HAD to knit up the "Bird of Paradise" colorway by Lisa Souza! HAD TO... 

Herdera socks are coming along! 

LOOK! I spun this! And I PLIED the stuff on the right! (Blue Moon Fiber Arts, folks! "Jilly" colorway...) 

Doll Making fun!

I saw one of these on a blog and wanted one, too! How FUN! Try it out (click on my doll and it will bring you to the site!):

So I just think I'm too smart!

I am merrily knitting away on my Cedar Creek socks and have finally decreased all gussett stitches to 60! I get the inspiration to try the sock on and realize I AGAIN made a horrible mistake! I kept knitting with the smaller needles and the resulting gussett was WAY TOO SMALL to fit my PUDGY foot through! If nothing else, a more than humbling (and shall I add HUMILIATING! or HEART-WRETCHING?!) act! I made my co-worker observe as I sat before him, illustrating what 'frogging' means in knitting terms...He gives a shit-really-he does...(well, probably not, but he knew it made me feel better to have a witness!)

I decided that I had to frog immediately or this sock may sit unfinished for years! JUST DO IT!!! I really don't know if I'm motivated to go on...I think I may just work on my Hedera's that I just started using my Claudia Handpainted...


Frogging is such sweet sorrow...note--the smaller ball in the middle is the amount I had to frog! Probably 1/2 of the progress I'd made! (And as a fellow STR Club member noted...it looks an aweful lot like Ramen! 

And the Stash goes on...

I had read of Fleece Artist Merino and inquired about it on one of my lists. One response said that if she could only have two yarns in her stash, it would be Socks that Rock and Fleece Artist Merino. That's all I needed (was ONE ringing endorsement) and I was on-line ordering a skein! Of course, to make the shipping worthwhile and all...(FREE with $50. purchase!) I HAD to get the Lily Chin pattern that was on sale and try some of her Gramercy (also on sale...)


New Arrivals! Lily Chin GRAMERCY yarn, a pattern and some Fleece Artist hand-dyed merino in 'Vintage' 

The gramercy looks and feels awesome! MAYBE even better than Zara or Cool Wool! (BTW, I have used the Cool Wool Print and must say that the socks are GORGEOUS and wash up well...)

And for your further enjoyement (in case you were curious...) Fleece Artist Vintage--all stretched out so you can see the colors!


Vintage, all stretched out! 

Waste not, want not!

YEAH!!! Waste not...(don't throw out all that leftover egg dye!) Want not...I now have a new skein of 'hand-dyed' yarn!

A little inspiration from someone else's blog where the author was experimenting with dying yarn...I figured-what the heck? I tried the Kool-Aid dying once and thought why not toss some yarn into the egg dye? (Actually, I didn't have egg dye and just used food coloring which really wasn't used in as much concentration as I would have liked...But what the heck? It worked-just not as intense as I'd like, but I think I'm a step away from breaking out some of my REAL dyes--Ritz, Gaywool, Procion...All unopened!



Leftover egg dyes can't go to waste! 


Tuh-duh! Easter Eggs colorway! 


Easter Eggs-all wound up! 

Braggin' on my kid!

Ok, so I have to share this because that's what being a mom is all about! This past Christmas, my son completely grasped the concept of Santa Clause He-who-brings-what-you-ask-for. When he discovered that Santa had brought him a few "Thomas and Friends" trains that he had wanted, he exclaimed, "It worked!" (referring to the fact that Santa just KNEW that he had wanted these characters and there they were...)

So the other night he decides to write a letter to the Easter Bunny. In this letter he says, "Dear Easter Bunny, Please bring (mommy) some rainbow yarn..." and the proceeds to state a couple of items he, himself would also like. Even at 5 years old, these kids just KNOW what will please us, don't they?! And he's the one who tells me "You have ENOUGH yarn!" when with me at the yarn shop shopping...

I sure wish I were a more focused knitter like these other bloggers who post their project and zoom through them full steam ahead. But alas, I am not. But I am proud to report that the Seduction Retro Rib socks are now half-done; that is, I now have ONE completed sock! Frogged back the toe decreases at least three times to adjust for the length and once for adjust for my lack of attention resulting in uneven decreases!

I have also almost finished a furry baby jacket. The "You may NOW Celebrate the Holidays!" set was so cute that I had to do something similar, but I decided to add a hood instead of making a separate matching cap. Now to knit up the hood!

I still plug along on my STR Cedar Creek socks and the River Rapids, which is now decreased through the gussett and onto the foot lenght (for the first sock...) But can you believe-?! I'm casting on for the new HEDERA socks, pattern of which is published in the just-released Knitty I'm thinking of using the lovely Claudia Handpainted yarn I got at Stitches West the other month. I'm swatching to see if I like the fabric knit at 8 stitches per inch, which is what the pattern calls for...

We'll see...

Look what I found? A pic of my collar! Couldn't resist the Malizia but it was pricey, so I had to figure out a project that I could use just the one ball on. 

And back to The Sweater...The front is complete! 

Yes, me and 300+ otheres are working on this same pattern, same colorway...The Rockin'Sock Club's first kit: Cedar Creek Socks pattern with Rainforest Jasper yarn... 

And here, the little red jacket pic... 

This mass of yarn should end up looking like the little red jacket pic 

River Rapids-Sockbug's pattern... 


Close-up of patterning 

So here are the River Rapids--if you haven't gone to the site, Sockbughas a bunch of REALLY GREAT sock patterns posted there for free! I love it! SOCK PATTERNS, FREE, COOL-LOOKING...what more could you want? Well...MORE, but that's greedy, and I'm happy for all that is already there! Plus, I have a feeling she just keeps on adding to them!

These are my first time using the Lane Cervinia Calzetteria; a bit rough feel, but I am confident it will soften when washed! I hope so, since I am planning these for a friend and want to make her a knitted sock snob!

In case anyone cares, the Little Lola's are DONE! YES! And they look just like the earlier picture, only with the toes completed.

I'm so excited about the upcoming TKGA/COGA Regional Meeting coming up in April! I finally decided on which course to take and just need to register. Hopefully I get in! I just finished my sweater design class (the precursor to The Sweater)from Barbara Paley, and she highly recommended Barry Klein (of Trendsetter Yarns). So--I'm taking his Fabulous Finishing class! I can hardly wait!

Plugging away on 'The Sweater'

Making progress...notice the SHORT ROW SHAPING? I'm quite proud of that! 

Well, the front is coming along. What can I say? I like to work on TOO MANY projects at once, so I've been working on socks inbetween. Socks that Rock can be SO distracting!

Actually, I also have some River Rapids (a Sockbug pattern) on the needles...will post a pic!

And one more! 

In the Flesh!

And here is the baby who got the red sweater set! I just love seeing the items actually MODELED! 

In December, I had posted a pic of my "You may NOW Celebrate the Holidays!" sweater set. I am happy to be able to show it modeled by its recipient who was born right before Thanksgiving!

The Book MeMe

Well I just got tagged by Sylvia, so I figured-what the heck! I'm sure this won't be very interesting, but for the insight into how the non-literary live! DO they read? WHAT do they read? My reading time is limited (I use my free time to do more handwork than reading and I haven't tried reading and knitting at the same time! What reading I do is mostly magazines and how-to books with occasional whimsical reads--totally random and who knows why I pick up the book!...Seems that most bloggers are quite the writers-must be the attraction of writing that brings one to blogging. My quest to track my projects and blab was the attraction for me...So here goes:

[1] Name five of your [many] favorite books. Sad, but true, I have none. None that I could REALLY label MY FAVORITES in a very excited way, though I did enjoy Little Women the first time I read it as a kid. It must have been well-written if I could read that as well as Jo's Boys and get through both THICK (for me, and for a kid!) volumes! I love the Harry Potter series and my favorite book when I was even younger than the "Little Women" admirer was The Dancing Princesses (or was it 12 Dancing Princesses?). Anyways, I always loved fairy tales! I have enjoyed all of the Harry Potter books and enjoyed The YaYa Sisterhood.

[2] What was the last book you bought?
Sweater Design by Newton. I can't remember her first name...Deborah? Anyways, just thumbing through it right now and reading in scattered bits and pieces. I just can't read what is to be a 'reference book' cover to cover. It must be approached as more of an encyclopedia, exploring each topic as the need or interest arises.

[3] What was the last book you read?
Cover to cover-wise, probably the last Harry Potter Book (The Half-Blood Prince).Oh, wait--it was "The Chinese in America" by Iris Chang. And, of course, the last book I picked up to read a bit of was the Sweater Design book.

[4] List five books or authors that have been particularly meaningful to you (in no particular order).
I learned of George Anderson, a psychic in the East Coast via this series of books. Unfortunately, the author's name escapes me, but he didn't actually WRITE it anyway (IMO), he just threw a bunch of his radio transcripts with George's readings in and some other lady did the actual writing. George Anderson came out with his own book or two later. BTW, the name has re-appeared in my mind-JOEL MARTIN--he wrote the books, "We Don't Die", "We are Not Alone" and I think the third is "Messages from the other Side"--all with mostly transcripts of George Anderson's readings. I've read George Anderson's book, too. As a kid, I thoroughly enjoyed 'Noisy Nora'-somehow I related to her. OK, the big and only meaningful author-Theodore Giesel--yes, DR. SEUSS who didn't have much of an affinity for kids. Who can help but Green Eggs and Ham, Red Fish, Blue Fish, The Cat in the Hat? Oh-and reading William Shakespeare gave me an appreciation for getting through old English and enjoying it!

[5] Name some books you’ve been dying to read but just haven’t yet.
"Getting Things Done"--didn't the author REALIZE the audience he was addressing?! If we could get through his book, we wouldn't NEED to read it!

[6] Tag people. I'll have to direct them over here! Ms. Dana-Girl!-you're tagged! NuNu's--you, too!

What are these?! Yarn weights, perhaps? 

I'm salivating! Less than an inch to go on one, then I can working the toe decreases on both! They are so close to being done, I can feel them on my feet! 

And these, I really don't know... 

Blue Moon Fiber Arts DOES make other yarn...

And I DID have to buy some to try! This is the "Seduction" yarn by Blue Moon, which is a merino/tencel blend. Like the sheen? I'm using the Interweave Knits "Retro-Rib" pattern by Evelyn Clark which was published in their Winter 2004 issue.


Blue Moon Fiber Arts also makes a yarn called 'Seduction'. I'm knitting it using the Interweave Retro Ribs pattern. 

I DID buy things OTHER than STR at Stitches West!

But not too much else! I had to add to my drop spindle 'collection'! Isn't it gorgeous? (See-I want to "name" her, since I almost wrote "her" instead of "it"!) Also got some Moving Mud buttons for a side to side cardigan I started. Thought I'd splurge? Can't resist MOVING MUD!


More Stitches West purchases! A new drop spindle and MOVING MUD buttons! 

Gorgeous pattern!

THE latest Jeanie Townsend sock pattern! I just happened to get a skein of that same colorway around that same time, too! (I guess we must've been in on the SAME sale...)


"Spring Twists" pattern by Jeanie Townsend using her recommended "Spring Fling" colorway of Socks that Rock! 

STITCHES WEST HAUL!!!

Following pics show my latest yarn haul! I was so looking forward to attacking the Blue Moon Fiber Arts booth for some Socks that Rock yarn. They were out of the fingering weight and only had med and heavy weight, but it probably was for the best--one LESS thing for me to decide! I even found a skein called 'Seduction', which is a merino/tencel and stitches up as a fingering weight. Too fun!

I got a new drop spindel and will have to post pics of my new lovely. I'm not the kind of person who likes to name inanimate objects, but I would actually consider naming this one!

I've been staying up late SINCE Stitches West, which I attended on Friday! You know-doing the usual: pouring through books and patterns and swatching... It's just crazy! As if the sweater design class wasn't enough to inspire and motivate this behavior, add to it a trip to SW! Speaking of which, my last class was last night. I stayed up swatching a short-rowing sample to make sure I understand how to do the shaping for a TOP (vs. socks)... A VERY GOOD IDEA, since I realized that since I'm not doing a sock heel or following pre-set directions, I ended up wraping the purl row the wrong way. It will work but will look quite crappy. Also, you pick up all the wrapped stitches as you knit back across your work, whereas with a heel turn, you go back and forth, picking up one per side as you go...Talk about crash course in short-rowing! Now to figure out if it really is best to start them only 3 or so stitches in from the sides vs. further in...I don't know...Time to turn to the experts!

And of course, had to use some sleep time towards a few more rows on my sweater and one of my socks I started!