Lots of ends

When Snarfy and I bought the same brand of yarn at the Superbowl sale, we decided to make fraternal twin socks. One night at knitting group - just before I moved up to Seattle - I wound off some of my blue for her and some of her green for me, and the Snarfytwin socks were born.



Needles: 2.25mm
Yarn: Newton's Yarn Country Happy Feet
Started: 3/3/09
Finished: 4/26/09
.24 miles for the Sock Marathon, 1.46 miles total

These socks were a long time in the making, mostly because they kept getting pushed to the bottom of the bag as I knit other more time-sensitive projects. But they were the perfect socks for a few rows of bus knitting in the morning, and when I got to the toe yesterday I figured they should be finished. Of course, knitting socks with contrasting bits gives you lots of ends... I have to remember that next time I think about doing contrasting ribbing, heels, and toes in my socks.

Secret knitting still continues, so the blog might be quiet for a bit longer. Of course, deadlines for being able to show you some of these projects are coming up so the blog will soon be full of things I finished already. :)

Listening to: How Soon Is Now? ~ The Smiths, Dose ~ Filter

I'm still knitting!

I knew it was time to blog when MJ asked "What, are you turning into me?" ;)

Yes, it is true. I haven't posted in almost an MJ-long time. First there was sock camp... for almost a whole week of 24/7 knitting-related vacation you would think I would have gotten more knitting in.

And I had a birthday...



At work I got a birthday fritter! (There are many reasons I love my job, and this is only one of them!) My family stopped by to say hi too, and then went to my apartment.



I came home to find these adorable star cakes and some balloons! It was a very nice birthday.

And then there has been secret (test and gift) knitting which I can't show, and I haven't finished anything. Well, that's sort of a lie. I did finish the lacy alpaca silk scarf that I was knitting at work, but it hasn't been blocked yet and it's for a store sample anyway.

Speaking of work, we are having a big sale this weekend so it's been pretty crazy. But it's still really fun. I'm just trying to restrain myself around all that yarn!

Listening to: Rusted Wheel ~ Silversun Pickups

Winners!

Congrats to Cathy and Harriet, who won my blog contest!

1. What are my cats' names? (a bonus point for *full* names, another bonus point for linking me to the cutest picture of one or both of them on the blog)

My cats, Pan and Java, are really named Pantalaimon and Kirjava. Any picture qualified for cutest. ;)

2. Who is my "boyfriend"?

My "boyfriend" is CTHGSY. You haven't seen him for a while, but I assure you he's still around.

3. What yarn did I use for my first "human-sized" socks?

Lion Brand Magic Stripes

4. How many adult sweaters have I knit?

The answer for sweaters with sleeves is actually 6, although only 5 of them really made the blog. As for t-shirts / tanks, there are an additional 4. Strangely no one got this question right.

5. Why are my Regia Strato socks famous?

I took these socks to New York and knit on them in line for the AFI video premier of Miss Murder. The line (and me knitting the socks) was shown on MTV.

6. What luxury fiber do I dislike?

Silk.

7. How many times have I moved since starting this blog?

Cathy was right on with 6. Actually, I counted wrong the first time and thought it was 7, but recounted and it's really 6.

Winners - please contact me via email (or if I don't hear from you in the next couple days I'll try to track you down) so I can figure out a good prize for you. :)

Sock Camp Part II... and more!

The third day of sock camp, I had a class in with Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (that would be the Yarn Harlot) on lever knitting. It is much more charming when said with a Canadian accent. ;) I was very excited to learn this because, as a more-or-less "continental" knitter, purling is a pain. I am actually quite happy with my speed when knitting stockinette in the round, or even garter stitch, though I rarely knit flat. But ribbing is practically the bane of my existence.

Well here is my very first lever knitting swatch, I started out with garter stitch and moved to a 3x3 rib.



We were told that we were basically going back to our knitting infancy, and would probably (temporarily) have the same problems as we did when we were new knitters. Though I picked up the technique pretty quickly, I was indeed a very very tight knitter all over again. But I picked up a set of long straights to practice with.

That afternoon we had a group scavenger hunt which proved to be a lot of fun and a lot of work! Here are a few of the photos we needed to obtain...

Our group, doing a yoga pose:



A glass with the bottom covered in rainwater (we brought our actual rainwater) and a photo of a team member collecting it:



A very brave team member mouth-siphoned it out of a puddle with a straw. And look at her gorgeous sweater! Of course, later on it started pouring.

And our entire team in a (my!) bathtub:



This is what sock camp is like. We are all nuts. It's great fun, but you have to be prepared.

Friday morning we had our last class, with Cat Bordhi. She taught us a new and top secret sock architecture which I can't share, but here's a picture of my skeined up dyed yarn from the first day. I used it to start the sock in her class.



Friday we had our last dinner and shared our homework. The assignment was to knit a crab or other sea creature, and I knit a nudibranch. Oh, and apparently a lot of them (including the ones pictured at the link) are toxic. I'm not sure if that's true of the ones native to Puget Sound, but since some have bright orange ruffles it probably is. Here's my little guy:



My goal this year was not to get attached to my homework, since in past years we've given them away, but this year we got to keep our own. Although mine was small and didn't take too long to knit, it turned out really cute but it was a pain to make the ruffle! I was going to write up the pattern, but I don't know if anyone else would really want to go through the hassle.

This morning we had breakfast and then headed home. I was sad to leave, but I really needed a nap! Sock camp is so amazing and educational, but also exhausting. This is most of the knitting I got done there:



I started the heel flap on my Snarfy-twin socks on the ferry home. And when I got home I found Wendy's new sock book, Socks from the Toe Up, which I won in her blog contest. I looked through it and it's awesome! Plus, it came signed.



I'll definitely be sockin' on.

Listening to: Muzzle ~ Smashing Pumpkins, End of the Beginning ~ 30 Seconds To Mars

Sock Camp - Part I!

The first two (well, 2 1/2) days of sock camp have been fabulous!

I left home Monday morning, and caught the ferry to Bainbridge Island with a bunch of other sock campers to descend on Churchmouse Yarns. I didn't make it there on the yarn crawl last year, so I'm glad I got the chance this time. Of course, I left my camera in the car and didn't take any pictures. I'm sure some other ones will turn up, though. We had a lovely lunch at Nola and got ice cream at Mora, then we headed to camp.

Port Ludlow is gorgeous and I'm really enjoying it here. Monday night was just opening ceremonies, but yesterday we started the *real* sock camp.

My group's first class was dyeing with Tina! First we talked about our color homework, and then we were instructed to dye two skeins - one with our "comfort zone" colors, and one that was a little more scary.



That's my less comfortable skein before being smooshed. The smooshing was actually very different for me. I've dyed quite a few times before, but I've usually tried to keep the different colors separate. Tina's dyeing philosophy involves blending colors together.

Then we learned we actually got a third skein, after we went on a little walk. Since both of my first two skeins were pretty saturated, I decided to do something a little lighter for my third. I used some gunmetal grey and poured it in zigzags over my skein, smooshed it around, and then put green in the middle and blue on the ends and smooshed some more. Sadly it seemed to be missing something, so I asked Tina and got opinions from the class. With a little prodding I added some magenta and it turned out lovely!



And some smooshing action...



Then we had lunch and crafts, where we made this lovely no-sew crab project bag.



Then it was afternoon free time and our yarn was drying.



The bottom left is my "comfortable" skein.

In the evening we had antics and my team won Jeopardy. This is us posing with our "trophy" - chocolate covered peanuts called Crab Poop.



Today I had a very informative class with JC Briar about bind-offs, but I didn't take any pictures. I also started an iPhone sock and made some stitch markers at crafts, and we watched a crazy movie - The Lady From Sockholm. I love camp!

Listening to: My Gift of Silence ~ Blackfield, Criminals, Katatonia