Some things I knit

Sock camp will be coming in little bursts, I have a feeling, and I don't even really hope that I can get it all in. After *doing* all of it the writing is just exhausting! On Sunday night my monkey Mercury hopped on top of my re-packed suitcase in preparation for our trip back to Boston.



Pattern: Funky Sock Monkey
Yarn: STR heavyweight in Rook-y
Started: 4/16/08
Finished: 4/18/08

Earlier that day I had a fab trip to the Fremont Market with MJ and her husband - I found some awesome silver Converse sneakers. But we also saw this sign:



Those facial expressions? Imagine a whole week of that. It was awesome.

MJ even bought some of the wares - recycled yarn that she's going to use to make some hats.

And earlier in the week I even completed some socks! I know, a novel idea being at sock camp and all...



These "California" socks have been a long time coming - the yarn was a gift from Rachel and she bought it in California. I'm not sure what exactly it was - a 100% merino handdyed very thin yarn, probably between a laceweight and fingering.

Started: 9/?/07
Finished: 4/16/08

They turned out amazing, and I even had quite a bit of yarn left. I should have done them toe up so I could have made the cuffs longer, but I wasn't feeling the toe-up love at that point I guess. Not that I really am now, but I hate toe-up socks a bit less.

Listening to: Weakness ~ Opeth, One Last Goodbye ~ Anathema

Sock Camp Highlights

Here are the highlights (aka what I actually took pictures of) from sock camp. I always bring my camera and somehow never remember to take any pictures, so there are only a few and none of me as I obviously can't take pictures of myself. I'll have to get those from other people later.

On Monday morning we had a leisurely breakfast and then loaded up our gear and headed to the airport to pick up the rest of the campers riding on the bus. The lovely MJ was our bus driver:



After an uneventful trip and meeting some fellow campers on the ferry we arrived, checked into our rooms, and started meeting everyone. We even knit!



After the first night festivities, MJ and I returned to our room to finish up our homework assignments - to knit a toilet paper cozy. I knit a TP teepee - get it?



After the first night I apparently forgot that my camera existed for a good long while. More about that after I get back to Boston.

On the last night we had some of the Sock Camp rock stars sign the bus:

The Yarn Harlot, of course:



Tina from Blue Moon:



Friday afternoon there was also snow. Can I mention that in Boston it was 70 degrees? Saturday morning was even worse and as the bunch of shocked campers left Orcas the roads looked like this:



Crazy! We made it back to Seattle with a bit of stressing over our friends with flights at 2pm. Then MJ and I had a rather relaxing day of hanging out and almost falling asleep in various places such as the bathtub (separate bathtubs!) and while watching LOST - camp was amazing and exhausting.

Listening to: Morning Star ~ Amorphis, A Moment of Uncertainty ~ Sculptured

What I did on my birthday

I'm at sock camp right now, but of course I'm way behind and haven't yet told you what I actually did on my birthday.

After brunch with a friend and some assorted chores, I headed over to MJ's (no, not that MJ, the other one!) and painted a bus.



Pay no attention to my painting attire. The bus would be used for our crazy Seattle yarn crawl the next day, but of course we had to take it to dinner first.

We woke up and headed out to the airport to meet the rest of the crazy knitters and buy some yarn. We hit Weaving Works and Acorn Street, then headed down to the waterfront to the ferries and hung out a bit in the shade of the bus.



They headed over to Churchmouse in Bainbridge while I met up with my family for a birthday dinner.

Listening to: Sock Camp hilarity

Happy Birthday To Me!

My birthday isn't until Friday, but I got myself some presents already.



A Lexie Barnes bag that I'd been coveting for a while - and the fabric is no longer available so I figured I should snatch it up while I had the chance. The Trekking Hand Art is also a birthday present to me from me. And last, but certainly not least, the reason why they are being photographed on an open suitcase...

Tomorrow I'm heading off to Seattle for some birthday celebration with family and friends, and then sock camp!

I attended last year and had a great time, so I'm thrilled that I'll be able to make it this year as well.

Also, skully flowers make me happy:



Listening to: Rosetta Stoned ~ Tool

Sock Madness: Round 2

Round 2 of Sock Madness was a pattern called Reversai. It's a totally reversible sock with a knit/purl stitch pattern on the cuff, a garter stitch short row heel, and a garter stitch sole.

I picked up my Yarn Pirate BFL in Solstice:



And I knit:



Did I mention they released the pattern on Monday morning? I've worked every day since then and I arrived home from work today to find that I'm out. In truth I was a bit relieved. I wasn't enjoying knitting these at all.

Now is when I should mention that the photos above were taken in the opposite of the order posted. The socks knit over 72 stitches - even on size 1 needles - were going to be way too big. I also really dislike the way short row heels fit on my feet, and I can't imagine ever wearing a sock with a garter stitch sole. No thank you! The yarn was just too pretty to waste, especially since you can't see the stitch pattern at all.

This leaves some needles and yarn free for endeavors I'm likely to enjoy more. :)

I'll probably knit more of the patterns, but only if they are something I *want* to knit.

Listening to: Schism ~ Tool, Parabol ~ Tool