What I love about the Rockin' Sock Club...

My latest Socks that Rock Club Kit!!! 

You know, Blue Moon Fiber Arts is one awesome place! The Rockin' Sock Club is awesome not only because their sock yarn is wonderful, but...
LOOK WHAT THEY SENT?! I first joined for 1/3 year, and then upgraded to the full year. I STILL got the binder and extras! Hoorah for Blue Moon Fiber Arts! (Tina, Kaci and the rest, to be exact!) They could have easily not given me the extras, since I didn't initially sign up for the full year to begin with, but they took care of us late-comers!

So the treat of this shipment? Of course, the mini-skein and newsletter, but I also got a cute STR tatoo! I'll have to save it for the right occasion!

WOW! Long time, no post...

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I last posted. Well, I have been busy with the MIL in town and a nice side trip down to San Diego!

Since the last post, I made a felted bowl for a friend's birthday--no pic of the finished piece! I did get a pic of the 'before'. BUT...I did receive my THIRD Socks that Rock kit! The pattern is "Hippie Crunchy"...soon to post pics!

So much to share!

I have so much to share! I love quick and easy projects! I finished this baby set while I was home sick yesterday.


A baby set I made yesterday. 

And on Monday night, I got to meet Jo Sharp! (And buy more stuff...) She is such a lovely person and so talented! And she's thinking of moving to San Francisco! Wouldn't that be cool?! I am so motivated to knit up one of her patterns! I'm more timid about starting yet ANOTHER project (though somehow, socks are a totally different story...)


I got to see Jo Sharp at ImagiKnit on Monday night! 

My spinning endeavors!

OK, before I get myself in big-ass trouble, let me first say that the coffee sleeve idea is not mine! I got the idea at MagKnits from Mariko Fujinaka's "Java a Go-Go" pattern.

I didn't follow her pattern because I was just not into the gauging idea. However, the idea is too cute and I decided it would be a perfect project for my tiny bit of handspun yarn, so I made mine by taking advantage of the increasing gauge of differing stitches. (Ribbing, stockinette, seed...)

Here is what I did:


My Not-so-Clever coffee cup sleeve 

Using my homespun (close to worsted wt) and size 3 DPNs (approx 4.25 st/inch), I CO 36 stitches and joined in the round.

Rounds 1-5 (5 rows) (K1, P1)* all around

Rounds 6-11 (6 rows) Knit. (stockinette stitch)

Rounds 12-17 (6 rows) in seed (moss) stitch

Round 18 Knit 9, increase 1, Knit 18, increase 1, knit 9next row, increase 1 (38 sts)

Rounds 19-20 Knit.

Bind off and weave in ends.

It will look a tad bit small, but once you put it over your first cup, it will fit perfectly and block itself! I think that any larger (given the stretch of the ribbing) and it would stretch out too much.



A coffee cozy I made out of my handspun yarn!  

I just gave this baby the booties she has on--what a coincidence it matched her outfit today! (Notice the appliqued pink flower on her jeans?...) 

And now, the finished Rock and Weaves!!!

Off the needles and buttons on! 


Interesting how the orange pooled up in the same place! 

I'm so impressed that I stayed the course and got these done! Though I still haven't finished the Cedar Creeks, at least I got the Hederas and these Rock and Weaves done! I was trying to use buttons from my already burgeoning collection, so only did one button for each sock. Being limited on my button selection, I ended up using these greenish-olive ceramic buttons. They work. Probably look better than the pic shown here--almost look a bit like jade.

Forget that last picture!

Since posting the last pic of my Socks that Rock KAL "Rock and Weave"'s, I tried them on and realized they were a tad too big. Frogged both back to the cuff and again picked up the stitches.

By now, I guess I could really substitute in that past pic for the present, as the progress looks close! Oh well...does frogging mean I'm a better knitter or bolder? Maybe more picky?

In the past, there was NO WAY I was frogging-I'd wear one bigger and one just right and that is just how my first pair of socks went! Now, I guess I'm getting a bit more picky about the fit. I think I am also realizing that tearing back to the cuff at 7 stitches per inch for socks is really not all that big of a deal. Now, if it had been 9 stitches per inch, I probably still would have torn back, but definitely would have been more disgusted and probably would have put it away for much longer before returning to the project.

So I find out that Little Knits is getting rid of their Lorna's Laces line, offering 25-30% off! Here I've been resisting ordering more STR. resisting ordering that Cherry Tree Hill that Simply Socks Yarn Company so sneakily included a sample of in my last order! resisting ordering the "Special Edition" Fleece Artist wool from them--though I DO hope to actually postpone this order vs. avoid it cuz I'm a sucker for limited edition stuff!...What can I say? I wasn't strong or disciplined today. It was all about me and I guess I was feeling deprived from all that 'resistance'. Can someone please invent a 'discipline pill', because I have none, whatsoever!

So, at $7.50 a skein, I ordered 8! What's an undisciplined sock knitter to do?

Don't Come a Knockin' Club-Kit #2

The latest Rockin' Sock Club pattern... 

And here, now, a pair I have started and actually feel like I'm making progress on! (Gotta love that medium weight!--AND the linen stitch!) The pattern is "Rock and Weave", the new colorway, "Fairgrounds". The linen stitch was really fun to knit and I liked the 'wrong side' (the one with the purl bumps) so much more that I used it for the outside of the cuff. I understand others are doing this, too. There are a couple of buttons I had in my stash that I thought would work, but I only had two of each, so I decided to do only one buttonhole per sock. I think it will look fine with a single button, but as for WHICH one, I will wait until the socks are actually completed, then try and figure it out!

A Knitting story...

So there I was, at the YMCA, ready to cancel my membership! I passed by one of the rooms where the Senior's were having a knitting session-I could see all the needles sweeping through the air...

Being my nosey self (and oh-so-obsessed with knitting), I struck up conversation with a couple of ladies as the session was letting out. They probably thought I was stalking them, since we were all leaving the building at the same time and I happened to be walking in the same direction. So I asked what they were working on, showed them my new Hedera's that were on my feet, blah, blah, blah...Their interest perked when I mentioned that if they were doing charity knitting, they should contact Coats and Clark for a yarn donation.

At any rate, we finally introduced ourselves (nice meeting you, Wendy and Jean...) and I showed Wendy my socks, she said, "Oh! I haven't knit socks in *ages*! I used to knit them for my boyfriends--every time I had a new boyfriend, they got a pair of argyle socks--that was the 'in' thing to do back then. I don't think I could even make them again--I don't know HOW I did that! But you know, in those days it was in and I was younger."

My gosh! Can you believe that? Notice the plural in "boyfriends"? ARGYLE SOCKS for your boyfriend? Unbelievable! Any of my friend's getting plain knit socks from me had better be pretty happy-I can't even phathom making ARGYLE socks for *anyone* but ME! (But, alas, I do not like argyle and shall not have a pair...**)

**though I understand it is a requirement to knit one for part of TKGA's Master program...that would be the only exception...

And yet more yarn...

Can you tell that I am sold on Fleece Artist Merino, since I put in ANOTHER order with Simply Sock Yarns?! This one is the "Mermaid" colorway and I couldn't resist purchasing more of the "Gramercy"--nice feel-reminds me of Zara and Aurora 8, though it is DK weight. And I LOVE the celery color...

Notice that they sent me yet *another* teaser--this time Cherry Tree Hill! I *hate* them...Now I'll want some of that, too...



Stash Enhancement! 

In the beginning, there was a bag...

...circa 1970's. I was a girlscout and like all good girl scouts, we worked on our badges. This was one of our projects: a tie-dyed, sewn bag with embroidery. My first embroidery and the beginnings of my journey into all things needle-worked!

I would go to the local Woolworth's yarn section and purchase thin books on embroidery stitches, needlepoint, crocheting, knitting, tatting...I would buy kits for hooked rugs, crewel,plastic canvas needle point, and eventually counted-cross stitch. By the time I was 18, I was teaching stitchery and selling 'Creative Circle'kits! Never did quite get down 'tatting' and never got past plain knitting and purling until I picked up knitting again 2 1/2 years ago! Of course, I haven't even mentioned my Singer sewing class I took as a pre-teen and all other handwork investigations/passions I've gotten into since: lapidary, cake decorating, quilting, stamping, scrapping, "paper arts", polymer clay...

Girl Scouting-what a great thing!



The beginning of it all... 

STR Club craze...

Same? Similar? Different? What do you think? 

So I'm at my cubicle, showing my co-worker/friend/non-knitter-who-could-care-less, my newly arrived colorway, "Fairgrounds" from the Blue Moon Fiber Arts "Don't Come a Knockin'" club. Is it my imagination or does this look like the same colorway used for all our goodies last month? Could it be?! Now I MUST KNOW...

Off the feet... 

A PAIR DONE!!! Hedera's to add to my sock drawer!

OK, See? I *do* finish some of my socks as a pair occasionally! And here is my current finished pair, hot off the needles and freshly seamed (Kitchener...). I am thrilled to have a new PAIR of socks!

I knit the cuffs shorter than what was shown on Knitty.com; maybe I should have done them longer! My pudgy feet don't wear them nearly as well as the pattern pic, either...Also-how come other people's socked feet look so cute? My legs look fatter and shorter! Please tell me it's the angle because I cannot handle that I am just in denial about my legs having gotten fat like the rest of me!


Off the feet... 


FINISHED! Hedera socks made from "Claudia Handpainted! 

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.