One day, long ago...

There was a Sock Summit. The sock summit was a wonderful event filled with wonderful teachers, presentations, a competition to beat a World Record, yarn and other knitterly goodies--all related to SOCKS and SOCK KNITTING!

In attendance was the Ravelry gang which of course meant...a RAVELRY PARTY!!!

Yes, dear readers-THIS is the SS09 Ravelry Party update-months late! Don't worry, it'll be mostly pictures.

For that evening, a crew of us got to be "Team Rav"!

Me, Linda, Christine and Sarah of the Magic Loop fame

"We" hung banners...(Actually, the taller of the 'we' hung banners!  That would be Samro of KnitQuest)

 
Helped set up the PRIZE table!




And there were clever Rav fabric banners decorating the area...


  Jess and MaryHeather consulting on the game plan of the evening...

The party is starting up!-Purls Just Wanna Have Fun (Marisol), Deb, Linda, Susan, Alice and (name I can't remember but she's...) the Shaefer Yarn Rep

 

  Casey had brought quite a selection of brews.  An interesting fact:  you must have food at events involving liquor, so once you run out of food, the bar is closed down...We hoped the food would hold out!

 We guarded and distributed the Ravelry "Goodie Bags"...





HizKnits and HizGuy were there with Superstar Janie Sparkles (AK(in my mind)A: NOTBob!)  Yes, people, Bob IS a Boston Terrier (and I think, male...)  Janie Sparkles IS a French Bulldog (and I believe female...).  A bit of a difference, yet it was amazing how many times I would hear voices yelling, "IS THAT BOB?!" And not in a voice of disbelief that it coul d be him but more out of excitement that he should be present at the event!  And let's remember that this is a picture from far away...these people were exclaiming this as they stood in front of Janie AND this big Bob banner!
 
Purlescence Yarn presented with Mini Purl-Girl and Purl-Guy!   The Purl Girls were at another event.

And there was a drawing!  Lots of beautiful items from Lantern Moon, Buffalo Gold, Namaste and MORE...
Funny thing is that a LOT (and I'm talking a disproportionate number considering how many male knitters there are to female...) of men won!  Again, surprising only when you look at the statistics and I have no problem with more men winning.  But I do take exception to the one Vendor Dude who won some of that gorgeous Buffalo Gold-I suspect he is a non-Knitter; especially by the way he mockingly feined overenthusiasm and screachiness in running up to claim his prize.  I only hope that he knew a Knitter who understands the value of that fluffy gold carefully resting in the lovely box he was clutching.  Mock us NOT, non-knitting Vendor-Man!  We are your bread and butter!

And what was in this said goodie bag we all got?
A skein of Vintage Wood from Berocco, a pattern, reusable Namaste bag, silk-covered notepad, a pattern and other literature.  And, of course, the cute muslin bag!

And...bringing you up to date on current WIPs:

  Juliet is started and I am now into the lace portion!

Progress was temporarily interrupted this weekend by a quick hat for an ill cousin:

I like how my somewhat random striping pattern came out...and the top, though stitches are a bit uneven, turned out cool!

 Boy Hat pattern from Crystal Palace Merino 5 and other yarn, label of which has been misplaced!

And in my typical non-focused way, I started one of these gift sacks with the remaining Kureyon from my Clapotis...but I put it aside to focus on Juliet and the hat...

 

This is the sack pattern from this year's Interweave Knits Holiday Knitting edition

And this evening...back to Juliet!

 

 I'm hoping this will be completed by the end of this month!  If I continue my focus, it can easily happen.  Sixteen days to go...maybe I'll even get it done in time for Thanksgiving!

Another project to add to the Christmas knitting!

Here's a cowl I made for my cousin's daughter:


Yeah, too big. Wide and squatty.

I mean, it wouldn't be bad if it were kinda folded in an elegant way and secured or otherwise clasped with a stick pin. But it's for an 18 yo. I really think she would not be into that look. I was really going for the snugger fitting cowl-look for her.

So I cast on a new one and hope I get it done on time. I have a boy's hat to knit, too, but somehow I think I can get away with the promise of one and knit it later.

And I did it again! I forgot that our WoolGirl sock club (final shipment-boo hoo!!!) was sent out! Oh...lemme do a spoiler warning, in case someone might care...



SPOILER ALERT!!!...

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(I'm so proud I thought to do that! But then again, if you've been reading my blog for any amount of time, you know how I feel about spoilers...the more the merrier!)



Here it is-the final kit!

HazelKnits yarn in "Whispering Pine" colorway, "Pine Cone" pattern,
calendar, a case of awesome"Specially Made by" tags,
a cute, cute leaf stitch marker
...oh-and chocolate!

I love this leaf marker so much that I wanted to take a pic up-close...blurry and I was too lazy to back off for a clearer pic and crop. Oh well. Sue me!


So guess what I was compelled to make yesterday? Homemade eggnog!!! It came out a bit custardy taste-wise, but I think it just lacked that imitation rum flavor that is usually in the stuff I get. So later in the day, I added some rum to prove my theory. It was right.

I so heart eggnog! I forget that my bud, Purple Rain Knitter stalks my blog. And now that I'm on Facebook, she stalks me there! So she gives me an eggnog scone last week! DE-LISH! LOVE! I had forgotten that she actually does see some of the crazy things I 'say' out here in cyberland!

OH...And another item added to my 'to do' list? Knit or crochet a pink and white cake!

IrishGirlieKnits pointed me in the direction of the "Bring Back the Cake" group over at Ravelry. So I now have a Winter Break cause to work on, now that elections are over, there are no outstanding PTA or PPS (Parents for Public Schools)-though everyone's goal this year is 'Closing the Achievment Gap"..., etc...

So I had NO IDEA the cake was gone! How long had it gone missing, I don't know...Apparently a 'bug' in the system, but Casey is our Ravelry God, and all things point to Casey!

Background:

For those of you non-Ravers (or maybe those who just plain weren't aware!), programmer/owner Casey (over at Ravelry, the Knitting and Crochet On-line Mecca) had programmed in these wonderful little icons that would pop up whenever a specific order of letters were posted. The first one I became aware of, and certainly quite the icon of icons (well, except that Killer Rabbit had me going for a bit...) was the cake. "Cake" is quite a cool word since it can also apply to yarn, not just food!

I LOVED that cake! I went crazy over finding out about that cake! Then I learned there were many more icons that would magically appear when the correct letters were put together: wedding cake, pinot noir, tea, hot chocolate, gingerbread, candy cane, hot dog, hamburger... Well, apparently the cake is gone and we can no longer phathom up that piece of cake! I;m so sad and so are many others. Enough so, that the Rav group aforementioned was created.

Thank you, IrishGirlieKnits for knowing I needed this support group!

And here is my current Ravatar:
Let's all hope that the cake returns because..."It's no party...without CAKE!!!"

So what of this new project added on? Glad you asked! I will be participating in the cake KAL/CAL and make a piece of cake to send to Casey! There is a "Let them Knit Cake" pattern and a "Birthday Cake" crocheted pattern to use. Not sure which I'll do. But definitely not til after Christmas...

What? No Yarn?!

And yet, still KNITTING-RELATED!

Yes, I coudn't resist getting a new Rav t-shirt and today it came in the mail-as did my Camp Crow's Feet Special Edition hoodie! The hoodie is a bit big-I didn't dare get M and the XL was definitely too big. In the long-run, this L probably is a correct size since I have girth, Baby, and I may have been experiencing negative ease with a medium-especially with bulkier clothing underneath. Sucks to be short and squat!

As for the Rav shirt, I got a Large unisex. The sizing is a wee bit snug, which wouldn't be bad if the neckline were a tad lower and the sleeves a bit shorter. I am seriously considering cutting the neckline and maybe doing some fun embroidery on it, as well as the sleeves. We'll see, cuz I don't otherwise envision myself wearing it.

I am happy to report that my Ribby Pulli scoop is coming along. I have bound off at the armholes and need to being working the sleeves. So-what length should I go with? I'm thinking a tad shorter than the sample shown here, but not too short. Maybe about and inch or two above my elbows.



And Nell (fellow Bay-Area blogger and new nursing graduate!-congratulations, btw!) convinced me that yes, a matching hat is in order for the Shakti baby sweater. I opted to puff it out a bit after the band. Nartian agreed it was a cute option. We shall see how this comes along...
This is the base of the hat after a series of increases. I'm now going to knit it straight and then pull the top in.

And on the sock-knittng front, am I working on my Monkey Kaw Kaw? Well, er...it's coming along...but I, uh...cast on this Terry Ross "Slip Stitch Delight" sock pattern...
I found the pattern at Ravelry (for free!) and noticed she designs alot of her socks using Socks That Rock! This one calls for STR medium weight but, alas, this is not STR! This is the Spunky Ecclectic Super Sport I got on a whim when I decided I needed "Union color" socks! Truth be told, my union is a bit sucky these days, so this may just be my Fraternity socks since my business fraternity colors are "Old Gold" and "Royal Purple".

And then there's this sock I've been hiding from all of you...
It's the "first sock" and who knows when it will be completed or have a mate! This is Jeanie Townsend's "Lilac" pattern knit in Claudia Handpainted, "Eat Your Veggies" colorway. A person over at one of my Rav boards (The Solidarity League of Creative Women Distracted by Ooooh Shiny...) posted this, "do you ever feel guilty about starting a new project…so guilty that you don’t post it on ravelry until you are almost done with it…or at least halfway done with it?."-HA! I know about that!

And the real clincher? I cast on another shawl! This one is the Forest Canopy Shawl pattern I purchased a while back. It calls for 350 yards-much more than the 250 yards of Dream in Color Classy that I had thought I might use for it. So I dug around and found the STR Heavyweight that IrishGirlie had convinced me to purchase at Purlescence. It is the Raven colorway "Tlingit".
Much like my Malabrigo Chunky idea, I figured-350 yards? I can do that!