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!