pic.

These



are my Jaywalkers. They are made of Regia Crazy and they were supposed to be my Inferno project. (The colors were more suggestive of flames when they were wound up in the ball.) These are mine, all mine!!

Knit Sightings

I was watching Four Brothers (again) last night on TV and I was noticing the manner in which the mom was knitting. She was holding one of the needles in her hand like a pencil, instead of having both under her palms, ends down. It struck that so many of the women I have seen knitting on TV and movies knit that way, yet in real life I've only seen one person do it -- Sally Melville. According to Wikipedia, that style of knitting was "briefly popular" around the turn of the 20th century because it was thought to be more ladylike. Sally said in my hearing why she prefers it, but I forget. So what's up with all the people on TV? Are all the actors in Hollywood preparing for roles being taught by the same person? Is it Sally Melville?

Maybe I just don't see enough other knitters in person. Maybe there's lots more of this going on that I think.

If you click on that link for IMDb, there is a picture of the mom knitting. Also, why is it that people on TV and movies are always knitting rectangles? Why are they are never knitting a sleeve?

Ripped, Burned and Busted

I ripped out my Dale baby sweater again. Gauge too loose this time. My swatches are lying to me. Either that, or my tension is roller-coastering madly. Perhaps I had the right idea when I decided to just knit socks until my baby arrives. Of course, then I won't have any pretty baby sweaters ready for her.

Sat out on the concrete pad Saturday and restrung wind chimes. I am burnt beet red on the inside of my left arm and the insides of my knees (I was sitting cross-legged.) My skin still feels hot. It hurts.

Today was Miss Yin's birthday party at the skating rink. I calculated that it had been 23 years since I last roller skated. I was a skating fiend, though, and it started to come back to me. I fell twice on my bum and once on my knees. As I was skating, I thought, I bet this is really good exercise. I may have to start going all the time.

People In Norway...

...must be really, really, really relaxed. I finally scored a 2.5mm needle while shopping on my vacation last week, so I could begin my Dale Baby sweater. Last night, after finishing a whole pattern repeat (10 rows?) I realized my gauge Did Not Look Good. I had about 36 sts per 4" and I was supposed to have 32. Now, as you may know, a 2.5mm is about a size 1. I had to go up to a size a 4 before my gauge was loose enough. And I was still, technically, on vacation.

I went to two yarn stores while I was in Phoenix. One I had visited on a previous trip and liked, but this time they honked me off when I had to use the bathroom and they told me to go across the (6-lane) street and go to Staples. I didn't buy anything there. The second is called Jessica Knits, and it was awesome. I loved it so much. I bought Koigu there, and a skein of Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn, and two balls of Hempathy (for gloves) and a knitting needle I don't need. (And they have a bathroom.) That place is now my Official Phoenix Yarn Store.

Read the third Dirk & Steele book while I was in Phoenix. It made No Sense At All. People who write fantasy need to understand we can't read their minds. They need to build their world and create their magic and make the reader see it. That book was the literary equivalent of untangling yarn. Which, since I own scissors and know how to spit-splice, I generally don't wast a lot of time doing. But, I've already bought the fourth one, so I guess I'll carry on. Without scissors.

Report:What I've Been Doing Pt I

Crafts Edition.

My quilt top



Next class is in May, and the quilt should be finished then. I'm thinking about making another one of different colors with the same pattern and giving them to my mom and mother-in-law for Christmas.

Gloves for KTC Blind Assassin project



I forgot how much I love making gloves. As I was finishing these, I joined a glove KAL and I'm going to make more.

New project from Victorian Lace Today



(Is it possible I'm in a bit of a Color Rut?)

Two Socks: Zero Pairs

The one on the left is half a pair for me -- Spey Valley from Knitting on the Road. This pattern is the December/January pattern for the Knitting on the Road KAL. I will probably still be working on it in February.

The one on the right is half a pair of birthday socks for my Mother-in-law -- pair WILL be done by Sunday, the birthday day. This is my first project with Regia Bamboo but I see more in my future. I was a little startled by the color of this yarn when it arrived: I ordered it from a catalogue and it wasn't what I expected when I saw it in real life. It's pretty, though, and I think she will like it.

Yarn Fun

First we had this



I added some Kool-Aid



And now it is this



Ta-dah! I think it looks like apples. Soooo much better than before. I don't have a clue why I bought that red/orange/yellow stuff. It's not me at all. Of course, I still have a shawl made from it. That stuff is the 2 1/2 skeins I had left over. I guess I could always dye the shawl....

You remember I was making a pair of Hedera socks to give to my husband's stepmother for Christmas? Well, I HATED the way the pattern looked over the heel gusset so I ripped it all out and started a different pattern and now I have this



This sock is cable pattern instead of lace, but the designer still didn't do a very efficient job of working the pattern around the gusset. I thought about ripping these and starting again, but I would like to have these done by Christmas.