actually posting on a Saturday!

I finished my Carefree Blog mystery socks last night:


I'm so happy with how they turned out and can't wait to wear them! Adrienne designed a wonderful sock and a fun KAL. The yarn is Tropical Peach Panda Cotton.

I also received a nice surprise in the mail yesterday. I won a prize from Barbara Bretton on the Romancing the Yarn blog. Of course Shelby had to inspect it as I photographed it:




I won a skein of KnitPicks Gloss Lace yarn in the colorway Kiss (hot pink!). It's 70% merino wool/30% silk. I have really been wanting to try a lace project so now is my chance!! She also included a nice tote bag. Thanks Barbara!!

Here is my progress so far on clue 2 of the Nancy Bush mystery sock:

The lace panel on the front:


and the ribbing on the back:


Just below the ribbing, I have started stockinette because the rest of the back of the leg is in stockinette. I have never knit a pattern in this style so it is very interesting! I'm also loving the Panda Silk yarn!! My goal is to finish clue 2 of both socks before clue 3 comes out on Tuesday.

Too busy knitting to blog!

Both of my mystery sock KALs are going well!

Clue 2 of the SKA yellow sock KAL comes out tomorrow. Here is clue 1:


I have clue 1 knit for both socks. The cool feature of this cuff is a vikkel braid (you can see it at the top along the needle loop) which was very interesting to knit. A little tricky, but not too bad once you got the hang of it. The designer for this mystery sock is Nancy Bush!

I finished one sock of the Carefree blog mystery sock KAL as the final clue was sent to us yesterday:


Here's a close-up of the pattern on top of the foot:


Isn't it pretty??? The designer for this mystery sock was Adrienne Fong.

I still need to finish clue 4 and 5 of the second sock, but the Yankees are playing again tonight so I should make progress on it!

Mystery sock

Here's a photo of my latest mystery sock through clue 3:


Such a pretty pattern and fun to knit! Really holds my interest so I don't get bored knitting it.

Yarn is Tropical Peach Panda Cotton.

My other mystery sock KAL starts on Tuesday (I'll be using the yellow Panda Silk).

a quick update with more photos

I finished another hat for KDO. The pattern is called Gingerbread hat:



I started the Mystery sock from the Carefree KAL blog. Here is my progress after completing clue 1:


That's Panda Cotton in Tropical Peach! I also learned a new cast on which I will probably using for all socks in the future. It's the German Twisted Cast on and makes for a really neat edge.

I just printed clue 2 and will start working on that tonight!

While waiting for clue 2, I worked on my fair isle vest this weekend. I have now knit the 46 pattern rounds and will be starting again at round 1 until the piece measures 12 inches:


And here is the Panda Silk in Buttercup Tones that I'll be using for the SKA mystery sock which starts September 1st:

Blog catch-up

Oh, I have neglected my blog for too long!! So sorry!

I did finish the July SKA mystery socks:



Haven't had a chance to wear them yet, but I think they will fit me. They were fun and I look forward to doing more colorwork socks.

I have made progress on the fair isle vest since the last photo I posted. I introduced the red yarn and am loving how these four colors look together:


Choosing good color combinations is not usually one of my strong points, but I really like these colors! I guess I'm safe with red, white and blue, but I even like how the two shades of blue go together in this project. I haven't worked on this since I finished the mystery socks, but I'll get back to it at some point.

I did start the Yankees socks:


I know, you can't tell anything yet, but those are going to be interlocking NY logos around the top of the sock. These are going to be a challenging knit for me!

1. The needles are tiny - US 0 and something like 96 stitches around right now - ugh!

2. The yarn is a cotton/wool blend (and some nylon or something) - it's Knit Picks Risata - so I'm not loving the feel of it, but I needed these colors and I think the yarn should work well for the colorwork.

3. Sometimes to you have to carry the navy yarn for long distances and sometimes you have to carry the white yarn and I don't know how to "catch" the yarn except when I'm carrying it in my left hand. So, I have to keep switching which hand I'm holding each color yarn in (6 times!) as I work across the row. This is very tedious and is slowing me down. I need to research and see if there's a way to catch the yarn when you're carrying it in your right hand. I was taught in my fair isle class to always carry the yarn you have to catch in your left hand and that's the only way I know how to do it! (I'm talking about weaving it in across long lengths that are more than 5 or so stitches).

Anyway, for all those reasons, I believe the Yankees socks will be a long-term project!

Since these socks were proving to be too challenging at the moment, I decided to cast on another hat for KDO:


Ah, Knit Picks Comfy in Pomegranate, now that is some soft yarn!! So nice to work with. I believe this pattern is called "Gingerbread Hat". I found it on Ravelry. It has cables and is a pretty simple pattern to follow. I'm hoping to work on the hat some more tonight!

The Carefree KAL mystery sock starts on Friday - I can't wait! I will be knitting these in either the peach or blue Panda Cotton that I purchased from The Loopy Ewe. I just can't decide which color to use, but I will decide on Friday!

The next SKA mystery sock KAL starts on September 1st and I plan on participating in that as well! The technique is "knitting with yellow yarn" so I bought some pretty Panda Silk in the colorway "Buttercup Tones". This will be my first time knitting with Panda Silk so I am looking forward to that!

I also bought some Blue Green Wick yarn so I can knit another quick pair of socks when I have the time. I really like the other Wick socks that I knit.

And to end this lengthy post, here's a recent photo of Shelby:

Mystery sock update!

I ended up knitting the leg of the mystery sock yesterday and today. The colorwork section is complete and now I just need to knit the corrugated ribbing at the top of the leg. This will be the dark brown(almost black) Maizy and the cream-colored Panda Soy.

I think I am going to be on a colorwork kick for awhile! It's so much fun to knit, but challenging as well.

I found a free Yankees pin-striped sock pattern that I want to knit next!!!

There will also be two mystery sock KALs in September (SKA group and Carefree KAL blog group) so I will be a busy knitter over the next few months!!

Finished hat... Started vest... Mystery socks on hold...

The Flora hat is done!



I had to order some more yarn to finish the top of the hat, but it is now complete! I will most likely donate this to Caps for Kids at Knitters' Day Out this year. I'll probably knit a couple more hats too by the time KDO rolls around.

I have the final clue for the mystery socks, but I started a new project while waiting for clue 4 and I have not touched the mystery socks since!

I finally started the fair isle vest, that I have wanted to knit FOREVER from Fall 2007 issue of Knit Simple magazine.

Here is my progress so far:


This is knit from the bottom up, in the round. I'm using Kraemer Yarns Tatamy Tweed which accounts for the little flecks of color in the yarn. There will also be some red yarn introduced in the pattern further up. I was struggling to like this at first, but now that I've started the fair isle part I am liking it more and more! I sure hope it fits me when it's done!!

a quick Saturday update!

Here's my progress after clue 3 of the July SKA mystery sock:


I have also finished the fair isle section of the Flora hat and now just need to knit the top of the hat:


And... I finished the Seascape scarf last night!


Whereas, Shelby spent some time sitting at the top of the stairs last night:

FO's and WIP's

I finished my WWKIP Day socks!



I love that I can pretty much knit a pair of socks using Panda Cotton without even referring to a pattern. Although, I was using the Slipped Stitch Rib pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks. It's an easy pattern to memorize!

Clue 2 came out for the mystery sock, but I had started a new project while waiting for that and I'm more interesting in working on it than that mystery sock. I cast on my first hat for KDO - attendees donate knit hats for Caps for Kids. Last year, I had so much fun once I started knitting hats, that I knit about 6 hats! There's a photo of all the hats in this blog post from last year.

The pattern I started with is called Flora:


Here's my progress as of yesterday:


I'm using Knit Picks Shine Worsted yarn in Sailor (blue) and Grass (green). I love watching the pattern emerge, although there are some lengthy carries between colors so I have to keep switching which hand I'm holding each yarn in! I only know how to catch the carried yarn when it's in my left hand. I'm not sure if there's a way to do it when it's in your right hand. I tried a couple times and it didn't seem to work. But, I am using what I learned in the fair isle class I took at KDO (Knitters' Day Out) last year, so that is good!

I still need to finish the Seascape scarf; I'm waiting for a lengthy car ride where I am the passenger... I wish I would have had it with me when we were stuck in gridlock after watching fireworks last week!

And, I did start clue 2 of the mystery sock last night, but only knit a few rounds so there's not much to show yet. I hope to work on that today and then post a progress photo.

July Mystery Sock

It's now July, and that means a new mystery sock pattern in the SKA group on Ravelry!

Clue 1 was posted on July 1st and it is a toe-up colorwork sock. The designer suggested using the Turkish cast on which I have not used before so I thought I would try it since the goal of the SKA group is to challenge yourself each month. Well, Wednesday night was very frustrating because I was having major trouble casting on! I tried the Turkish cast on and it came out very loose, so after knitting a couple rounds I ripped it out. I tried it again and did not end up with the right number of stitches on my needles. Then, I dug out my instructions for the figure 8 cast on that I used for the last two pairs of toe-up socks and for some reason I could not get the hang of that even though I found it simple the last time I used it!

So, I took a break and then tried the Turkish cast on again. This time it worked, although I ended up with only 19 stitches instead of the 20 stitches I needed, but instead of ripping it out, I just increased a stitch on the first knit round and it seemed to work out just fine!

My main yarn is Panda Soy in natural ecru. I got this with the gift certificate I won at last year's Knitters' Day Out. The first motif in the mystery socks is cherries, so I needed red and green yarn for the colorwork. I decided to use the poppy red Panda Soy that I had leftover from the May mystery socks, but I was having a difficult time deciding what to use for the green. I did not have any green Panda Soy on hand. I originally wanted to knit these socks in a red, white and blue theme but that didn't work out with the first clue being cherries. I debated about knitting the leaves in blue, but the "blue" Panda Soy I have is really more of a periwinkle purplish-blue so I didn't really think it would work. I looked into ordering green Panda Soy online, but the website I checked was out of stock of the green!

Last night, I started knitting the colorwork section and got to the point where I needed the green yarn. I dug out all Crystal Palace Yarns sock yarn that I have and after considering several possibilites, including some multi-color Panda Superwash, I decided to go with the only green sock yarn in my stash, the single skein of cactus Maizy. I'm a little nervous about this because I tend to knit Maizy on smaller needles than Panda Soy or Panda Cotton, but I decided to just give it a try. So far, it seems to have worked ok.

Here is my mystery sock after completing clue 1:


It would probably look a little better with a darker green, but I think I will probably just stick with the Maizy. This pattern will also involve a fourth color which is supposed to be a dark brown, so the bittersweet Maizy I have should fit the bill.

If nothing else, this mystery sock pattern will be a fun learning experience!

And, it has finally giving me something to blog about!

Progress...

Here's a progress photo of my latest projects. I'm hoping to finish these both by next weekend so that I can focus on the July mystery sock KAL. Clue 1 should be posted on Wednesday!!

First WWKIP Day sock is done!

One sock down, one to go!

Also, Summer of Socks 2009 begins today - the theme this year is Low Stress!!



I am going along with this theme and not making any grand plans for SOS09, but I'm sure I will knit at least a few pairs of socks this summer to play along!

The SKA Group on Ravelry is having a fair isle mystery sock challenge in July, and I hope to use my Panda Soy to knit a pair of fair isle socks!

WWKIP Day, car knitting and puppy Madison

On Saturday, June 13th, I participated in the SKA group's photo scavenger hunt for WWKIP Day (on Ravelry). There was a list of different point values for photographing your sock-in-progress with various items (an animal, a non-knitter, someone on a bicycle, from 100+ feet up, etc.). I earned 26 points and had a lot of fun. Others earned more points than me, but I have some entries for "funniest pic" and "most unique pic" and there is also a random prize drawing for everyone who entered. Most importantly was that it made for a fun day, so the prizes are really secondary. Here's one of the photos I took from 100+ feet up:


The sock is Panda Cotton in the colorway "Roses" which is gorgeous and I am knitting the slipped stitch rib pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks.

We were in Erie, PA for the weekend and this is one of the first times I was able to knit in the car on the trip. I can't read in a car; it gives me a headache and I haven't had much luck with trying to knit, but I started an easy scarf pattern that I was able to remember without looking at the pattern. It's the Panda Cotton Drop Stitch Scarf, a free pattern on Crystal Palace Yarn's website. I love how it's turning out! I'm using Panda Cotton in the Seascape colorway and I just LOVE the colors:



The scarf is much longer now because I knit it on the way home today too!

I also got to meet my in-law's new puppy, Madison, and she is absolutely adorable! She is a miniature American Eskimo and well-loved:

Tofutsies and WWKIP Day

Tofutsies socks are finally done!


Close-up:


I started these in September 2008 and finished them in June 2009! I'm looking forward to wearing them, because I think they will fit well.

My Cookie A Sock Innovation book finally arrived! I took it to Office Max to have it spiral bound so it will lay flat. Check out the picture on the first page:


Looks like a sleeping Eskie to me!! How cute!

Shelby says, "Hey, I am cute too!"


Yes, yes you are...

Saturday is WWKIP Day so get out there and knit! I plan on participating in the Photo Scavenger Hunt that the SKA Group on Ravelry is hosting (Sock Knitters Anonymous). Should be a lot of fun. I will be casting on a new pair of socks in Panda Cotton!

May Mystery Socks are done!

This was the May mystery sock KAL in the SKA group on Ravelry. The name of the pattern is "kiila" which means gusset. As you can see, the pattern design is primarily in the gusset (the area where the sock widens between your toes and heel - for any non-sock-knitters out there).

I wish my cables would have turned out better. I think I should have used the increases the pattern called for (make one) rather than knitting through the front and back loop. I really need to practice this increase and find a way to do this without having holes. But, I think these will be comfy socks. They are my first pair of Panda Soy socks for myself! And my first pair of red hand-knit socks so I will be excited to wear them.

Now, I just need to finish my Tofutsies socks:


I want to finish these this week, so I can cast on a fun, new pair of socks during WWKIP day on Saturday, June 13th!

More bags!

I decided to make some more project bags using the drawstring bag tutorial from yarnmonster's blog. I cut fabric to make 6 bags:


I have completed sewing four of the bags - just need to add the drawstrings:


Shelby says - "Knitting, sewing... you're always up to something!"

The Loopy Ewe

I placed an order from The Loopy Ewe this week and it arrived on Friday:


I got two new solid colors of Panda Cotton: Tropical Peach and Deep Water (blue). Both are very pretty and now I have some solid colors on hand in case a new mystery sock project pops up!

I also ordered another bar of my favorite soap: Jasmine Knitter's Hand Soap from the Blue Ridge Soap Shed. I have tried both the Jasmine and Green Tea scents and they were both nice. The bars last a really long time - I think the first bar lasted me almost 9 months usually using it several times a day. This bar seems to be going a little faster, but that's probably because I use it more frequently!

I also ordered the exclusive Loopy Rules set from Karatstix! I've admired Karatstix's products for awhile and when I saw she designed a set for the Loopy Ewe I knew I had to get it! It's a little 2-inch ruler and a sock shaped needle sizer. Cute!

My favorite online yarn shop made my day once again! Thanks Loopy Ewe! :-)

mystery sock; Tofutsies sock

One mystery sock is complete:

I still need to knit the leg of the other one.

I have also been working on the second Tofutsies sock, so maybe I will finally complete that pair:

FO's

Finished Objects!

Noro scarf is done:



Circle Cloth is done:



Clue 3 of the mystery socks is also done on both socks, but it was just turning the heel, so I didn't take updated photos yet. Have to wait until Friday for the final clue (leg and cuff) so I need to cast on a new project! Decisions... decisions...

Or I could... work on the Tofutsies socks...