More sighs for the socks

Exhibit A: Socks from hell

Okay, this weekend was full of great sadness and many sighs over my sockapalooza socks. I got to my cabin Friday night dead set on finishing sock #1 and being well on my way through sock two by the end of the weekend. I get to the cabin late Friday so there's only minor knitting. Saturday I sit down and the sock is about 1/2 of the way through the instep. So like any consciencious knitter I try on the sock. Well... once it's on my foot it fits like an absolute glove. However, this involved major struggling to get it on and even worse struggling to get it off. And my pals feet are a bit wider than mine. Clearly that wouldn't do.

So being the good little sock knitter that I am I did the only right thing. I had a moment to myself and then ripped the whole thing back. Hours of work gone in a matter of seconds. I then immediately cast on again for the larger size. Undaunted I knit furiously. Sunday evening I am at about a third of the way through the instep. I try on the sock. The socks are not a single bit bigger. I can clearly tell they used more wool because of where the "fresh" yarn started but they are a fight on. The only difference I see is a slight bagging at the top of the heel flap from its extra length.

After all the trouble I went through to find this yarn I know that it won't survive another ripping. So I'm left with no choice but to abandon them as sockapalooza socks. While they aren't my colours, I do think they're knitting up gorgeously so they probably will end up in my collection.

So what to do now? Well, the plan for the ominous sky yarn (from the last entry) was to send it with the package to my pal so instead it's becoming her socks. I've done some swatching and picked an entirely new pattern from "More Sensational Knitted Socks". I am however waiting until the start of the summer of socks to cast them on. And everyone, if you could please cross your fingers for me? Perhaps I should make a sacrifice to the knitting gods... just in case.

Exhibit B: Hopefully not yarn from hell

Yarn porn

I've been meaning to get posting for several days now but I've been feeling a bit like doing nothing in the evening lately. I've not been particularly inspired. Perhaps because I had people in from out of town the other week and I was going out almost every night (which I never do) and things were exciting and there was lots of people to spend time with. And now that's mostly died off, though I do have one last night out tonight before my last friend heads back home. So I should post before it hits even harder.

Since my last post I have acquired a considerable amount of yarn. My LYS was having a 50% off sell and it's possible that I might have bought a totally obscene amount of baby yarn to make the second baby blanket and a hooded jacket. But this is mere speculation so no need to show it until it's being knitted (and there is such a photo to follow).

Then, if that wasn't enough I got a second order from the Loopy Ewe all in preparation for the Summer of Socks KAL which I'm very pumped for. And the best part was that the yarn was shipped in an envelope so the customs people didn't charge me. Ha! Take that Canadian government, I so swindled you out of $20 :) Here's the haul:

From left to right we have:
-sKNITches Bebop Sock variegated sock yarn in "Showgirl", 440 yds 75% superwash wool, 25% nylon
-Gypsy Knits BFL Superwash Fingering Wool in "Sweet dreams", 330 yds
-Stond Barn Fibres in "Ominous Skies" 200 yds/hank, 100% merino wool
-All Things Heather in "Bubblegum", 360yds superwash merino
-Claudia Handpaint in "Carousel", 180 yds/hank, 100% merino


Like I'm sure I mentioned, I'm trying to just try as many different dyers as possible to see what I like and find out what's all out there (though Claudia Hand paint is in a huge lead at the moment). I can't wait to knit it all up. Except the Ominous skies which is going to someone else as a present.


In the world of actual knitting content, I finished my monkey socks for my friend's birthday and must now get ready to mail it off. I'm very happy with how they turned out and wish I could keep them for myself :(

It was knitted on size 2 dpn in the Claudia Hand Paint "Jill's Pink" colourway. I hope she loves them! I've also passed the gusset on my Sockapalooza Pal's socks but unfortunately I stupidly left the bag it's in at home so that'll have to wait for next update for pictures. But I assure you the sock looks just spiffy!

And then, we have the start of baby blanket #2. It's being knitted in Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino in the "Cable Blanket" patten from the Debbie Bliss book "Simply Baby". I decided to knit both at the same time so that I could alternate as my attention wanes from one. And the best part of this pattern is that it's extremely simple to memorize so unlike the other one I don't need a pattern constantly by my side and can knit it in other places. Here it is:

Aww... baby blanket. Seriously, baby's get all the cool knitted stuff!

I believe that's all there's been from me. My goal is to finish the first Sockapalooza sock by then end of next week and get a good chunk of the blue baby blanket done this weekend. Hope the plan turns out. Happy Wednesday all!

We have scarf-age!

After much anticipation, the day I've been waiting for all of May finally arrived, my ISE4 scarf arrived from the wonderful Melissa (stickchick)!!! Saturday morning I was half asleep and in pyjamas when the buzzer rang. I was totally perplexed. It was the mailman with my package. On a Saturday... Maybe Canada post is starting to feel guilty about hating me so much? *shrugs*

But, needless to say, I quickly ripped through all the tape. But I was good and left the scarf for last, looking at all the other very generous goodies my pal sent me. Minus the scarf, this is what I opened first:

(The chocolate was eaten by the time I got the camera out, that would just be the wrapper!). She really picked out excellent choices for me (my family could take a lesson from her). I've been interested in making some dishclothes and completely curious about this Peaches & Creme yarn everyone tells me about and now I have the yarn and patterns. Some excellent knitting mojo there :) And I'm also a huge stationary and hand letter writing fan so that was very special for me too.

Then came... the scarf! My pal made me a wide scarf/wrap out of some amazingly soft baby alpaca yarn. She said that her original plans were much different but she was inspired by my kittyville hat pictures to change plans. And in crazy cosmic timing, it just so happened that I was going to a fancy banquet that evening for the Canadian Mathematics Society meeting and the wrap went perfectly with my dress. (And it turned out that I really needed it because the venue was freezing!) My friend Val ever so delightfully obliged to take a picture of me fancied up with the scarf:

I absolutely love it! Thank you oh so much Melissa! I'm not entirely sure on the pattern though(care to help me out here pal?).

In the sock department I've decided to try my very first toe up sock using Wendy's general toe-up pattern. I've only gotten a few rows past the toe as most of my knitting time tonight was spent winding the yarn. Ducky, my Spanish duck, ever so graciously modeled it for me

And the other socks continue. This afternoon I was attending the university's science/education convocation. Sitting by myself, for three hours, in a ceremony where I was really only there for about 5 minutes of it, I wasn't about to sit without some socks, so my Monkey socks kept me company. Afterwards I was talking to one of the professors in attendance (they were on the floor with the graduates, I was up in risers with hundreds of family/friends) at the reception. And apparently, they not only spotted me in all that audience but were able to identify that I was knitting. And, as they seem to take my knitting as being another indication of my strangeness (in the more endearing, not crazy nut job way, I don't take offense) I think that I will be reminded of this fact...often. So, now that it's an infamous sock, here's what it looked like after the ceremony:

It's now well on its way to being done by the end of next week to ship off to one of the best friends a girl could ask for, for her birthday. I think it's been a good knitting weekend :)

Back to the blanket

Another week and where exactly has the month of May gone to? I have absolutely no idea because I can't see any way that I've actually been at my job for nearly four weeks now. The summer research is by far the best job I have ever had and it's such a pleasure to go in to work every single day. That ofcourse leaves me inspired for lots of knitting time in the evening!

After the massive amounts of guilt I've been feeling about the baby blanket, this weekend I bought the first two seasons of Grey's Anatomy and spent most of the weekend just knitting the blanket and watching Greys. It took me until last night to finish it. And I couldn't stop. I didn't want to stop until I knew that Meredith got back together with Dr McDreamy. I have to stop falling for series where the heroine is constantly getting screwed over by love because I was crying way more than should be normal for a tv series. But I was ever so impressed when for two episodes they should the main characters knitting. Izzie even gave her boyfriend a hand knit sweater, then he died. Really puts a new spin on the "never knit your boyfriend a sweater" legend doesn't it? So this is what the baby blanket currently looks like:

It's about 22 inches at the moment so just another 22 to go before I reach the 44 inch mark, hooray! This two baby blankets thing is looking more and more do-able.

After the massive amount of blanket knitting I took the last two nights off from it and mostly was picking at the second Monkey sock. I have about two weeks to finish them before the go and get mailed off for a birthday. Completely do-able!

And I may or may not have placed in another order at The Loopy Ewe. Shh! I caught the sneak up last week. It's really hard to explain to your ride why they have to hold on so that you can order yarn at 7:15 in the morning so that it's not all gone by the time everyone gets to the site. I got all different brands from what I ordered last time with the exception of another Claudia Hand Paint because I am absolutely in love with how it's knitting up on the Monkey's and because I saw a picture on the Sockapalooza Pligg of someone knitting with it in the Carousel colourway and knew that I needed it.

As I read through my regular knitting blogs and through the Pligg, I cannot believe the amount of people knitting Monkey socks at the moment. It seems like just about every second blog has someone knitting them or talking about imminently needing to knit them. The blog-o-sphere really has added a slightly crazy dynamic to the world of knitting by starting "crazes". The "popular" pattern of the day. I only hope that it doesn't have the same effect as it does on most commercial goods. It's a big fad and then it gets tossed and forgotten about real quickly. Some of the crazes are for really gorgeous patterns and it would be a shame for them to get tossed because of the internet created "novelty" to wear off... Just some thoughts.

And, in a bit of exciting news, I'm waiting rather impatiently for the post office to deliver my ISE4 scarf. I heard from my upstream pal last week who says it's on its way. That was a week ago so it could be here any time now. I just have to forget how much the post office seems to hate me and with any luck it might be here by the end of the week *knocks on wood*. I promise lots of pictures when it arrives!

Happy knitting :)

Socks socks and more socks

It's been about a week and a half since last posting, and just when I was getting good at this, oh well :P This has actually been a really productive week knitting wise for me and I set a personal record for sock finishing so I can't complain at all.

First and foremost, I finally settled on a pattern for my Sockapalooza4 Pal and have started knitting it up. After all the talk I've heard about them while pattern searching I decided to try my first pair of Jaywalkers by Grumperina. My pal specifically requested no lace so I think that this pattern satisfies that requirement perfectly and it seems to show off the yarn quite well so I am happy. I just wish slipping those two stiches over was a little easier on my bamboo needles... Here's what the sock looks like with the yarn attached:

I'm actually surprised at just how dominant the brown is. I didn't think the brown to other colour ratio would be so high before I wound it. But it's definitely on the brown side. The picture clearly doesn't capture this but what is so nice about the Fleece Artist is the gorgeous sheen to the yarn. It just seems to radiate so I'm very happy with it.

On the finishing socks fast front, with all the Monkey fever that's been going around, I decided to cast on with my new Claudia Handpaint in Jill's Pink. At first I was being selfish and wanting them for myself but after seeing the colour knit up, I know that they're destined to be sent to a dear dear friend of mine for her birthday next month. There really couldn't be a sock better suited to her. I'm just in love with the luscious softness of the yarn and can't wait to finish the second.

How could anyone not just fall in love with Monkey socks? How I do wish these could have been destined for me though *sigh*

And it seems that I somehow managed to not have a FO shot of the Hedera socks so here they are:

I am exceedingly happy with how they turned out. I was wearing them last week to university with a skirt. There was just no way I could hide them under pants all day. Though I must admit that I spent most of the day without the shoes on and was happily getting out of my shoes to show them to fellow knitters and fans of knitters in the math department. Who really needs shows anyways?

In the interests of full disclosure, the baby blanket hasn't been touched. This has now become exceedingly alarming as I just found out that a friend of mine from school is also having a baby in September so she'll absolutely need a baby blanket. Right... My cousin better not be having twins or I am seriously screwed. Perhaps all my built up sock karma will make the knitting Gods smile in my favour? Maybe?

Oh! On Sunday there were two new additions to my family. After the long anticipated death of my over 3.5 year (extremely!) old betta fish, two new goldfish joined the house. Pythagoras in tan and Hypatia in orange:

And just so that Mittens doesn't get jealous of the fish :) a pic of kitty in the knitting

Going Loopy

This past Thursday was a pretty amazing day here. Not only was it my 22nd birthday, and not only was it Whacking Day (a perfectly innocent link and holiday, no worries), but it was the day that I received my first order from The Loopy Ewe which must be nothing short of the most fabulous sock yarn store in the entire world. I just about died looking at all of the gorgeous yarn. And when it arrived, I had to be reminded that I had band and had to stop continually petting the yarn that came (fibre addiction anyone?). And everything wonderful anyone has heard about the owner Sheri is 100% true. She was great emailing me back and forth making special arrangements for my money order and answering all of my questions. The package came so quickly and it included a hand written note that she puts in every order. Here is what I got:

From left to right we have:
-Cherry Tree Hill in "Winterberry" 420 yds 100% superwash merino fingering weight
-Cherry Tree Hill in "Brights" 420 yds 100% superwash merino fingering weight
-Apple Laine in "Strawberry Jam" 2 190 yd skeins 50% wool, 20% mohair, 20% silk, 10% nylon

-Regia in a mystery colour (there may be a colour but I don't read ...German is it?) 210 m per ball, 75% new wool, 25% Polyamide
-Claudia Hand Painted Yards in Jill's Pink, 180 yds/skein, 100% merino wool
But I have to say what's the most exciting thing about this order. The Regia. Mostly because I did not order it. Sheri always includes goodies in the packages, and sometimes it's yarn. I got enough for a full pair of socks. How is that for customer service? So yes, I highly recommend that every one who has never visited goes and takes a look at her store from my link above or by the image on the sidebar of my blog. It is well worth the trip.
In my personal knitting, the shawl is a bit bigger, the baby blanket is... the exact same size. I have mostly been focusing on the 2nd Hedera sock to free up needles to try my new sock yarn. Here's the Hedera thus far:

Hopefully they'll be done soon and the needles will be all mine!
I'm still at a loss for a pattern for my Sockapalooza Pal that I'm knitting for. No lace...hmm... I guess that leaves me with a pretty cabled sock. Now to only find a nice cabled sock pattern... If any one has any suggestions, I'm all for them at the moment!
And, in a little piece of excitement for myself, I've been blogged! Tuesdays on the Sockapalooza Knittpligg you are supposed to write blog stories about others socks you've seen. My post about the Fleece Artist wool choice was written about on this blog (aren't I a geek!). And if anyone would like to see the package I sent my ISE4 pal, you can read Sharon's post on her blog. It's really bizarre to see my knitting on another person's blog across the world... I really don't think I ever knew what a huge and amazing world I was getting myself into when I was introduced to the world of knit blogging. One crazy rabbit hole indeed...

Sockapalooza4 Yarn

After this weekend's trip to the yarn store I also picked up the yarn for my pal. It's the Fleece Artist Sea Wool in the colour Seastorm. Since starting on my Hedera socks I've fall in love with this yarn and I can't see how my pal wouldn't either. And some experimenting in colours you wouldn't normally see chez Jenna so it will be a great adventure. Now if I could only settle on a pattern for the yarn...

It'll just take some more searching. But the yarn is very lovely and there has to be the perfect pattern out there somewhere!