NEW STUFF!

i LOVE new stuff! i don't mail order often (i had a yarn order stolen off my front porch!). this time though, i sent it to a friend's home. i had placed an order to knitpicks. one of their "40% off book sales" ended on the 22nd. of course, i placed my order that night (the sale had been on for more than a month). i would had bought more books, but some of the ones i want have not been released yet. instead, i padded my order with some yarn.


what am i going to knit with this? a shawl, of course ... but which one ?! ... i don't know. but when i do know, i'll post it here. this colorway was being discontinued (and now, it's gone !!!). i'm sure 1320 yards of lace weight will give me lots of options pattern-wise. the color is delicious!

and i ordered this:


this too may become a shawl. two balls can be enough, but for only $1.99 a ball, "insurance" comes cheap. and it's GREEN ! (my favorite color)

oh, and it was a book sale, so i got these as well ....


the one of the left is a book, and the one on the right is a box with individual patterns on cards. and, they're both by charlene schurch and beth parrot. so, together with my last bits in the box, i'm going to knit the cover socks of the book on the left with my last purchases from knitpicks (the needles and the ivy colored kettle-dyed socken yarn).


i also needed another pair of the kp circs for magicloop. i am so ready for march (and spring, in general)(i'm tired of being cold).

wow. i actually finished!

YAY! i finished my 'coin toss' socks in the wee hours this morning (i couldn't sleep, so i got up at 4:30 ... knitted and watched LOST). regarding LOST, i will always and forever be LOST with that program.

i LOVE these socks. i had them on briefly as i took my pictures, but i didn't leave them on as a i don't need to 'dirty' two pairs in one day, and i have a feeling that this yarn might be better off hand washed.

unlike the socks i was wearing, and put back on:


those are my "sigmund seaweed socks" which i finished last august. i did not enjoy the knitting process (toe up always stresses me out because i think the fit is gonna be a crap-shoot) ... but, i wear these socks a lot.

next entry ...

of course, now i'm thinking because i already won one medal, that i can medal again ! so, i cast on another pair of socks. now, if i don't finish these in time to qualify for ravelympic events, they will still count for my ska february cast on, as it's an underappreciated pattern (meaning, there are fewer than 15 projects on ravelry).

and how this can be underappreciated is beyond me ...




this pattern is called "coin toss" ... this one is not a freebie, but is worth the money, by the designer sara peterson (aka knottygnome).

it's just pretty. i put it in my queue a good while back, and don't remember where i first saw it, as there's only a few knitted versions of it.

i am using some yarn i ordered from the loopy ewe ... cherry tree hill's supersock select semi-solid, in colorway rosewood. for a semi-solid, it does have quite a wide gradiation, but it is all the same hue. and the yarn is delicious.

i cast on yesterday, and am now on the foot section (gusset complete!). i'd love to finish today, but i doubt that will happen as there are other things i need or want to do today.

my goal is to finish the pair by the end of the olympics. it could happen. might. might not. doesn't matter. i will finish these ....

i'm a ravelympic winner !

last saturday, i started my ravelympic knitting project ... a pair of socks called "green apple newton socks" by a fellow raveler that goes by the name stefanina. she's a fabulous designer, and her blogger profile says she's located in switzerland, and her blog is in french. anyhoo, she's pretty active on ravelry. she also offers many free sock patterns, and they're all gorgeous.

i picked this one for my knitting olympic challenge for team tufty (the ska ravelympic team).


i used kroy sock yarn, in a colorway called muslin. i used up almost every last bit too. kroy is a bit heavier than most fingering wt, thus is only 166 yds/50 grams. i'd almost swear it's sport wt. nevertheless, i knitted them on size 2.5mm needles with 60 sts, and got a very good fitting sock.

i did modify her pattern by switching it from toe up to cuff down. as much as i try to embrace the toe up, it's just not my preference. also, she uses a short row heel, again, not my preference, so i used a heelflap. to get the design to look the same, i simply flipped the chart upside down. tah-dah!

i'm wearing them now (today is one of my "dirty days" ... ie: i put them on yesterday to model them for the picture. well, they got dirty on the bottom from the dirty porch. so, i left them on. it's sunday afternoon now, and i'm still wearing them). we all have days/weekends like that, right?

oh, and it's valentines day too ....

and i knitted these season appropriate socks :) and i like them !

these are i heart toe-up socks by wendy johnson from her book, _socks from the toe up_. i used wendy's happy yarn. and i LOVE these socks. they, surprisingly, fit really well. i started the foot on a 2mm needle, and then switched to a 2.25mm needle just before the gusset increases. i feel like it's always a crapshoot trying to estimate the length before beginning the gusset. but, this time it worked without any ripping.

the only disappointment was that the yarn had 3 knots in it. that was a pain, because for every knot there are 2 ends to weave in.

but, all in all, the colors and pattern are perfect.

holy crap! it's a FABULOUS day !!!

happy birthday to my wee and loveable and very very favorite (anything) in the world, STUART!


today is the day. today is stuart's 3rd birthday.




happy birthday sweet socken creature, stuart .....

let the games begin !!!

the games have begun. i don't know about you, but i simply could not stay up late enough to see the torch lit and then cast on, so i cast on today.

my first, and possibly ONLY project for ravelympics, is going to be this pair of socks. i'm going to knit a pattern called green apple newton socks with some 'muslin' colored kroy sock yarn. it's essentially a gansey type pattern full of wonderful knit and purl stitches.



THE CAKE! let's not forget the cake up above. the cake was delicious. ms. amy made it yesterday in honor of the knitting olympics. it's carrot cake. with a cream cheese icing. and it was DELICIOUS. i went back for 2nds, but instead ended up with more lasagna on my plate. oops. i loved the cake, but it's the savory that always satisfies me most.

i needed a picture ...

i just can't post without a picture, so tonight, i give you my betta. my (nameless) betta is celebrating his first year with me. he's still nameless. i sort of named him when i thought he was going to die, but now he's just nameless again. though, this has nothing to do with knitting. i just needed a picture.

okay ... on with the knitting. i have FINISHED a pair of socks!!! i finished my heart socks. i finished them yesterday, but may not be able to take a proper daytime photo until the weekend, which is okay, as they're very appropriate for valentine's day.

they're not totally finished though, i do still need to weave in ends, etc ....

and, this weekend, or sometime tomorrow night, i get to cast on my knitting ravelympics project. well. i will, when i figure it out.

i have a few choices picked out. i'd like to knit kernel from knitty. it's a lace scarf. and i can do it with sock yarn. i've already printed the pattern, gathered the needles, and picked out the yarn (i'll wind it in the morning).

i'd also like to knit green apple newton. i can knit these for both my SKA group and ska team, but i've not yet figured out which yarn i would use. (playing scarlett o'hara again here, as i'll think about it tomorrow). it is a toe up pattern full of wonderful texture, and i would knit it cuff down (i just don't want anymore challenges right now).

my last consideration is to knit a basic pair of gloves with the instructions from ann budd's _the knitter's handy book of patterns_. i have some pretty self striping yarn that i could knit socks with, but i think they would make some interesting gloves.

and, as of right now, i don't know which project will be the one !