Presents from ItShe

I know I have a ton of posting to do from Stitches but I first wanted to make sure that I posted some pictures of the wonderful Christmas presents and birthday present that I got from ItShe. They are so wonderful that they deserve a post of their own.

I got this book and I can't wait to make some of them, the designs are so me (if you don't know what the designs are you should go and look on Amazon) and I can't wait to get a stitching.

The second thing is this wonderful yarn that she got me for Christmas it's wonderful and soft and it's part wool and part . . . possum and merino. Pretty cool huh? And the color is great.

The last Christmas present that ItShe made for me was very proper tea cozy she used a melon stitch and made out of a tweedy maroon yarn. Very proper indeed, and to go along with my tea cozy a Brown Betty tea pot. It's one of the best gifts ever!

For my birthday present ItShe made me a wonderfully warm and beautiful handmade blanket. See I love it! As a matter of fact I'm sitting on my couch right now snuggled up in it writing this post. It's my go-to blanket! Thank you so much ItShe!!!

My Mom's Sercret Gift

I'm working on a Tuscany Shawl for my Mom. Lace and I had a very difficult beginning, I attempted to knit a very complicated piece of lace very early in my knitting career. It was too much too soon and I didn't know how to correct my mistakes without ripping the entire project (so very frustrating and tear-inducing). So needless to say I have gathered a few more knitting skills and decided that I would give it another try. I knew that I wanted to start with something easy that had a purl row between every lace row. I found just that in Amy Singer's No Sheep for You book, which ItShe gave me as a birthday present last year.

The pattern is straight forward and since you add a stitch on each side every row progress is made every row (which is nice). Here is a picture of the lace pattern up close:

Here is a picture of the shawl at 5 1/2 repeats (I have about 8 1/2 done right now)

I decided to knit this with Handmaiden Sea Silk (not the Silken that was called for in the pattern) in color Capri and I'm knitting this on Addi Turbo Lace Needles size 5 in a 32" length.

There is progress being made in my knitting and school work (which is good).

Rockin' Sock Club First Installment

WARNING THERE ARE PICTURES OF THE 1st INSTALLMENT OF THE ROCKIN' SOCK CLUB FOR 2008.




My very first Rockin' Sock Club installment has arrived and I must say I love it! I have a passion for the color red and after reading that Tina was overexposed to red as a child (and as a result doesn't really love it, hence the reason there isn't a lot of just red colorways in Blue Moon yarn) I'm even more excited and honored that she did different shades of red. I love red, my alma mater's colors were Scarlet and White, GO BU! So I was very excited to see the shades of red.

The colorway is called Dragon Dance and it's inspired by the red of Chinese New Year. The patter is called Serendipity by Adrienne Fong and it looks lovely, a little lace pattern and an interesting heel. I also ordered the binder which came with notes from the Dyer, a Sock Gauge Diary, a sock journal, how to measure your feet, a work area and a log of family and friends and their foot measurements. Of course the package also came with 2 buttons, a sticker, and the ever so cute and smile-inducing emergency sock yarn skein.

I'm so glad and very excited to be a part of the club even though I'm not casting on, I think I will try and wait till school is over and keeping the installments until I'm done will be a nice reward for me in the end. Let's keep our fingers crossed that I can resist.

Thank You Blue Moon, I love it!!!

Long Time No Blog, or if it's Tuesday it must be San Diego/Boston/Philly/Boston/San Diego/Hawaii/San Diego

I have been so busy it hasn't even been funny. Let's just say I went to all of the places in the title of this post in about little over 2 weeks. So instead of recapping (trust me it would be to long of a post) all that has happened, let's just say that out of the 26 days in January I have been home for 11 of them. Craziness I tell you. Also in only 6 days I went from Boston where is was a balmy 0 degrees, to San Diego where it was about 65 degrees to Hawaii where it was a nice happy wonderful 75 degrees.
Here is a picture from the Hawaii vacation:

And during the 6 days I was home I also went to a workshop that Cat Borhdi was having at Common Threads to discuss her new sock methods, it was so much fun hanging out with Grape and ItShe all day in Encinitas knitting, trust me we had a great time.

One thing that hasn't changed is the lack of work on my thesis, I got so stressed out about it . . . it has sort of become this monster, but hopefully after my meeting with my Prof. on Monday I will at least have a plan of action, here's hoping.

Since I still have no idea where I am, what time zone I'm in or for that matter what city I live in (I mean San Diego verses Boston, sad I know), I will focus on knitting.

I have FINALLY finished socks for my mom (Socks that Rock in Lightweight Lucy, Jaywalkers) they are really cute and hope that she likes them. I also ordered her a mini sock blocker and I have already made her a mini sock out of the same yarn her big socks are made out of. Here is a picture:

I have also started another mystery project for her I started it while we were in Hawaii and I can't wait to give it to her. I will post about this when it gets a little farther along.

I got some great presents for Christmas this year and this is one of them. Let me introduce you to Sparkles the Peacock.

This is the perfect accessory to those that have the Knitcellaneous mini-sock blocker keychain, which ItShe got me for my birthday last year. The mini-socks were super addictive I never got around to knitting mini socks out of my left overs before but now I'm all caught up. These little sock were just what I needed, a small quick project to feel a large sense of accomplishment.

In total I made six socks from my left overs I had and then 2 more for thank you notes to ItShe and her parents for the awesome trip to Hawaii.

ItShe also got me very cool yarn it's part possum, can you believe it? It's very cool and I don't know what I'll do with it besides pet it (which I have been doing a lot of) but I will have to search Ravelry for a pattern. I also need to take a picture of it and post it and put in my Ravelry too.

That's all for now the next post will be the first Blue Moon Fiber Arts Rockin' Sock Club for '08 installment, and my mom's next present progress update.

I'm In!

It is official, I'm a member of the 2008 Rockin' Sock Club. I know it's a lot of money but hopefully part of it will be my birthday present from my mom (keep your fingers crossed). I'm very excited I can't wait to get the packages and the new colors, but the thing that pushed me over the edge to sign-up was the designers, I can't wait!

I don't know if I will have time to knit them because I have procrastinated on my thesis (it would be great if it could just start/write itself) but I know I can stash them away and have something to look forward to when I'm finished, what a treat that will be.

I was nervous that I wasn't going to get in since I waited until the 6th to send in my paperwork but it looked like more than a few people did not renew their membership.

I can't wait to get the first package in the mail, mail-carriers watch out of Socks that Rock addicts!

A HUGE Stash Enhancement!

For a very long time I was very good about not adding to the stash . . . but it seems that I might have caught the YarnHarlot's falling down and standing back up with purchased yarn, but in my defense I have been planning this for a while, and I purchased over a long period of time, it's my own sock yarn tasting.

This whole thing started with the acquisition of Vesper Sock Yarn, as previously stated I had been stalking this yarn for over a year and finally the correct planetary alignment took place (i.e. there was yarn when I checked her site) and so I bought me a skein. Then I was looking into investing in a sock yarn club the idea of getting yarn and a pattern in the mail was intoxicating. But I didn't want to invest that much money into something I had never tried (my justification techniques are amazing) and there were "brands" out there that I had wanted to try.

First up Socks that Rock lightweight in colorway Lucy, this is not new yarn but I wanted to make a pair of socks out of this for my mom for her birthday at the end of the month, and we used to have a cat that looked a lot like Lucy so I know she will love the colorway.

Second, Socks that Rock lightweight in colorway Dixie Chick, not something I would normally pick but as ItShe says it's good to go outside your "safety zone". I love how bright the colors are.

Third, Koigu KPPPM in colorway Eggplant Berry #527, I chose this to make me a pair of CookieA Monkey Socks with a picot edge, can't wait to cast-on.

Fourth, Red Rocks Fiber Works, in colorway Two Tickets, found this at Knitting in La Jolla, it was at the time exclusive to two or three shops in the country, I love her colorways and would love to get more.

Fifth, Scout' Swag in colorway Zulu Knitty, which I have coveted ever since it was made, love the colors.

Sixth, Yarn Pirate in colorway Culture Club, I'm a child of the 80's and this brings me right back to the days of jelly shoes and Garbage Pail Kids. This colorway is so bright I gotta wear shades, no seriously look at the pink it's so bright it reflecting off the beige chair, all on its own.

So after all this stash enhancement, I'm so excited I have such great yarns to choose from for the next few sock patterns, but what I think I really want is to be a member of the Rock'n Sock Club, by Blue Moon Fiber Arts, because frankly I have always been in love with their yarn and the 4 designers that have signed on this year might just push me over the edge. Stay Tuned!

Get Out the Broom!

So that last time I posted the Sox were going to the World Series, we won on Wednesday and Thursday then it was off to Colorado for the Red Sox and off to Vegas for 6 days for Big A and me. First and foremost 6 days in Vegas went surprisingly well, we were there for SEMA (a huge car event) and it was nice to see people from all over the country from Big A's car club. Thankfully we did not spend a lot of time gambling, we went shopping, we went bowling (both hotels we stayed in had bowling alleys), ate a lot and hung out at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino bar. But for game 4 all of our friends indulged us by hunkering down for 4 hours to watch what we hoped was going to be the last game of the World Series (and thankfully it was, although it would have been so great to win it at home you take a win whenever you get it). I had started this sock the day before the Series and knitted on it a little bit for game 1 and 2, and not at all in game 3 (I was bowling) but kicked it into high gear for game 4. So here is my very lucky sock World Series Sweeping Sock:

It was the first time I had done color stranding in a sock (I didn't really love it, but it was cool) and the first time I did an afterthought heel (thanks to ItShe who told me how to do it). I think it came out to look a lot like the Boston Red Sox sock. I have started the second sock, and I have to start the pair that I'm making for my mother's birthday, I think they will be Jaywalkers with a picot edge.