Monday, July 30, 2007

Zephyr Socks done

Summer seems to be zapping my mojo . . . both for knitting and for blogging. The results of my July Knit List goals will be laughable. But I did manage to finish a pair of socks . . . two weeks ago. It's about time I summoned up some Blogging Mojo and posted them, don't you think?


Zephyr Socks
Cast on: 18 May 2007
Completed: 14 July 2007
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock - Misty Moor
Needles: Knit Picks US2 (3.0 mm) DPNs

Although this pattern is well-written and easy to follow, I seemed to have some kind of mental block with it. These socks are full of silly mistakes. In the end, I think the mistakes won't really be noticed by anyone but me. I will probably knit this pattern again some day, as it was a fun pattern and I feel like I didn't really do it justice.

I loved the Cherry Tree Hill Supersock. It's soft and doesn't split and is a real dream to knit with. If I ever get to a point where I need to buy more sock yarn (not likely), this yarn is high on my list.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Rockin' Girl Blogger

I really don't "rock". I was never one of the popular kids in school. I've always been pretty shy. So I was thrilled when Sonya named ME as a Rockin' Girl Blogger!!!!!

Rockin' Girl Blogger
Thank you, Sonya, I am honored!



I read tons of other blogs that rock, so coming up with only five to share with you is no easy task (and probably explains why I've put this post off for so long). But here are five you shouldn't miss.

  1. MissyJoon at Persian Purls and Yarnovers. She is never afraid to take on any knitting challenge, and often manages to coerce me into knitting them with her (and I'm never sorry). She is an avid reader and makes wonderful book recommendations. She is caring, supportive, fun and generous - qualities that make her a great friend, an awesome Mom, and a Rockin' Girl Blogger.

  2. Ragan at Ragan Knits. Ragan is one of those Super Crafters . . . she knits, she crochets, she sews (including intricate little Barbie clothes!!), she does paper crafts, and more! She's a home-decorating whiz (as seen by her recent bathroom re-do). She holds down the fort during a personally tough time (which I'm not sure I'm supposed to talk about, so I'll be vague for now). She Rocks!!


  3. Christine at Knitting on Trial. She's a lawyer and a knitter and a mom to three incredible (and sometimes head-strong) beautiful dachshunds. She not only rides a motorcycle, but has started her own business catering to the highly overlooked female motorcycle population. If that doesn't rock, I don't know what does!!

  4. Kathy at Irisheyes Knitting Blog. I'm quite sure if you asked her, Kathy would say she doesn't rock . . . but she would be so wrong! She fearlessly coerces strangers to hold her knitting on a regular basis and gets them to allow her to post their pictures as her Guest Bloggers. She never gives up trying to figure out the ins and outs of Blogger and has overcome her "link problems" (hurray, she is now a Linker Extraordinaire!!). Her blog is full of great knitting (both by her and by others), wonderful pictures, interesting stories and fun contests. That makes her pretty Rockin' in my book.


  5. Olga at Yo La Tejo. Her blog is always a source of drool-worthy knitting, sewing, cooking and general craftiness. She is a master Thrift Shopper, coming home with treasure the likes of which I've never seen in any thrift stores. She gets extra points for often quoting Gone With The Wind. And she does this all while in Grad. school. That really rocks!!

So ladies, thank you for sharing your lives in your blogs. You all inspire me and have my deepest admiration!

Friday, July 20, 2007

Show us your socks!!

I have to admit, I've been loving the Sock Drawer meme that's been going around. You know the one, where you post a photo of your hand-knit sock drawer. I was secretly wishing I'd get tagged, and low and behold, Kelly made my wish come true!!



Just like Kelly, my socks don't live in a drawer. They live in a basket.



It's a wicker picnic basket that my best friend gave me a very long time ago. I think she put the fabric lining and gold ribbon in herself. What better treasure to hold my hand-knit socks? Let's take a closer look inside, shall be?



Aaah, the socky goodness. No, I did not straighten the basket up for the picture - they always stay folded and sorted like that. (Hello, OCD much??) If you look closely at the top left corner, you may notice those aren't socks. They are actually slippers. They are actually the last pair of slippers I have that my grandmother knit for me. I can't bear to wear them because I know it won't take long before they have huge holes in the bottoms. So the sentimental side of me will keep these as a memento. After all, I can knit my own slippers to wear holes in . . . this last pair is to special for that.



If you look closely again, under the slippers from Grammy, is a pair of socks you haven't seen yet. It's my Zephyr socks, done at long last! But they will have to wait for another post. Not the next post though, because the next post is already planned for another little something I was secretly hoping for. *wink, wink* For now, I'll just tag some people whose sock drawers I'd love to see. How about MissyJoon, Kathy, Dipsy and KnittingKat. Show us your sock drawers, girls!!

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Socks, socks and more socks . . .

My next few posts will be all about socks. I got tagged for the sock drawer meme. I have a finished pair of socks I still haven't posted. But first off, I somewhat inherited a sock knit-along!



I've been a member of Sock A Month since Knittin Mom started it about a year and a half ago. I've always loved the low pressure feel of it, and it has kept me motivated to finish at least one pair of socks each month. It's great for staving off Second Sock Syndrome. For round 3, I became a hostess and helped with the big task of keeping track of the credits. When Chrissy decided it was time for her to move on and sent out a call for someone to coordinate the next round, I was glad to jump to the cause.



Sign ups have opened today and I'm happy to say there have been more than 50 invite-requests already. I have three wonderful co-hostesses signed up to help me keep everything running smoothly (and I'm sure they are wondering what they have gotten themselves into!!) If you would like to join in the sock knitting fun, click the button below to check it all out.



Monday, July 16, 2007

Yummy Yarns Test



Have you seen this quiz from DIY?


Go give it a try . . . it's fun! I only got one wrong out of ten . . . without using any of the hints. As it turns out, I know even more about yarn than I realized.



Which reminds me, two weeks ago my parents got back from a trip out to Colorado to visit my brother. My mom said she was hoping to find buffalo yarn to bring back for me. When she couldn't find any, she figured that meant yarn isn't made from buffalo. Little does she know, they make yarn from just about everything these days, including buffalo. Maybe I should send this quiz to her.



What's the most unusual yarn you've ever knit with?

Friday, July 13, 2007

Obsession

A while ago, I started seeing blog posts about something called Mystery Stole 3. Sounded interesting, but not my kind of thing. After all, it wasn't recommended for beginning lace knitter, and I've only knit one simple shawl. And there are beads. Yes, optional beads, but if I was going to do it, I'd want to do it all the way. Optional is not in my vocabulary. But I knew I couldn't handle the beads.



Then one of my best friends signed up, and kept telling me how cool the whole thing was. Which was true, but I still knew it was not my thing. After all, I had so much on my "To Knit List" already - there certainly was no room for yet another project.



Then I started seeing beautiful Stoles-In-Progress all over blog land. And I started to grow weak. I mean, there is only so much willpower a girl can have. Last Thursday, I caved and signed up. The minute my acceptance was e-mailed to me, I was out the door to buy some beads.



What a lovely obsession this project has been. I have barely touched another knit since casting on for this stole. When I sleep, I see lace and charts and beads in my dreams (and by the way, do not fear the bead. They are easy!!) My July Knit List (along with my homework and cleaning *ahem*) has been tossed aside as this little stole demands all of my time. She's also telling me that I need to invest in some blocking wires (or bicycle spokes - *grin*)



I've always admitted to being a slow knitter. When it comes to lace, I am painfully, excruciatingly slow. Today Clue 3 was released. I have 10 more rows of Clue 2 left, and then I can start on Clue 3 and hopefully be caught up be next Friday.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

It's hot, humid and sticky . . .

and nothing says Christmas like "hot, humid and sticky". No?? You're right, Christmas would normally be the farthest thing from my mind right now. But luckily, I've been keeping up with my Holiday Headstart KAL knitting, and last month I finished two more gifts for December 25th. You can find an admittedly bad picture of the first one here, but that's all I'll say. I don't want the recipient to come over and see it before Santa has a chance to deliver it!

The second gift is for my cousin's daughter Alexis, and since there is no chance she would ever stumble across my blog, I can post about it right here.

Amanda's Squatty Sidekick
Cast On: 21 June 2007
Completed: 1 July 2007
Yarn: Lambs Pride Worsted in Lotus Pink
Needles: Knit Picks US 10.5 24" circs

After my first failed attempt, I was glad to find I could actually knit this! It was a quick knit (especially the second time around) and the felting was a lot of fun. Here is the obligatory pre- and post-felting comparison. The rubber ducky I've included for size is a gift from Alexis's grandfather, my uncle. He used to call me "Quack Quack" when I was little, complete with a little tickle on each "quack". He gave me the rubber ducky on Christmas Eve a few years ago, just so I wouldn't forget.


I would definitely knit this again. In fact, I have to, for the recipient's sister, Aleena. Alexis and Aleena are the same age, so I always give them similar gifts for Christmas. (I'll have to remember to include the Bride and Groom rubber duckies in that photo shooty. My uncle gave those to me and Pea at our wedding !)

I have to admit, it feels really good to have six hand-knit Christmas gifts already tucked away. I even have the seventh on the needles. Hurray for advanced planning - it's a whole new concept for me!

Monday, July 09, 2007

How I spent my weekend . . .

While I'd love to say it was spent knitting away and sipping cool beverages, I'm afraid that wasn't the case. Instead, Pea and I finally started to redecorate our ugly, ugly bathroom. I've hated the bathroom ever since I bought my house, over eight years ago. But somehow, house projects always seem to get pushed aside. This weekend, we buckled down and dove in. I even remembered something I usually forget - to take BEFORE pictures.


Here is a great example of the awful rose color the former owners chose for the top section of the walls. And over the mirror, you will see the very modern light - which not only doesn't fit in with the character of the house but also doesn't work. When we pried it off the wall we found out why - none of the wires are attached to the electrical wires. Oh, and don't overlook the lovely outlet that is screws right onto the side of the medicine cabinet! Apparently they felt no need to mount it properly in the wall. Crazy!!


Here we have the Before and After shot of the toilet area. The white "tile" you see on the bottom of the walls is actually . . . . . ready???? Plastic! Ugly, ugly, ugly. In the After shot you can see what was beneath the fake plastic tile. Actually, what was beneath was ANOTHER LAYER of fake tile, but here's what is under that.


It's plaster that is made to look like bricks. It is in pretty bad shape, but I'm hoping we can restore it. We once stayed at a Bed & Breakfast in Newport that had the same plaster walls in the bathroom, and it was beautiful. (And although you can't see it in the picture, that is an old fashioned claw-foot tub! I love it!!!)


Some spots are worse than others, as you can see here. The old paint in chipping away and in parts the plaster itself is disintegrating. I also removed at least 122 nails - yes, I counted. So that means 122+ nail holes for me to spackle. I got a good start on it yesterday, and I think it will all work out in the end. Although at this point, the end is no where in sight!! But I have the whole thing planned out in my head, and it is going to look beautiful if we ever when we finish.

So, Ragan, what do you think? I'm hoping it will end up as pretty as yours!!

Next post, I promise, will be full of knitting content.

Monday, July 02, 2007

Good bye June, Hello July

Another month is over already?? Hmmm, I certainly didn't do very well on my June Knit List:

  1. Finish the Zephyr socks.- One is finished, the second is still in progress.
  2. Finish a pair of footies I'm working on. - DONE, and posted!!!
  3. Finish the May Holiday Headstart project. - DONE, and will be posted soon (hopefully with a better picture).
  4. Knit the Squatty Sidekick purse again as my June Holdiay Headstart project. - DONE and felted and drying upstairs. I'm hoping if I put it out in the sun tomorrow, I can sew on the button after dinner and post it on Wednesday.
  5. Finish Tahoe. - Not even close. I barely worked on it at all this month, which is a shame because it's chilly and I could be wearing it right now.
  6. One small "diversion project". - I did a little dishcloth, does that count?
So basically, all I got done was three very small projects and one very small pair of socks. Let's see if I can do better in July.
  1. Finish the Zephyr socks. (again)
  2. Finish the Seduction Socks.
  3. Finish Tahoe. (maybe this month . . . but probably not likely)
  4. July Holiday Headstart project.
Seems do-able, right? Maybe. If my web classes don't have too much homework . . . and it doesn't get too hot to knit unbearably hot . . . and if . . . .

see? full of excuses already and it's only the second day of July!!