"Lay's" socks, AKA "Cotty"

KnittingGolfer and I keep saying you can't knit just one pair of Cotty's and so, my nickname for them is "Lay's"! I cast on for my second Pigeon Roof Studios Cotty and quickly cast-on for a second pair, too!

I love the Sam 'n Ella colorway and decided Cotty would be a great knit for it, so I couldn't resist-I went ahead and cast-on, putting all UFO's further back in my mind!

Cotty's, v. 2.0

In my last post, I had included a picture of a new sweater I started for Solly, one of my many cousin's baby. I'm using the Baby Racer Sweater pattern by Marie Connolly. I'm using Knit Pick's Mainline cotton/wool yarn for the body in the Ink colorway.

After seeing Miss Babs Worsted in Van Gough over at WoolGirl's July 4 sale, I had to get it to use for the contrasting arm/neckband. So SassyMan was kind enough to go to the PO and get my package out of hock today! How could I resist a WoolGirl sale? I would have been in bigger trouble had someone not beat me to the 3 Wowza skeins of Miss Babs Worsted in Hemlock. Alas, it was not to be! But I did manage to get these...

Miss Babs worsted in Van Gough and Miss Babs Yummy Sport/Sock in Lilacs!

And speaking of WoolGirl, I resurrected this sock I started using Spunky Ecclectic sport yarn, also purchased from WoolGirl.

Slipped Stitch Delight pattern by Terry Ross, knit in the Spunky Ecclectic Sport sock yarn, Hummingbird colorway.

Yeah, the ADD continues. I have narrowed my focus to about 6-8 projects right now; hopefully I'll prioritize and plug through them! Vacation is in the near future and hopefully some good knitting time!

A New KAL begins...

And somehow I missed that this new KAL had started sign-ups! Time goes at a much different pace on Ravelry...The verdict is in and we are knitting Alice Yu's Shur'tagal pattern over at the Socks that Rawk Rav group. Sign-ups were hot and heavy, but I think I'm safe with the "Guppy" colorway pick I made. I checked through the posts as best I could and it looks like it is open. So 'Guppy' it is-and believe it or not, I'm not knitting them for me. These will be for my sister!

OH! You haven't seen my skein of Guppy?! My, I must not have posted those SW BMFA STR pics yet!

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!

Where to begin...?

My shameless stash? My shameless pile of UFOs?

Well, first let me send out a warm thank you to IrishGirlie! I decided it was my duty to enable her BMFA shopping spree-er, I mean help her destash, so I took a skein off her hands! It is a wonderful Yarn Botanika sock yarn in Evergreen and I have to admit that it looked pretty good along with the others in my Wall of Shame...

The one I acquired from her stash is the top right. I think it ties the other three skeins together beautifully! ;)
And look how well it blends with some of my other green sock yarns?

And here is the best treat: IrishGirlie included two other skeins from her stash dive at the BMFA destash sale!!! She sent one for me and one for Stilaholic Nartian and thought it would be more fun to let us 'duke it out'. Truth be told, Nartian and I are quite good at sharing and swapping out stash. I loved both, so I asked Nartian to do the favor of just picking one, cuz I just couldn't decide! Here is the one I got:

And, well...I didn't get a pic of the other! (for shame!) Nartian ought to have a pic up on her blog-it was a lightweight (what we guess to be) Raven-possibly the Pallos Athena or Rauen, since it was plummy brown black.

So...speaking of UFOs...I was looking through my pile of stuff trying to find my Cedar Creeks to finish, now that I have IrishGirlie doing a bit of pushing on that end towards seeing that project complete! I got sidetracked. Seriously sidetracked. The kind of sidetracked that is gloriously fun because all those feelings of inspiration came flooding back as I looked at the many results of impulsive-inspiration-on-needles. Then it was the feeling (but for a fleeting second) that gads-I truly do NOT need more yarn! Mind you, what you are about to see is not in any way ALL the projects on needles, but a sampling of what I found just looking through a couple of corners of the Wall of Shame and a few 'knitting bags'. Some you may recognize, some you may not...

First up, a few non-sock projects (yes, I do sometimes *start* non-sock projects...)

I think you are all familiar with the "My So-Called Scarf" pattern?...


And the Baby Surprise Sweater pattern? Here is my second one I got inspired to knit. The baby it is being knit for was born a few weeks ago, so I still have time to get it done...if I ever pick it up again any time soon!

Did you ever see this one? It's the Summer Braids Cardigan! Hmmmm...in the round...I think I need to knit to 17"; it is about to perhaps 8" at this time...

And let's not forget the non-knitting stuff like spinning...
Actually, this is a farce, because I actually only spun up a bit to get an idea what the final was going to look like. Haven't done much beyond that-but hey-this whole big ol' bag was on *sale* at Purlescence!

And are you ready for the socks-in-waiting...?

My first Baby Sky (Cat Bordhi) learner sock, once torn back due to a terrible oversight on my part!
Remember the two-at-the-same-time sock trick? I wasn't impressed. And smarty me decided to do two different colors, should they end up a tad different in size, so now I just have two unmatched socks anyways!

But wait-that's not all! Below, you will see a mere six different socks I started...I think I need to reward anyone who has made it this far through this post! A spontaneous contest, if you will! Prize-hmmm...obviously it would have to be sock yarn, since that is what I have tons of and can spare a skein of! (And since I was just having a discussion about my abundance of Fleece Artist, perhaps it shall be one of those...?) Name the yarn and sock pattern! The winner will be whoever gets them all correct (or the most correct). If there is a tie, I will draw names. Let's see...I will give 'til December 1, how's that sound? I think the majority can be figured out from this blog...so GO FOR IT!!!



I think I mentioned starting the Waterfall socks, right? Here is the first, only I had to stop so that I could start some felted slippers for a Secret Santa swap my quilt group is doing.

And to end with a positive note, I wouldn't be starting so much if it weren't for...

FINISHED OBJECTS!

Proof of the finished Lenores...(yeah, yeah...I know I already showed ya!)

Solstice Slip socks completed! (and pictured alone this time!)
And look-I redeemed myself and did complete a Baby Sky sock on the second go-round! Too fun!

And FINALLY...(guess this will be my PIF post, too, while I'm at it!)

I saw that Spin Bunny (Burried in Fiber) and I have a mutual friend at Ravelry. So while checking out the site, I came to her post: "Here's the blurb:
I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog."

Ta-duh! I am now making that promise to the first three who respond! Reminder-it can be any handmade gift, so I am already meowing out in that it may not necessarily be knitting, though most likely will be. It will all be a surprise! I will contact you if you (make sure you let me know how to reach you) and will want to know favorite colors, hobbies, and anything interesting about yourself. If you've gotten this far-thanks for reading!

If You Don't Have a Knitting Buddy, Get One!

Ah, yes...now we know why 'buddies' are important. They enable us, and us them. And sometimes, when we end up in need of another skein of hand-dyed yarn (that the dyer is challenged in being able to re-dye anything remotely similar in color to...) because we decided to make larger socks than planned...our KNITTING BUDDIES can bail us out cuz, by George-they bought that same damn yarn at the same time you did because you were both drawn to it at the same time! (Nothing like sharing, huh?) So then the skeins are the same dye lot, too, cuz they were from that same batch! Well, whadda ya know?! Stilaholic Nartian came through with the Sanguine Gryphon Traveller yarn in the (trying to be re-done colorway, "Mali")!!! Thanks so much, Nartian!!! Couldn't survive this knittng adventure without you!

Oh...and another happy-happy to share...my Horcrux pair is finished-in time for the new movie and new book releases!

And I missed YPF-even purchased some yarn yesterday on the way to BINGO (yes, my friend got a bunch of us together to celebrate her birthday and play Bingo!). So I'll have to get the pics loaded to share. Guess it'll have to wait for next YPF...