Challenge met...

Well I'm sitting here wearing my DK generic socks, and just finished sewing in the toe end of benefactor sock #1. I'm not sewing up the cuff end yet as I will be using it to help me match up tomorrow morning's cast on for benefactor #2. Once that's cast on, I'll be fixing my design sock and working on that... I haven't decided if I'm going to have a second generic sock going here at the computer, or just make do with the one...

I'm now just under 2.8 km knit for the marathon, which is absolutely amazing for me. And in other news, I *might* be able to treat myself to a trip to Ram's in 2 weeks... wish me luck!

Challenge...

Well it's the last day of the month, and I've challenged myself to get both socks I'm currently working on done today. I'm more than half-way through the foot of both my benefactor sock #1, and my DK #2. I *know* that I can get them both done on my weekend, but I think it would be really nice to finish them today... wish me luck.

I'll post tomorrow for a belated birthday wish for Jackie... we'll be having her birthday cake tonight after dinner.

Flying

Well my benefactor sock is flying off of my needles! I was at about the 4 inch mark when I got home from work Thursday morning... pretty amazing for a sock that I had just cast on Tuesday morning as my travelling/ work sock!

The wonders will never cease with this project. I got about an inch and a half knitted at home yesterday because another blob of yarn decided to eject itself from the ball. I was within 10 rows of the heel when I left for work Thursday night. The powers that be decided that I was to be on babysitting duty at the loss prevention office and I got well over 3 hours total of knitting time in at work. The benefactor sock #1 now has a heel flap, the heel turned, and about 1½ inches of gusset decreases done. I would have had the sock done if the police would have taken all night to show up like myself and the loss prevention officer were expecting.

I have visions of casting on benefactor #2 on my weekend... I'm really gonna blast away how long it took me to do the tiger socks with these ones... I just don't want another hospital stretch with these ones like I did with the tigers!!!

No pics, but a bit of knitting...

Well a goodly chunk of yesterday was spent fixing my design-in-progress. I had frogged back one needle about 10 rows. Once I got all that knitted up, I realized that I had followed the wrong chart for that needle. *cries* On the sortof plus side, the opposite side of the sock also had an error at the start of the chart, so I need to get up the courage to frog back *that* needle and correct the errors. Since I was so discouraged, I ended up not taking any sock pics even though I was outside enjoying our nice weather. I did a little bit of knitting at the dentist's office, but as usual, the epinephrine in the freezing affected me to the point where I could barely hold my needles.

Status reports: My benefactor sock is trucking along. I'll be starting the heel of that tonight at work. My generic DK sock is now on the heel flap. My Lacy Scallops are still on hold while I wait for my dpn finger callous to heal up.

I'm working on cleaning up the area around my desk so that I can get some pattern writing work done. The programs I use for writing and publishing my patterns are all on my computer, not on Derek's, which I normally use. I want to get my various generic patterns up as freebies. I have one paid sock pattern that's ready for sale as soon as I write and publish it. I also have three other socks in progress. I'll be looking for pattern testers soon. Since I have a ton of designs in mind, I'm looking into writing up a web page to solicit test knitters and crocheters so that I can get my web site seriouslyupdated... stay tuned for this.

HOLY CRAP!!! 10 already?!?!

I nearly fell over this morning when I went to update my sidebars and realized that Derek's tiger socks were my TENTH... you read it correctly, yes TEN!!! pair of socks finished THIS YEAR!!!! I'm *still* stunned. Now that you've all fallen over from the shock, and you're still on the floor I can tell you this... it's been over TWO MONTHS since I've bought yarn {not including the single small ball of dishcloth cotton for St. Patty's}. It was mid-February the last time I was at Ram's, and let me tell you, the withdrawal is hitting really hard.

I haven't taken pics yet, but I will before I go to the dentist work tomorrow. I kept myself otherwise busy today. My benefactor yarn was cast on, and this particular ball of yarn decided to disembowel itself a *lot* more than usual. That required the entire morning and a good chunk of the afternoon spent knitting it up so that it can be my "work" sock. I am now the proud owner of three inches of *very* cushy cotton blend sock! Thanks again benefactor!! *hugs* You'll see it tomorrow, 'kay? BTW, this stuff feels soooo wonderful it's making my yarn diet nearly impossible!

After I knitted up the cotton yarn barf, I frogged and reknitted the ribbing on the Regia, since I had screwed it up the first time... damned 1x1 ribbing! I'm at 1½ inches right now, and that uses up all of the frogged yarn *and* leftover yarn barf out of that ball. I'm gonna go a full 2 inches of ribbing on this one since I'm using only a 1x1 rib. It's going to become my newest design, but I won't be showcasing it here until I decide if I'm going to submit it for publication, or sell it myself. Since it's a patterned sock, it will be my pooter sock for whenever my finger hole isn't healed enough to work on Lacy Scallops with those deadly Inox dpns!

Thanks to Sarkasmo, I found a neat looking dishcloth pattern that I want to try. I haven't done any entrelac {I think, unless what I'm doing with my afghan/shawl is actually entrelac!} so this should be interesting! Wish me luck!

Out with the old, and in with the new...

Well at some point in time tonight I will be grafting Derek's Tiger #2... That will mean an additional 420 m added to my marathon total. *YAY!!!* I checked my blog archive and I cast them on March 29th... that makes it 4 weeks tomorrow. Not too bad for a pair of socks that were mostly knit at work on breaks {conveniently *trying* to forget the 4½ hours of knitting time in the ER!}. I'm guesstimating them at about 12 hours each sock.

Right after those are grafted and ends woven in, I'll be casting on my cotton sock surprise yarn from my benefactor. I'll be using my generic stockinette pattern again or else a mild ribbed pattern to account for the lack of memory in the cotton. I want then to go FAST, so I'm *really* leaning towards plain stockinette! That will be another 380 m to my total. I'm hoping to be able to beat the 4 weeks that it took for Derek's... we shall soon see!

Another day, another sock!

Well I've decided to continue on profiling some of my recent sock FOs even though most of the pictures aren't up to par, and I haven't taken "in use" pics yet either. Today I'm going to show you Derek's Columbine socks. I knit them using wine Regia Silk, and the pattern is from Cat Bordhi's Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles.


This is the completed pair of socks. I didn't need to adjust the pattern to fit other than foot length, and used 2.5 mm dpns. I also changed the heel to an eye of partridge heel as I feel this is a better wearing heel than the typical slip stitch heel flap. I had already tried the 2 circs method on my "Pippi" socks, and decided that it wasn't for me, which is why I used the dpns. The silk is absolutely dreamy to knit with, and I can't wait for my next opportunity to use this yarn.


Here is a close-up of the leg pattern. You can see that it gives a bit of interest to the leg without being overly lacy or "girly".

Let's freak out the muggles again!!!

Thanks to Anastacia Knits for pointing me in the direction of this one. It's a survey done by CNN.com, and let's put knitting at number one... or at least get it into the top 10!!!

Little Shells Revealed

Please forgive the REALLY crappy resolution on these shots. I'm still trying to find the right settings that won't make Blogger crap out on me for pictures.


Here they are at long last! It was a surprisingly quick knit for me. Although you can't tell in this photo, the only difference between the socks is about 2 rounds of colour at the toe.


This pic shows how evenly matched the yarns were... even at the heel turn. I'm so tickled about this!


Here's a side view of the pair. This one actually shows the slight differences in the toe. I can't be more pleased with how matched these two were.

For those that are interested, the pattern is Little Shells, and the yarn is Fortissima Socka Colori. I don't have the label in front of me for the colour number though. Even though I don't have a shot of it, the shell pattern actually does show up with the self-patterning yarn, albeit subtly... you'll have to take my word for it!

Happy 5th Alex!!!

Well I've had Blogger issues today, so it's nearly *not* his b-day anymore! But here is my birthday tribute to my youngest son:



It was 5 years ago today that Derek made a stupid, idiotic resident doctor feel like he was about a pixel high by a mere dirty look. To make a *really* long story not so long, April 2002 was hell on earth for me... 18 days of false labour! Some April Fool's joke kid!!! That also entailed at *least* half a dozen dry runs to the hospital due to said false labour. As an aside, due to abdominal pain that I had around 20 weeks, we knew that I was 2 centimetres dilated from that point on... a fact that was reaffirmed at every dry run save the last one on April 16th. On that morning, aforementioned dumbass doctor proclaimed that I was only 1 cm, and it would be a week at least till I delivered. Less than 16 hours later I was wrenching Derek off of the bed by his ankles {it was around 2:30 am, and I didn't have time for niceties} screaming, "I don't think he's kidding anymore!!!" I delivered him around 4:30, which was about 18 HOURS after we were told it would be a week. Derek saw the dumbass doctor on his way out of the hospital about 7 am, and you could tell that Derek {insert Queen Victoria voice here} "was *not* amused". Add to all that, that I was about 30 seconds away from an emergency C-section, which would have meant that Derek wouldn't have seen his son's birth, and that adds up to a *very* eventful birth day!

I don't think Alex has slowed down for a minute since. He has kept us on our toes in more ways than one in his 5 years, and we wouldn't trade it for anything... yes... even all the visits from the police!!! please don't ask!! ;) With all that energy he has, and exasperation his parents have, there's never a dull moment. This kid is destined for great things, hopefully sans styrofoam in his ears. For every time you want to strangle him, and trust me there are many, there are even more times where you want to hug and squeeze him until he cries, "Uncle!" He's full of love, energy and extreme generosity, and has a curiosity that I challenge anyone to surpass.

I love you to death Alex, and if I can teach you anything that you won't go and try to learn on your own anyway, it's this: You can't buy slurpees with Canadian Tire money... no matter how cute you try to smile.

Tiger, tiger...

... or as Derek calls them, his "Halloween socks"...

Sock #1 was finished this morning and #2 cast on. I've just finished the ribbing cuff, and am starting on the stockinette leg. I'm wondering how fast this sock will go now that I'm not smoking at work anymore. When done, I'll have another 420 m to add to the total!!!

Lissa, the princess...

Now for your viewing pleasure, I have some pics of Lissa:

Here's the princess all ready for the kid's Christmas party back in December... gotta *LOVE* those red ruby slippers!!!

Believe it or not, these two actually *do* love each other and this hug isn't *just* for the camera!

Lissa the princess is showing off Lissa the socks. I can't believe it took me this long to get some made for her, especially since she loves them so much!

Quickie??

Well here is the pictorial of what I've been doing with the mitred squares.

This is the first square. I've semi-blocked it with my dpns since the stockinette curls so much.

Here are two squares from what will eventually be the edge of my project. I am blaming part of the curling on the crochet cast-on.

Here I've picked up the stitches for the first square in the second tier of squares. I've increased on the first {purl} row to get myself back up to the 41 stitches I need.

Here's the first three squares complete. Lots of ends everywhere to deal with, but that's minor {so far} if this whole thing works out!

This is how it's working out so far... it's definitely a work/ design *in* progress. Many thanks to "CW" {you know who you are!} for pointing out the obvious to me and solving my dilemma. I'll give you proper credit again later once your web site is functional.

How long does it take...

to get something removed out of your 4 year old's ear at the ER?

<-- This is how long!!! Since I usually count rows, it's worked out that I knit over half of the foot while waiting, and if this would have been a sock for me, I would have been hunting up a suture tray for scissors and a needle!!!

For those of you wondering what was in Alex's ear, it was a styrofoam "bean" from a bean bag chair... we had originally thought that it was the end of a Q-tip. The fact that it was a round piece of styrofoam explains why our attempts to remove it at home failed. They had to use suction to get it out, and Alex thought it was hilarious that they had to use a vacuum cleaner on his ear!!! While the night was long, boring, and seriously butt-killing, at least we've managed to get him to one week shy of his 5th birthday before his first ER trip!

Damn, damn, damn...

Now I need SERIOUS feedback here... the stockinette square is giving me hives yet again. This time it's do or die time.... If I decide to go with join-as-you-go {is there *really* any other option here?}, I'll need to switch this all to garter stitch. If I keep the stockinette, I'll need to *SEW* -- each -- and -- every -- square -- together... INDIVIDUALLY!!!! HELP!!!!

Time to start the afghan!

Well here I am, starting my sock yarn afghan. I've been doing some research online for about a week and taking ideas from here there and everywhere to come up with my own version. The original idea came from Steph's blog where she asked her readers to drown a lady in sock yarn {Shelly Kang}, and seeing Andrea's version of the afghan in person at one of our knitting meetings. I also found some great information at Knitting at Knoon that will be really helpful.

Last week I did up my first swatches, and wasn't totally pleased with my results. I want a stockinette version, and as many of you know, stockinette isn't even when it comes to stitches and rows like garter is. Garter stitch is approximately two rows to one stitch, which lends itself wonderfully to making squares. Stockinette on the other hand, is roughly a 5:7 ratio, and obviously decreasing to make a square will be more complex. I've decided to decrease on every other WS row as well as every RS row. The resultant "square" isn't PERFECTLY square, but it's much more manageable. I've also decided to go with a provisional cast-on for the foundation row of "squares" since I will be doing *something* with it later. I have a feeling that a large part of the lettuce-type edge I'm getting is due to that. I will check on that once I have my first few squares done.

All that being said, here's the pattern I've written for the foundation row of squares. I'm using various wool and wool blend fingering weight leftovers as well as 3.25 mm needles. Since I normally knit socks on 2.25 or 2.5 mm needles, this will give the fabric a little more "drape", as well as some forgiveness for differences in yarns and such. I am also using a 3.75 mm crochet hook and some acrylic fingering weight yarn for my provisional cast-on. Get two of these made, and join me next time for joining them!!! I also should have pictures of this in the next installment.

Stockinette Sock Yarn Afghan - foundation row square
Using provisional cast-on method of your choice {I prefer the crochet chain cast-on}, cast on 41 sts.
Row 1: Knit
Row 2: Purl
Row 3: Sl1, k17, ssk, k1, k2tog, k18
Row 4: Sl1, p16, p2tog, p1, ssp, p17
Row 5: Sl1, k15, ssk, k1, k2tog, k16
Row 6: Sl1, purl across

Rows 3-6 establish pattern. Continue in this manner until 3 stitches remain, which should be after a RS row.
Last row: Sl1, ssp, psso (1 stitch)

Do not fasten off, but leave a longish {6-12 inch} tail, and do not pull it through the last loop. This "stitch" will be used in subsequent squares.

What dumb holiday is your birthday on?

More Fun Quizzes at QuizPox.com

I found this cute tidbit at noricum's blog. She's another Winnipegger that I've met through the local knitting groups. I actually re-stumbled on her blog through Shelly Kang's blog while looking for instructions on that mitred square sock yarn afghan! I'm gonna join her knit-a-long too, since I've got quite a few scraps here already, and I think it would be cool to have an afghan out of sock yarn... yes... you all knew I was crazy, and now this is the undisputed proof!

Lissa, the sock...

Here is the Lissa sock. It's a generic top-down sock with a short row heel for a large toddler. Stay tuned for the pattern!

I have a benefactor!!!

One of my net-friends, who wishes to remain anonymous, had a package delivered to my house today. Imagine my surprise to open the box, and then open the brown bag {sealed with a question mark sticker} to discover this:

Now how cool is this??? It's Ram's newest Super Soxx Surprise, now in a cotton blend. This picture really doesn't do it justice, and once I figure out how to get better quality pictures uploaded without using Blogger's Picassa, I'll change it. Suffice it to say that this yarn is a GORGEOUS blend of blue and grey with charcoal flecks through it. If you look at the webpage for it, it's the third sock from the bottom in the picture of series 1. It's just as soft as the original wool Super Soxx, and I can't wait to find out if it knits up just as well.

I was told that it was because I'd been so good lately with finishing so many of my sock projects, and hadn't been able to afford any trips to Ram's at all in nearly 2 months... with no relief in sight for my unplanned yarn diet. I had been coveting this yarn dearly since I discovered its existence about a week or so ago. I would like to publicly thank my benefactor for this most generous gift. It was the bright spot in an otherwise extremely bleak outlook for me right now.

In other news, I got some pictures loaded on to the pooter and edited for posting. I don't want to sully this post by adding other pictures, so stay tuned for the next few days as I feature various FOs.

DONE!!! DONE!!! DONE!!!

I *just* finished off the ends on Lissa's socks! She's the proud owner of her first pair of hand-knits. The yarn is a "Rainbow Brite" inspired bright myriad of colour, and the little princess is thrilled to have them on her feet. I haven't measured the leftovers in the ball of yarn yet -- I'm going to get Derek to weigh it at work tomorrow -- but I'm guessing about half the ball, and that's what I'm adding to the total, 93 metres.

Now that I have those out of the way, I can cast on my "Lacy Scallops" guilt-free. I also worked on Derek's tiger socks today a bit, and I've got over 4 inches of stockinette for the leg... I have a feeling that I will need to do the heel turn tomorrow before work!

April Fools!!!

Well I was the butt of several April Fool's jokes, and none of them were intentional... or at least not caused by another person!

Firstly it rained nearly all night Saturday/ Sunday... but what did I see as I went out to my car after work??? SNOW!!! I was *not* amused at Mother Nature's joke... especially as it got progressively worse as the morning continued.

I wasn't able to get pictures of that, or any of my recent FOs due to the next of the cruel jokes played on me... the batteries for my camera don't work! Derek wasn't even able to get any pictures {except on his cell phone} of Lightning McQueen Saturday night from "The World of Wheels" exhibit that he had to work. I'm not sure if it's the batteries, or the charger... but I have no batteries in the meantime.

On the bright side, I grafted the toe of Old Shale #2, so that adds another 210 m to the total. I started a sock for Lissa, that was finished today, and I cast on the second sock for that. I'll be writing up the pattern I came up with for it, and offering it as a freebie. Derek's tiger sock #1 is around the 4 inch mark, just from at work knitting. In even better news, Lyz says that I/ we get to cast on "Lacy Scallops" tomorrow!!!