A 2007 Recap

It seems unlikely that I'll finish the current socks in progress by midnight, so I think it's safe to give my 2007 Knitting Recap now.

First off, socks!



The Flickr set of my 2007 socks (44 pairs) can be found here, although a few pairs aren't pictured due to secrecy.

In non-sock knitting:

Bags: 1
Bath Poofs: 1
Chickens: 1
Dishcloths: 1
Hats: 2
Squares: 2
Sweaters: 1

This is not about capital ideas, it's about socks!

I've been having a sock-filled trip to the PacNW. My little sister was nice enough to take me by Knit-Purl and get me some lovely naturally dyed sock yarn.



We also headed out to Abundant Yarn & Dyeworks on Thursday where I got to see a Legare sock machine in action (I totally less than three them!) Then on the train to Olympia I finished another pair of socks!



Pattern: Central Air from Rockin' Sock Club '06
Yarn: STR in Titania
Started: ? long ago
Finished: 12/27/07
Needles: Size 1 (2.25mm)
Pair #101

More sock knitting is in progress as we speak!

Listening to: Principle of Evil Made Flesh ~ Cradle of Filth, Ballrog Boogie ~ Diablo Swing Orchestra

What? It's the end of the year?

Well, it has come to my attention that the year is almost over. In fact, I got my STR club package and it was the last package and I think that's when it really hit me. Um, 2007 is practically over! (You think the fact that it's December and I am frantically trying to finish this knitted Christmas item would have clued me in, but I guess not.)

Right! Well, I was just talking to Catherine about knitting resolutions for next year. This year I didn't really start with any resolutions. I did pledge to try to buy only 1/3 of the yarn I used. I didn't completely succeed with that, but I did use more yarn than I bought this year, which I think is pretty good.

In April I decided to knit all of the socks from Knitting Vintage Socks , which I'm still working on. But I never said I would do it this year, and it hasn't been a year since April quite yet anyway.

So what about knitting goals for 2008? Well I do want to continue working to get the stash under control. I also would like to work on trying more of the different types of yarn that I have in the stash. As much as I want to try new yarns, I tend to knit with the same ones over and over.

I was thinking it might be fun to do a little sort of "sock club" with my stash - maybe throw skeins of yarn in brown bags and write months on them blindly and then open one each month and force myself to cast on socks with it. That would be interesting...

I also want to knit a sweater in 2008. Maybe start my Rhinebeck sweater a little more than two weeks ahead of time. ;) I have yarn for a couple of sweaters that I've been thinking about knitting for a good while but haven't actually started yet - the two foremost in my mind being the Ribby Cardi and this Adrienne Vittadini sweater. Well, that and Durrow.

Now back to the grindstone - I'll keep brainstorming about knitting goals for the new year.

Contest, and some more holiday knitting

Hey family members, are you still staying away from my blog? I sure hope so!

First off, the contest: I did not hear from Cindy so I've given up and I'm declaring a tie - Amanda from myonlysunshine and weezalana both guessed October 31st for the 100th sock finish. If the two of you could contact me I'll let you know the deal on your handknit-by-me socks. :)

In a bit of randomness, while I was visiting Cathy this weekend I finally remembered to take a picture of her ceiling. It is rather amazing.



It looks like someone went a little crazy with the spackle meringues and the glitter.

I didn't remember to get any pictures of Monkee's visit *or* me wearing my Rogue *or* WEBS *or* me wearing my York, however. (Yeah, I know, I am really bad at the picture taking thing.)

I have been doing some knitting - here's a holiday gift in progress:



I've still got a ways to go but... um... I'm flying on Friday, that gives me a lot of plane knitting time, right? (I have a feeling my mom might get half a stocking in a box.)

Listening to: Wrapped In Plastic ~ Marilyn Manson, Miss Murder ~ A.F.I.

A Very Knitty Houseguest

This week among the blizzards and such, I had Monkee staying with me. It's been a blast - she has been very awesome and has helped me put together IKEA lamps, hang artwork in my bedroom, organize yarn, and she even does the dishes! I am happy to let anyone that awesome crash on my couch for a few days. ;)

Because of her I've also been having a yarn-filled few days catching up with other local knitters and visiting yarn shops.

She arrived on Thursday just in time for the huge snow storm, so we just spent the evening knitting and trying to stay warm. Friday after work we headed to A Good Yarn for some yarny goodness, then out to Harvard Square for some noodles and shopping.

Saturday we went to WEBS for the 2-at-a-time Socks book event. It was pretty interesting and I got a book even though I've already got that method down. I also got some Plymouth Happy Feet and a bit of Shi Bui for some colorwork socks.

Today the weather was crummy once again but we did manage to go over to Cathy's place where I brought her some BMFA Leticia in Rooster Rock that I found in my stash-diving adventures (I have two skeins so I gave one to her) and she managed to whip up an Unoriginal Hat in just a couple of hours.

As for me... still knitting socks.

Listening to: Dope Hat ~ Marilyn Manson, Mayonaise ~ Smashing Pumpkins

A quick little bit of crochet and some yarn reviews

The other night I started and finished a little project in an evening - I'd almost forgotten how nice it is to be able to do that.

What was it? A POOF!



Pattern: Cotton Bath Puff, highly modified
Yarn: Sugar'n Cream
Started: 12/10/07
Finished: 12/10/07

And now for a bit more about the socks - I've gotten a bit behind on my sock yarn review page, so here's a few yarn reviews from my most recently completed socks.

Fabel: The yarn itself was not really all that different from other yarns I've worked with, although I was surprised by the striping since from looking at the ball I thought it would be variegated. Overall a nice and durable yarn that makes comfortable and hard-wearing socks.

Dorchester Farms Sock Yarn: I picked this yarn up *ages* ago but it marinated a bit in the stash. It's a little heavier than the yarns I usually use - more suited to a size 2 or 3 needle. The base yarn itself is a fairly standard superwash wool/nylon blend. I guess what make this yarn different, other than the slightly heavier weight, is the fact that it's hand-dyed. It seems like most hand-dyed yarns are a superwash merino base instead of this wool/nylon one.

Macek Designs Superwash Merino: I had this yarn custom dyed and was very happy with the customer service as well as the yarn itself. It is a similar base yarn to other indie sock yarns out there - a 2-ply superwash merino. It is very soft, fluffs up nicely, and the dyeing was great.

Ruby Sapphire: My Sockapalooza pal MJ knit me a pair of socks in this yarn, then sent along the extra so I could have the experience of knitting with it too. I love the socks she made - they're very comfortable and have held up well so far. The yarn was a little splitty while I knit with it, but the end result is worth it.

Listening to: Burden In My Hand ~ Soundgarden, ...But Home Is Nowhere ~ A.F.I.

Sheepish or... Pair 100!!!

First off, to any of my family members that may be reading (Hi mom!)...

GO AWAY!

Tis the season of holiday gifting and I know you don't want to be un-surprised so it's in your best interest to go away starting now. Maybe don't return til January.

OK, gone now? Back to business.

Now is the time when I realize something really really embarrassing. I can't count. (That or I knit so many socks that I totally forgot a pair.)

See, I finished this pair of socks tonight and I was like "Oh, pair #99, I should do something really special for #100. Like maybe I should design my own cabled knee-highs with handspun hand-dyed yarn." And then I went to Ravelry to look at my projects there. You know, just to check, cuz I'm paranoid. (Yeah, thanks Ravelry for showing me the error of my ways.)

The problem came with these socks. See, although they were posted in November '06, they were actually completed in '05 sometime - no idea when. Because I never blogged them or took a picture when I first finished them they didn't get in the pre-2006 count and because they weren't completed in 2006 they weren't counted in that year either. But they did make it to Ravelry.

So, to make a long story short, until today these were the socks-without-a-number. When I looked at Ravelry I realized that I had never counted these socks so this whole time I had been counting 6 pairs pre-2006 when it was really 7. In any case, when they were finished is a moot point, what matters is that they *are* a pair of socks I completed and thus the following socks are #100.

So meet the rather anticlimactic pair #100 - Fuzzy Feet for my sister:



Pattern: Fuzzy Feet Redux from Knit Wit
Yarn: Patons Classic Wool Merino in Burgundy and black
Started: 12/5/07
Finished: 12/9/07

Pan is for scale - these things are about 16" long pre-felting! Since I am showing you his amazing modeling skills, I figure I should also give Java credit for helping with the knitting.



She likes to get all cozy on the side of my desk, preferably on top of whatever knitting-in-progress is sitting there for computer knitting. This time the yarn was coming from that bag and she got a bit interested when I was pulling.

So there it is, the 100th pair of socks knit by me. And I still haven't heard from my contest winner! Cindy if you're reading please contact me! If I haven't heard from you by the end of the week (12/15) I'll pass the prize on to the next-closest winners. Yep, that would be a tie between Amanda from myonlysunshine and my SP-at-the-time Rockstariel who turned out to be the fabulous weezalana.

Listening to: Criminals ~ Katatonia, Title and Registration ~ Death Cab for Cutie, The Noose ~ A Perfect Circle

Yay for socks!

Remember this tragedy? Well yesterday I got another pair of socks from Jenneke. Or, rather, I got a pair of socks, but it was the second pair she sent.

In any case, they are amazing!



I snapped a few pics this morning before leaving for work as it was about 20 degrees and I wanted to wear my brand new socks. :)

The yarn is Merino-Alpaca from Natural Dye Studio, and they have a twined heel:



They're so so pretty, super soft and comfy too! Thank you!

Also the fleece seems to be a hot topic - it is my Rhinebeck fleece. I bought it while I was there - you can read about it here. I got a colored fleece so I could dye over it to make heathery yarn, so I do plan to try that. I'm not sure how much yarn I'll get out of it, but it's about 5-6 pounds of fiber so probably a lot. I guess that will depend on what weight(s) I spin it at too. I am going to make at least one pair of socks from it, of course.

Listening to: Black Hole Sun ~ Soundgarden, Cherub Rock ~ Smashing Pumpkins

It's here!

My fleece arrived today after a long and arduous journey with UPS. See, it was supposed to be shipped to Catherine but then they shipped it to my billing address and then I had to call UPS and tell them to deliver it to Catherine anyway and then they forgot and then when they did deliver it they didn't change the name like I asked them to or put an apartment number...

But oh well, it is here and it is gorgeous.

The only problem was getting it home from her house tonight. Squishing was involved.



Now to get spinning again!

Listening to: Criminal ~ Fiona Apple

Pay It Forward

Ok, ok, I've given in to peer pressure.

The idea of PIF, in case you haven't already read it on a million other blogs:

“The idea of the exchange is I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on this blog post requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet, and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.”


I highly doubt it will be socks. Ok, so maybe it will be socks. We'll see. It may not even be knitting - I have a few other less known crafty hobbies. ;)

Now, as for me and the knitting? Well I went to NYC this weekend for a concert and brought my camera and *not* the memory card (laptop card readers are evil, EVIL I tell you!). Yeah, so that was kinda dumb. So no pictures.

I went to The Point on Saturday afternoon for some knitting and coffee, and today was mostly spent navigating many forms of transit to get myself home in the snow. But here I am!

Amazingly I didn't buy any yarn - I was tempted but the two things I wanted to purchase were a no-go. I wanted some Karaoke, but they only had two skeins of each of the two colors that I liked and I wanted 3 or 4 to make a scarf.

I wanted to buy some cool hand-dyed sock yarn that they had, but the only colors there were green and brown. :(

Listening to: Grow Up and Blow Away ~ Metric, Broken ~ Seether featuring Amy Lee