Loved On

You know how you describe your projects as being 'worked on'?  Well, I didn't work on these socks as much as I loved on them.  OMG!  I love these socks!

The pattern comes from the Think Outside the Sox book called Fair Isle Made Easy by Laurie Kynaston.  In my opinion, she deserved her win and her entry into the book.  The pattern is fast and easy.  I love these socks (it bears repeating!).  I used Cherry Tree Hill Potluck (water colors) which is browns and reds, along with Knit Picks Bare sock yarn, which is a two ply, low twist yarn, and US #1 needles.

The modified cuff (by knitting the main color and purling the contrasting color) was because I didn't read the directions carefully, but also I just liked how it looked.  The second modification was in the leg, where I did three repeats of the pattern rather than four.  That's because I'm short and my calves are big.

And after all that knitting loving, I still had this much yarn left over:

I swear my yarn multiplies while I sleep!  How is that possible when I made two pairs of socks with the same exact yarn and still have enough to make another pair?  I could probably make a blanket with what's left, but maybe I won't tempt the fates like that.

Joanne and I went to String Yarns on Sunday.  Nice store, well lit. Not a price tag in sight!  The prices are posted on these little stands on the shelf in front of the yarns.  High end.

Not a lot of manufacturers but a lot of colors and yarns of all weights, all the yarns were expensive except what was in the 50% bowl.  I'm glad I got to it before Joanne did because she darn near cleaned them out:

I got a nice little haul myself:

 After shopping, I was to weak to blog - clearly ashamed of myself. What happened to "I'm going to knit from my stash" New Year's resolution?  I need professional help!  I got four skeins of Madelinetosh Pashmina (75/15/10 merino/silk/cashmere), two skeins of  Sublime (cashmere/merino/silk aran), and two skeins of mystery yarn so I can make one of the cowls Joyce made.  I love my haul!

Now all I have to do is get to knitting.  Strike while the iron is hot, as they say.

Stitch on, everybody!

Oh Joy!

Last year, seems the whole year went by with not much to show or tell.  I was deep in the knitting doldrums and not overly excited about anything I knit.  Knitting happened, but it was not with the same enthusiasm as this year has been, and it's only February!

This year, I made the Amelia hat for my 12 in '12 made with Madelinetosh Vintage in Duchess:

I really liked the hat, but I gave it away, not to Carmen (my hat model), but to someone else.  I was happy to hand it off because it really wasn't 'me'.

Then I made the Broken Seed Stitch Socks which I liked, made with Cherry Tree Hill Potluck in water colors and Knit Picks Bare in white:

Then I made the Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend, which took only a few hours to make, and it was a joy to see some of my Wool Ease (in heather green and tan) go:

Then I was had a great idea for another project which started with the left over yarn from the Broken Seed Stitch socks:

And below I finished one sock from the Think Outside the Sox book called Fair Isle Made Easy:

I love this pattern and it'll be my third project for 2012 when I'm done.  How happy I am!  Details will follow when I'm done with the pair.  That is, if I have enough yarn to finish the second sock.  I'm going with the premise that I can never run out of yarn.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

In addition, I made 3 preemie hats, so I figure the knitting doldrums have officially come to an end.  The only thing missing is my spinning - and I'm really missing it.

Now I'm off to knit my second sock before the feel good of the first sock wears off.

Joyce Loves Scarves

Every time someone asks me to make them a scarf, I run for the hills!  No joke.  All I can think about is a million miles of stockinette, or garter stitches and the never ending mind bending number of rows to make the scarf as long as the person is tall.  Oy!

But not Joyce.  She has taken scarf making to a high art.  Show her what to do, as they do at her LYS, and off she goes, often making more than one or two of the same scarf in short order.  She almost always mixes her yarns, and she rarely knows which yarns are which, but she's not intimidated.

Here's a sample of what she's done:

It's a nice blue/purple ruffled scarf which she crocheted in January.  It'll be a gift for someone who I'm sure appreciates hand made.

Here's another:

It's an infinity scarf which was also made in January.  You can't see it because of my cheap camera, but it's two yarns mixed together and Joyce made it for herself.  Lovely.  Also made in January, I might add.

Then there's this one:

The cowl around her neck is made with just one skein of chunky yarn.  It's gorgeous!  I think she's keeping that one.  Did I mention she made it in January?

And lastly, she's working on this one:

When I left her on Thursday, she was about to bind off.  It's a potato chip-type scarf make in shades of black and white and blue.  Lovely, don't you think?

She made two other helix-type scarves in January also.  Joyce is the official scarf queen.

The lesson here is that a scarf doesn't have to be two million garter stitches.  It doesn't have to be boring and it doesn't have to take a lifetime to finish.  I'm going to take a lesson from Joyce and try something different - one day.  Maybe I'll hire her to make all of my scarves from now on.

Meanwhile, today I finished my mindfully knitted socks:

Mindful knitting isn't any different than any other type of knitting.  I did take the time to read the pattern carefully and I didn't whip through the pattern like I usually, but I made the same types of mistakes I usually do, I rip back the same as always, and mindful knitting didn't teach me a darned thing!

It was a nice thought though, and the socks are pretty cool.

Now that the socks are done, I have to look for my March project for 12 in '12.