Minty Fresh Feet

There are more pictures here.

Thank you, Minty! Today I popped down to the post to find a package from Minty of pepperknit.com. Inside I found a Falling Leaves sock knit with Claudia Handpainted in dark green that fits like a dream. Seriously, I've been walking around the house wearing one sock for about 2 hours.
I also found pattern notes which I greatly appreciate because I know the pattern had to be resized for my ginormous foot. I love the changes she made, especially the meandering trail of knits between the purls! And did you see that star toe? Gorgeous.
Hmmm, what else? Lovely notecards with scarf patters on them, tea, bee and flower soap (I love bee and flower) and copious amounts of chocolate.
I love everything in this little box! I have to go cast on now, I have another sock to knit.
Minty: flickr, Ravelry, blog

Thank You & Actual Knitting

Know what makes me feel better when I'm down? Hand knit socks! After returning from Toronto, I found these awesome socks (and other goodies) waiting for me. My Sock It To Me pal, Ann (blog Ravelry), knit me these beautiful socks that fit perfectly.

The pattern is from More Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch and the yarn is Claudia Hand Painted in the colorway Eat Your Veggies.

Ann Also sent a package for Elah. She was beside herself when she discovered that part of the package was for her.


I feel totally spoiled. Here's what else was in the box. A beautiful pouch filled with all manner of tea,


shortbread cookie mix and A First Treasury of Knitting Patterns (can you believe it!?),


a skein of STR medium in Farmhouse (I love the colorway!).


Seriously, Ann, you went above and beyond and really made a difference in how I was feeling. I immediately put the socks on and even slept with them on (unheard of!) that night. Thank you.

In my own knitting news, I completed an EZ Baby Sweater on Two Needles (Ravelry). It was my grief knitting. I figured what better way to work through it than by knitting something for a new life.

Yarn: 2.5 skeins, Rowan Wool Cotton
Color: Elf
Source: Kaleidoscope Yarns
Needles: Addi Turbo US 5 crics
Date Started: 20 October 2007
Date Finished: 28 October 2007

Up next: I am furiously trying to finish my SSS sock by Thursday.

Label Whore - Updated!

Lable Whore
Originally uploaded by e_to_the_m.

I created 4 labels for my Sock It To Me pal's socks. I really love little Luca Pumpkin Head's nose at the bottom but in the end I chose the label with the sheep laying down.

Update/Tutorial

There were some questions about how I made the label for my swap partner’s socks so I thought I’d type up a quick tutorial. I’ve seen other sock bands around and I know I saw a tutorial at some point but I couldn’t find it again so I decided to wing it. If anything is not clear please email me at the address below.
I created the label in Photoshop.

1. Open some pictures you think you might want to use as the background image.
2. Using the crop tool set to 3” x 10” (I chose a resolution of 300), crop the section of the image you want to use.
3. Create a new layer.
4. Using the shape tool draw a rectangle, no border, white fill. Position the rectangle on your label. Change the opacity of the rectangle’s layer to 45%.
5. Create a new layer.
6. Draw a text box and add any information you’d like.
7. Print on photo paper (or some other heavy stock), cut and wrap.

Note: If you like to print more than one label at a time and/or save some paper follow these instructions instead.
Follow steps 1-6 as above.
7. Flatten image, select all and copy.
8. Create a new document, 10” x 8” (make sure the resolution of the new document matches the resolution you chose when you cropped in step 2).
9. Paste into a new layer and place accordingly.
10. Repeat steps 7 (if using a different label) & 9 two more times.
11. Flatten image.
12. Print on photo paper (or some other heavy stock), cut and wrap.

Helpful tips:

• I save the label as a .psd document before I flatten it. That way if I inadvertently cock something up I can always open my original document and change the background image or text or reprint.
• To get you started, you can download a copy of the lamb label in . psd format. (7.4 MB)
• If something is unclear shoot me an email at knit.nerd [AT] gmail [DOT] com.

Update 2

There's a new download link. The lamb label and a few others can now be found here (in .psd format). If you need one in a different format just shoot me an email.

I'm a bad blogger.

First the good news: I'm all better! That's really it, there's no bad news.
It's been a long time since I last posted and even longer since I replied to anyone's comments. I do still have all of your emails and I will reply soon.

I didn't really knit all that much while I was sick but I have been trying to work on a sock pattern for the Summer of Socks. Here's my test sock. I didn't end up going with any of these patterns.

Click the pick to go to flickr and see all the patterns.
I really like the top pattern but I think it's too much like the snicket socks to be original.
I did eventually settle on a pattern and am in the process of test knitting and charting now.

I also received my package from my last.fm/ravelry swap partner.

The package is awesome! It contained a CD, a card, some beads (not pictured) and a beautiful skein of Cider Moon yarn in Hocus Crocus. I've been wanting to try Cider Moon and I adore the colors.

Here's the playlist from the CD.

This is the second time I've done a simple package and one skein swap ad I love it!

Also in pre-sickness knitting I made a pair of Saartje's Bootees for a woman at work who's expecting.

The yarn is left over from the Bloody Mary socks I knit for my Sock It To Me pal.

What else?

Oh, I've picked up my hoop again for the frist time in about 15 years.

My first practice project.


A shirt I made for Elah's first day of school. She'll be in 2nd grade this year (!) which at her school makes her a Tau. It's a big deal, for the first 2 years she was in the same classroom so this is her first big change in awhile. She loves the shirt and when I gave it to her she gave me a huge hug and told me that she thought she'd cry. Only I could have a child who gets verklempt.

*whew* OK, that's it for now. Sorry it took so long Stoneking and Jess.