A bag, some socks and no scarf

I am pretty sure this was instigated by Lynae's great adventure bag. I think I wanted a felted bag but didn't feel like felting a bag so I just knit it at a very tight gauge and it almost feels felted. I knit this during my breaks from the Irish Hiking Scarf that I have been having some yarn shortage issues with. I guess I have been a bit distracted because I had to restart this thing 8 times! Talk about determination. Just silly little things - cast on wrong # of sts., forgot to knit edge sts., started over on wrong needles - every time I got about 1-2 inches before I realized it and had to start over only to make the same mistake again! Finally all went well until I got to the strap which I decided to change (knit roughly 20 different ways and settle on the first change anyway!) It's done and I am happy, and the scarf, for now I am done with that too!

I started the Irish Hiking Scarf with some Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino that I had 2 balls of (not enough to make the scarf) but that didn't slow me down, I figured I would see if I even liked it before I worried about the little things, like having enough yarn to finish. It knit up quickly and I liked it so when I got to the end of the 1st ball I had to make some kind of decision. I bought the yarn last summer at a little shop up in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, on clearance. There was very little chance that I could match the yarn and I didn't want to try so I figured I would just pickup a ball of the same yarn in a different color for the middle and finish with the 2nd ball of the 1st color. I went to my LSY and she didn't carry that yarn, but she did have this wonderful Zara yarn that matched nicely. I added the new yarn and the gauge was perfect, the colors matched nicely, the only problem was that I liked the Zara more and now I wanted the entire scarf in the Zara. I ripped it all out and restarted with the new yarn. I only bought 1 ball of the Zara so after knitting that up I ran over to my LYS to get 2 more balls of the Zara and guess what? She sold all 8 balls that she had in the 24 hrs since I was last there! During a Blizzard! ARG! So I picked up 3 more balls in matching colors and started again. Now the colors matched too well. I started over rearranging the colors. Over and over I tried different color combos. I took breaks from the scarf and worked on the bag until finally the bag was finished and I accepted the fact that I just wasn't going to be happy with the yarn compromise on the scarf. That was when I realized I didn't really need to own this scarf, I just needed to knit it. I rewound all the yarn and was done with the scarf. What I finally ended up with was; a new knitted bag, 2 balls of Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino returned to my stash, 4 balls of Zara added to my stash and a whole week worth of knitting fun!


After all that I was in need of some relaxing knitting so I finished up these socks, they were supposed to be for Valentine's Day but better late than never (and you guys think I get to Group late).

Pattern: Basic sock w/ Chevron stitch
Yarn: Regia 4 color
Needles: #1
Start / Finish: Feb. 2 - Feb. 22

Clapotis is done.

Yeah! I finished my clapotis, it still isn't blocked (crazy weekend here) but I love it just the same! I must admit I have seen this all over the web, every one has made one, I just wasn't that interested in it. I had seen lots of pictures of it and even read through the pattern, it didn't grab me. Then last month, when I was at Fiddlehead Yarns in Kenosha, I saw one on display in the shop. I loved it, I had to have one!

I spent about a week thinking about different yarns for it, including the recommended yarn, but nothing was what I wanted. Then it came to me. I had bought a summer sweater set, it was beautiful but gravity was not kind to it. The sweater would stretch as you wore it and by the end of the day it looked terrible. Finally, I ripped out all the seams to keep myself from wearing it again! I really wanted to like it.

I left the pieces knitted so I wouldn't forget how badly it distorted and waited for the right pattern to come along. Well, I found it and it turned out better than I could have hoped! It looks wonderful with the top, glad I didn't rip that apart too. I still have quite a bit of the yarn left, don't know what I am going to do with it? Any suggestions?




Pattern: Clapotis, by Kate Gilbert
Yarn: Rayon / silk ribbon - (reclaimed)
Needles: US #5 circ. Crystal Palace.
Started: Jan. 24, 07
Finished: Feb. 8, 07







I have Liz and Alyssa to thank for this scarf that I finished this weekend. I posted about the yarn and Liz asked what I was going to make with it, I had already been swatching with it and now I couldn't stop thinking about it! The other week at GROUP Alyssa was working on a scarf that I really liked. So, I put the two together and wallah. Thank you both. I did think it was going to be for me, but I barely got a picture before my youngest grabbed it, threw it around his neck and said, "Don't I look like Hobbes? I feel like Hobbes." and it was gone.


Pattern: One row handspun scarf by Yarn Harlot
Yarn: Classic Elite Inca Aplaca (1.5 skein) and Inca Marl (.75 skein)
Needles: US #5, metal
Started: Feb. 9, 07
Finished: Feb. 11, 07

I thought I might as well throw this in here. I finished this Knit Picks pocket shawl a while ago, but I am just mailing it off today for my Mom's Birthday. The yarn is from a sweater that I knit last winter that was just awful. It was fun to knit, once I got over all the typos and mistakes. I was concerned about some of the parts and just kept on knitting thinking it will look better when it is all seamed up. Well, it didn't. I looked back at the picture on the pattern and yep, that's what it really looks like. Damn those photographers! So I frogged it and this is what I made with some of that yarn. The cat just wouldn't leave it alone so he is here again too.

Take care all and have a Happy Valentines Day!

He calls them Fish Socks!

I finished these up just in time for Socktopia's January pool. The theme for these socks was, "Celebrate good times". The red spots reminded me of confetti, so I thought they were fitting. The pattern stitch on the leg is from Slouch Socks in Not Just More Socks, I made several changes to the rest of the sock (cast on fewer sts. to make a tighter fit, continued a rib pattern on the top of the foot, changed the heel & toe, etc.). The yarn is Austermann Step worked on size #2 needles and SISU for the heel and toe on size #1's. Normally when I use a striping yarn I cast on at a color change to make it easy to make the 2nd sock match, but this time I just cast on willy nilly and didn't really care if the "matched" perfectly. Then I got to the white and red stripe area, I have knit with this yarn before so I should have remembered, especially because my son didn't like the "pink" and said, "can't you just take that out?" So I did and after the socks were done he didn't want the socks because he knew there was supposed to be pink there! ARGH!! So, I really should have remembered that little stripe, but I didn't and now I was worried that not having them "match" just might make me crazy! But I let it go and didn't even worry when I started the yarn after the heel, right in the middle of a color, again! When it was time to cast on the 2nd sock I realized that I couldn't deal with the stripes not matching so I did my best to match them up and Wow I am really proud of my self! They match almost perfectly! And they are finished in time for the recipient's B-Day! Now if these aren't Celebration socks, I don't know what is!

Oh, about the fish. The men in my house have been conditioned. When I walk around the house sticking my knitting in their face's, they instinctively reach out, touch it and say something like, "that's nice". Well, as I was knitting these socks my husband, with no prodding at all, said, "Those are great socks, I really like the colors". Hmm? What did he do? But the he kept mentioning how much he liked the colors. Finally I said, "So you really like these colors?" and he said, "Yeah, they look just like a salmon right after you catch it, before the colors start to fade." He is a fisherman. I had to break the news, they weren't for him. His response, "You knit fish socks for someone else!" I guess I will be casting on another pair of fish socks for Valentines Day!

This is Enzo and my new T.V. shawl, he likes it. Last Thursday my hubby and I were watching some TV and I was cold so I reached in the knitting basket for something to throw over my shoulders. I pulled out a lot of stuff; pieces of a vest, squares for a blanket, the beginning of a shawl that I decided I didn't like after 5" and ripped out the needles, mumbling to myself, "I like this pattern, I don't need to swatch", it was knit sideways so it may only be 5" long but it is 5 1/2 feet wide! I finally found a poncho that only needed one little seam finished. Perfect, I wrapped it around me and continued with my knitting. Later that night I walked past the mirror in the hall and caught a glimpse of me in the unfinished poncho. That was when I realized why I never finished sewing that seam, it was hideous!! Now, don't get me wrong, I like ponchos, but you should never knit a poncho (or anything else for that matter) in super bulky yarn on size 17 needles in a lace pattern! I don't care how cute it looks in the picture, those photographers can make ANYTHING look good.

I don't remember what I had gotten up to do, whatever it was, it wasn't as important as getting rid of that poncho! I went right upstairs and frogged the whole thing directly onto the ball winder! I stacked the nicely wound balls on top of the TV cabinet, they looked so cute now, kinda like a snowman. I was happy.

Friday, I was cold. Saturday, I decided to put that yarn to good use and knitted up a simple stockinette st. shawl with a garter st. border. It knit up FAST. Saturday night, I was warm.

These are some HOT socks!

My son gave me this wonderful Classic Elite Inca Alpaca yarn for Christmas and asked me to make him socks with it. I told him the socks would be VERY warm and maybe he would like something else. No, he wanted socks, incredibly soft socks! So, I made the first sock. It was warm, very warm. He tried it on and thought about what he might like instead of socks. He thought and thought and still wanted the socks! I made the second sock. He tried on the pair and they were warm, no, they were HOT socks. He did consider the idea of leaving the toes open for ventilation but then decided that would be too weird. He now has the socks and loves them, but they will probably only be used when his feet are REALLY COLD!


One of the knitting groups that I attend has decided to make baby blankets for charity. We are each going to knit 12 squares and I think we will end up with 12 blankets that we have each contributed squares to. I am not much for finishing (sewing seams and all) so, as far as I am concerned, these are finished for me. Maybe I can knit a few extra squares so I don't feel guilty for not wanting to help with the sewing. If I really felt like seaming up some knitting, I have a basket full of sweaters that only need to be put together. I would just rather keep knitting.

I broke it already!?!

Here it is, only the middle of January, and I have (almost) already broken my New Year's Resolution! I forgot a few of the silly little knit stuff I did. My son reminded me and I was able to get them photographed so I guess I haven't really broken it, just came real close! Here they are:

The other day, I was looking through some of my stash to see what colors I had available to donate for the charity baby blankets one of my knitting groups is making and thought I should whip something up for little Michael's 1 month Birthday. I decided on this, Bunny blanket buddy, in Lion cotton. It knitted up so quickly (and my kitten just loved it) I decided to knit one up for him as well (in Homespun). The light blue with eyes, nose and mouth are for the baby and the dark one without a face is for the cat, didn't think he would care and I was right.

These were my first completed knits of the year. My son received a new camera for his Birthday this year (he's a new years baby) and he asked me to knit him a cover for it. I decided it was to small to knit a gauge swatch for (it is a gauge swatch!) and it turned out to be a little too big. I gave that one to my younger son for his Ipod and made another smaller one for the camera. The yarn is left over Lana Grossa sock yarn. They love them and they use them, which is very nice. Just so long as they don't ask me to knit ones to match all of their socks.

I also knitted some quick gifts for the upcoming February birthdays. I have a rather large family and we celebrate everyone's Birthday, which can get quite expensive, so we have put a $5 limit on gifts for the adults. It can be difficult to think of a gift for $5, but this is what I came up with, coffee cup cozies (made from left over sock yarn) with a $5 Starbucks gift card tucked inside. They are cute and fast and really didn't cost anything because they were left over. Hope they like them. My husband thinks they are kinda weird, but then again, he thinks that I should just use all the left over sock yarn to make a pair of socks. When I run out of one yarn, just start another one, "they are all stripey anyway, this just makes more stripes." I sometimes wonder if he is color blind. Maybe it is just his love for hand knit socks.

I have also finished those wonderful Alpaca socks but they are upstairs and I am not, so I will get pics. of them soon.

Maybe it's not Second Sock Syndrome

I thought I too suffered from second sock syndrome, but the other night I realized that might not be the case. I usually have 3-4 different socks on the needles at any given time (but then again I usually also have 2-3 sweaters, a shawl/wrap and a few misc. items on the needles as well). I really do enjoy knitting socks and once I have completed a sock I feel so good about myself and my work. Socks have very little finishing (finishing really bogs me down) and I like grafting the toes, it is wonderful how perfectly the graft disappears, I love it every time (that's not too weird, is it?) When I have finished a sock I feel such satisfaction, I almost can't wait to cast on the second one. So why don't I? It's not because I don't like the pattern, I have no problem ripping out a pattern I don't like to knit, and it's not because I don't like the yarn, I wouldn't have been able to finish the first sock. Must be that dreaded second sock syndrome. But then again, maybe it's not...

The other night, I finished a wonderful sock. My son gave me the most wonderful alpaca yarn for Christmas, it is so soft! It is a thicker yarn than I usually use for socks so I had to make a trip to my LYS (darn) to get size 4 dpns and I had to rip them about three times to get the right thickness and fit, but finally they were finished and they were perfect! I admired the finished sock for a few minutes and then placed it in my knitting bag. I reached in to get the yarn to start the second sock and that's when I heard something. I looked at my husband, "Did you hear that?" He was in a zombie like T.V. watching trance, "huh?" He didn't hear it. I looked around the room and there on top of the bookshelf was a small basket of the yarn I received for Christmas (O.K. it was more of a medium sized basket, jam packed and overflowing with yarn from Christmas and I few skeins I picked up when I got the size 4 needles). Anyway, the sound, it was the yarn! I swear it was calling to me! "Wait, try me, I'm new, try me!" I responded (not out loud, of course) "No, I already have a sock on #0's and two different socks on #1's. You still need to be wound into a ball and I need some #3's for you guys." I turned my head away to show my resolve and that's when I noticed the closet light had been left on. Great, a distraction, just what I needed. I opened the door and leaned in to turn off the light and there on the counter where I wrap presents was this lonely ball of baby blue yarn. "How did you get there?" I thought. I instinctively picked it up, I guess to put it with the other yarn so it didn't look so lonely, "oh, your soft" I thought. Then I remembered a friend that was going to have a baby in two days, maybe I should make a hat? I sat down, grabbed my #2's and did a quick gauge swatch. Perfect! I quickly did the math and cast on the hat, and the sock, well you knew what was going to happen.

I think this is probably very similar to what happens to most sock knitters. I also have realized that blaming it on Second Sock Syndrome just might be a better idea than trying to explain to people (especially those who don't knit), "It was the voices that made me do it."



By the way, here is the hat. Oh, and tiny little mittens, they were just too cute once I pictured them in my head, I had to knit them as well.