It's not summer until I've made sweet tea.

Mmmmmmm, minty.

Today was a perfect day, mid 70s, sunny, clear, light breeze...I was sad to be in an office today.

The heat broke and of course I promptly turned on the oven to make a cherry and nectarine Clafoutis and scones.


I also finished the first sock for my Sock It To Me pal. I hope she likes them because I kind of don't want to send them. The pattern is Bloody Mary (every time I think the name of the sock I think it in a spooky voice) and the yarn is Mountain Colors Bearfoot.

Day of Packages!

My Yarn in a Tea Cup package arrived from Jessica today. I love everything in here, thank you Jessica!
The package contained 2 skeins of Caudia's Hand Painted, a delicious cookie covered with chocolate and a beautiful mug. I really love the mug, it fits in my hand perfectly, I'm super excited to try the yarn, and believe it or not, I haven't eaten the cookie!


Leyburn socks in progress along with the beautiful socks blockers I just received from Chappy's. The yarn is some Koigu I've had in the stash for years.


These stitch markers also came with my sock blockers, what a pleasant surprise.

One Down, One To Go

Marigold #1 is done! I love this pattern, this yarn, this heel. Unfortunately my shoulder doesn't like all the knitting I've been doing so I think it will be a no knitting weekend for me. :(

Marigold Revived!

The new heel is awesome! I definitely started the short row heel too soon and I think that's why it was so tight across my ankle. Short row has been good to me but it can't compare to the fit of a heel flap and gusset. A big thank you to Wendy of Wendy Knits for coming up with this incredible technique, I love, love, love this heel.



Sock: Marigold
Heel: Toe up gusset
Yarn: Knit Picks bare

Marigold Progress

Here's my marigold progress so far. I am loving the pattern and the yarn.
Unfortunately the sock is tight across the top of my ankle (the bendy spot), I think it's because I started the heel too soon. I may need to frog, add a repeat or two to the foot and redo the heel.



*Edit
I guess I should add some details. The sock is Marigold from Flint Knits and the yarn is Knit Picks Bare hand dyed by me (and Elah).

*whew*

I had a busy weekend.
Let's start with Thursday. So at 11:30 Thursday night I realized that Friday was Georgia's last day at work and I had no knitted gift. For shame!

I cast on with the hand dyed Lamb's Pride and got to knittin'. I had to frog twice and by lunch time I was knitting so fast I actually broke a sweat but it was done by 1 and Georgia loves it.
The hat is based on the Cloche Du Bois pattern.

I got a lot of knitting done this weekend but didn't manage to take any pictures so today I had to try and grab some pictures after work but before this hit...


Saturday I bought some Plymouth Encore (machine washable!) for Casey's Coat from SnB Nation.

Elah picked the colors and we are knitting it together for the Bad Grandma's new dog, Lily. Hopefully it fits; we enlisted Elah's dad and stepmom to do some stealth measuring.

All weekend I continued to knit my Cable Twist Socks from hello yarn and I finished then Sunday night!

Ack! The legs, they blind me!


Yarn: 1 skein, Cherry Tree Hill Supersock
Color: Loden
Source: Linda's Store
Needles: Inox Grey US 1 crics
Date Started: 21 June 2007
Date Finished: 8 July 2007
Details: Remember when I decided to mirror the stitch pattern on the second sock? I'm really happy I did; I love them!

Sunday we had out Knit and Natter over at Viva Espresso and we had a new knitter come hang with us. Always exciting. Her Jitterbug sock was beautiful!

And finally, today I cast on for Marigold. I didn't get a lot done because I wasn't feeling well but I am very excited. (Yes, I know I need to cut my nails.)

I cast on for the 72 st sock but I think that I may need to go down to the 68. Instead of a short row toe, I did a Turkish Cast On of 20 sts, increasing every row with M1R and M1L* until I reached 36 sts and the increased every other row using the same method until I reached 72 sts. This more closely mimics a traditional wedge toe.

A note to my Sock It To Me pal, I'm working on your additional questions. They are very thorough and thoughtful; thank you.

*I remember the difference between M1R and M1L because the M1R picks up from the Rear. When you knit that stitch if it feels really loose then you're knitting into the wrong spot (front or back). Easy peasy.

Sock It To Me Swap

1. What are your foot measurements? (Please give shoe size, length and circumference.)
I wear a US 9.5, UK 40, my foot length 9 3/4” (25 cm) is and the circumference around the ball is 9” (23 cm)

2. How long have you been knitting? How would you rate your experience? (Beginner, Intermediate or Advanced.)
I’ve been knitting for a few years. I’ll rate myself as Intermediate because there is still a lot that I haven’t done but I do think that if I give it a try, I can do it all. :)

3. What is your favorite color? Your least favorite color?
My fave color was orange but now I think it’s green. I don’t like anything day-glo.

4. Do you have a favorite fiber? What type?
Probably wool because it is most versatile but I really like everything; silk because it’s shiny, cashmere and alpaca because they’re soft, etc.

5. Do you have any allergies to certain fibers?
No.

6. Do you have an Amazon, or other type of, wishlist? (If so, provide the link.)
Yes but it’s not really up to date so I haven’t included it. What I really lust after are Barbara Walker’s treasuries. I don’t have any and keep dreaming that I will find one in a used book store or at a thrift shop. If my pal finds one like that (they’re really quite expensive to buy new) or has a duplicate copy of one, that would be great.
I've also been wating to try (but haven't yet) Sock That Rock, Cider Moon, Yarn Pirate and Wollemeise sock yarns.

7. What techniques, if any, would you like to learn?
How to knit Continental with even tension. I guess I actually know that, I just need more practice! I can't think of another off the top of my head. Usually when I want to learn a new something I just scour the interwebs and figure it out or ask another knitter to show me.

8. Do you have a sweet tooth? What are your favorite snacks?
Yes. I love milk chocolate with or without nuts, most things coconut, all things shortbread.

9. What is your family situation? (Children, Husband, Pets...etc.)
I have a 6 year-old daughter, a 21 year-old son cousin and a 4 year-old cat.

10. Do you prefer straight or circular needles?
Metal, plastic or wood?It depends on the situation; I like them all.

11. Besides socks, what are your favorite items to knit?
Um, socks, wait someone said that already. As long as my needles are working I’m happy.

12. Is there a pattern, (sock or otherwise), that you are dying to try?
Not that I can think of. You can get a good idea of the books I already own by clicking the library thing button in the sidebar (that's almost all of them).

13. Do you like to read? What are you reading currently?
Yes. Lamb by Christopher Moore (don’t bother, it’s disappointing). Up next, Spook by Mary Roach.

14. Do you collect music? (On an iPod or MP3 player.)
Yes.

15. What kind of music do you listen to?
Everything: classical, metal, alt country, old country, alt, indie, hip-hop, some pop, punk. The list goes on. You might be able to get a better idea of it here.

16. Is there anything you collect?Do yarn and pattern books count?
I don’t have any special collections, I just pick up random items as they catch my eye. Some general favorites: old religious (Xtian and other) items, gnomes, hedgehogs, mushrooms, dark woody this from the East (i.e. India, China). Is that helpful?

17. What are your hobbies, aside from knitting?Seriously?
Well, I work full-time, go to school part-time and parent, I don’t really have time for much else. I do, however, love to cook.

18. Are you participating in any other swaps or knit alongs?
Yes, the Yarn in a Tea Cup swap and the Charade and Summer of Socks 2007 knit alongs.

19. Do you have a favorite scent?
I like sandalwood, lavender, rosemary, lemon (as long as it doesn’t smell like Pledge), cedar, lime.

20. When is your birthday? (You don't have to add the year if you don't want to, LOL.)
November 30 (but when I was a kid I was convinced that it was November 40)

Sunday Afternoon

Just a reminder, we will be getting together for a little Knit & Natter at Viva Espresso from 2:30-4 today.

One Cable Twist Sock is done and I've started the second one.

I'm finding that with the pattern reversed, the twist is tighter and I need to use a spare needle to do the cable. I know that there are other ways to cable without a needle but I'm afraid to drop my slippery sock yarn so I'm going the safe route.

Aija has been doing an Etsy Friday and while it's not Friday, I figured I'd share some of my Etsy purchases with you.

1. Nerd Necklace, 2. Knitty, knitty, 3. Even superheroes need a break, 4. Owl Cards

And while you're getting sucked into the black hole that is Etsy, go check The Other Emily's new store! Ocho is my fave.

Hello Sock

I'm almost done with my first Cable Twist sock (closer than this pattern implies). I should be done already but things like parenting and work and sleep keep getting in the way.
Anywho, I want to reverse the stitch pattern on the second sock so the two are mirror images of each other so I spent my lunch hour swatching. Here's what I came up with (I tried to write it up just like the original pattern):

To reverse the stitch for the second sock:
Row 1: *K2, K1 tbl, RT, P2* repeat around
Row 2 and all even rows: *K5, P2* around
Row 3: *K1, K1 tbl, RT, K1, P2* repeat around
Row 5: *K1 tbl, RT, K2, P2* repeat around
Row 7: *RT, K3, P2* repeat around
Row 8: as for row 2
Repeat these 8 rows for pattern

Right Twist (RT) as follows: Slip second stitch from the left hand needle to the right hand needle as if to purl. Without slipping the stitch off the needle, knit the first stitch, allowing the second stitch to drop off left hand needle.

*(This can done with a cable needle by slipping the first stitch onto the cable needle and holding it to the back of the work. Then slip the next stitch as if to purl and knit the stitch on the cable needle through the back loop.)

*Edit I changed the position of the K1 tbl after some testing. I like it better when it comes before the slipped stitch.

Summer of Socks 2007

The Summer of Socks is fast approaching and it's time for me to do some planning. Following is my sock queue. The summer of socks runs from summer solstice to the autumnal equinox and while I have 8 pair of socks on my list, I don't anticipate knitting them all in 3 months. But just in case...



1. Cable Twist socks by Adrian Bizilia (free)
2. Go With the Flow socks by Evelyn A Clark
3. Anastasia socks by MintyFresh (free)
4. Monkey by Cookie A. (free)
5. Leyburn socks by MintyFresh (free)
6. Marigold socks by Pamela Wynne (free)
7. Bed Sock in Lemon Pattern by Nancy Bush
8. A pattern of my own design currently named Fable sock

Come on June 21!