Happy Valentine’s Day!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

The first three years we were together, Matt and I never got to celebrate Valentine’s Day on the 14th. Matt was a waiter then and could never get the night off so we would always go out on the 13th instead. It’s nice now that those days are over and we can now enjoy ourselves on Valentine’s Day. I know some view it as a commercial holiday, but I’m a sucker for it. Bring on the candy hearts and flowers! Matt and I are going to go out to a little French bistro tonight and we’ll exchange presents too. How are all of you celebrating?

For the curious, the yarn is Vesper Self-Striping in Ramblin’ Rose, the final Sweet Sheep Sock Club yarn.

Read Full Post »

First Socks of 2007

Lichen Socks

Pattern: Lichen by Meghan Jackson from the Pick Up Sticks Sock of the Month Club
Yarn: VvS Painted Yarn in Art Nouveau
Needles: Inox 2.5 mm (gauge of approx. 7 stitches per inch)
Start Date: January 2, 2007
End Date: January 7, 2007
Comments: The moment I unwrapped the VvS Painted Yarn I was taken with its similarity to Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock mediumweight. Once I started knitting with it I was surprised it knit up the same as well. Nice! As you all may have noticed, I’m a bit of a fan of Socks that Rock (STR), so to find another yarn in lovely colors that has similar properties is a real bonus. I’m so glad I’m in the Pick Up Sticks Sock of the Month Club otherwise I don’t know if I would have ever tried this yarn in the first place.

So, if you’ve knit with STR in the mediumweight you’ll know what it’s like to knit with VvS Painted. The colors of the VvS yarn are a bit more subtle than STR’s tend to be and they have an unusual overlaying of colors. It’s difficult to describe, but, for example, in one of the longer cream sections there will be a haze of pink as a top layer. I really can’t describe it very well, but I assure you it is very pretty.

The pattern is a club pattern and I really enjoyed knitting it. (I think it’s very similar to the Monkey sock pattern in the Winter Knitty). I’m sure I’ll knit it again as it will be perfect for some STR I have. Plus, it knits up very quickly and held my interest. I love that the pattern is carried on down the heel flap. A very nice detail.

Saturday I got my third shipment from the Sweet Sheep Sock Club. This month’s yarn is an absolutely stunning All Things Heather Sock Yarn in the color Winterberry. I have been keeping this by the computer so that I can pet it off and on all weekend. The depth and variety of colors is so gorgeous. Just the perfect color for winter sock knitting! I’m so sad that there is only one more shipment in the club.

Read Full Post »

Why Are Weekends So Short?

I am a really strong advocate for a five day weekend and a two day work week. This weekend just flew by! I was able to put in some serious time with the Interlocking Balloons scarf (from the Scarf Style book) and I am very happy with its progress. I knit part of Friday night, Saturday afternoon, and as much as I could on Sunday. I have now completed 7 of the 10 repeats. The end is near!

The Knit Picks Merino Style is such a pleasure to knit. It feels so soft and has a great sponginess when it’s knit up. I have more of this yarn in a different color set aside in my stash to knit an Interlocking Balloons of my very own (who knows when that will happen though…). I will warn you that the chart for this scarf can make you go cross-eyed. If I didn’t have my chart keeper and my highlighter tape I would be hopelessly lost. Those are two very valuable tools that I highly recommend. Some bloggers reported the pattern becoming more intuitive as they went along. Well, not for me. I mean, in some parts yes, but overall I need to refer to the chart continually.

I’m finally working on the Yarntini Pure Fall Toe-up socks again. I kind of have been avoiding them since I new I’d be in trouble once I finished the foot. You see, I had plans to use the directions for the toe-up with heel flap construction in the Sensational Knitted Socks book, but when I read ahead it said to knit the foot until a certain length based on measurements that you can look up in the front of the book. I turned to the pages the pattern indicated and there was no chart! Well, I was a bit bummed and I’ve been poking about the internet looking for alternative ways to do a reverse heel flap when I came across another blogger who got hung up in the exact same way. She ended up finding the Generic Pattern for the “You’re Putting Me On” Socks which is toe-up with a reverse heel flap! Hooray! So that’s what I’ve just started. I’ll let you know how it goes.

This weekend I also received my second mailing from the Sweet Sheep Sock Club. This month’s yarn is Sweet Socks in the color The comforts of Home. Sweet Socks is the house brand of the store that is hosting this sock club. It’s a lovely mix of colors – perfect for this time of year. The yarn is very soft and reminds me a lot of the texture of Sunshine Yarns. The content is 75% superwash wool and 25% nylon so it will make a nice pair of low maintenance socks. Man, I love getting surprise yarn in the mail!

Read Full Post »

Sock and Stash

The knee sock is growing bit by bit. Due to my being home sick today, there’s even a chance I’ll finish the first one tonight! Knitting custom sized knee socks sure makes you aware of the size of your calf. Let’s just say I have very shapely calves – Moo! 🙂 I’m still enjoying the colors to no end. The variety of purples and greens are so lovely together. (Just a reminder that this is Socks that Rock lightweight in Nodding Violet on size 0’s. The pattern can be found here). I’m really hoping to have these done in time to wear to Turkey Day dinner. We’ll see, we’ll see.

A new skein of sock yarn showed up at my door recently (how does that happen?). Here is the first Sweet Sheep Sock Club mailing. It’s lovely C*EYE*BER Fiber Yarn by Mama-E. I joined this sock club because I hadn’t tried three of the four featured yarns. This is one of the new-to-me yarns and I was a little worried I wouldn’t like it, but let me tell you, this is some soft and luscious yarn. At first glance, I was a little thrown off by the colors. They are not my usual, but after reading the dyer’s note about the colors being representative of a sunset I looked at it in a different light. By the next morning I was quite taken with the colors:) I’m very happy and look forward to knitting with it. Now I just have to pick a pattern…

A couple days ago, Ava asked where I got the purple stitch holders I use to keep my double points together. It is a Stitchkeeper by Rollie. The site has all the info and you just email her to order. I absolutely adore these things and highly recommend getting a few. They make dpn sock project incredibly portable – no worry that your stitches will slide off in transit!

Read Full Post »