Mystery Socks Finished!

I'm done! Kate has been sick with strep so getting knitting time in has been difficult. The meds finally kicked in yesterday, so I was able to work on my Mystery Sock KAL. We got the last clue on Wednesday and have to have a picture on the ravelry group by June 10th to be eligible for a prize. I hadn't planned on doing the last part, but I am so happy they are done, I decided, why not? My pictures aren't the greatest as I took them with my cell phone and emailed them to myself. (Can't find the camera. I think the ghost from the old Family Circus cartoon has been visiting. "Not me.") But I had to learn some new technology. It's the first time I sent an email with my phone...  

6/7  Added some new and better pictures!

Always read the pattern!

Okay, it helps to read the pattern... I was knitting on my Wine Red Top (in purple, of course) and thought it was going well, when I noticed these little numbers next to the chart, 1, 3, 5, meaning of course, to follow the chart on the odd rows and to knit the even rows.... Ooops! I was starting what I thought was row 4, but was supposed to be row 7, having left out the even rows. I started tinking back and then decided to just start all over when  I remembered that I had fudged something in the first place. Since I am changing this to a knit in the round instead of knitting the front and back, I don't have wrong side rows. I knit the first row as a wrong side row and rather than starting over at that point, I did a wrap and turn, and started knitting all right side rows, except, I was still knitting all right side odd rows. It has now been frogged and re-cast on and has 2 rows done, so we will see if I can keep on track with this. Here I thought I was doing so well knitting lace! Ha! And no pictures until I find my darn camera....

Stuff

I am still knitting and loving my mystery socks. I have finished clue#5 and am waiting (not very patiently) for the next clue to come out. Our fearless leader is going to take pity on us and release the next clue early! Noon tomorrow, instead of making us wait until Sunday!

Saw Diane Keaton speak tonight. What a classy, funny lady. Very enjoyable. This is the last lecture of the series for this year. I've been going to these lectures for several years now and really enjoy it. We call it the women's lecture series -- partly because it has changed names so many times, it is hard to keep it straight. It is a fun time. We make a night of it, going out to eat and visiting first, then to the talk. Even when I don't have any idea who the speaker is, I always enjoy it.

I finished my summer (not a) turtleneck, which bears little or no resemblance to the original pattern, but that's okay. I really like it and think I will wear it more often this way. I need to take some pics and get them posted. I also need to weave in the ends on another summer top I knitted last year and finished when it was too cold to wear. Why bother weaving in the ends if you can't wear it for months anyway? So now that it is warming up, I need to get it done.

Shepherd's Harvest

Last week I got an email from Dave (my dear husband) asking if I wanted to go out for brunch on Mother's day and I admitted that I had hoped to sneak off to Shepherd's Harvest Sheep and Wool Festival in Lake Elmo. Saturday was a busy day with lots of running so Sunday would be my only chance to go. The above pictures are of my lovely purchases. The top picture is the fiber that a very kind gentleman GAVE me when I told him I was a very beginning spinner and didn't really know what I was doing. So, now I need to try it out and see how it goes!

The next two pictures are of a pattern (Origami by Amy E. Anderson) and the yarn to make it. It is shawl like but buttons at the top center. It just looks warm and I am always up for anything warm. :-) It also come with directions for 6 sizes and can be made with sport weight or worsted weight yarn. I bought another pattern which I do not have a picture of. It is the Eyelet Ridge Shawl Variations by Rita O'Connell. Of course, I am thinking of changing it.....

And then we come to the roving (purple and white) which I couldn't resist. It is supposed to be an easy firer to work with for beginning spinners. I hope so.

And finally two pictures of the skein of Happy Hands Hand dyed Fiber by Kim Leach in the Pinball Wizard colorway, which is mainly purple, as you may have noticed. It is a whopping 560 yards. I am not sure what it will be, but it will be beautiful, no matter what. 

Tired!

I am so tired today! I was up verrrrry late last night fighting with a skein of Artyarns Ultramerino 4. I had read on Ravelry about someone that makes a center pull yarn ball with two strands, for knitting two socks at a time and I thought it sounded like something I should try. So, having already wound said skein into one ball, my plan was to divide it, using my handy dandy kitchen scale (more on that later) into two balls and then wind the two balls together into one center pull with two strands. HA, HA, HA! Let's see. I started a little after 8 and somehow ended up with most of the skein in giant knots in no time. I should have taken pictures. Other than taking time out to get the kids to bed, I worked on that mess until 1 AM. I don't know if it was the yarn (seems to have a lot of twist) or what, but at long last, I wound it into two center pull balls on pretty much equal weight. Now to cast on for a pair of yoga socks. I am not sure this is enough yarn, but they shouldn't take much.

About the scale, I have a very nice kitchen scale that I use for weighing yarn. It is accurate to the .05 of an ounce, but someday, I'd like to get a scale that weighs in grams. $$$$

Knitting socks

I am loving the sock KAL that I am doing, even though my row gauge seems to be off. I find myself waiting rather impatiently for the next clue. I want to sit on my hands and not knit. I even want to cast on more socks to work on while I wait. The pattern called for starting the beads on the top of the foot, but I opted to skip them until I get to the leg. Since I wear mostly lace up shoes (my good old MBTs) I don't want to limit my being able to wear these socks after putting this much work into them! I love the color and the pattern is fun, even without beads in the foot. It rather surprises me that I enjoy sock knitting as much as I do. Had someone told me when I started knitting, or even a

 year ago,  that I would use such tiny needles and enjoy it, I would never have believed it. I am thinking about starting a pair of yoga socks. I have one skein of purple Artyarns Ultramerino 4, only I am not sure it is enough. I think it should work, since there are no toes or heels. I guess we will have to see. But first I have to wind it into two balls and find my size 3 circular needles.  :-)

Update on recent projects

Just a little of what I have done recently. I found directions online for making your own sock blockers from plastic placemats from Target and 'viola,' I have sock blockers for about $2.00! I used a sock I had been wearing and pinned it to a piece of cardboard for a pattern. I tried the sock on the pattern to check for fit and then traced it onto the placemat. Next I cut it out and filed the rough edges smooth with a nail file. (third picture from top) Very cool!   The last picture is of my toe up jaywalkers, details on my ravelry page. They are lovely but not the easiest socks to get on and off. I said that I used to wear shoes that looked great but weren't necessarily comfortable. But since I have foot issues, I now only wear comfortable shoes, so I guess I can have one pair of socks that I have to fight with to get on.... I really liked the pattern and while I was knitting them, I thought I might make another pair, but now I am not so sure.

Well, it looks like I can add pictures but not necessarily where I think they will go.... Anyway, you should be able to tell the difference between sock blockers and socks and a top, right? The second picture is of my summer t-neck, which may not be a t-neck. I started it planning to follow the pattern and got bored with all the stockinette so decided to add a little interest and put in 3 repeats of the monkey sock pattern. I want the lace to end under the bust, however Monday night when I tried it on, it was ending in the middle of the bust. My choices were to try to pick up stitches later and move the armhole up (twice) or frog back and knit a couple of more inches to just do it right to start with. I opted for the latter.

And finally in the top picture, I am doing a fun mystery sock KAL. I am using a beautiful purple yarn called Sock-aholic in the Purple Hooters colorway from Knitters Brewing Company. I had to join the KAL when I saw the yarn and the name. Someone at my LYS yesterday suggested that I should not hold up my partially knitted socks in front of me and say the yarn name at the same time. It might give people ideas.