sockdarnit!

A bunch of my hand knit socks had holes in them, due to those pesky moths. After reading a bunch of posts on Ravelry about darning technique, I sat down with my needle and got to work.

Not great looking, but not too bad either. At least the yarn matches.

These socks were hiding in the stash pile, and had holes before I'd even worn them!! Luckily the holes were small and easy to fix.

This giant combination of holes intimidated me, though, and I haven't tried to tackle it yet.

It requires more than darning: cutting out the stitches and knitting a patch. I'm not ready for that quite yet.

turkish cast on.

I'm bookmarking this so that I can use it for my next pair of socks:

Turkish Cast On Tutorial from misocrafty.

Found via the Sock Knitters group on Ravelry.

good friday.


Some progress on the For the Love of Socks KAL: 2 socks on 2 circs. I think I'm the only person who started the KAL... oh well, it's slow going so I'm sure the others will catch up to me once they start! I've been sick and watching a lot of TV and thus getting some knitting done, although I feel pretty gross from all the bad TV!


I had ripped out my first attempt at these socks because they were too big. I made sure to line up the stripes properly this time, and cast on 56 stitches instead of 60. 52 would probably be better but I was afraid of them being too small. It will be interesting to see how the heel will go! (I haven't read ahead in the pattern. It will be a surprise!)

the front is done!

I have finished knitting the front of the knit.1 jumper. Yay! Next up is knitting the neck and armhole edging, and I am going to block the pieces before doing that. (which I will put off for several days because blocking sucks) Then seaming up and ta da! I will have a (hopefully) wearable FO.

getting close.


I am almost finished the front of the knit.1 jumper. Just a few more inches on the straps. Maybe I'll actually get to wear it this winter!

old FO's.

I was cleaning out my armoire the other day and decided to "free" some old sweaters (i.e. give to charity). These gems are my first knitted sweaters, from 2002-2003.


The pattern called for stockingette stitch, but I decided to do garter instead. It kinda looks like chain mail. I wore it a few times after I finished it, but it’s been at the bottom of the armoire for the past few years. The cat has been sleeping on it, and you can see in the photo where her nails have pulled the yarn.


Pattern: Quick Pullover Vest from Yarn Lover's Room
Yarn: Grey acrylic


This boxy beauty is another ugh. A co-worker gave me a copy of Interweave Knits for Christmas, which was a super awesome gift as I'd never seen the magazine before. Such stylish sweaters! Models that look like cool people! Unfortunately I didn't know anything about substituting yarns and used an acrylic boucle instead of the called-for cotton. Plus it was my first sweater so my knitting skill was not great.

This was never worn. The neckline is funny and one of the shoulder seams is puckered. The yarn does not frog easily (it was recycled from a previous project) so this is going to the give-away pile. Maybe someone less fortunate will wear it, or some poor soul will buy it to re-use the yarn.

Pattern: Straight Neck Pullover by Suss Cousins, from Interweave Knits Winter 02/03 (re-printed from Hollywood Knits)

cats and cards.

I don't have any knitting related content to share. Last night I worked a few rows on the 2 socks on 2 circs for the KAL, but it was literally 4-5 rows which doesn't look like much on 2.25 mm needles! My boss is away for the rest of the week so I hope to get some knitting done at work... shhhh don't tell.

Here is some filler content: photos of the cats and some envelopes I stamped for thank-you cards.

Oxo snoozing in his favourite spot on the couch.

Roxy in the same spot (the lamp is toasty warm).

Sharing the favourite spot. I would like to take a nap RIGHT NOW.

I'm very proud of these cards. They are simple but the stamps add a nice touch. (definitely nicer than my chicken scratch!) I chose different colours on the envelopes to match the cards, and the message inside the card was stamped as well. The stamps are from Michaels.

busy busy.

This week has been a whirlwind of activity. T-man has his first art show in the city at Steam Whistle Brewing, and he's been getting ready for the past few weeks. I took the day off work on Tuesday to help hang artwork, and it was a full day on my feet helping our neighbour TK who was doing most of the actual hanging. (I was holding the ladder - not very exciting but important.) I missed bellydancing class that day, but went to troupe practice from 8-10 pm. I couldn't skip it as we are performing on Saturday night! So Tuesday was a very long day.

The opening reception for the art show was on Wednesday night and I went there right after work. (I was actually glad to be at work all day where I could relax!) It was a lot of fun, there was good turn out, but it is exhausting talking to people. And trying to say hi to everyone I should say hi to while making my friends feel welcome and not walking away in the middle of a conversation. It's hard to manage! I'm not very good at mingling. LOL. Anyway, after the show we went for a drink with T-man's friends which was hilarious. These guys are crazy. By the time I went to bed it was 2 am and I still had to get up for work the next day. I'm too old for that! ha ha.

Thursday I was super tired and didn't go to the gym for my favourite class. :( I was afraid of tripping on the step, and that class is intense. I used my lunch break to knit instead. Right after work T-man and I went for dinner with his parents at Epicure (veggie burger yum yum) but I had to run out early to meet E. to rehearse for our upcoming performance. After we practiced, we went to the Second Cup to get some sweet treats, which was a GREAT idea, thanks E! T-man and I watched a movie (Sunshine) and then I went to bed. Exhausted. I should have gone to bed early instead of watching the movie. Whoops.

Tonight I am meeting E. for some costume stuff right after work, then hopefully picking up some new contact lenses, then hopefully eating a good meal and doing laundry and a pedicure! Maybe sit on the couch and work on my socks which I frogged and cast on again. (they were going to be too big.)

I am looking forward to next week when all the events are over and done with, and we can get back to real life. T-man has been working on the art show and I've been getting ready for the performance (rehearsing and last weekend I was shopping for costuming), so we haven't had a lot of time for regular stuff. We need to do a big grocery shopping trip! Laundry! Make some good food! Play with the cats!

sock kal started.


I have started my two socks on two circs for the For the Love of Socks knitalong. I ordered the yarn and needles from Red Bird Knits. Unfortunately, only one of the sets of circular needles was in stock, and I'm still waiting on the second set. I was eager to start the kal though, so I cast on with my new 2.25 mm bamboo needles and my old 2.5 mm metal ones. Who's going to notice a 0.25 mm difference? It was actually better to have two different needles because the first time casting on for two socks on two circs was a bit confusing. When the new needles arrive I will swap them in.

The yarn is Lang Super Soxx in a red multi. I tried to line up the stripes and took great care to cast on at the beginning of a white section... too bad the white section on one ball was half as long as the white section on the other ball! Grr. But I couldn't be bothered to redo it. Matching the stripes is not that important to me.

photo styling tips.

From Etsy: Give Props: How to Style Your Photos

Found via the Crochet Me blog.

the secret is out!


The super secret gifty project has been gifted! Little Maddie doesn't look too thrilled about it, in fact she looks a bit scared, but I think she was having a stare-down with the cat.


Overall, I am quite happy with this project. The stitch pattern is gorgeous and the yarn is very soft and knit up nicely. It washed up well too, which is important for baby items.


My only complaint is that I didn't make it to the right dimensions. It is quite wide, and stretches width-wise. After I'd knit about 8 inches, I considered frogging it and casting on with fewer stitches, but didn't because it had taken me a long time to knit that much. I couldn't imagine starting over! But it would have worked out better in the end. As I was getting close to finishing it (waaaaay past the deadline of Maddie's birth in October), the blanket seemed huge but still not square and I thought it would go on forever. At some point I had to make the call to cast off.

As a bonus, I knit faster now that I've done this blanket.

Details:
Pattern: Elegantly Simple Baby Blanket by Jackie Erickson-Schweitzer
Yarn: Bernat Satin Solids in Banana, about 5.5 skeins
Started: September 2007
Finished: February 2008

party inspiration.

I randomly found this post on the Snapdragons blog (isn't that what the internet is all about?) and it has inspired me to host a meze party. Wouldn't that be a perfect get-together for the bellydance girls? Or for my non-dancing friends, as I had been considering having a party at which I would perform for them - nothing outrageous, just one or two songs, it would be good practice for me - and this menu would fit the theme very nicely.

I would omit the meat dishes, of course, and probably scale down the number of dishes so that I didn't go crazy trying to prepare everything. But can I just say - YUM!

Snapdragons: Meze party how-to
More photos found here: Meze, the morning after

jury frivolity - finished!


I finally got around to sewing up the Frivol (Ravelry link) hat, which I knit while on jury duty in mid-January. To be honest, I thought it would be too small and that's why I was putting off finishing it. If it's not sewn up, no one will know that it's too small! I used the same logic with the Lululemon pants that I got for Christmas - they looked too small, so I put off trying them on because then I would have to return them. Turns out they fit perfectly and I love them. Same with the Frivol hat - it fits T-man just fine! Now I have to make one for myself...

Pattern: The Frivol Hat by Debi Tuttle
Yarn: Lion Brand Vanna's Choice in Linen
Needles: 4 mm

I also did the finishing on the secret gifty project (weaving in the ends). It just needs washing and blocking, but the true challenge will be making a date with the recipient to actually hand it over! We've had some scheduling issues these past few months.

sock kal starts on monday.

Two posts in one day? Hell yeah. It's feast or famine with my blogging.

I am sooooo excited to be start my first knitalong with the For the Love of Socks yahoo group. We are knitting 2 socks at once on 2 circular needles. No more second sock syndrome! (if only they were toe-up... next time) I took the opportunity to do a little online shopping, since I don't have two matching sets of circs, and bought a few skeins of sock yarn too. Nothing crazy. It was my first online shopping experience and it sure was easy! And not as guilt-inducing as shopping in person. Weird, non? I love browsing and fondling the yarn in shops, but the purchasing part can be stressful. Maybe because it's so hard to decide what to buy! Anyway, I am looking forward to receiving my package in the mail.

let it snow.

It has snowed a lot here in the past week. Usually it melts before we get the next dumping! I have to admit that I like the snow... sure, it's a pain trying to get to work, but I don't drive so I don't care if the roads are bad. The streetcar zooms along on its track. My main annoyance is all the "condo people" that don't dress properly for the weather (heels? hello?? have you looked outside?!) and then crowd on the streetcar instead of walking 2 blocks to the subway station. They usually block the doors to get out too. Grrr.

Yesterday I walked to and from dance class and troupe practice. I really hustled to troupe practice, since two other troupers were going to take TTC and we were having a little race (in my mind, anyway ha ha). One other girl ended up walking too, and we beat the TTC rider by a good 5-10 minutes. Trudging through the snow was a real workout, and there were some icky moments when the wind was blowing right in my face. But mostly I felt great! The snow was so beautifully white and fluffy and I felt alive.

T-man let Roxy outside on the deck last night while I was getting ready for bed. She is such a snow cat! She was chasing snowflakes and not bothered at all by the cold and wet. There is a reason for all that fur.

TGIF.

Sorry about the lack of posts this week! I haven't been all that busy. Just uninspired, I guess. The lack of caffeine is to blame! There have been some rough days this week, but I'm feeling pretty good today. Lively and awake.

OK, so the only item that I can cross off my list from last weekend:

• Stash organizing - put aside yarn to be donated, rip out unfinished projects, etc. Also photograph and document for Ravelry.

Pretty sad! I went shopping for fruits and vegetables in Kensington Market, but I didn't wash and prep them, and that was the whole point. Alas.

Here is a picture of the living in the midst of the stash organization. It was a mess, and truth be told, it's not totally cleaned up yet. cringe

There were a few unfinished projects in the stash pile. One crochet purse that is done except for attaching the handles, and the handles are ready to be attached. I found one finished wine cozy and one that needs embellishment. All the parts for a Pasha the Penguin.

It was fun to photograph and document everything. Not sure if all of my yarn counts as "stash" since there are lots of little bits of things. I put aside some of the bits and bobs to donate, and I'm already working on a few charity projects.

Looking forward to the For the Love of Socks knitalong that is due to start on Monday! My first KAL. The theme is 2 socks on 2 circs, but I might try 2 socks on Magic Loop, otherwise I'll have to buy some new circs. (which wouldn't be so bad, I kinda want to do that anyway!)

to do this weekend.

Crafty...

• Finishing - sew up jury Frivoli hat, weave in ends on the gifty project, weave in ends on the work socks
• Darn the heel of my first toe-up socks (I think a moth got to them - found the hole the first day I wore them! grr.)
• Stash organizing - put aside yarn to be donated, rip out unfinished projects, etc. Also photograph and document for Ravelry.

Other stuff...

• manicure and pedicure
• buy lots of fruits and veggies and prep them all in the fridge (after dance class on Sat.)
  

I got my hair cut yesterday, and my stylist told me that after he goes grocery shopping, he immediately washes the fruit and cuts up the veggies so that everything is ready to eat. Eureka! That makes it so much easer to grab a snack. I already know that prepping food in advance saves so much time, but when do I find the time to prep it? Hopefully this will become a new habit.

knitting pics!

Work socks

Pattern: Wendy's Generic Toe-Up Sock Pattern
Yarn: Patons Kroy socks in Norfolk Blue and Krazy Stripes
Needles: 3 mm dpns
Started: December 26, 2007
Completed: January 25, 2008

I still need to weave in all those ends... can I still call it a FO?

knit.1 jumper

This photo is terrible - it doesn't reflect the true colour of the yarn, which is a mottled olive-y green, which I quite like. This looks like barf. You can see the pooling in the yarn, WTF?! Hopefully it's not too noticeable when I wear it.

The pattern is from knit.1 magazine Summer 07. Yarn is Lionbrand Homespun in Mediterranean. I knit most of it in the car on the way to Grand Rapids, MI on Saturday. Yay for road trip knitting!

withdrawl.

I moved on to the next phase of caffeine reduction today, and boy do I feel it. I mixed my coffee half and half with decaf and I have a caffeine withdrawl headache. Ugh.

first FO of 2008.

The work socks are done! I finished knitting them today at lunch. I still have to weave in all of those ends (ugh) and block them... one sock looks quite a bit larger than the other! Hopefully it all comes out in the wash, so to speak. Pics to come.

De-stashing news: I don't have a huge stash, but I do have a lot of acrylic yarn. It's not good stuff, and I don't really want it around but didn't know what to do with it. Thanks to Ravelry, I have some options for de-stashing, in a charitable fashion! The CAMH is looking for yarn donations for their craft group, and a woman in Nunavut put out a call for baby hats and blankets for her local hospital. I look forward to sorting through my yarn bins and bags and letting some stuff go. Unfortunately it will be next week, as I'm going to Michigan this weekend for a family function. I hope to get a lot of knitting done on the 6-hour drive, if I don't get carsick. :)