Some socks for me.

These were fun and quick to knit up and I learned two new things;
1. none of my boys like solid brown colored socks and
2. "cables on socks are girly."
I really thought my youngest was going to claim them, I did get him to try them on and he admitted that they were incredibly comfortable, but then when they were finished he told me, "That's ok mom, you can just have them." So, I ripped back the toes and shortened them up for me. They are quite comfy!

Pattern: Whitby from Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush
Yarn: Louet Gems in Caribou
Needles: #2 dpn
Start/Finish: Feb. 23 - Feb. 27

Group Wednesday night was great, I love our new location, and I especially enjoyed show and tell of all the new yarn acquisitions. Alyssa and Claire both had the Duet sock yarn in Turquoise Tranquility that I have been coveting. I have never been able to bring myself to order yarn on-line ( I did sign-up for the BMFA Rockin' Sock Club, but that doesn't count). I am always afraid that I might not like the yarn in person, it might have a different feel or color than I expected. This yarn was exactly what I expected, perfect! I actually had a dream Wednesday night in which I was knitting with that yarn! I finally broke down and ordered the yarn on-line the next day. I was sure that it would be sold out but the order went through and I even got a confirmation email. I am happy but at the same time I am worried, if I am now comfortable ordering yarn on-line this has the potential to become a real problem.

I did not get my Fiber Trends felted clogs finished. Wednesday night after Group I did sew one of the bottom seams and weave in all the ends, but then I got bored and went to bed. I didn't even look at them on Thursday, I started a new pair of socks instead, in Mountain Colors Bearfoot - so soft and warm and fuzzy - I just love them. I don't think I am quite ready for Spring to come yet, these are really warm socks. I will try to get myself to finish off the clogs and get them felted so I can bring them to Group on Wednesday. I will get some before and after pictures to post as well. I must admit, these clogs have been fun.

THIS JUST IN - It's here!! It's here!! I just received my first shipment from the BMFA Rockin' Sock Club and I don't think I'm giving anything away by saying it is absolutely splendid!!

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!