while home over the christmas holiday, mom and i made one of our usual visits to the local wally world. and as much as i love my fancy handpainted yarns and luxury fibers, i always end up in the yarn section of the store ... where this little gem was stocked. and perhaps it's just luck that wally world carries this yarn label, or only natural, since the mills of elmore-pisgah are only an hour away ....


the pattern for the dishcloth is printed on the inside of the ballband. it's also in the mason*dixon knitting book. there's a second pattern printed inside the ballband, for a crocheted dishcloth. i have two other balls, so i might have to try it out too.


... by the way, this is seriously mindless knitting! just what i needed ....

who doesn't love the bullion stitch?!

from rrrrrita, crocheted by agent aubergine. if you love freeform crochet, be sure to check out books by prudence. i tell you what, come spring and summer, when everyone else is sporting their "summer colors" thick & woolly felted bags, i will be carrying my lovely cotton crocheted masterpiece!

for the mindless . . . .

... knitting on lizard ridge. it has become somewhat of a mindless project, though i must constantly refer back to the pattern instructions ....
but, i can watch a movie or hang out with friends while knitting on these squares ... which qualifies it as mindless.


and the colors still seduce me ....



and one of santa's elves thought i should continue on this journey ....

something new for my bumper ....


something that was on my christmas list this year was the elusive socks that rock from blue moon. i failed to score some at both maryland and rhinebeck! but thanks to santa, i am no longer without ....


the colbalt bloom and ruby are both light weight, and the jade is medium weight. i don't know when i will wind and knit any of it, as i'm still feeling jittery from all the holiday commotion. i am in great need of a mindless project though, and will likely chain or cast on for something today.


rocks? why yes, these are rocks ... very special painted bicho rocks. for my birthday, i received some stupid socks creatures from mom. but since mom is such a great gift-giver, she also painted me some rocks! and since this post is about socks & rocks and socks that rock, i give you some painted rocks that absolutely rock !


and since i never get off completely scotch free with mom, she also included a pair of black & white socks for me to make my own creature ... so, there we were, christmas eve night, into the wee hours of christmas day, making another wronky.

stupid sock creatures

genevieve, wronky, and claude
mom made these for me for my birthday. they were all created with the instructions from john murphy's _stupid sock creatures_.

i've yet to have success with making a creature, but perhaps mom can give me some pointers .... aren't they cute ?!

once a year ....

this little cupcake was made by betz white. it's so cute, i ordered it from her etsy shop as a gift to myself.

ps. it's a pin cushion, and the little sprinkles are the heads of pearl-topped pins.

how will the day be spent? knitting & crocheting! duh !

warming the extremities ...

i would say that christmas came early, but instead it's really a birthday that has been celebrated early. my birthday is not until the 24th, but i won't be around then, so my friends celebrated early ... and i tell you what ... they know my house is cold and that my hands are cold when i'm tapping at this keyboard!


this luscious red pair is malabrigo and knitted by rrrrrrita. it's a very basic pattern, and you can get 2 pairs and then some with just one hank of yarn. i made the same pair for my niece, and still have enough leftover for a matching hat or maybe some more mitts for someone else. hmmm ...


fetching... i think everyone has knitted these but me! these were knitted by the knitter formerly known as pinky, with cherry tree hill's worsted wt. possum fur.


and this pair? koigu .... from the rib and cable mitts pattern from this issue of interweave knits magazine. they were knitted by olive landlord, the original yarn sniffer!



and then there was some other yarn-y goodness from deb-a-licious ... i think she has me knitting about 5 pairs of socks so far, if i can get my sock needles clicking again .... i don't think it will be long though before i cast on with this lorna's laces sock yarn.



... or either of these more classical sock yarns by steinbach wolle and reynolds.

and this was just the tip of the iceberg !

i tell you what! it's a looooong loooong wait for gift time ... and i've been a good girl this year!

this is knitted from kureyon 138. i only have one more colorway of kureyon ... but two different dyelots !


i picked up a second hank of this yarn when i went down to bella filati on saturday. i had originally only purchased one to make a pair of fingerless mitts, but then decided, what if i want to knit socks ? and now i'm thinking i might want to knit gloves ....


whichever it is, i will be knitting them with these 5" needles from lantern moon.

busy knitter-elf

these guys look mighty confused ... but don't let them misguide you, as their dumb expressions are permanently sealed in fimo. some of my knitty girls and i took a little road trip down to bella filati on saturday. i picked up a few things to get me through the rest of my holiday making ... but i took this little twosome home with me, as a treat. don't worry, they've been working hard ....


yep ... they're working hard on another lizard ridge square. i like these needles ... they're 10" single points made by serendipity designs. they have a nice long taper, sharp points, and are smooth and lightweight.




these buttons? well, i got (two of) these at bella filati too ... the bird-thing is wooden, and about 2 3/4" tall. the spokey thing is not from bella filati and is almost 2" in diameter, and the last button is wooden, and about 1 3/4" in diameter. i also got some buttons for my central park hoodie, but i may not reknit the button band until christmas ....

and, it was a busy day ... and there's many more hours left in this evening ... but earlier today, i knitted my niece's fingerless mitts!




they're knitted with malabrigo, on size 9's and 10's. there's enough leftover for another pair, or perhaps a matching hat ... and then some.

i think i'm finished ...

i finally finished this batch of elf slippers early this afternoon, and 5 of the 6 pairs has already found new homes. but, i do still need to make a couple more pairs, or even a few ....

am i finished with holiday knitting & crocheting? NOPE !

oh! square #2! ... how i love thee .....

even though the short row'd stitches sway and lean ....

i've been a bad, bad girl ....

but ... why should i resist such yumminess?! nikki says this is going to cost me body parts. she's right. but, body parts can be purchase in bulk discount or on sale, via various websites. WEBS offers a discount based on purchase. a $60 order yields a 20% discount, and a $120 order yields a 25% discount. kureyon is always discounted at this site. plus, if you check out either of these kal's for this project, there's always tips and links to other sales and opportunities on the net.

i never need any justification for knitting something i've fallen for. i am not opposed to eating beans & rice.

oops? oops. yep. i should be doing for others, but could not resist the temptation of lizard ridge anymore.


i got four little harmless balls of kureyon.


but, i will be good, and get started on some stupid sock creatures this afternoon. unless the lizard blankie calls ....

hooker online

well, most things are working now ... with the exception of my software for my camera. hmmm ... i was able to upload via my printer though.

as you can see, not much going on here. sometimes i feel like i should just give up on this christmas and say i'm making things for next christmas! that way, i won't feel so far behind, and might even feel a bit virtuous.

now that the computer works again, i need to stay away from it ... too much to do!


... yes, i do use my kitchenware for crocheting and knitting.

My computer seems to be on its death bed. No posting til it's resolved .

--

Mobile Email from a Cingular Wireless Customer http://www.cingular.com

thank you all for the compliments on the stockings ... i hope the client likes them as much !

i guess i forgot to mention in the previous post the source of the pattern for the stocking. the inspiration was from nicky's knitted christmas stockings. the woman for whom i knited these stockings supplied everything, as it was an abandoned project. when i received the materials and book from her, she had begun knitting the basic stocking in the booklet, as instructed. her original intentions were for me to just finish the stockings.

but, after looking at the progress and construction, i contacted her and told her how it could be better, and she granted me carte blanche to proceed with my ideas.

i did not change the materials. she picked the yarns and colors. but, i did change the construction. the nicky epstein patterns are all written for 2 needles, and i made the stocking knitted in the round. i've knitted lots of socks, and i figured a stocking is just a giant sock. so, i loosely followed the nicky instructions regarding the finished size, but changed the rest.

i cast on at the top with a provisional cast on. i knitted the cuff separately from the bottom edge to the top, and then did a three needle bindoff with the stocking stitches. that gave a nice firm top edge that would not roll to either side, because i could not figure out how to get a nice turning ridge when knitting in the round and have the cuff in reverse stockinette and the stocking in stockinette.

so, i guess i did write the pattern.

oh, and the little crochet snowflakes at the top? those are a few of the ones i managed to starch when that project was abandoned a few years ago. they're all from this booklet.

finito !

yeah! i finished the stockings. i really wanted these finished by dec 1st, but just could not pull that off. i will drop them off at the yarn store on monday for the customer to pick up. i'm sure she's eager to hang them with care ....

all is knitted except for the snowflake motif. the snowflake is from a leisure arts book, white christmas in thread crochet. i actually made all the snowflakes in the book a few years ago, but kinda stalled on starching them. my idea was to make it winter in my living room and hang all the snowflakes from the ceiling.

so, yeah! i'm finished! and i so desperately want to work on something for myself now ... but i seem to have this crazy list of holiday gifts to make. hmmm ....

ps. stockings measure about 21" on the diagonal from the base of the hanging loop to the toe.