Perfect!

Can a Christmas gift get any more perfect than cute little stitch markers, a mini-wood swift, a yummy candle, and a offer of personally dyed lace-weight wool of the color(s) of my choice?

Thank you sis!

Don't join the Rat Race

I have a friend who has had a job roller coaster this past year. I saw this pattern on Morehouse Farm and just had to make it for her. I'm barely getting it done before Church tomorrow when I will give it to her. I still have to sew on some more beady red eyes, but I will do that later. I hope she likes it!

P-R-O-C-R-A-S-I-N-A-T-I-O-N

Why did I wait until the last minute to realize I only had 2 teacher's gifts made and I needed 4!!!

Time for the One Skein Book by Leigh Radford. Her book is a life saver. I decided to make the 2 cable Scarf - part of her 4 Cable scarf options. Last year I had made a ton of the 3 Cable version. This was just as quick and satisfying a knit. I love these scarves because they look at lot more difficult and complex than they are!!

I made the Blue version with some Lamb's Pride I had, and then I purchased some 1824 Wool at Rave Knits. Wow!!! I love that yarn - it is fabulous!!!

Speaking of Rave Knits - my stash swelled after a trip to Rave this Tuesday. Unfortunately - the store is closing. I hate it when a Local Yarn Shop closes. And this was our only option in our town. It hate it for the owner, because she was really working hard to make it work out, but owing a LYS isn't easy I hear. She offererd a few of us loyals first dibs at a sale and look:



And this is just the yarn!!

....Yes....I have a serious yarn habit!! But I wasn't the only one! :)

I also picked up a few needles, notions and fixtures.

So - Please, please support your LYS!!!! We don't want any more to close!!

Brrrrr - It's Cold in Seattle!!!!!

During my last trip to Seattle I was cold. I picked up some $1 gloves to keep my fingers toasty, but I couldn't bear to buy a scarf when I have to hands that love to knit!!!! I found some Casacde 220 in the colorway Celery - a nice heather color. And decided to make one of the Evelyn Clark shawls I have been wanting to make, but to impatient to wait for the shawl to be done! It knits up much faster in a Worsted Weight yarn - the scarf size! But it is suprisingly big. It is really a small shawl size after blocked. I love it. I can crunch it up under my coat to keep my neck warm, and I can use it in the office for a shoulder shawl if I get a bit chilly. Best of all - I started and cast off in a week!!

Yes, it was a bit of a diversion from Christmas knitting which is in a bit of a crisis state right now. But it was just so much fun to see it grow :)

I have all the details on Ravelry user name 'jc3smama' for those of you in Ravelry. If you are not - what are you waiting for? It's the best way to blow a few extra hours on the computer :)

My Funky Circle Vest

I am done with my Funky 70's vest. I saw the Circle Vest pattern in Silk Knits and just invisioned it in 70's blues, browns, Orange, etc. I saw this yarn that was so yummy at Charlotte Yarn called Scotia Silk by Fleece Artist. One of the yarn companies I love. I bought to skeins in to complimentary colorways and decided to knit two rows in each color. I wasn't sure how it would turn out - but I love the look. I would have wanted it to be a bit larger, but I used up almost all of the yarn and since each round was getting longer and longer was afraid to start another increase.


The pattern is pretty easy and not to boring because you increase every other row. So you have to pay attention. The increases are a bit strange, since you are increasing ribbing. But once it's all down it looks better than when you are knitting it and it is sort of spreading out a little bit each row. I will make this vest again. I saw one in another LYS made in a light cotton yarn that would be great for a summer vest. I don't think I will use the 70s colors for that one, maybe something with the striped yarn this vest typically calls for.


I finished this vest on our trip back from Florida. We drove all night last night and into today so I can make it back to fly to Seattle tomorrow. We were blessed and I just have to share that in my closing thoughts! We heard a knocking sound about midnight last night that we hadn't heard before. We decided maybe the car engine was cold (yeah, in FLORIDA, we were a bit tired I guess). Today it got worse and Colin decided to check it. The van had NO OIL. We drove all last night and through 3p today with NO OIL in our engine. We are truly blessed to not be stuck in Florida, Georgia or South Carolina. Our mechanic couldn't believe our engine didn't seize. We started our return trip with a prayer. And it was answered. We didn't get too sleepy and we arrived home safely. My vest will always remind me of that trip. Oh - had we had a wonderful time visiting Colin's family and some college friends. Check out the family blog for photo albums of both vists. I have to post a blog on that site with more details of the trip, but after I'm in Seattle and can gather my thoughts and get some sleep!

My Karalund is done!

I hate sewing, but I buckled down and sewed up the Karalund today at Stream Of Praise (SOP) practice and Charlotte Purls.

First of all SOP was a real teary session today - I love the SOP prayers and today Dad really prayed for all of us. It was needed as this week was not a good one for most of us. But we all knew who brought us through. Thank God for friends to cry with when you need a good cry.

Karalund has been done since Monday, and blocked since Thursday. Today I stitched her - although I noticed a few places she needs better stitching. I made the sleeves too long though - and I'm trying to work up the enthusiasm to take her little sleeves apart to reknit that part of them. I sort of like to be done with projects when my little brain thinks I'm done. But I know I wont' be happy with it looking like a little kid that borrowed her mother's sweater. I love the feel and look for Karalund and I want to wear her a lot, so I need to suck it up and do the sleeves correctly. Thanks Stacy for helping me realize this :)

Here she is:




She is knit out of Moda Dea Silk n'Wool, which is fairly affordable and available at a non-LYS *gasp*. It is one of my favorite yarns actually - I made my daughter socks in this and have washed them several times with great results. It's a great sweater weight - not too heavy or thin. And the drape is fabulous. I will knit with this yarn again.

Most Karalunds are made with striped yarn, but I'm glad I went with a solid. You can see the stitches very clearly and I think it makes the sweater a bit more dressy. I can see myself with some sexy jeans and spiky boots in this baby. It's date night tomorrow with Colin - and Miss Karalund just may get to go out on the town. Long sleeves and all!

Half Pi Shawl?

I'm sort of embarassed to call this a Pi Shawl. I got bored about 1/2 way through it and just decided to bind it off and make it a blankie for Jada. I guess you can tell my lack of commitment through the very poor blocking job I did on it too. I will make one again but I will put lace in it b/c making it plain is pretty boring knitting. And I didn't have a good vision for what I would do with it w/o lace. I love EZ's patterns, they are so well thought out and easy to follow. I just should have learned lace before I tackled this one. After sitting unfinished for over a year I decided to rescue the cone from obscurity so I could use it for something else. Lesson learned - I now know how to make a nice circle shawl and now that I can knit lace the next one will be much improved!

Yarn: Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport
Color: ??
Needles - 8,9 and 10 (increased needle sizes while making it to make the edging slightly larger.
Pattern: Elizabeth's Zimmerman's Pi Shawl about 1/2 way complete :), using her recommendation for a crochet edging.

Blue a4A hat

.

Again - details at Charlotte Purls!!! Now on to trying to complete my Christmas presents!

Baby Hat

Details at http://charlottepurls.blogspot.com :) I missed the other hat I knit for Afgans for Afgans. But it's on the CP blog too :)

Who is that masked man?

I had promised Colin a helmet liner for his motorcycle helmet *forever*. When I was in Cottage Yarn, the Yarn Lady mentioned she had made one out of Malabrgio for her husband to go hunting in. So - I purchased a ball in the colors he likes - plain black/browns/greys and went at it. I also wanted to practice the pattern since I want to make some for the troops but I had a hard time envisioning how the pattern works. It turned out OK except Colin says the part around the nose needs to be a bit tighter.

It was a suprisingly fast knit. I thought it would take longer. It is basically a turtle neck with a hat attached :) I think I can now tackle making some to send over for the troops. Here is the link to the pattern if you want to make one for the troops too: Helmet Liner Patterns.

Finally.......Cold Weather!

It's finally cold enough to justify making something to keep warm! I made Jason a hat out of Manos del Uruguay. I got the yarn for free!!!! I wanted to try it and decided to by a skein. But then found out I had a $75 coupon to spend and I had to spend it in one day!!!!! Such bad luck to have $75 to spend in a yarn shop!!!



Unfortunately - I didn't have a good game plan. Afterward, I realized I should have gotten some cashmere or something purely luxurious that I would never get otherwise. But I got 4 hanks of the Manos, 1 of Malabrio lace, and some stich markers to use every last penny.

These is the 100% Wool yarn. It's think and thin and fun to knit. It is not as soft as Malabrigo - another kettle dyed yarn. It's great for a hat - perfect weight. I wouldn't use it for a sweater though - even though it's beautiful - but it would be a tad too scratchy for me. I'm hooked on the idea of Malabrigo as the perfect sweater wool.



I also made another pair of Fetchings out of Moda Dea Bamboo Wool. These will be a gift for one of the kid's teachers along with the other pair. The yarn was great to work with, seems like a much more expensive yarn than what you would usually find at A.C. Moore. The color selection isn't that great, however, or I would think about it for a sweater. If I decide to make a dark grey sweater, then I would consider using this again.

Death of Family blogger - Birth of Family Space

Our family Blogger site died a slow, painful death. I haven't blogged on it in over a year. And blogging isn't Colin's thing. So - I've started one on Live Spaces because it does a bit more of what I need in a family blog - basically combline my family blog and photo album.

Here's the link: Family Blog to check out what are the latest antics that our family is up to. The latest excitement is that Jada turned 1!!! I didn't get as many birthday pictures as I would have liked but I snapped a few. I can't believe it's been a year, yet it seems like we have had 3 kids forever.

I felt bad b/c I had to send out our family pictures recently to some college friends and it was all very old. Now I have a new site to send them too. And I will do better about keeping it up.

Meet EastSideKnitters

I found a new knitting group in Redmond!! I was crusing a local mall looking for a bite to eat and a place to knit, and I found a very busy table of knitters (and spinners). They invited me to join them and now I have a home away from home :)

It was great to hear them talk about the knitting community in their area. It's very different than Charlotte. Alot more people who actually produce their yarn, spinning and getting very interesting sounding fibers. I've always wanted to know how to spin, maybe I will learn through hanging out with them when I'm in Redmond. Since I am there once a month - you will know where to find me on Wedensday evenings!!

All done!!!

The are done. They took a tiny bit over 1 hank of the Lana D'Oro. The Thumbs were ok, not too fun but not too hard. How does my neighbor aka babysitter model look modeling them?

My Fetchings

I decided last night when I couldn't sleep to join in on the Charlotte Purls KAL. Here is how far I got. The yarn is Lana D'Oro Tweed by Cascade Yarns which has been in my stash for ever. It was one of my first "real" yarn purchases off ebay a mix of Alpaca and Wool. I have 3 bags of the stuff and this poor hank has been in a ball for 3 years. Miss Fetching is a perfect fit!

Double Dare Me

I'm off to Seattle tomorrow and have some serious knitting to get done.

1. I need to complete a prayer shawl we will delivery to a mom next Saturday. Her son is in a coma at CMC after being hit by a car. He's 7 years old. As a mom - my heart goes out to her anyway. But as we have put our time at CMC with Jason during his 6 years, I empathize even more. So - please say a prayer for Jeremy and his mom that wakes up from his coma. And a quick one for me that I suspend my dislike of Homespun enough to concentrate on getting the shawl done!

2. I have a sudden, selfish need to finish a vest and sweater for me. I can feel the coolness in the air......occasionally. Well, rarely, but I know fall is coming if only for a day. And I am going to look good in my retro vest and sweater!

3. My Christmas shawls have been sidelined for way too long. I can't knit lace to well while in meetings and that is when I do most of my knitting so I can concentrate and not do email! So - I've got to get back to the lace.

4. And lastly - I have to resist adding to the stash. It's totally out of control.

So - I'm double daring me to come back with more than one FO and while I'm not sure I can go on a trip and not by some yarn. Let's just say I need to limit it to yarn I can fit in my suitcase without paying for extra poundage on the plane. I think I left myself enough wiggle room there to win my dare :) Let's see. And hopefully a few pics as well for the blog.

Oh - and I get to hopefully meet the founder of my company at my 15 year service award dinner :) He's a little someone most people have heard of before :) If I do - I will make sure I have digital camera in hand to capture the moment!!!!!

Near Instant Gratifcation

Due to my constant bouncing between projects - none of the socks I was working on were progressing fast enough - and I wanted a new pair of socks!!! The owner of Rave Knits had waved some Universal Classic Worsted yarn in front of me - 20% Wool/80% Acrylic. Normally the yarn snob in me would have ignored the yarn, but after having my 100% wool socks burnout in the sole, I'm not as hot on all wool socks anymore. So I thought that yarn may make a great sock. It does!!! And I finally got Green socks on foot instead of on needle - after two days!!! It's a quick knit on size 2 needles, almost as quick as Jada's socks.

So tonight - I'm wearing my near instant gratifcation socks!!!

Christmas Presents - Caterpillar Scarves and Hat

I decided to make these cute scarves and hats from Merino Farms for Christmas presents for the little kids in my life. I still have to add the eyes and eye brows but they are a quick cute knit. I love using bright colors. The Brown/Yellow is knit in the Merina Farms 3-ply worsted. The Green/Blue is knit in Malbrigo. Ahhhh - that is such a lovely, soft yarn. Doesn't feel anything like wool. I have GOT to make a sweater in it. It's a pretty big hank too, 2X as much yardage as the Merino Farms at about the same price. I like MF too - it's very soft. But I like the variation of color in the Malabrigo and you can't beat the price for the ultra softness. It's almost like knitting roving though. Be careful - I broke the yarn trying to bind it off twice!!

Jada's Silky Socks

I found this yarn at AC Moore. I know - and me being the yarn snob that I am couldn't believe I found something I like at a non-LYS. It's Moda Dea Silk N' Wool - 85% Wool and 15% Silk. Worsted weight, has a tweedy look and great colors - especially the Green and Dark Pink (Sangria).

So - I got some balls to make Jada some socks. I wanted to use them to make the great new style of socks in Cat Bordhi's book - New Pathways for Sock Knitters ().

But I couldn't wait and decided to make up a sock using a standard knitting formula.


They knitted so fast and are so soft and so cute on her. I started last night while Colin was playing at the Grape - yes, I knit in a wine bar while my husband's band plays!!! That makes me a die hard knitting freak, I know. I have brochitis, so I was sitting by myself - so that's my excuse. If I was sitting with others - I would have not knit...........as much.

Anyway - I started last night and wrapped up the last one today.

Isn't she the cutest in them?

Here's my attempt at a pithy pattern if you are interested:

Yarn: 1 Ball (you will only use 1/2 half) Moda Dea Silk N' Wool - Sangria
Needle: Size 5, 32" (if you use the magic loop method as I did)

CO 25, Join in a circle and knit the first and last stitch together.
K2P2 for 16 rows.
Heel Stitch on 12 stitches for 14 rows.
Heel Stich is:
R1: *S1, K1*, repeat stitches in * * to end of row.
R2. S1, P all remaining stitches to end of row.
Repeat R1 and R2.

Turn heel:
S1, K 6, SSK, K1, Turn.
S1, P4, P2tog, P1, Turn.
S1, K5, SSK, K1, Turn.
S1, P6, P2tog, P1, Turn.

Hmmm - I hope I got that right. I'm going by memory!!

Anyway - I had 8 stitches on the heel not 9 so something is off......note to self to edit blog later!

K 8, Pick up 8 stitches on the side of the heel for the gusset.
K 12, Pick up 8 stitches on the other side of the heel for the gusset.
Decrease 2 every other row until there are 14 (not 12 b/c babies feet are fat!!) on the sole.
Knit another inch or so depending on the babies foot.
Then make your favorite toe. I made a wide wedge toe. But the star would be nice too. I decreased to 8 stitches and just drew them together b/c I didn't want to graft it. These are quick remember!! Total - maybe 2 hours knitting time. I did them on a magic loop with my Harmonies since I don't have Harmonies DPs in 5s.

If you haven't made worsted baby socks, they are quick & satisfying, and with lovely, silky yarn - so cute!! Next - I will make the Green sock the Cat Bordhi way - I can't wait!

Dead batteries, Rain, First walking moments and USPS Brings Joy

I got back from my trip to Seattle, tired, cranky, but happy to be home. I had hired a driver because I didn't want to leave my car at the airport (hubby needs it) and I really didn't want to drive. But upon arriving at the airport - the drivers car wouldn't start!! The battery was dead. He was embarassed, it wasn't his fault. But the last thing I wanted to do was sit for 45 mins in the airport. And then when we got going thei Humberto rain caused accidents on 85. And since Charlotte drivers find it impossible to drive in the rain without either crashing or causing back ups to watch other people crash - it tooks us another 45 mins to an hour to get home.

Grrrrrrrrrr.

But - upon arrival, my Knitpicks Harmony Needles had arrived.

A lot of other good things happened, of course - but this is a craft blog.

I'm in love with them. They are smooth and hard, but warm as wood is. The sharp points are heaven. I like them better than the nickel plated and the Addis. The KP lady hit gold with these, every knitter will have to have a pair I suspect.

Both the DPNs and the interchangable are both great. Wonderful joins, and the tips, the tips!!!

I took off 2 sets of DPNs I had on socks immediately. One I knew I was not enjoying b/c of the rounded tips on the pony pearls. I like pony pears feel, but the round tips are not working out on the jaywalker socks. I dread the row with increases and decreases b/c to knit tightly but try to scoop out the inc or dec with blunt needles wears on you after a while.

But my new Harmonies are great!! I love you get an extra DPN for breakage - that has happened to me with my Brittney 0s before - grrrr-. But I now have a cure for that. ON my Seattle trip, I found out about the Nancy KnitNacks DP WIP tubes (check them out at: http://www.nancysknitknacks.com/). No more broken wood needles for me!!

So as a knitter I'm now happy.

Now for the non-knitting grumbles. Jada started walking - as I knew she would. Just like Janeen did 8 years ago. She isn't consistant yet, but she can walk. She's smart enough to know that walking may not be the best thing right now - ie. less carrying - so she holds out for special occasions or when we aren't looking and she is playing in her play area. But once again - I missed this special event in one of my children's lives. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

Harmony - nice!!!

Missing Jada walking - not nice!!!

I have no pics of WIPs at the moment. So - just use your imagination. Lots of lace, socks, and yummy yarns of course. :) Stay tuned for pics.

The blog name is Crafty Girlz....

not crafty girl. And I have been trying in vain to get my daughter interested in crafts. She is very creative. Her thing is writing movie scripts. Career wise, she is probably on to something. But I'm a crafty girl, and have dreams of sitting down with my daughters and crafting.

So - I think I finally found something she at least tolerates. I got her making potholders for Christmas presents. I started her on the loops and then did some yarn potholders so she can see how much better they are. She likes them. The brainwashing may be starting to work.....

She likes me to knit for her though. I have a cool book - "Knit a Square make a Toy" that's going with me to Seattle this week. I have a little snake (Janeen) and Rabbit (Jason) that have been ordered from the kiddies. :)

Playing with cotton and linen yarn for washcloths

Can you tell the fibers?

Universal Yarns Flax Sampler

Yummy Linen Yarn called Flax from Universal Yarns. It is divine and I have 8 hanks with a sweater (in this color) for me written all over it!!!! I have several other hanks for faceclothes!!

Potholder Weaving

This is my potholder weaving. It's so fun with yarn, better than loops. Thanks Noreen! Janet sent with Treo on the road.

Neglected

My poor neglected blog. I have been knitting, and even crocheting. And now - I've added weaving as my new fiber art. I've bought a ....errrrrrr.... few looms, and also learned how to weave on a pot-holder loom with the great tutorial on this site - http://www.hankeringforyarn.com/how-to-weave-with-yarn-on-the-potholder-loom-part-1. It's so simple. No need for those pesky, horrible loops. What a great idea!!

I've also fallen in love with linen yarn, and hemp. All types. Thick, thin. For face cloths, shawls, and I'm even experimenting with a baby blanket (perhaps) or a shawl in crochet linen.

Hemp is yummy to. I've ordered some hemp yarn from lanaknits.com and the local LYS. And I also picked up some hempton (Hemp and cotton) from knitpixie.com.

Let's see - what else have I been doing. I have 2 swallowtail shawls almost done, but I've been intimidated by the ending, so I'm pausing to get up my nerve!!! They are so pretty, I will be so sad if it doesn't end well.

I've discovered knitting groups. The Concord, NC knitting group that meets at Rave Knits has been one that my sister and I attend. It's been great getting to know more ladies (and a man) who love knitting as much as I do. And talking with them about different projects, getting inspired by what creative things they come up with, and we have 2 ladies from Universal Yarns that come by and tease us with new yarn on a regular basis. That is like a bartender visiting an AA meeting!!!

I heard from a nice lady about another knitting group that meets in the University area that I think I have to visit. It's becoming another addiction - knitting groups :) My AA meetings.

Oh - and have you seen the new Knit Picks Harmony needles - I've GOT to get me some of them! They are beautiful and I have a bit of a needle fettish.

I've discovered via blogs Japanese Lace knitting books - and I have a few on the way :)

I've fallen in love with lace, and have many many projects in the works.

So it's obvious I'm to busy to blog!! So my poor blog is suffering. But the bright side is I should have lots of cool pics soon.

The baby is getting big. She is scooting holding on to things all over the place. But she isn't walking yet. It is just a matter of time. Her little personality is so funny to us. She is very independant (not anything like her mother of course!! NOT!) and sneaky. She gets very quiet when she is sneaking out of her play area. That's our only clue that a 9 month old is on the loose. If you delay 10 seconds, there is no telling where she will be. She is very attached to Colin these days, sort of hurts my feelings some times. She isn't talking to much, but she doesn't have to - she's pretty good about letting us know what she wants. She used to have a very quiet wheezy cry, but that's gone. She has replaced it with a high-pitch, back of the throat screech. I guess we weren't reacting fast enough to the low wheeze. Being a momma of a baby again is tiring but so much fun. I guess because I know it's the last time - I'm not ready for any phase (even bottles and diapers to end. And I was super depressed when I had to stop breast feeding due to high BP. I still wish I could BF her today - she has a lot of skin problems and I wonder if BFing would have helped. But overall she is as strong and healthy as we could have hoped for. We are blessed.

Well - Jason has asked me for the 10th time for pizza so my sad little blog post will come to an end. I'm travelling next week for work. Perhaps my blog will get a few entries while I'm on the road.

Chat with ya latter.

Posting some pics

I am doing a lot of knitting, but not a lot of posting. I'll try to get a little caught up this post.

Last week we had a "Yarn Tasting" at Rave Knits - our Concord, NC Knitting Store. It was a lot of fun. Universal Yarns, also in Concord, brought by 4 of their new yarns in sample sizes for us to test. We spent a couple of hours testing and lovin on the new yarn. My favorite was Flax - their new Linen Yarn. At $8 a hank for about 136 yrd, it's the best buy I've found on 100% linen yarn and the colors are vibrent and rich.

Here is a sample swatch knitted on Flax: :( Blogger wouldn't post pics.

Linen Leaf Lace Shawl

Between family, work, family, work, family, more work, more family - and knitting (of course). I have not had any time to blog. I've been to Seattle probably 3 times since the last update. We also went to Ashville to go along with Janeen to summer camp since I couldn't bear to send her away by her self at age eight. We had a good time, and my sister and I even managed to find a new knit shop (Yarn Paradise) curtosy of her GPS system. My score there was 2 skeins of Jitterbug (a sock yarn I've wanted to try), and 2 lace yarns. One of them is 2 seins of Malabigo. It is soo soft and wonderful. I am trying to find the perfect project to use it's soft goodness on.




And despite starting many more WIPs than I have finshed, I have finally completed the Linen Leaf Lace Shawl. I didn't really enjoy working with the linen, it's rough on the hands to knit with. But the end result is lovely and much warmer than I thought. I was completing it last night and trying to position it on my chilly legs to keep me warm. It's larger than I thought it would be too. Here is a picture of it being blocked. And a picture of the stiches close up. The Pattern is from the book "Knitted Shawls, Toles & Scarves" The pattern is technically called "Lavender Leaf Lace Shawl". It is very easy (and fast) to memorize and do. I have 2 more on the needles in a laceweight yarn - one in Jaggerspun and one in Lorna's Laces Helen's Lace yarn.

1 down, 1 to go....

And I finished my first Jaywalker. I like this pattern - it's a great next step if you are as bored with straight knitted socks as I was. This one is in pink Fleece Artist yummy yarn. I love them. I think these may not make it to the gift sock pile.....

More socks......

I finished a pair of socks my friend Trouble, yes, that's my name for her Trouble has asked for. Before I was half way done. I guess I'll have to make them her Christmas present. I've got 3 pairs of socks done as Christmas gifts!

These are a DK weight Merino yarn, by Sunshine Yarns on Etsy. It's nice and soft and a huge skein, I probably have enough for another pair. I like the fall colors. Warm and cheery.

I made up a patter with a after-thought heel and toe both done in 4 corners. They fit sort of baggy and comfy.

Two little crazy kids

This was a fun day when we got out the face paints and had some fun. That's crafty right?

OK - now I am just bragging

Jaywalkers

I have two jaywalkers on the needles. I now know why these socks inspire such rave reviews, they are very easy but so fun. I made one following the pattern and one with a fore-thought heel. An idea I got out of the Sensational Knitted Socks: by Charlene Schurch (get yourself a copy here: http://www.amazon.com/Sensational-Knitted-Socks-Charlene-Schurch/dp/1564775704). I like the heel - I need to knit a bit more to see if it fits as well as the after-thought, but theoretically it should.

The pink socks are made with Fleece Artist yarn, and the blue are made with Koigu. It's one of the wildest Koigu color's I've seen. More stripy than I expected, but fun.

I'm rockin and rollin on these, so hopefully I'll have one each very soon.

Running through the wildflowers socks.....

I finished my socks using the Wildflowers colorway from Sunshine Yarns (purchased on www.etsy.com). I love, love these socks. She also has a new tighter spun yarn in the same colorway that would probably make even more durable socks. But these are soft and yummy. It started pooling in a weird way on the 2nd sock and I didn't stop it. So that sock looks a tad weird - but I love them anyway. I am going to make a matching scarf of of the extra yarn I have left over.

I used my own pattern - plain ole' knit stitch - with a standard heel and a 4 corners (janet's no-grafting) toe. They fit me perfectly - and that's good because they are mine!!! I've taken a break from gift socks to enjoy a pair or two :).

In the picture one looks way bigger than the other. It's an optical illusion folks. The are the same size! Blame the photographer - me :)

Koigu socks are finished

I finally finished my green koigu socks. First of all - I love, love, love green!! And secondly I love, love, love koigu. So - you know I love, love, love these socks!

I 3 needled bound off the toe and foot because I have lost patience and confidence in my abilities to graft effectively.

The top of the sock is a garter rib pattern - the heel is an after-thought heel. The toe and heel yarn is Fearless fibers - Midnight Blue. I'm making another pair of socks with the rest of this hank.

Finally- I finish a pair of socks - now on to the other lonely 1 completed socks I have in my WIP bin.

Jason's glasses

Poor Jason has eye's like his mommy and needs glasses. The standing close to the TV and holding his DS close to his face were our main clues. The kid's styles are a lot nicer than when I started wearing glasses, but I was hoping my kids wouldn't have my eye weakness. This blog item has nothing to do with knitting, crochet or crafts. But I was just sharing.