cpy rocks!

back in november, i finished knitting a pair of socks with maizy. i already had a pair in the panda wool, some panda cotton stashed, and wanted to try out the newest maizy with cornfiber.

after a few wearings and washings, the socks began to show some premature wear. it appeared that the cornfiber had worn away, leaving the thin strands of nylon. not good !

i contacted the folks at crystal palace, and they were quick to get back to me with this concern. they requested me to ship my socks off to california so they could examine them and figure out why the yarn wasn't behaving. i actually found my yarn label, and slipped it around one of the socks.

for anyone who wonders, i had used 'nut brown' in lot A.

as they continue examining my socks, they sent me some other sock yarns and a set of dpns to keep me in socken heaven bliss ....



i had a choice of yarns and colors, and decided to go with some nice solids for knitting textured stitch patterns. i also got a set of their 6" bamboo dpns in 2.25mm, which happens to be my favorite dpns on the market.

i hope that whatever the problem is/was the with maizy, that it is/was limited to the batch i had. i like the fiber very much ... and loved the fabric it made.

in the meantime, i am knitting socken mates ! or at least, i am trying to. i finished a koigu monkey socken this morning, and am knitting on a panda wool socken too. i may start another orphan.

i don't have pictures for the current stuff as i'm catskill, ny, visiting my boys of variegated. i'm getting all that i wanted ... quality chill time with friends, excellent food, SNOW, and i saw a bald eagle my first morning. stuart made a snow angel too ... but, those pictures will come later.

rhymes with 'tofu' ...

.... boku ! 3 balls of boku, with a respectable bit leftover.


i was surprised to find that i had the pattern in my knitters magazine archives. i use to subscribe back in the day ... when the magazine was worth its cover price.

so, now i can say "i've made one". i may not ever make another one though ... i don't get into miles and miles of garter stitch. i am very pleased with the finished sweater, nevertheless.

i would like to knit more zimmermann stuff sometime. and i really enjoy her writing style. i still think my favorite of her books is _knitter's almanac_ ... such a great read and tons of patterns!

i got a gift certificate to amazon for christmas. it took awhile, but i finally settled on a few books (and a dvd) ....


... if there were only more hours in a day ....

some very basic knitting ....

sometimes, i just don't want to think that much about my projects, so i tend to have at least one plain stockinette stitch sock on the needles. but, in hopes of not creating more orphans, i also knitted both at the same time, on separate sets of dpns.


since i finished those yesterday, i needed another plain socken project ... so i cast on with this yarn ....


so far, i only have part of a leg of the first sock. i haven't cast on for the mate yet, but will before the heel of this sock.

specs:

finished socks ... regia tweed col. 54, 64 sts, 2.25 mm dpns.

fresh socks ... regia 'arctic color' col. 4114, 64 sts, 2.25 mm dpns.

happy birthday stuart !

the wee pixie celebrated by spending an entire day in a yarn store, and chowed down on crocheted cake ....

a knitter's conundrum

in an attempt to avoid adding another orphan to the pile, i have been slowly plugging away at this lovely pair of sockens ....


... a pair that will see lots of action. a very practical pair. a pair that will last for many many years. but, i'm kinda bored.

as an active member of ravelry and their sock knitters anonymous group, i am constantly stimulated by the plethora of socks on that site!

each day, i think, 'oh ! i want to knit those !'

and i can, and i could, if i just cast on.

but ... i have this wee stash of incomplete pairs ....


it's hard to believe that if i just finished these, i'd have an extra 14 pairs of socks to wear!

so, here lies the problem ... i don't like doing the same thing twice. i had a conversation the other day with chak-a-khan. she can make the same thing twice. she can make the same thing more than twice. me? not so much. but, it was an interesting revelation, that probably seems obvious to everyone but me.

the resolution? perhaps the mates don't have to match. i mean, yes, i use the same yarn, but not necessarily the same pattern. maybe. i don't know. i mean, it seems kinda an injustice to not knit a proper pair of pomatomus, or to not have such striking yarntini jaywalkers. i feel confident in making the matching green marigolds ... but probably because i don't normally knit toe up.

knitting theory: so, if i knit a mate, once a month, i will have all my pairs by next spring.

project spectrum 2008

i almost forgot! it's that time of year, again ....

*blip* of the day

last night was actually cold enough for me to wear my hat! oh, it's so soft and *perfect* !

and yesterday evening was the *perfect* time to cast on for some new socks !




i actually watched the superbowl. and i actually enjoyed it ... especially the last half of the 4th.

i was in need of a mindless project. i had packed my bag with some mindless yarn ... the regia tweed. good old stockinette to the rescue ....

see that list? remember my sink yesterday? ... well, it's still on the list. so, i cast on and knitted the leg of a tweed sock yesterday. and then, i was thinking, how it might be a good idea to go ahead and cast on the mate. so, i needed another pair of the susan bates 2.25mm needles. did i look in my needle case for the needles? nope. i had two 40% off coupons for miguel's and acmo. i also had some other *things* on the list ... ie: more brown embroidery floss for crocheting my raglan pullover together. so, off i went.

i got the needles. i got the embroidery floss. i got a wee crochet book. next stop, laundromat. that's where i cast on for the mate ! i am still on the ribbing ... but i am knitting a mate. now. no orphans.

productive procrastination?

this is my sink of dirty dishes.


this is the hat i knitted instead of washing my dishes ....

specs:
'amanda' hat, free download here.
53 gr. of malabrigo in 'natural'.
size 9 denise needles.