A Golden Gift

Lookie Lookie what my sister gave me for my birthday. It just arrived, and I am sooooooooooo excited.



Ooooh - A Golding!!!!!!!



The excitment builds - which Golding is it. There is not a bad one.....



Aromatherepy? In a spindle? Lavender? So relaxing. What a great idea!

Let me describe my spindle. It has the distinctive Golding brass ring. You see it and know it's a Golding. It's quality in a spindle. Solid feel but lightweight. It has a little pot at the top to hold a bit of cotton with an essential oil. So you can receive healing aroma while spinning. It comes with a 1/2 fl oz. of Mood Mender - a mix of Clary Sage, Lemon and Lavender. Ahhhhhhh. I need that. After having a headache for a day and a half - non-stop - it's such a soothing scent.



The cherry wood is luxurious. The detail in the top whorl is a fan shape. It spins a lovely circle when the spindle is in use. The Walnut shaft (7 3/4") has smooth grooves about half way down to give the spindle a nice grip, but then is smooth and solid in the upper half to hold the spun yarn.




The whole spindle is .95oz - light.

And I almost forgot - this was not her only gift to me!!! She made a lovely trade on Ravelry for this beautiful lace yarn.



I can't wait to make someting soft and warm with it. As well as spin someting extra special on my Golding.



I Lurve it!!!! Thank you so much Doreen

I've been so lax in blogging and even worse in reading blogs. Between work, vacation, start of school - I'm so out of touch. Sorry my friends for not keeping up on your knitting adventures - I've got a lot of reading on Google Reader to catch up on soon.

My knitting has also slowed down - I'm working on Christmas gifts - lace scarves. I have several in progess - and started the final ones. If I get them all done by Christmas I will be so pleased.

I'm using a diagonal lace pattern that is easy but I like the look. The first one is in SWTC TOFUtsies - and I love the color and yarn.



I expecially love the mix of yellows, browns, oranges, and even a pale green. Beautiful. I should have picked up another ball for socks! This was a beach purchase at my Myrtle Beach shop away from home - Knit -n- Purl run by Phyllis and Terry. Once you meet them, you will love them they are so sweet. I'm looking forward to seeing them in December when we are there for Christmas, and maybe a bit of Christmas yarn shopping :)

And I loved the pattern so much - I started another one for my friend Connie who loves the color Red. It's hard for me to find Red yarn. I found some Red Alpaca, and am making a scarf in that too. But I think this one will work best for Connie. I'm using Baruffa Cashwool. Very soft, and tons of yardage for not a lot of money. And as I picked this up at Pacific Wool and Fiber when it was closing - it was even less expensive at 50% off! I want to make it nice and long, lacy, but light.



I started Hey Teach - but thanks to the Olympics had THREE holes in the stockinette portion. I frogged it back to before the wholes and haven't done much on it b/c I hate frogging and am a bit miffed. But I saw Doreen's and am getting over it - I think I'll start back on it soon.

Schools back in session. And I'm definately "Meh." about it. The weekly Monday onslaught of paperwork has something to do with it. So far - so good. I can't believe I have a 4th and 2nd grader!



I'll have to blog about our vacation - it was fabulous. We had a lot of time to relax as well as spend time with some of my college friends who were vacationing the same time as us. We enjoyed vacating at the same time and location with them so much, we are hoping for a larger group of friends next year. It was fun to get the families together, and to have our next generation develop friendships at the same time. I have a ton of pictures on our family blog.

I'm typing this while watching the DNC. I've been so impressed each night. I hope we get it right in Novemember as a nation. The stakes are so high. So - if you haven't registered. Do it NOW!

A little knitting, a little ranting

First the knitting - I have always wanted to make something from Victorian lace Today (). The smaller of the Two Sampler Shawls especially caught my eye.

I cast it on last week and have been totally besotted with it. I cannot put the thing down, almost like Pi did to me. I seriously need to finish Hemlock. But I'm in the endless feather and fan rows, and it is truly mindless. So - I use that for when I really need no concentration on knitting at all.

All other projects are sitting there, getting on my nerves because I want to get more done and am so stuck on the sampler shawl.

I'm not convinced I picked the right yarn. I decided to use handpaintedyarn.com lace stash. I love the green, but I think a light solid yarn would have stitch patterns more effectively.

So, I'm actually dreaming about when I finish this shawl and start another one. Crazy - as this is a month long project *at least*.



Getting a good picture has been a challenge - if I don't stretch it out and hold it it looks like a big blob of yarn. But the frequently changing patterns totally have me interested. Plus there is a mix of lace knitting and knitted lace. I've decided I'm not a big fan of knitted lace (yarn overs on every row not just the right side rows) - but it is interesting to see the difference in the fabric.

It's a great pattern to really explore lace in multiple aspects. I'm going to stop feeling guilty about neglecting my other projects and give into enjoying it!

Now the ranting.

First of all - full-disclosure. I'm voting for Obama. My mind is made up. I have a lot of very real reasons for voting for him - I've watched many, many, *MANY* of the debates. I've looked into the issues. I've listened and read the fact checkers. I'm an NPR, BBC and CNN junkie - so I have my reasons. Most of which are completely missed by the pundits "guessing" on what someone like me considers important.

Early on - I was in love with the debating of the candidates. I thought it was great that we had such a wide variety of topics being discussed. Yes, of course, in the land of politics much was superficial. But every once in a while, we dug into a real issue. And the sheer number of conversations means that the real stuff bubbled up more often than normal.

But now - I run like the plague when ever politics comes up on NPR, CNN or anywhere. Only on BBC can I listen with out silliness. I'm so sick of hearing one sound bite analyzed to death. If anyone makes up their mind on that crap (I don't care who it is from Obama, Clinton or McCain) they are crazy. OK maybe not crazy, but let's just say gullible? And I happen to think many Americans are a bit smarter than they are being given credit for right now.

The obsession with "reality" TV makes me question this assumption, but that's for another rant. Let's just say - my opinion is forget "Reality TV" and just be "real". Live your life, not someone elses. When I watch TV, I want it to be "Fake TV" or Information (ie. News). When I want reality - I have "Life". :)

I'm tired of being treated like I have to have my thoughts spoon-fed to me because I'm incapable of making up my own mind.

I'm sick of people speaking to me in 3rd grade English. Even my 3rd grader is past 3rd grade English!

I don't need someone to reinterpret what is said for me, I'm capable of hearing it and evaluating it myself. Just give me context.

Things can change, we are not doomed to blindly repeat the mistakes of the past.

I'm sorry if your experiences and life views make you cynical and unable to discuss topics with an open mind. I can - so let me decided what is best with the benefit of information not commentary.

Am I making myself clear?

Just give me my NC ballot and let me vote.

Myrtle Beach Finished Objects

I love vacations! We don't get to spend as much time as a family as I would like, so vacations are great for spending quality time with C and the 3Js. For the past 2 Christmas vacations we had hoped to get to Orlando and Disney World. I hear it's great to go Christmas time - no crowds! And really pretty. But - due to the arrival of Little Miss Jada - we have stayed a bit closer to home and went to Myrtle Beach. It is also great about the lack of crowds, but you get to see the beach and relax. This year we stayed in a new place Sea Glass Towers. The Condo was a bit small - 1 bedroom - for 5 people! But the view was great. You could see all of Myrtle Beach and the water. 2 1/4 walls were solid Glass :) C and I want to go back just the two of us perhaps :)

Here are the pics of our trip. I didn't get to go to the beach because my Blood Pressure was high that day and I had a headache. How can your blood pressure spike when you are on vacation? :( Another reason I need more vacations right?


Windows Live Spaces

I also love that I get to knit a bit more. This trip I wanted to make a Tam. I bought a book at the Seattle Weaving Works called Knitted Tams by Mary Rowe. First of all - Weaving Works is an Amazing store. I have a new love when I go to Seattle!!! You can find not just knitted items, but items for spinning and looms. But the yarn - so many choices. I was in heaven, except but broke! I bought some Shetland yarn because I have been wanting to try out Fair Aisle, and I thought a Tam would be a great project because it's small. The Knitted Tams book gives you great possibilities and teaches you how to design a Tam not just copy a pattern.

I didn't want to start out with color work until I was familiar with the shape, so I had some natural wool that was the perfect weight.





Not bad for my first try!! Now to try color work.

I also decided it was best to try to finish my present for Jada, and apparently just in time!!

This was a pattern I found in The Wheel, a magazine produced by Ashford who makes looms and fiber tools. They had a cool pattern called simply Cache that I have never seen anything like it before. It is sort of like a wrap for babies and innovative pattern. Soon as I saw it - I thought Zuri!





But it was a little big :( It fits Jada. But Zuri will grow into it!



Details for both projects (Yarn, needles, etc are on Ravelry).


I just need to add the buttons.

UPDATE: I updated the photo to include the Cache with the updated buttons. Aren't the Cows too cute! I found the buttons at Rave Knits when she was closing down. I bought several cute sets of buttons for future kids items. Now I just have to get knitting because these buttons are too cute to just sit in my stash!

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!

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 :)

2 sock yarn scarf

I have been admiring scarves on the internet made with 2 contrasting sock yarns. So of course despite my many, many WIPs I had to start one!! The difference in yarns is a bit more subtle than I would have wanted, but I like it. Lots and lots of colors.

Gift socks

I completed these two gift socks a while ago and hadn't got around to posting them. Actually - I was posting them and my internet went out. The first was made with Schoeller + Stahl Fortissima Big sock yarn that I had. I like working with the yarn -it's super fast on size 5 needles. The second sock I made with Toasty toes yarn. What a lovely, soft yarn to work with and the colors remind me of rugby for some reason. I like both socks and can't wait to give them to the right person.

A Sock Tragedy

My favorite socks, made out of my favorite yarn (koigu) experienced a tragic, catastrophic injury. Somehow, when I put them on this week I noticed a HUGE hole in the bottom of the sock. I had foolishly ignored the labelling and was washing them in the washing machine. I had dried them flat, but the washing machine (even thought it as a front loader) and the constant wearing exacted it's toll. My poor socks.

Doreen had a good idea to buy some suede and put suede bottoms on them. I think I may have to do that. But for now, I mourn my socks. It's made me add more energy to completing the koigu socks I have been working on for a while. So I can have another pair for my tired little toes to wear.

While on vacation, I finished socks...

I finished the Koigu sock, Regia Bamboo sock and Trekking sock while at Myrtle Beach. It was a family vacation, and not really a time to knit. But I fit some knitting in now and then of course! Now I have to start the 2nd sock for all 3 pairs. I don't know why I just can't finish one set and then start another. Too many yummy yarns I guess and I want to knit all of them at the same time. But I like each sock so much - I have to get started on the 2nd one. They all fit me great, and I think I plan to keep all of them versus giving them as gifts like the past few I made. I want to have some good fitting socks for me, most of the ones I have are the gift rejects, my first experiemental pairs. These all will be ones I will be proud to wear in public :)

I also made progress on Jada's sweater. Hopefully I will post the final product late next week - if I can resist starting another pair of socks!

I was in a LYS today getting a yarn swift b/c mine was broken. Or at-least I thought but I did get it to work after I bought a new one. I'm not dissappointed however, because I wanted a wood one and the one I had was a metal/plastic one. The new wood swift is much sturdier and able to handle bigger hanks much better. Anyway - someone asked the shop owner how many projects she had going - her reply was a grumpy "I don't know, maybe 30 or 40". I don't feel so bad now about my 10-15 projects......

Happy New Year everyone.....