Socks make a come back

While Suzy is busy playing the day away at Maryland Sheep and Wool, I am busy at home, trying to take pictures correctly, and doing laundry. Why did I not go you ask? Well, I have a lot coming up on the next few weekends, so I figured I should sit this one out. Besides, the bus trip Suzy took, didn't work out for me. I would have to drive, 45 minutes to join the bus trip, and I just thought that was kind of silly. However, I have since made friends with some local gals so next year, I'll take the bus out of Rosie's. I wasn't up for taking the bus with a bunch of strangers this year.

So socks have made a come back on my knitting project list. There are a few factors for this. Suzy always has a sock WIP, so I have been feeling a little left out. At work, I have been catching up on Gnat's podcasts called BarknKnit. This is the name of her blog too. Anyway on one of them, she interviewed a fellow knitter and they were talking about socks, socks, and more socks. So, I was sitting there thinking, "Jenny Girl you gotta jump on the sock wagon." Not to mention that every time I check Bea's blog, she has like another pair done. The girl can knit! And to top it off the Yarn Harlot will be in Philly on May 18th. Obviously I'm going, but I have to bring a sock. I can't go empty handed. So this is what I have so far:

The yarn is the Seacoast handpainted yarn in the autumn colorway that I won in a contest on Tiennie's blog last year. I am doing the infamous monkey sock design from Cookie A. This is one repeat of the lace pattern, with the purls. Suzy did hers without the purls. I tried, but I just couldn't do it. Must follow pattern. Unfortunately, my pictures truly do not demonstrate the beauty of this yarn. The yarn is lovely to work with, and it is very colorful, bright and pretty. I just suck at taking pictures. I realized this from my last post.

First of all, thank God I'm not a surgeon, because apparently my hands shake. The pictures are not very focused. Secondly, I need a different place to take pictures, other than my kitchen table. Nice table, but it's getting old. My backyard is nothing but cement, so that won't work. And if I do it out front...well that just won't work anyway. First things first though, I guess I have to read the camera book, again. Figure out the lighting and how to focus better.

On another note, I bought more sock yarn. Suzy and I took a road trip to Sophie's Yarns and this little number just jumped into my hands. Beautifully soft and it's in different shades of purple. Remember...bad picture taker.

And finally, my boys have made it to the Eastern Conference Finals. YEA! I am so pumped and excited! I can't believe they have made it this far. Go Flyers!

TTFN!

Big Ball 'O Yarn

I spent some quality time this afternoon with an empty paper towel cardboard tube. Standing on a chair, listening to a podcast and winding my latest yarn acquisition into a big ball 'o yarn. Ahh, the excitement of my life even overwhelms me at times.

This yarn is intended for a clapotis. I've been wanting to knit one for some time now and the hunt for just the right yarn has, at times challenged and obsessed me. I've spent hours, (I hate to think of how many hours), looking at finished clapoti on ravelry, searching out hand dyed merino/silk blends on the web, reading all the blog posts on the multiple Clapotis KAL's.

I came very close to buying Sheep Shop 3, a 70/30 merino silk handpainted blend. I've considered Brooks Farm. Several etsy sellers. Maybe even dye my own. I even, for a short time, considered saying to hell with it and just spend $90-120 for the Lorna's Laces Lion and Lamb (but I always came to my senses before getting too attached to a LL colorway).

Well, a couple of weeks ago I came across some hand dyed yarn by Miss Babs, on the Woolgirl site and fell in love with a colorway called Bronze Plum. It's a %100 merino superwash in a 560 yard skein, very reasonably priced. No silk in it, but merino alone is nice too. And since there were only 2 skeins left, I decided to just buy them before anyone else did. Regret, over a yarn purchase not made, is a terrible thing.

It was the first time I ordered from Woolgirl and it was a very positive experience. The yarn came quickly, wrapped in pretty color coordinated tissue paper, tied with matching ribbon, a couple of sample products, and a sweet thank you card with a kitty cat. I'm a sucker for presentation, and cats. Nice!

So I decided today was as good a day as any to swatch. And I recently joined the latest clap KAL, Fashionably Late in '08 so that was a little added incentive to get going. I don't have a winder or swift. I usually just wind a hank of yarn on my thumb and carefully drape the skein over my knees or around a chair. But I thought 560 yards of worsted weight yarn called for an alternate plan, the paper towel method. And in my case, it also involved 4 cans of Progresso soup. Don't ask.

I only wound up one skein. I know I probably should alternate skeins since it's a hand dyed yarn but I'm going to live dangerously and hope there's not too much variation between the 2 skeins. What do you think? I swatched on size 7 and 8 needles, I'm going to go with the 7's.

I also "made" some sock blockers for my finished Monkeys. I'll probably treat myself to some nice wooden blockers at some point (or hint to my family when they're looking for Mother's Day or birthday gifts) but in the meantime I did the DIY thing on a very simple level. I found a blog, Little Sesame Knits and following her general directions went ahead and cut up a gift box. I'll try to find a heavier cardboard or other more attractive material next time I'm at the craft store but these do the trick for now. So here's the finished purl-less Monkeys by Cookie A. in Louet Gems Wild Cherry colorway. They are %100 superwash merino and very soft.

So it was a fairly productive start to March. Come on Spring!
Happy Knitting!