Frankensocks!

The perfect time for this post - it is kind of Halloween and kind of the first day of NaBloPoMo (I think I got that in the right order...)

So, the Frankensocks. These horrific creations were inspired by Maggie's love of crazy socks. I've been saving up leftover sock yarn for ages (although it certainly did come in handy for my sister's rainbow socks...) saying I'm going to make a stripy pair and now I really will!



The Frankensock came with me today (and with my new Yarn Pirate needles!) to see Nightmare Before Christmas in 3D. It was awesome. I hardly got any knitting done since we got there pretty close to when the 3D previews started.

Now, you may have noticed that this is a single sock. This is, of course, very unusual for me. The problem is this (and here's where I admit my slight craziness to the internet at large)...

I really like symmetry. When I posted my bag of odds 'n ends to the blog and asked if I should make the socks match or just grab yarn randomly, Maggie answered that I should just grab randomly. I can't *exactly* do that, but I've been trying to be as random as possible with the order and length of the stripes. However I knew that if I did it two at once I'd end up switching colors at the same places or making some of the stripes match just because that is how I am and yes, I am really that obsessive about my knitting.

So the single sock. The plan is to finish it and then hide it away while I knit the second one (I am of course keeping mental notes on the length of the cuff (6.25" before the heel flap) and the number of stitches in the center of the heel turn (4) so that those aspects will match. But for the colors I will try my best to forget.

I have this sock set up in my living room so I can knit it while I watch my Netflix, which gives me fairly random times for color changes (when an episode or movie ends, when I get up to get a drink, when a cat jumps on me) and keeps me from paying *too* much attention to the sock. Plus it's stockinette. And weaving in those ends holds a promise of hours of fun. ;)

Listening to: Veil of Sin ~ Amorphis, Expo '86 ~ Death Cab for Cutie

Socks again!

First off, I've signed up for NaBloPoMo - aka posting every day in my blog in the month of November. I guess this means for once I'll talk about my WIPs and not pretend that all my knitting springs fully formed from my needles. ;)

Speaking of finished knitting, though...



Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Socknitters Winter Sunset (#94)
Needles: 2.5mm (US 1.5)
Started: 8/24/07 (at the Philly Knitty Fest)
Finished: 10/30/07

Also, Alexis sent some photos of our Secret Spook exchange - I look stupid in all of them but here's one of Catherine opening her gift:



That's the little ghost bear I was talking about. ;)

Secret Spook (with socks, of course)

Last night FiberCult minus Amanda got together to exchange our Secret Spook gifts. Alexis was my Spook and I was Catherine's. At the moment that I'm writing they both have top posts about the Red Sox winning the World Series, but here you get a different type of socks.

Like these ones (#93):



Pattern: Crosshatch Lace from More Sensational Knitted Socks
Yarn: "This Is Halloween" custom dyed by Macek Designs
Needles: 2.25mm / US size 1

Those are the socks that I knit for Catherine. I didn't think to get a picture of all of her package before I assembled it, so hopefully she will. There were also some cute pumpkin stitch markers, a candy corn candle, some assorted Halloween goodies (stickers, a pencil) and a little ghost bear.

And then there are these socks:



The (almost) purl-free Monkey socks knit for me by Alexis. Actually she gave me *two* pairs of socks!



The other ones weren't handknit, though. I also got candy corn tissues, a cute skeleton pail which doubled as gift packaging, glow in the dark nail polish (!), some yummy chocolate, and some lovely Alpaca Sox yarn, which I haven't tried yet. The backdrop is a Halloween fleece blanket I picked up at Target on the Rhinebeck trip. I plan to use it year round (well, whenever I need a fleece blanket).

In which I show restraint at Rhinebeck

On Friday Rachel and I headed to her parents' house in CT and had a little multi-crafting evening. I was finishing up my Rhinebeck sweater and she was sewing a lining for her entrelac bag.



However as the evening progressed and we checked the weather it became very clear that I wouldn't be able to wear my sweater at Rhinebeck - it was going to be way too hot. Since I didn't want a repeat of the stressed finishing of Rogue and it's subsequent day in the trunk, I decided to give up early and knit some socks instead. Although Friday was a day of horrible pouring rain, Saturday dawned bright, sunny, and warm as promised.

Surprisingly I restrained myself quite well at Rhinebeck. Maybe it's coming back as a third year veteran, maybe it was the pre-Rhinebeck yarn dieting, but I only left with four pairs worth of sock yarn:



Well, there was one other big purchase:



I know it doesn't *look* big, but when I get my processed fleece back it sure will be! The lovely Sarah was nice enough to help me pick out a fleece (and listen to my incessant questions while I double- and triple-checked that it was a good one) and helped me pick out a beautiful colored Romney.

Actually the first fleece I looked at was a lovely CVM but it was more than I wanted both pound and price wise, so I traded in for a white Romney. Then I spent about 10 minutes in line discussing with Tania plans to buy a pound of her colored fleece so I could have it blended with mine to make it a bit heathery and finally the nice woman behind us offered this colored Romney to me. She had a few fleeces and said that if one of us wanted we could have it. I jumped at the chance and bought it, and I'm so excited to get my first fleece back. :)

Hey look, a zipper!

Tonight I went over to Cathy's and took advantage of her mad sewing skills. I had the fronts and back of York done and while I know you don't normally put a zipper in before the sleeves and collar are done... well... I'm on a Rhinebeck schedule here!

I can seam the sleeves in the car if necessary, but I can't put the zipper in without Cathy and her sewing machine.



The colors are not quite accurate - a little too light and bright - because of the flash, and that black smudge at the bottom is my camera cord and not part of the sweater.

I'm really enjoying the actual knitting of this sweater despite the fact that I always say I don't like ribbing, and it's turning out gorgeous! Quick too.

It's funny because I've had multiple people comment on how "me" the colors are, but the truth is that I didn't pick the yarn and, honestly, I probably would have picked one of the bluer Kureyon colorways. Not to say that I don't like it, I actually am really happy with how it's turning out and I'm glad it's gotten me to expand my palette a little bit.

The yarn is from my friend Rachel who bought it to knit something for herself (possibly a bag?) and swapped it to me later when I mentioned that I wanted to knit York. We realized that it was enough for the sweater, plus Alexis had two more balls in the same dyelot so I'm extra safe.

Now off to knit some sleeves!

Listening to: Eye ~ Smashing Pumpkins, What Difference Does It Make? ~ The Smiths

Things that make me happy...

After that last post, I think it's time to accentuate the positive. :)

You know how sometimes the smallest things can make you really happy? That's how I feel about my new mug.



Stars and Halloween! (Ignore the finger prints.)

And this is what I see when I drink my tea:



And now for some happiness in the knitting world...

I finished the back of my York tonight. I actually already started one of the fronts yesterday because the back wasn't portable enough to tag along in my bag. Tonight I watched Lemony Snicket and finished the back, which had been resting needle-less on the cable. Those Denise needles sure are handy.



It took almost exactly 3 balls of Kureyon. The tail you see hanging from the top is all that was left of the third ball.

I hope I can finish it in time for Rhinebeck!

Listening to: Deep Waters ~ Brave

A tragic knitting tale...

As some of you probably recall, I was in a sock swap on the Knittyboard and sent these socks to Jenneke. Well, she sent my package a long time ago, but it still hadn't arrived. I wasn't too worried, I've had international packages take extended trips before.

So you can imagine how excited I was to see it in my mailbox last night when I got home. (The package was sent from the Netherlands on 8/28 and got here on 10/5 - ugh.)

Well I got the package into my apartment and started to open it, which is when all my excitement turned to anger. See, the package had been opened and little bits of the wrapping had been torn off:



There were also two very mangled bars of chocolate. :( However it was taped up again all beautifully, so because of this and due to the long delay I'm assuming it was held up at customs.

So I opened this wrapped package and found the most beautiful yarn:



But... NO SOCKS.

Yes, whenever the package was opened the socks were separated from it. I am so sad to think of my socks, which I'm sure were beautiful, floating around lost in customs or wherever they are. I'm definitely going to report it - I called USPS right away and they basically said I could file a "missing item report" but that there is pretty much no chance the socks will be recovered.

I debated writing about it here, but I didn't want my most observant readers to see that I sent socks to my pal and never got any in return, so I'm putting this out there to say a big "Thank You!" to Jenneke, who sent the package out complete and on time. I already emailed her and told her what happened yesterday.

In any case the yarn is gorgeous and I'm so glad I had such a nice and thoughtful partner who sent me such nice goodies.

Really Exciting Knitting

Other than my Secret Spook project(s), I've been working on my Rhinebeck sweater - York from Noro Knits in Kureyon 147.



As you can see, Pan also thinks that rectangles of ribbing are really exciting. However, it's about to get more exciting for real - tonight I started the armhole shaping.

You may have noticed the odd striping sequence on the back - I decided before starting that I wasn't going to make myself crazy by trying to match the stripes. However BOTH of the first two balls had knots roughly in the middle where a completely different color (and as you can see often an earlier color in the striping sequence) was tied on.

I really don't know what to do - I don't want to make myself crazy so I think I'm just going to leave it and have a "That's Noro!" kind of attitude.

Secret Socks and Sea Socks!

I got word from my SP that she had received her package, so here are one of the secret pairs of socks I knit recently:



No, my SP's feet are not that small, but she does have a newborn that I hear they fit quite well.

Pattern: baby socks from my head
Yarn: Ruby Sapphire in Vera (leftover from my Sockapalooooza socks from MJ!)


I really love the colors of this yarn and the socks I got were very comfortable, but I did find it a bit splitty while working with it. Worth it, though!

And now for some BIG news...

I'm going on Sea Socks '08!

I've been discussing a trip with my mom for a while, and we were going back and forth between Hawaii and Sea Socks to Alaska. I told her how I wanted to go on Sea Socks but none of my knitting buddies could go with me, but I wasn't sure that she'd be interested in it.

Now, my mom does know how to knit. In fact, she taught me the basics when I was a little kid. But she has never knit socks. (!) We already had plans to remedy this problem over Thanksgiving and now it's even more urgent! Tonight while talking to her she said she'd like to go on the cruise, so we're on! I'm very excited.

Socks #92 and great swap packages!

Real life has been extremely busy lately, but I've gotten a couple of packages that I should share and finished some socks.

Socks #91 are a gift and won't be shown for a bit, but socks #92 aren't secret:



Pattern: Chevron from Sensational Knitted Socks
Yarn: Regia Crazy Colors 6-ply
Started: 6/19/07
Finished: 9/30/07

I started these back during the Secret Solstice sock disaster, but I put them down pretty much entirely after that. I needed a simple and public knit the other day and picked them back up, and now they're done!

Now for the swap packages...

First off, I got a beautiful pair of socks and some other goodies from Suemoon in the Knittyboard Sock Exchange Part Deux (or KBSX2 for short):



The socks are Monkeys (my first although I've knit some) and she sent me a cute sheepy bag and some yummy chocolate from afar. I also *almost* knit Monkeys for her, but luckily I didn't!

And the other swap package I got was from a Ravely swap entitled Rock Out with Your Socks Out:



My amazing pal, Lisa, even had some Ruby Sapphire yarn custom dyed for me in my fave colors and named after me!



That's me in yarn form, alright!

Thanks so much to both of my pals! Hopefully I'll get a little more knitting and blogging time this week - I've even started my Rhinebeck sweater.