Sock Camps a-Comin'!

I am so excited that Sock Camp is coming up SOON! I can hardly wait! We were given a homework assignment and sent an information packet, so that really got all of us campers revved up!

I had to stop my Inside Out sock so that I could concentrate on my homework.

Nothing interesting, really, to post. But here's my Little Emperor's coloring contest submission...

The dark pink over the bunny's eyes is a 'mask'. His stuff gets more and more vibrant and interesting.

Scout Rocks!

So here is my new Bamboo/Merino hand-dyed from Scout! I had originally wanted the Merino/tencel blend in the Biblioteque colorway. I instead got the merino and now this bamboo blend! Cool to see the color difference, huh? Same colorway, (Bibliteque), but this reads much more brown/beige. Now to plot what it shall become...

And as for my poor Inside/Out sock, I'm afraid progress is slow. I got caught on the reverse heel flap and had to tear back. Funny how one can look at something and intuitively know it is not right (like in this case, the heel was just too wide...) and STILL ignore it! I just kept on going but finally got smart enough to stop and realize that frogging was inevitable.

I'll keep plugging away, though interest wanes!

Do I LIE or what?

Bwahhhh ha ha ha!!! I just re-read an old post from January 16 of this year...
http://tapmouseknits2.blogspot.com/2007/01/sometimes-i-get-stuff-done.html

I actually was excited to complete my ONE toe-up sock with reverse heel flap, yabber on about how I loved that reverse heel flap, and even had the nerve to state that I think I am a "big girl" now and can do the math for future toe-up socks using this heel!-LOL!!! NO, NO--ROFLMAO!!!! For if it were true, this Monsoon Inside Out Sock that I have decided to knit in this way would not have it's heel currently frogged back!

Well...I guess it was a good thing this pattern is toe-up because I clearly need more practice with this method! Maybe I needed to try and do the math conversion again instead of using someone else's mathematical chart! That's what I get for being my LAZY-A_ _ self!-HA!

Rockin' along...

So I'm slower than the rest, but figured I might as well show some pics of my Monsoon "Inside Out" sock I'm working on, cuz the flashing of the yarn is quite interesting...The top pic is the insole; bottom pic is the sole. I always confuse the term "instep". I somehow psychologically think "arch" when I see "instep". But I KNOW 'sole', so that is the only thing that saves me!

I don't mind the way the yarn is knitting up. All I ask is that the second sock NOT perfectly stripe! I'm not super anal, and don't need complete 'matchy-matchy", but I don't think I could deal with stripes on one, flashing/pooling on the other.

So far, I started the toes on size 1 needles, tore back and re-knit using Inox steel 00 (yes, I finally figured it out with the help of Nartian!), and switched after about a couple of inches to the 000 (Susuan Bates). I think I ended up with this 'interesting' patterning because my tension goes in and out of looser and taut. It looks like it tried to stripe in a big, stripey way, but the gauge was just not staying tight enough. Oh well...I still love them and hope that the reversed heel flap (ala Widdershins, ala Diamonte) will work out. I decided to garter stitch the gussett increase to try and keep the look consistent with the toes. We'll see...

A bit of time to post...

...but no time to post pics right now...

I started my "Inside Out" sock from my first 2007 Rockin' Sock Club kit. A bit of a pain having to figure out gauge. OK, I"m lying-I decided I'd skip gauge and go right to using size 1 needles.

The toe started looking way to huge, so I hopped down to what I believe are 00 dpns, but could be 0...Yeah, I'm that bad!-lol!

Progress news: I finished the black onyx footies for DBF and will start matching ones for our son. And yes, I supposed I will work more on the Inside Out...Can I confess something else about that sock? After tearing out trial 1 and starting over, I got 1/2 way through the toe, started the second half and had to tear back again! The double wrapping was off...so basically, I've made near to no progress on them!

Meanwhile, Stilaholic Nartian was ripping through her first one-I swear, she looked like she was nearing the toes this afternoon. I wouldn't be surprised if she shows up tomorrow with a finished one in hand tomorrow!

Ah, well...that's why we are all different, right? One day, I, too will progress further!

Rockin' Sock Club 2007!

Well, it's he-re! Hooray! My first sock kit of the year arrived today!

Just a couple of picks to show what I got...

The opened skein of "Monsoon"...colors are a bit bleached-out, so the greens don't show very well...

And this year, we got a hard cover binder, a new pin, a new sticker, and a new section has been added called 'Footnotes". Oh-and I got my usual 'emergency sock yarn' (i.e., the keychain...) I'll HAVE to go buy a new crochet hook tomorrow! Still need to figure out whether I will follow the pattern or part from it at one point. Decisions!

HEY! Project Spectrum Fodder!

Just spun from the Spinderella "Alderman" thrums! And it could also work for "Yarn P0rn Friday", too, now couldn't it? Amazing, huh? Blues, greys and whites to coincide with Project Spectrum! (Yay, me! Not even trying!)

My first STR club shipment for this year's club should be arriving soon, too! Can't wait!

I looked at the kit ahead of time and just LOVE the new colorway! It always puzzles me a bit how some people get their undies all in a twist over 'sock kit spoilage' (i.e., when someone posts a pic that reveals what the new kit colorway is before everyone has gotten theirs for themselves...) I figure that it is just as much a surprise for me to see the kit for the first time on someones blog as it would be to receive the kit. Besides that, seeing it on a blog is still different than actually having it in your hands to see the colors in real-life.

So I guess what I'm tring to say is, I don't 'get' why some people feel the need to not know until it actually arrives at their door. Like I said, it is fun for me to be surprised as well, but can't I be just as surprised by seeing the kit for the first time on-line as well as if had received my shipment first?...

Well, I'm glad there are those in the sock club who are kind enough to share pics!

I just love my friends...!

Aren't knitting friends the greatest? I'm so lucky to have friends (like Nartian who can go to Stitches West and shop for me-and I just know she has a feel for my tastes!)...and my bud, Paula who gifted me with some Claudia Handpainted!!! The colorway is called "Eat your veggies" and is such a fun color--green with hues of lavendar! Reminds me of asparagus or better yet-ARTICHOKES!!! (MY FAV...)!

I think I'm going to knit the Claudia's using Evelyn's pattern, "Creeping Vines"...

Think I'll get it spun?

Look what arrived in today's mail!!!

MORE Spinderella Thrums! This is their "Alderman" colorway which appeared more purplish to me in their pictures. You can see alot of the blue in one bump, but it really spins up more grey flannel-ish with all sorts of fun lil' bits.

How do I know this? HA! I already started spinning a bit!-LOL!

I didn't say 'mohair' in the description and this batch didn't have labels, so I have no idea if there is any mohair in it. The last batch of "Breeze" thrums I purchased hadn't mentioned the "M" word, but when I got it, the tag had it checked off. I am suspicious there is some in this colorway, too...I guess I can email them and ask, but it's not as if I'm sending it back or anything! It spins up quickly, but I'm not trying to keep it even or slubby; it just has so much pieces of bits in it that it is doing slubs. Very fluffy (yes, I fear mohair...)...As far as my lungs giving it away, it is hard to tell since my asthma has been aggravated by a lingering cold or infection.

I ordered two bumps...this is ALOT of fleece for this drop-spindling newbie!

Really...I don't just buy yarn...

I have others buy it for me!-LOL! Many, many thanks to my bud, Stilaholic Nartian ! Thanks to her, my stash now includes another Cookie A. pattern and Cookie A. yarn!!! --sorry, pic is the third down, despite my desire to have it first!

So...instead, I have this pic of the Pomegranate Roving from Scout's Swag that I had just posted about. Everyone has such lovely outdoor, scenic pics on their blogs, so I decided to throw my yarn on the Rosemary bush and see if it made my picture prettier. Well...maybe not, but here is a lovely Rosemary bush in the urban San Francisco backyard...See? I got some spinning in!--and even a bit of knitting!

I FINALLY finished one of the Koigu socks I started (probably over a year ago) for my sister. She's in town right now, so the timing was perfect to have her try it on for a fit. And I'll have a whole year to finish the next! (Well, unless I end up going to visit her in Italy first!...or if she comes back in the summer...) One thing for sure, I will most likely NOT mail them to her, since the Italian government gets funky about knitted items coming into the country. Yeah, like I'm gonna steal Gucci's or Benneton's handknit market or something like that! Anyways, they prohibit stuff like yarn, knit items, etc...from being shipped in. When I fill out the duty slip, I have to get creative--like when I sent her the "Pooch" scarf I knit for her..."novelty gift"...

Oh! And the red sock I started a bit ago...Mountain Colors Bearfoot in "Rosehips"! Knitting their "Fritzy's Sock" pattern with it. Now, if I can only finish an item to post! ...

Yarn P0rn Friday!--in an hour!

So I might as well post now, don'tcha think? Because I just got my order from SCOUT'S SWAG!!! Name anything "Pomegranate" and I'm there! Must be a holdover from my childhood. My grandfather was a fruit farmer; on his ranch were many an apricot, pear, peach, plum tree, and on the side of his lawn was a single pomegranate tree. The rare fruit. What few pomegranates that tree bore, we all had to share. I just love pomegranates-the look, the flavor, the colors!

That said, I was so bummed to see her tease of a pomegranate roving-no sooner posted as 'new' to her site, labeled as "SOLD OUT". Waaah! I wanted some!

Well, stupid me, I could *order* some custom dyed for me, now couldn't I? The nice thing, too, is that my most awesome friend in Nebraska (who, btw, I met through the stamping world...) gave me a gift certificate for Scout's Swag, so i could order the stuff guilt-free! HOO-RAY! So here's my order--oh--sans the knit soak samplers I got cuz well, I forgot to put them in the pic! (Yeah, too lazy to take the pic again, too!...)

So I got the Pomegranate merino roving, merino sock yarn dyed in 'Bibioteque', the soaks, and a Chic Knits pattern. I know, the pic's kinda dark, but I think you can get the idea. Don't worry, not even thinking of quitting the day job to be a photographer...

I have to post these goodies cuz I'm not going to Stitches West. I think I've said that already. I need to convince myself and truly understand that it would be far more torture to attend and expect myself to curb the purchases than to just skip it altogether. So far, I'm not so sure I'm convinced. I waivered and thought, "it's not just about the stash enhancement opportunities-it's about knitting fellowship! I can reunite with my knitting buddies! I can hook up with my old co-worker who I hadn't seen in years and who is now living far away and retired but who I saw there last year. I can see Sylvia--maybe she needs a ride home (or at least to the City) again, like she did last year...or what about my old daycamp trainer who is now knitting up a storm, who I hadn't seen for over 20 years but ran into only two Stitches ago...? And what about rubbing elbows with the high-rising star, Cookie--you know? Cookie-author of the most fa-bu sock and other lace pattern wonders! And the opportunities to try out more spindles and spinning wheels?..." Oh yeah...then I'd HAVE to buy yet *another * spindle and lament over my desire for a spinning wheel!

OK, remember, I'm going to Sock Camp...going to Sock Camp...going to Sock Camp...Sock Camp will more than make up for the large void that skipping SW is creating...yes, sock camp GOOOOOD...

Well, the wonderful thing is that though I'm NOT going, my partner is yarn shopping crime *will* be going, and I have sent her on a special errand for me: to seek out and grab some of Cookie's hand-dyed yarn that I understand will be there. Thank heaven for the Nartian Knitter! She will save me. She will help me to go to SW vicariously through her!!!

Damn! i wanna go...

More ramblings...

So I realize that the only good thing my blog has going for it is all the sock yarn pics! I don't have anything clever to say, nor do I have any sage knitting advice, since many of my projects remain in the UFO state so I can't offer wonderful knitterly advice based on what I've done... But when all is said and done, my blog serves the following purpose:

1) lots of wonderful sock yarn to view
2) proof that there is at least one person (me) who is worse than you with their yarn stash! (See? my whole existence is based on making others feel better about themselves knowing there is someone out there far worse than they...)

Yeah, I'm a bit addicted...

Well, I meant to start this post out with my addictive Stash enhancements, but Blogger decided I would start out with this...my completed "skein" (I don't know what real spindlers call them) of the Spinderella Thrums! I can't believe I got all (was it four ounces?) spindled!!! And here it all is...

And now, on to the addition to my forever growing number of socks-in-waiting...

This, just in from One Planet. I saw their ad on Knitter's Review; unfortunately, I didn't see their KR discount code!-Pisser! I could've saved shipping! But isn't this just gorgeous? HAD to try this stuff out, too...

So...above are two skeins of SereKnity Sock Options: 100% merino in Blackforest Fudge; the other is a merino/tencel blend in the One Planet colorway! Too awesome!

HEY...now that I think of it, does the One Planet count towards my Project Spectrum blue study???

The things we do for kids...

Here's what I was doing this evening, per the Emperor's request.

Chocolate cake, white icing and--"hey, Mommy, why don't you make white icing and pink icing?" And of course, you can't send a cake to a First grade classroom without sprinkles, right?

I'm tired! Treat boxes done and cake iced. I'm going to bed!

Project Spectrum is focusing on blue right now, but it seems like the only colors I"ve been working in these days are pinks and reds!

testing!

Here is a pic of a STR med weight (Rolling Stone) I frogged! No more!-haaaaaaahaaaahaaa!

Random thoughts run through my head!

So here I am recovering from a cold/flu yucky thing, knowing I have to go to work tomorrow and yet am compelled to stay up and blog! And let me tell you, I was so sick that this was the first day that I was well enough to be awake for more then 2-3 hours straight and to even have the urge to knit!

The only thing I did over the three days off of work was spindle for maybe 10-15 minutes a couple of times yesterday, and after each short session I had to lay down and go back to sleep!

I've been entranced with my spindling. Maybe it is like when these people get really sick with fever and wake up with psychic abilities-only mine is a more intense attraction to my spindling! Or really maybe this just is a carryover from my visit to Carolina Homespun and the excitement of having lots more fleece and lots of spindles! Or maybe Morgaine doused me with enthusiasm when she told me of a man she knows who knits and sells *whole sweaters* from yarn he hand-spindles! I of course exclaimed that his sweaters must cost and arm and a leg-and she confirmed this. Then tonight, as I thought of this in my crazy lil' ol' head, I started to think..hmmm...now I know something like that is mucho, mucho work and would have to command a high price, but I wonder...is there more of a novelty that this was all done by a *male*? Like somehow, society would be more "charmed" by the novelty of a hand made sweater made from handmade yarn by a male, somehow likening to "Designer" class? Could a woman doing the same thing get as much for her sweaters made in the same way? I wonder...Now I know that historically, knitting has not always belonged to women, but that doesn't change the frame of mind that many have of knitting being a female thing.

OK, I got that off my chest! Also, let me add that I must be feeling better since instead of going to bed early (the wise choice), I instead plied some of my merino and worked on a silk swatch! Of course, none of this stuff occurred until late this evening when I should have been asleep! Earlier? No knitting or spinning, but I did flip though a knitting catalog, so I was well enough to think about knitting! Actually, I even had stamping on my mind! Like how I purchased a kid's tracing/art lightboard for my 6yo just so that I had an excuse to purchase it for the light table enclosed so I could use it for my embossing! I'm sure there are knitting supplies I've purchased for my kid, as well...like the knitting spool...and the kids' 'knitting machine'...sickness, I tell ya!

A Spinning Hopeful...

OK, so now I present to you my crappy stuff (along with my better stuff...) just for a compare and contrast. Remember, I'm not saying the better stuff is GREAT, but much better than the crappy stuff...



Which one is which, you may ask?...Oh, *that's a shame*!!! OK, the stuff on the left and center is the uneven, crappy stuff! The far right lays alot smoother, though not totally even.

I sure want a spinning wheel!

Well, this weekend was all about spinning. Whatever free time I had, I found myself drop spindling. I added to my fiber stash last week when I went to Carolina Homespun, which is probably what inspired me; adding to my fiber stash and realizing it has become a 'stash' (which I had tried to avoid over-developing since I am such a newbie spindler and don't spindle much and don't have a wheel...read: it takes a loooong time to get through an ounce of fiber!)

But...I am proud to say that I did get this spun...


Spinderella Thrums In 'Breeze'...

It looks good to my amateur eyes...but I have to say that I spun some of the roving from my Learn to Spin kit (i.e., the very first fiber I ever spun and still haven't used up...). I filled a spindle and had another bunch of single-ply I had spun a while back. Well, much to my shock, that stuff that had been sitting un-plyed absolutely mystified me! It was LUMPY! Uneven, crappy...the stuff I had spun before that one looked so much better, that I couldn't figure it out. I'm thinking now, that it must have been when I decided that I needed to try and figure out how to do slubby, uneven spinning. I just couldn't get it real thick and slubby, but I got it uneven enough to shock me when I now found and plied it! The other thing in the back of my mind was that I also may have been trying to do 'uneven' to see if something I read (about it all 'compensating' and evening out once plied) was true. Well, I don't have pics right now, but I'll post later and you can see the crappy stuff.

Like I said, it was a spinning focus this weekend and I had to dig into my grab bag that I got at Carolina Homespun and ended up leaving behind! I had to go back yesterday and pick it up...

Fun, huh? I'm going to randomly spin this stuff up and see how it turns out. Probably just stick to my newbie 2-plying. I just can't handle plying more than that since I can't figure out how to keep all the plies from twisting into each other and tangling. I don't have a Lazy Kate and I don't even know enough about plying to want to figure out the shoebox thing that REAL spinners have mentioned to me!

And here's some new stuff I ordered from Little Knits...some DK Alpaca ("Atacama") and some Viscose/Cotton chenille "Quellon" from Araucania Yarns.



So again, I am soooo wanting a spinning wheel! But-Sock Camp comes first! And no Stitches West for me this year, either! Oh well...I definitely see a wheel in my future. Just not near future. BTW, Morgaine reminded me they do lay-away...don't you just love our "helpful" spinning community...

Am I a follower or what?!

I, too, had to join up for Project Spectrum! Stilaholic Nartian is always so on top of things, so when I read her blog and saw her Project Spectrum stuff, I realized it was that time and I HAD to sign up! So here I am, but I don't plan on making it about what project I'm working on, so much as noticing the subject colors and how they interact with other colors.

Hmmm...maybe it would be a good time to pull out the dye and dye somd yarn, since I've yet to do that (other than "Kool Aide" dying yarn!

I collected a couple of pics that have blue in them and my goal for this blue/white/gray(?) study will be to try to do something fun adn crative with the pics using my new PhotoElements program.

Now, on to another bit of non-knitting...Just as there are quick-to-knit, ever so satisfying, "Look-I-got-something-done" projects that help to make us feel a sense of accomplishment, so it is with QUILTING!

Here, shown, is what I am calling my "Olivia Squared-It's All About Me" quilt. The blocks were cut and pieced in 2-3 class nights (remember, deduct time from the classes for eatting and chit-chatting...). This was sooooo quick! I finished piecing this quilt on Tuesday night.

It still needs borders and a backing (and, of course, the acutal quilting, but I will probably have someone else do the quilting for me...)



It got cropped horizontally, but you can get the idea. This was a super-quicky revision of it's parent, "Turning 20" (also, a quick-to-piece quilt, only more blocks...)

Nothing like the feeling of accomplishment to fire the motivation!

Yarn and Fiber Gluttony

I realized that I had forgotten that I had expanded my yarn substash even more! Here are the lovely Lorna's Laces Shepard Sport I purchased a while back...(Purple Iris, Desert Flowers, Vera colorways)


And some Claudia Handpainted I had forgotten about! (Stormy Days and Purple Earth)


A little food to show you because I thought this little star pasta looked so interesting:


And guess what I did today...? OK, besides attending a workshop, I got to go to Carolina Homespun and of course couldn't walk away empty-handed...I had to add to my SPINDLE collection! Check this one out:

a *square* whorl!!! It is a spindle from SpindleWood Co. The whorl is "Lignum Vitae" (Ironwood) and the shaft is Bloodwood. I just love this one!



And, of course, roving to go with it: Spinderella Midnight Lights and some Sage and Garnet merino to spin!

I definitely should NOT go to Stitches West this year since I'll be going to Sock Camp. I had a conversation with Morgaine (at Carolina Homespun) and another woman who was there having her test out her spindles. We decided it is torture and not being good to yourself to attend a Stitches West when you do not want nor intend to spend money. Besides, it is a small sacrifice since I instead will be attending Sock Camp.

I guess I should explain Sock Camp, since I hadn't done so earlier. I am a member of the Blue Moon Fiber Arts Rockin' Sock Club. I joined last year and am joining for this year.

Well, the most awesome ladies at Blue Moon decided to put together a Sock Camp (Camp Cockamamie, to be exact) exclusively for us members of 2006. It is a 3-day camp which will include 2 full days of classes with Cat Bordhi and the Yarn Harlot, Stephanie Pearl-McFee, as well as Tina Newton (awesome Dyer Extroidanaire of Blue Moon) and Kaci (the other Blue Moon Lady of Awesomeness!); oh-and a day of whale watching and other fun activities.

I decided I needed to go for it and splurge, so there you have it-I'm going!!! It's not until mid-April and I'm so excited to be a part of it!

Oh...and a last thing to share: I had a lovely lunch on Friday with a couple of good friends at the Beach Chalet. The weather was nice and sunny and made up for the rain and cold of the days before.

The picture looks gloomier than the day actually was. And you have to appreciate the detailing of the historic building it is in...



WOW! I'm Super Blog-Woman tonight!