Belated Candy Corn

I started the Candy Corn socks intending to finish them to wear on Halloween.

Well, two things happened - they didn't stripe which made them less candy corn-ish to me, and then I had a lot of other knitting to do. Actually three things, because I got sick over Halloween and only wore my PJs.

But while I was visiting Boston I saw my friend Cathy and she likes bright cheery colors and said she would take the socks off my hands. Because I am not a fan of yellow or orange (or white really!) if it's not candy corn.



Yarn: Candy Corn from Macek Designs
Started: 9/5/09
Finished: 11/20/09

You can see a little candy corn-like triangle at the heel turn...

My dreams of candy corn striped socks continue, and I picked up some of the Yarntini candy corn striping yarn. Maybe next year!

Birthday Socks

I have a tradition of knitting birthday socks for my little sister, and some for other holidays too. Actually, strangely enough, it all started with the first Ravenclaw scarf!



Then there was the Rainbow scarf:



And some rainbow socks:



Those ones had quite and adventure with a chewful puppy and were jokingly gifted to her again the next year with the foot re-knit. But her real socks the next year were these:



And then, in 2008, these:



There were some other holiday gifts in between - a red and black striped hat and these bright cheery socks last year:



This year my baby sister turned 21, and I can hardly believe it. But here are this year's addition to the lineup:



Yarn: Lisa Souza Sock! in Little Devil
Pattern: plain ol' socks
Started: 9/12/09
Finished: 11/10/09

This is the first time I've used Lisa Souza, but her base yarn is probably different now as this skein is pretty vintage. It seems to be the same base that most indie dyers were using in 2006 - the soft slightly fluffy 2-ply that's quite thin. This skein had great yardage, and I really liked the way the yarn knit up almost-striping - the black stripes don't always complete. The variation in the red part of the skein also gives it a neat look.

I asked my sister because I was considering doing a more exciting pattern, but she says that she likes the plain ones best. The yarn was acquired in a swap in October 2006, and had been patiently waiting in the stash. It was always intended for my little sis, so I don't know why it took me so long to knit it!

I'll see her for Thanksgiving, so the socks will be gifted then. She stayed at my place for Labor Day weekend, and it inspired me to pull the yarn out of the Expedit, wind it up, and start knitting her birthday socks.

Yarn? Is that you?

A while back I ordered some Opal Feelings yarn on eBay. I've wanted some - particularly the blue one - since it came out a couple years ago, and now that it's gone I still wanted some. I've been waiting patiently for it to come in the mail.

Well, the weather in Seattle has been particularly bad these past few days, and tonight when I arrived home I was getting my mail out in the rain (and in the dark, I hate you DST!), I grabbed a package which I thought was a book that I'm also expecting. But upon bringing it to my apartment, I realized it was my yarn. Except... book shaped.



Yes, my yarn was vacuum packed. Supposedly to save on shipping, but I've found that yarn shipping to and from Canada is really very reasonable via air mail. In any case, it was amusing. I made a cut in the bag and a hissing sound started and soon I had two very normal (if slightly flat) balls of yarn:



Yay for Opal Feelings!

Now, as for the knitting, there have been many secret projects lately. A pair of socks which I forgot to take a picture of (but one has been promised by the recipient) and this:



You may remember the other Harry Potter scarves - I knit one of the old style for each house, though I never got pictures of the Slytherin one. Well, this PoA one is a gift. :D

That is a lot of stockinette. Even more than the first ones, because this scarf is longer. Whew! But it's done and I think it turned out really well. It's on the way to it's new home and I hope she likes it!