Posted in Current Projects

Marlene Sock and Swedish Fish Socks (Help me pick a color!)

I forgot to mention this in my last post, but Marlene is no more. I did finish one sock, but I wasn’t in love with it. After thinking about it, I decided to rip it out.

Marlene Sock #1
RIP Marlene

I haven’t decided what I’ll do with the yarn yet, but I’m sure I’ll find another pattern to use it in. I’m glad I decided to rip it out because I really wasn’t looking forward to the second sock at all.

I did make some progress on the Swedish Fish socks, but now I’m not sure about the color of the fishies.

118/365: Swedish Fish Socks

I’m considering changing it to one of these two:

Fuchsia 100% Superwash
Fuchsia

Campari Orange 80/20 Twin
Campari Orange

What do you think? Should I change the fishies and if so, which should I change it to?

Okay, time to go to knitting! Later!

Posted in Completed Projects, Current Projects

FO’s: Toe-Up Socks & Rainy Day Fingerless Gloves (plus other stuff)

First up I have two FO’s to show you!

Pattern: Generic toe-up pattern, 64 stitches around (My Ravelry project page.)
Started: April 11, 2009
Completed: April 21, 2009
Yarn: Knitterly Things Vesper Sock Yarn in the “Sweet Water” colorway
Needles: US 1 Knit Picks metal DPN’s
Notes: None

111/365: Sweet Water Socks
Mmm… stripey goodness

Pattern: (Not-so) Rainy Day Fingerless Gloves (My Ravelry project page.)
Started: March 10, 2009
Completed: April 23, 2009
Yarn: Knit Picks Palette in various colors
Needles: US 4 Addi DPN’s
Notes: The only change I made to these was to not do the rain. Turns out that I didn’t get a color that was dark enough to be rain. When I started to do the rain, you couldn’t really tell the difference between the sky and the rain, so I decided to just not do it at all.

Rainy Day (wearing)

Rainy Day (buttons)

Rainy Day (inside, with red)
No hiding anything here! Check out the inside. I’m happy with my floats 🙂

This past Saturday I went to the Upper Vally Fiber Festival in Troy, OH with two friends from my knitting group. It wasn’t very big, but I managed to find a few things that I decide I couldn’t live without!

116/365: From Yesterday

The fiber is BFL from Twisted Stitches (I think – the card they put in the bag had 2 shops on it) and the two skeins of sock yarn are from Earthly Hues and are dyed using all natural dyes. The purple is 70% merino/20% bamboo/10%nylon sock yarn in “Gutsy” and the yellow/pink is 70% merino/30% seacell sock yarn in “Sunrise.” Haven’t decided on patterns for either yet, but they’re really pretty and soft!

While we were there we saw these adorable baby goats. They were all tuckered out (probably from the heat, it was about 90 degrees F!) on our way out and I took this shot of all of them napping in the shade.

115/365: Baby Goats

Last week, I got this fantastic package from Laura containing two skeins of Socks That Rock, a skein of Lime & Violet Mermaid Sock, an awesome Cookie A sock pattern and a cute card.

112/365: Prezzies in the MailPrezzies in the mail!!

Thank you Laura!!! 😀
As for projects I’m currently working on… I’m making quite a bit of progress. I’ve been doing a lot of knitting on Decimal and have started the first sleeve after finishing the body.

Decimal, body almost done
This was taken a few rows short of being done with the body.

Decimal
First sleeve.

Since I finished the stripey socks, I cast on another pair using one of the skeins of Socks That Rock Laura sent. The pattern is Leyburn and it’s working up pretty quickly.

Leyburn

I’m working on a garter stitch scarf and Juno Regina, but there hasn’t been a whole lot of progress to show since I’ve been doing a lot more work on Decimal and socks then either of those. I also cast on for the Swedish Fish Socks, but I only have the sock cuff so far, so no interesting photo to share yet.

Alright, back to knitting with me!

Posted in Current Projects

Marlene, Stripey Socks, and Project Bags

I’ve been knitting on Decimal quite a bit this week, but I’ve been taking breaks occasionally and knitting on the two socks I’m working on. At first I was knitting more on the stripey Vesper socks because I wasn’t sure how much I liked Marlene. I had tried it on early in the week and just felt “meh” about it. I was considering ripping it out then decided I should let it sit for a few days before deciding. Today I put it back on and decided it’s a keeper.

106/365: Almost to the Toe

I wasn’t sure how I felt about the fit. I was worried that it was a little loose and not quite right. I was really close to ripping it out! Glad I decided to let it sit for a few days and see how I feel.

While Marlene waited my decision, I knit quite a bit on the stripey Vesper sock. Monday I turned the heel and I’m getting close to the ribbing now.

IMG_1416

Since my sock books arrived on Tuesday, I’ve been itching to start another pair. I just kept flipping through the books trying to decided on one to start, but finally decided that I should finish one of the pairs I’m working on before starting a new one. The books sit fairly close to me, though, so I’ve been taking breaks and looking through the books. Good thing for the above socks that I’m indecisive and can’t settle on a pattern!

I was going to blog about this on Monday, then I was waiting to finish the last one I’d cut fabric for, but I don’t know when I’ll get to that last one… so here are the project bags I spent some time sewing on Monday.

The first two are drawstring bags>

Bag 2, outside Bag 2, inside

Bag 1, outside Bag 1, inside

The third one I made is a box bag. I have fabric cut for a fourth one, but I haven’t sewn it up yet.

Box Bag 1, outside Box Bag 1, inside

All the sewing was fun to do, but now I have so many project bags I don’t know what to do with them all! I think the box bags are my favorite, though they do take a bit more time to make.

This week I’ve done a lot more knitting and sewing then I have in what seems like a long time. Surgery recovery has been going good overall. Good days and bad days, of course, though this week seems like I’ve had more good days. I’ve been walking a few times a day and slowly building up longer walks. The rest of the time I spend knitting, watching things on Hulu, and doing some napping. It’s been rather nice to focus on just getting better. I feel like I’m almost back to normal. I’m able to do most things on my own again, including put on my shoes again (though it does take a while still!). Today I managed to do the dishes without trouble (just takes a while) and I even drove to Matt’s work to have lunch with him since my driving restriction has been lifted! It was a little weird to drive again after what feels like forever. I feel comfortable driving, though, so that’s great news to me. I’m sure I’ll be back to normal life soon enough, but for now I’m just taking time to take care of me :o)

Posted in Current Projects

Prezzies in the Mail

Today I figured I’d show you some things I got in the mail in the last two days. Whenever Matt brings in the mail and there’s a package or letter (not bill) for me, he tells me he brought me prezzies. It always makes me laugh and I get excited and say “I love prezzies!” Yesterday I got a package and a card in the mail.

The card was from Jessica! I was surprised to get a card in the mail and it made me smile before I even opened it. Then I opened it and had a good laugh!

Card from Jessica!

The package that came (and was expected) was from Knitterly Things. I’ve been wanting to get enough stripey yarn to make a pair of striped knee socks, so last week’s update, I got two skeins of “Seashells from the Seashore” for that, plus a skein of “Meadows” and two of the new coordinating skeins (heels and toes!) that Julia is now selling in her shop – one for each of the colorways I bought for socks.

Vesper Sock Yarn
Pink (top left) & Seafoam (top right) coordinating skeins, Meadows (left bottom) and two skeins of Seashells by the Seashore (center & right bottom)

Today’s mail brought me two books.

104/365: New Sock Books

I pre-ordered both books from Amazon when I first heard when they would be out. Since they were coming out close together, I decided to order them together and save on shipping. I was pretty excited when I got the shipping notice on Sunday and was waiting for them to get here. On the left is Sock Innovation by Cookie A. and to the right is Socks from the Toe Up by Wendy A. Johnson. So far I’m enjoying both books – reading through and trying to decide which patterns to knit first! There are a lot of reviews of both books on various blogs, so I don’t think I’ll be doing any myself, but I think both have a number of great patterns that I’ll knit :o)

Posted in Current Projects

Stripey Goodness and Marlene Progress

After almost a week of resisting casting on a pair of socks with the Vesper self-striping sock yarn I have, I caved yesterday and cast on another pair of toe-up stripey socks with the “Sweet Water” colorway that was calling me from my stash.

Mmmm... stripes!

They’re knitting up a lot faster than I thought they would, but I suppose it’s just because I’ve had a lot of time to sit around and knit. I’m a little over half way to the heel already!

Marlene is moving right along, too. I was a little surprised when I picked it up yesterday to find that I was ready to start the heel.

Marlene Heel Flap

For two projects I started this week, it feels like they’re moving along at lightning speed.

Yesterday my knitterly friend Jessy came by and hung out for part of the afternoon. She brought a delicious blackberry tart that I would probably eat all in one sitting if I didn’t know what was best for me! We had pizza, watched Matt play some video games (Matt and I were playing Little Big Planet when she arrived) while we knit, and watched Dollhouse. My mom, sisters, and grandpa came by for a while a bit after Jessy left. I do love having visitors and it’s been nice to since I can’t really go anywhere still. It feels like I’ve been home for a few weeks, but I know it’s only been a week. Almost like time is just standing still!

Today is Easter and if I were allowed to get in a car and go anywhere, we’d probably be going to a get together with Matt’s dad (and that side of the family). I’m a little sad about not going, but it’s also kind of nice not to have any obligations today.

Here’s a cool Easter-related treat for you: Peeps Show III. Peeps are one of my favorite Easter treats even though I know they have them pretty much year round now. I loved these as a kid and I still love them as an adult. I think when Matt goes to the store today, I’ll make sure he picks some up for me!

Happy Easter to all who celebrate!

Posted in Current Projects

Doing Better Each Day

About this time last week, I was on my way home from the hospital after surgery. The surgery itself went great (took about 2 hours total), but the first few days home were difficult. It was hard for me to move or do much on my own and I think the anesthesia didn’t agree well with me (whenever I slept, I’d wake up feeling nauseous), but I was walking pretty good and even went outside to walk on Saturday and Sunday. Matt went back to work on Monday and by then I was mostly able to do things on my own. He’s been home each day for lunch, which has been nice since I’ve been getting bored at home.

Tuesday my mom and sister came by and kept me company all afternoon. Wednesday some of my knitterly friends came by – Karen, Lani, Alita and Lisa. Lani was kind enough to bring some frozen meals for Matt and I, which was very much appreciated since I can’t do much housework or cooking still. Plus, the time with friends was great since I didn’t get to go to knitting group this week. My friend, Grace, stopped by Wednesday as well. She brought us dinner before she went to a yoga class. It was nice to have her come over and visit. Tomorrow Jessy is stopping by and I think my mom and sisters will be by this weekend, too.

Took a few days before I knit much after getting back home because I wasn’t feeling much like sitting up at first (mostly laid down and napped). Now, though, I’m back to knitting and I’ve been doing a lot of it! I’ll get to that part, but first I’ll show you what arrived in the mail just before I had surgery last week and since I’ve been home.

Last Wednesday, my Chevron Love Mitten Kit came in the mail from Knitterly Things. I can’t wait to knit these up! Should be a lot of fun even though I won’t be wearing them again until next winter. I got the “Tiny Dancer” kit. Irresistible combination of colors I had to have!

95/365: Tiny Dancer Chevron Love Mitten Kit

I ordered a pattern from The Loopy Ewe that was waiting for me in the mailbox when we got home last Friday. The pattern is Swedish Fish Socks. I already have some stash yarn in mind for it.

On Monday, I received yarn from The Yarn Bearer from the “Nightmares” sock club. This month’s theme is “Falling.”

96/365: Falling

I’ve really enjoyed being part of The Yarn Bearer’s club. The yarn’s I have received are beautiful! So glad I decided to join :o)

As for what I’ve been knitting… I’m still working on Decimal and it’s coming right along. I’m at the waist shaping portion. Seems like the more I knit, the less spittly this yarn is (though it’s still a bit splitty). I’m loving the resulting knit fabric, regardless of the splittiness of the yarn, though. The color, too!

99/365: Decimal - GROW!

I was working on the Baudelaire socks, but decided to rip them out. I had turned the heel when I decided I just didn’t love them. It was a combination of the yarn being a bit fuzzy/splitty and just not really loving the pattern. Wednesday I ripped them out and it felt liberating! Since I no longer had a pair of socks on the needles after ripping the Baudelaire socks out, I cast-on for another pair with the yarn I got Monday (above). I decided on the Marlene pattern by Cookie A. in the Fall/Winter 2008 issue of knit.1. I wasn’t sure how the yarn and pattern would go together, but I was pleasantly surprised with the lovely result.

Marlene Take Two

Initially I cast-on using US 1’s, but I couldn’t get the sock over my heel after two chart repeats, so I had to rip it out. Went up to US 2’s and it seems perfect now. The pattern has been an easy and fun knit so far. I think I have 2 more chart repeats before the heel, so it’s even further along then the picture above shows.

Haven’t been working on much else. I’ve been spending a lot of time watching TV, online, and knitting. Of course I’ve been doing a fair amount of walking, too, since that’s a big part of my recovery. I have a while before I go back to work and recovering is my main focus. Each day I’m walking and doing a little more!

Posted in Completed Projects, Current Projects

Lucky Socks (FO), Decimal, and Baudelaire Socks

I know I promised pictures of recent stash acquisitions in this post, but I haven’t had time to compile a proper post, so today I’ll show you my Lucky Surgery Socks and current WIPs!

Pattern: Generic toe-up pattern, 64 stitches around (My Ravelry project page.)
Started: March 18, 2009
Completed: March 30, 2009
Yarn: Knitterly Things Vesper Sock Yarn in the “Shamrockin’ ” colorway
Needles: US 1 birch DPN’s
Notes: None. Once again I have to say how much I love these striping socks and Vesper yarn. Only down side was that the dark green yarn stained my needles. Not surprised as dark green tends to do that with wood, but I’m always a little bummed when it happens. I’m so glad I was able to get these done in time! Even got to wash and block them.

89/365: Lucky Socks - DONE!

In my last post, I mentioned Decimal. I got the yarn and started it almost right away. So far it’s been a pretty easy knit. I like how the yarn knits up, but I’m not a big fan on how splitty it gets at times. Hasn’t been too much of an issue, but occasionally it gets me. I’m just past the lace border. I decided to do 3 repeats like others have and I’m glad I did. I like how it is progressing.

IMG_0910

I’ve been working away on my Baudelaire socks. Just started the gusset increases. The photo is from just before I started the gusset increases, but it shows the color of the yarn pretty well (compared to my last black and white photo of it).

79/365: Color Baudelaire's

I’m keeping this post fairly short today. With surgery tomorrow, I have a lot going on that needs to get done before I go in at 5:30 am. Wish me luck! Any extra healing thoughts or prayers are definitely welcome. I’ll be sure to update here as soon as I’m able – I’m guessing/hoping sometime this weekend. Until next time… happy crafting! :o)