Dr. Evil Stole my MOJO!

It could be because it's been 100 degrees in Texas, but I believe I've lost my mojo. Let me first say that I generally knit every single day. I knit while I'm watching tv at home which is a daily occurrence. "What about when you are not home at night?" some might ask. Well, if I'm not home on weeknights I'm usually at a knitting meet up so, well, I'm knitting. A sweet lady that I knit with recently made the comment that I don't have to knit every day. Can you believe that stopped me in my tracks & made me go "hmmmmm"? I seriously hadn't thought of that. Duh.

I have made a pledge to finish a sweater for myself by the time it cools off here - which should be entirely possible since it is only cold for like 2 months starting in December! But a light chill would warrant a cardigan so Lucy in the Sky is my latest victim. It is a deep green & is coming along really well but I got to the arms & now I'm stuck. Not because I don't know what to do, but because....well.... I can't find the needles I need to use & I have to dig out another skein of the yarn from my recent attempt to organize my stash so now everything I need is at the bottom of the heap no matter what I need....is that whiney enough? GEEZE!

I knew my MOJO was on the fritz so lately when that happens I cast on a pair of socks. The only problem with that plan is that I tend to be monogomous to the socks so the sweater gets no love until the socks are done. Defeats the purpose of finding my mojo. Did I mention I don't even WEAR socks? Whatever.

I have been posting projects to my Ravelry account so I just realized that I haven't posted so many of my FOs here! I'll run through a couple of them & if you knit with me or stalk me on Ravelry (and I mean that in a good way), you will be bored silly!

My latest socks:

Jackie O Glacier from Cider Moon using the Rainy Day pattern from Magknits.
Can I tell you how much I LOVE the ladies at Cider Moon? Their customer service is outstanding & I have gotten the sweetest emails from them. Go buy some yarn right now! The colorways are gorgeous & the yarn is so nice to work with - I've never been disappointed. Well, that's kind of a lie, I was disappointed when I got my order of June Carter Cloud & I had only put one skein in my cart when I wanted 2 - what in the heck was I thinking??? And I have this strange compulsion of not being able to buy another skein from a different dye lot because I think it will be different shades, yada yada because it is hand dyed. Bummer. I guess I'll have to buy 2 more for my scarf & make a matching hat! That Cloud is ridiculously squishy & they tricked me into buying it by sending SAMPLES with my order. What clever vixens.

I also finished these Monkey socks with Sunshine Westwood yarn.

I have this new rule where I won't buy a sock yarn that I haven't already knit with. Wouldn't it be a shame to end up with a pile of one kind of yarn & hate it? So I made these so I could try out Sunshine since I love her colorways & it totally passed the test. It was wonderful to work with. I am not one to knit the same pattern again but I gotta tell you, I will make more Monkeys. The pattern looks good in every yarn I've ever seen it knitted up in, it's easy to memorize, and it seems to help with pooling. I can see why it's such a popular pattern & if you haven't made any, get to it! I finished them in 17 days, which is a personal best time for fingering weight socks. Go Tasha! Go Tasha!

You know I'm not much on progress pictures but I have to show you this because it will be a while before it's done. It's the Trellis Shawl from the Runway Knits book. I instantly fell in love with this book & I love the idea of this shawl because it also has arms. I really like the idea of a shawl in general but I just don't know how practical it is for me. This one is so squishy & luxurious- I can't wait until it's done. Though it's pretty boring knitting..... I have made quite a bit of progress since this photo - I think I'm at 15 inches & it needs to be 75, so still quite a way to go!


Due to my long absence I have tons to talk about. I could blather on forever but I'll spare you.

What your Ipod says about you

I don't know about you, but I have a love affair with my Ipod. I firmly believe that if I put it on "shuffle songs" it knows just what I need to hear, even if it's not what I WANT to listen to. Not too long ago I had one of those days. You know the one - I ran from one stop to the next & was on fast forward mode all freaking day long. I turned to my ipod to see what it had to say. Mellow music. Damn it. Skip to next song. Mellow music. DAMN IT. Skip to next song. Mellow music. DAMMMMMNNNNNN ITTTTTTTT. I get it. I need to chill out. So I listened & it was right - just like when your Mom tells you if you eat more sweets you'll regret it & you do then you are mad that she was right. Same thing.
I thought I'd share with you such a playlist that my Ipod decided to give me today.

Til't cha head back - Christina Aguilera w/ Nelly
Kyle's Mom is a Bitch - Eric Cartman - South Park
Hurricane Party - Cowboy Mouth
Could you be Loved - Bob Marley
Hollaback Girl - Gwen Stefani
White Lines - Duran Duran
Express Yourself - Madonna (remember old classic Madonna? Sigh)
Can I get a F**k you - Puff Daddy
Girl Next Door - Saving Jane (sadly from my niece's Nickelodeon CD)
Celebrate - Ru Paul
All She Wants is - Duran Duran
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) - ABBA
Grease Mega Mix - Olivia Newton John & John Travolta - I love me a remix
Fight For Your Right To Party - Beastie Boys
Voodoo - Godsmack

Man, how does it know that it's a WEEKEND? What a fun machine.

Disclaimer: I am highly embarrassed that I have the South Park Bigger Longer & Uncut soundtrack on my ipod, but I do. Same goes for RuPaul, but I won't apologize. You can disown me now.

I'll try to fit some knitting content in this weekend. I promise.

My Ridiculously Good Swap present.

First let me say that I don't participate in anonymous swaps. I love the idea of Secret Pal whatever-number-we-are-on in theory but I'm so scared of getting a terrible package that I just won't participate. I co-own a local yahoo group in the DFW area & we do swaps several times a year. This one I like because I know all of the participants & they know me so it's easier to buy for people. I have always had great swap partners, I have never been disappointed, and I love the ladies in my group for their thoughtfulness. Our most recent swap was the brain child of Dawn & it was SUCH a good idea & fun swap. Participants sent their pal on a "vacation" of sorts. My partner, Liz is a really really good friend of mine & she is also a liar. She told me that she had someone else & I totally bought into it the whole freaking time. You must know something about me - when we have a swap I try to figure out the list of who has who so I can limit it down to the person that has me. I love a surprise but apparently I think I'm Nancy Drew as well so I get great joy out of figuring it out. Here's the best part. Liz told me that she had Dawn. Now that I think about it, I KNOW WHO HAS DAWN. And I still didn't put it together. I think I need to go back to detective school....ANYWAY. Liz knows hords of information about me because I talk an awful lot. I was a perfect target for this vacation - BACK TO THE 80s. She handed me presents all wrapped in pink paper & in a pink fabric box & everything was numbered & I had a stack of envelopes. Whew. I'm tired just thinking about opening it, much less putting it together. I'll do my best to take you through my journey.

Planning stages envelope had a message that said:
Tasha,
Your trip will tak you to a place with no cell phones...No internet....(eek!)...No TiVO (The Horrors!!!). You are going BACK.....

Next envelope marked "You are going....."
BACK TO THE 1980s!!

Just a brief pause to say that I was sure that I was squealing at this point....

#1 - Back to a time when we wore Converse High Tops and slathered our lips with Cola flavored Gloss


#2 - And wore baseball jerseys with 3/4 length sleeves


#3 - A time where the candy was goody and not covered in dark, delicious chocolate


#4 - When the music ranged from Punk (Lotus Yarns named Punk Rock Girl)


#5 - To silly songs about turning Japanese


I know, it's so good right! But that's not all...

Packing up: But, alas, as with every trip - you have to go home again...In this case - back to the Future.

#6 - A time of candy-pooping animals (this is an inside joke, and trust me, it's freaking funny)


#7 - And the days of Knit Clinic Yarns in colors that you wish for...


I mean, ya'll - that is just ridiculously clever! I have been wanting that shirt & that kimono pattern & I've been begging with little dignity for her to dye me some pink & yellow yarn.

I case you didn't know, Liz opened her own Etsy shop to sell hand dyed yarn. It's really gorgeous, she has a great sense of color & has been shopping for the perfect base yarn - it's fabu. Go check it out. Knit Clinic Yarns

Thank you thank you thank you Liz for the gift, but mostly for making it so fun for me. You are so thoughtful & I am so lucky to have you as a friend. Even if you didn't give the best presents EVER (which you do). Lucky me!

PS - OH YEAH. And if that wasn't enough - uh, which it was, I think she was confused on the price limit, but I got one more present. She didn't get it in time to give it to me with my gift so I got it later. It's a really pretty necklace with a friendship tree on it, much like the friendship bracelets from the 80s. No clever commentary from me because, well, she didn't give me any & I suck at that. As was evidenced by the fact that I handed Jen her bag full of goodies & said "you are going to Italy" with narry a note attached. I'm not very creative I'm afraid!

WANTED: Originality

I really love Ravelry, really I do. I love seeing the ideas people have for using certain yarns that I love, or yarns that I've never heard of, or how they modify patterns that I love, or patterns I've never heard of...you get the idea. Part of the reason I love the idea of hand knit items is that not everyone and their sister will have my sweater. Now I wonder, is that true? I mean, 942 people on Ravelry have knit a Clapotis - do you see my point? In the big scheme of things I guess having 1,000ish Clapotis, or 10,000, or even 100,000 in the whole world is just a fraction when you compare to my favorite sweater from the Gap. Right? Sometimes I just feel like I get caught up in the latest knitting trend and I turn into a sheep. I like wool & I've turned into a sheep - what is wrong with me?

All of that to say this - tonight I got sick of looking at my Monkey sock (743 pairs on Ravelry as I type this, in case you were interested). I decided that I needed something new, something different, something that NO ONE ELSE IN THE WORLD HAS. Why do I feel this way? Huh? I am not a designer. I am not creative. I'm a total copy cat, really I am! I want something that is mine & only mine. I don't want to bring it to a meet up & have people ohhh & ahhh over it (no, I'm not ill & I realize how irrational that statement is coming from me, bear with me). I don't want approval from anyone else. I want to make an original SOMETHING that might just turn into the biggest, furriest monstrosity you have ever seen in your whole freaking life. So I cast on for said original creation tonight with original yarn that someone else lovingly hand spun - and then abruptly sold at a yard sale for 10 bucks. My $10 monstrosity - I haven't been so happy about anything since my unoriginal Clapotis!

Stay tuned.....

Screw a Yarn Diet

Here's the deal. I have been beating myself up about how much yarn I buy for as long as I've been knitting. I didn't realize it until I went back through my blog gathering photos of old projects for Ravelry (which rocks, btw, if you are still on the wait list be patient, they are adding new people constantly). Way back when my posts sounded exactly the same as they do now - constantly justifying my yarn purchases. Screw that. Why do I do that? I enjoy buying yarn! It's currently my only money sucking vice. I rarely buy clothes or shoe anymore & I have no clue why I feel the need to justify it to myself - obviously to myself since not THAT many people read my blog - and to people that I knit with. Or other knitters who by & large buy as much as much yarn as I do. It's not that much & for goodness sake, no matter how many podcasters / bloggers compare yarn to crack, at least it literally isn't CRACK. I mean, it could be worse.

There has also been some discussion of yarn snobbery in my local group lately. It seems that someone made a comment that they went to a meet up where many people were using Red Heart & other forms of acrylic & that it was nice that it was about the craft & not about the yarn. Hum. That made me do some thinking.

I use acrylic & acrylic blends as much as any other fiber when appropriate. Acrylic at the LYS isn't any more expensive than acrylic at Walmart. Should I be snubbed when I'm paying the same yard per yard for similar yarn because I went to the LYS? Gee, I sure hope not. I'd rather support a local woman owned business before a billion dollar conglomerate any day of the week. Right now I'm making a Lucy in the Sky cardigan. The yarn that I'm using is an acrylic / wool blend that I got at a LYS for less than $50. Am I more or less noble because of this? Would it be snobbier if I had used Karabella Aurora (the yarn I'm looking at for another sweater on my wish list)? I guess I don't get it. For me it's about the process & making something for myself that I enjoy making & will enjoy wearing. This time around it's a cheap acrylic blend. Watch out, next time it might be expensive cashmere. I don't expect the women I knit with to comment either way - quite frankly it's none of their business. But they wouldn't do that or I wouldn't knit with them, you know?

I guess I equate yarn buying to the way I buy clothes. I buy some of my clothes at Walmart or the thrift stores. They are perfectly good clothes & I wear them a lot. They are totally useful & I wash them a trillion times with no problems & I don't worry much about them because they are sturdy & durable. But sometimes I just want to go to Nordstrom & plop down a pile of money on a nice sweater. I have to hand wash it & care for it differently. I'm ok with that because I deserve it & it has a place in my closet just like my less expensive clothes. Same with my stash. I have all types of yarn in there & it all has it's place. Knitting for me is about the craft. But golly - it's also about the yarn. One of the features that I love the most about Ravelry is that you can search for a pattern & see what kind of yarn everyone used for that project. I love to see the range of yarns that were used for the same thing, it doesn't make the project any more or less beautiful. Work with what you can get, you know?

I think meet ups are a great place to view / touch / exchange yarn experiences - that's one of the the things that love about meet ups! I love that some of my friends buy yarn that I may or may not be able to buy or may or may not WANT to buy. I like to be "in the know" about my yarn choices & that is one way that I learn more. I like to be able to touch & feel yarns that I've heard about or have seen on the internet. Sometimes it makes me want the yarn more, sometimes not. Not every knitter has the same color & touchy feely preferences - I might not want the yarn someone else buys but I enjoying seeing it. I enjoy seeing the joy it brings it's owner. I think that's part of the knitting camaraderie & experience.

I know in my life that I won't always have the most expensive house, clothes, car, shoes, handbag or yarn. I love the women in my life that have more & less than me & I don't judge them either way. I'm surely not going to stop enjoying the company of women who chose to spend $500 on their handbag because I'm a $20 handbag kind of girl. To each her own I say - I'd rather spend my money on yarn. And I am. And I'm not apologizing for it anymore so say goodbye to the yarn diet ticker & purchasing guilt forever! Good riddance I say!

More yarn, finished socks & why I haven't been blogging

I'm starting to think that I'm more of a yarn collector than a knitter. Yes, I bought more yarn. A lot of it. Well, Patrick is getting this bonus at the end of the week. Ironically it nearly coincided with all of my LYS annual sales. It just so happens that 2 of the shops have nearly the same anniversary date (though very different years in business) but they put their whole shop on sale. So naturally the other smart shop also does a sale at the same time while all yarn shoppers are in spendy mode.

Last year I bought loads of yarn that later got destashed or is still sitting in my stash. This year I had a plan. I made a list of things I knew I wanted to knit & decided to stock up on that yarn so I'll have it in my stash. Here is what I got:


From the Woolie Ewe - sale was Memorial day weekend & they had 35% off of the whole store. Everything. I think I was pretty good considering. Rust Silky Wool for a sweater, Jojoland cashmere in emerald green that I find highly an impossible color to find in yarn, more Baby Alpaca Grande - I love that yarn. The acrylic needed to do the crochet Larger Than Life bag from current the IK Crochet magazine, a few needles, and those adorable leopard purse handles.


From The Shabby Sheep and Passion Knit
Passion Knit had everything 35% off the whole store so I got some of the Handmaiden Sea Silk & enough Silky Wool in deep purple for a sweater. I have been wanting some of the Blue Sky Cotton so I got that as well. From SS I got more Manos in a color I normally wouldn't buy but think it's GORGEOUS - Panda Cotton - a book & a DPN holder that I've been eyeing anyway.

Yes, I know it's lots of yarn. But really it was at least 35% off. So if I was going to buy it anyway....you know the drill.

And then there is this:

My inlaws frequent garage /estate sales & they came across a spinner. She hand spun all this yarn & decided she wanted to start anew so she sold them this whole box for $10. It is some BEAUTIFUL stuff & I plan to do a hodge podge scarf with it. I sure hope it comes out like I imagine.


In that spirit, I'm changing my yarn diet ticker. Instead of keeping track of how long it's been since I bought yarn & fixing it all the damn time since I haven't completely stopped, I'm going to do a 90 days without buying yarn drought. Really. No yarn. In a week or so when I'm POSITIVE I'm done. I have a hard time making that commitment when I have a big slush fund coming my way......



I finished my Hedera socks. I freaking love them. I must admit I was bored out of my mind by #2 so I really can't imagine how people knit the same pattern over & over. It was a great pattern - easy to remember & fun to knit, not too tedious - highly recommended.

Why I haven't been blogging - because I've been hanging out on Ravelry. If you are a knitter/ crocheter/ fiber person & haven't signed up yet - what are you waiting for? They are in beta & the wait list is about 6,000 people long, it will only get longer. They started adding people at an alarming rate & I imagine it won't be long until more & more are added. They are moving as fast as they can without crashing the site - please be patient. I have heard some disturbing things about messages they are getting - it's a free service, people. They are in beta. Be patient. I know - easy for me to say since I blindly took an invite when they were offered at the very beginning, but seriously, ugliness will get you nowhere fast. Put down the pitchforks & be supportive - it will be worth it, I swear. I have organized my stash, my projects, my future projects, found projects that I didn't even know that I wanted to knit, met new people, kept in touch with other people that I knew already (manda!) It's awesome. Really.

My personality test & a sock

See, I'm a joiner so I had to take this test that was on Dawn's blog. This is pretty right on so I have to share.

You Are An ESFP

The Performer You are a natural performer and happiest when you're entertaining others. A great friend, you are generous, fun-loving and optimistic. You love to laugh - and you like almost all people equally. You accept life as it is, and you do your best to make each day fantastic. You would make a good actor, designer, or counselor.

What's Your Personality Type?

I'm knitting too, I swear, I just am bouncing around 3 projects & have nothing finished. And you know how I feel about WIP pics. I did finish one sock though & I'll post that just to prove this is still a knitting blog. Hedera in Claudia handpaint John B.



* Notice how I already changed my yarn diet ticker? I have every intention of buying yarn at the Woolie Ewe birthday sale. 35% off everything in the store. I have $230 in birthday money. It is a no brainer. I imagine today will be the day that no yarn speaks to me - isn't that just the way?

I Captured the Bird of Peace

Yes, I did. So here's how it happens. After I get off of work at 5ish I let my cats roam around in the yard for an hour or so. Thursday a week ago when I went out there I found an injured dove in the yard. I immediately get the cats to leave him alone - not that they could even CATCH the injured dove that can't fly, I mean, it's not as if they are hunters or anything - I grabbed up the dove & put him in a shoe box. Then I called Patrick. Let me get a few things straight right off the bat. Patrick grew up in a VERY animal friendly home. My in laws are huge animal rights activists to the point that the MIL captures spiders & lets them go outside. I grew up on a farm with cows - and not the dairy kind. All of the men in my family are hunters & hunting season equals fresh deer in the freezer. Our views of the roles of animals in the world differ quite a bit. As I have grown older I have become much more open hearted to animals, but I'm still a realist - if you know what I mean. So if you are a PETA person, I don't want to hear crap about my comments - as you'll see I'm too animal soft hearted for my own good. Ok now...back to the story. I tell Patrick of the dove & he said he'd deal with it when he got home (duh). He calls me on his way home & we have the following conversation:
Him: I looked up injured dove on the internet & we have a few choices
Me: Yeah?
Him: Yeah. First of all, it says it depends on what kind of person you are.
Me: {holding my breath & kind of hoping we are the kind of people that knock an injured dove in the head but instead say} So what kind of people are we?
Him: Well, we can wrap it's wing with an ace bandage & keep it for a few weeks & then it SHOULD be able to fly, then we let it go.
Me: {immediatley wondering when the dove still can't fly in a couple of weeks who will knock it in the head} hmmmm, ok, then that's what we'll do.

This requires a cage, which we happen to have since we didn't have very good luck with the hamsters. (oh yeah, remembering that the cats CAN hunt - well, a caged animal anyway). We keep the dove. We wonder what birds eat & the feel immediately stupid when we realize the answer - bird seed - duh. We wrap the dove as per the instruction on the web site (which I can't find right this second).



So we are doing the right thing, right? Who the hell knows. We know nothing about birds. Or doves. or injured doves. Quite honestly the dove doesn't seem overly grateful that we rescued it....I think he feels that we birdnapped him. Of course we did immediately put him in a little birdy straight jacket & we do have cats so I'm sure he figures he's lunch. Saturday morning we wake up & he has escaped the straight jacket. I have no idea how. Whatever, we wrap him up again.

Saturday we were both gone all day. Patrick goes to the pet store to get it some toys to keep it busy. Because really, I mean, the dove had toys in the wild, right? (insert eye roll here) The pet store girl basically tells us that the dove is one of the stupidest animals alive & that if we stuffed a wire ball with grass it will spend it's days taking the grass out of the ball. Geeze. Good thing we got it a toy. Maybe it's not thinking ANYTHING after all. Patrick goes to get the cage to put said toy in there & low & behold we see this:


Do you see it (right there under the piece of green grass)? It's a FUCKING EGG. The bird laid an egg. At this point I am totally speechless & if you know me at all you understand the severity of this statement. Really, I just don't know what to say about the bird we save from certain death & wrapped up in ace bandages laying an egg. I shake my head in disbelief for the rest of the day. The phrase "No good deed shall go unpunished" keeps coming to mind.

We tell this story to the FIL at lunch on Sunday. He knows a lady that takes care of injured birds! Oh man, that is the best news I ever heard. We drop the dove off at her house. We ask her if she wants the egg. She looks at us like we are crazy. Seems that the bird lady is a realist too. I have had people that said they couldn't have left the bird there if she didn't take the egg too. To those people all I have to say is this - I know where you can go to get an injured bird.....Just saying.

WIPs & I don't seem to get this yarn diet.....

I really have been knitting, I have just been neglecting my blog. If you know me at all or have read my blog very much you know that I'm not big on WIP pictures. To be honest, I really don't want to see your socks in 20 stages of completion & I figure I'll save you from the boredom of looking at mine. Right now you'll just have to bear with me though, or not see any pictures. I am SUCKING at finishing right now - but I'm on a starting roll. There are so many things that I want to work on that I figured I'd just cast them all on & work on them. How's that for a plan? So in the last week or so I've cast on for 3 projects.

First of all I cast on for this Opal Shawl - I have been wanting to knit this FOREVER - well, honestly about 6 months - but it seems like forever. Alissa had a finished one at a class I was taking & I immediately decided that I MUST have the pattern. Unfortunately the author is deceased & there is copyright issues...blah blah blah...so it wasn't particularly easy to get. They worked it all out & I got my hands on a copy from Yarns & Stitches. I must say - the pattern photo is the most unflattering I've ever seen on any pattern. I would have never purchased it from that picture - but I saw 3 of them in person & they are really really lovely. If that picture is unflattering, well, I have no idea what you call this one. I'm only putting it up here to show you that I have been knitting & the yarn is knitting up so freaking pretty that I can't stand it. Socks That Rock medium weight in January One colorway. I am also having issues with the lace pattern on the bottom - it seriously isn't that hard but I've torn it out 6 times now. Thank goodness for life lines. I think I am to the point that someone else needs to look at it to make sure I'm not insane.


I have been looking at the Flickr group for the Chevron Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I realize that everyone & their sister is knitting this scarf right now & I really really dislike being a sheep & following the crowd. I just couldn't stop looking at the combinations & the beautiful results. In my spare time & before I went to sleep at night I would plot which yarns would look which way. Finally in an act of desperation I convinced Betty to ride with me to the Woolie Ewe to pick out 2 yarns that might work & the only prerequisite was that neither could be pink or even contain pink. This is quite shocking I know, but I was left with a startling revelation when I was packing for New York last year....despite the fact that I have knit countless scarves in all colors of the rainbow, I have 5 pink scarves. Naturally I suppose when it came time to knit something for me I always chose some pink yarn...now I have knit a few other things for myself that aren't pink, but they are few & far between. This will be one of those. We chose two skeins of Cherry Tree Hill - Misty Moor & Life's A Beach. My goodness it's pretty! Usually I love the yarn when I'm picking something out & I'm excited about the project until I get into it, then it bores me senseless & I lose love for it. Not so with this scarf. If you knit with me while I'm knitting on it, I'm going to show it to you & say "Isn't this pretty?" about 14 times so just bear with me. Love for a work in progress - it's a new disease for me....



Then I didn't have any socks on the needles so I cast on for Hedera in this yarn I bought last weekend at the Shabby Sheep. It's Claudia Hand paint sock yarn in the John B colorway. It's a departure from my normal color preferences but I'm trying to broaden my horizons. And it's knitting up so pretty - I'll show you when I'm done - damn those progress pictures!




I also bought this - a new wooden swift! or I should just say "a swift" since I don't have one at all. I have the world's suckiest ball winder but it will do until I decide on a new one. My chair back isn't doing the job & Patrick says I'm bitchy when I force him to be a swift so he won't do it anymore. My options were limited. I found this one at White Rock Weaving for what I considered a great price & I christened it this morning on the sock yarn for Hedera.


As you can see I've reset my yarn diet ticker. I just don't seem to be doing so great laying off the yarn buying. Yesterday I took a toe up sock class by the wonderful Joan Schoeder hosted by Woolie Ewe. I had no intention of buying yarn, but really, how could I resist. They had this Lorna's Laces Flamingo Stripe:




Over the past couple of weeks I also bought the yarn for my Chevron scarf & that sock yarn that I'm using for Hedera. Other than that I'm doing pretty good though. Ok, I've blathered on long enough. Tomorrow is my birthday & I plan to post something fun....stay tuned.

Yarn, FOs, and Mickey, OH MY!

Ok, I know I haven't posted in weeks. I have a good excuse. I'll give you a hint

Yep - there it is, one of the worst pictures of Cinderella's castle that I've ever seen. I spent last week with my mom, sister, & nieces in Disneyworld. We had an absolute ball but I seriously think that deserves a post all of it's own.

Did I knit? Heck no. Actually, I worked on sock #2 of my yarn ahoy socks at the airport before I left. I can't knit on the plane - I need more room than a narrow seat in coach allows. On the ride back to the Orlando airport I started a charity hat to turn in at Fiber Fest but I didn't finish it - I imagine I will tonight. No it won't go to the charity it was meant for but it will go in my pile of chemo caps to go to the Baylor cancer ward here in Dallas. It's adorable but after I realized it wouldn't get done I got distracted.....

You also may have noticed that my yarn diet ticker has been reset. I really don't feel bad about this AT ALL - I had a good excuse. And I made it a freaking MONTH without buying any yarn - except a few balls of Sugar & cream which at $5 total just doesn't count.....This past weekend was DFW Fiber Fest. I took the Entralac class with Knitting Fairy Alissa Barton - do I need to sing her praises AGAIN? I don't think so - you know that I'm a fan. She is a marvelous teacher. I needed feltable wool in 2 colors for the mini bag that she was featuring in the class. Do you believe that I didn't have 2 colors of feltable wool in my stash? Shut up. This was prettier. Even though the likes of Lily Chin were teachers at this event, this was the class I truly wanted and it's all I could manage after walking 194 miles at Disneyworld on little sleep, no wine, and dealing with children for 5 days. (I am not opposed to all children, but I get nervous when I'm outnumbered. Just saying....) Here is the bag that is a product of that class. Adorable, huh?


Oh, and I bought some Perchance to Knit Foxtrot from my friend Manda's destash mission - I've been wanting this yarn FOREVER & if you don't know what it looks like, when you see it you'll understand. In case that isn't enough justification for you, I also found a $20 bill in a Christmas card from my Grandmother when I was unpacking from Disney. How is that for some fate?????

Now, my most favorite announcement. I finished my first pair of socks that I actually like. Did I say like? More like LOVE. They are the Lacy Mock Cable Socks made out of Yarn Ahoy Berry Bang (I think) yarn that was given to me by my very sweet secret pal Ronda. I love love love them. I was trying not to squeal as I finished the kitchner last night since Patrick thinks hand knit socks are tools of the devil (see previous post). But geeze I'm proud of them & I can't wait to wear them in some anti-fashion statement like with Birkenstocks or clear clogs. Here they are in all their glory.


That's it for now folks! Hope to see everyone soon - I miss my knitting buds. But I caught some child cold disease in Disney - or maybe I have alleriges, whatever, I feel like crap. More knit time. Later

why you don't knit socks for loved ones

So I finished Patrick's socks last night at the meet up. I gave them to him when I got home but it was late & he decided to try them on tonight. He put them on, wiggled his feet around a bit, then switched feet & said "that's better". I walked out of the room to get the camera to take a picture of the blessed event. What a good thing I did! I'm so sweet! I knit socks for the man I love! When I came back in the room he had his finger in a sock. The following conversation happens:

Me: "What? What's wrong?"
Him: Nothing they are fine
Me: No, really, what's wrong I want to know?
Him: nothing, really.
Me: Other people knit socks as gifts & the people they give them to never again wear store bought socks! You think they suck.
Him: laughter
Me: What? Tell me, I really want to know!
Him: hysterical laughter then - I don't want to say
Me: I really really want to know you have to tell me!
Him: It's not that they suck, it's just that they hurt.

Me. Shocked silence. Him. Laughing hysterically. So hard he has tears in his eyes. Not wanting to disappoint me, but man, I made him say it, right?

Sigh.

PS - ignore the " real" sock in the background. I'm also doing laundy.

Whew. What a weekend.

Patrick is a member of the Texas State Guard. Besides the fact that I am very proud of him for serving our country in a volunteer capacity, what does this mean to me? That I have one weekend a month to piss off & do whatever the heck I please. Like most such weekends, this weekend was packed with knitting & knitting related activities.

I must address Podcasts. How these snippets of other knitters going on & on about knitting has taken over my life in a week is simply beyond me. I have found loads that I like and have listened to them nonstop in every moment I have in my car or alone not working or {gasp} I even went for a freaking walk just so I could listen guilt free. I have TURNED OFF MY TELEVISION to listen. Well, turned it down at least. Who do I like?
Lime & Violet - very cliche of me I know since they are uber popular
Stash & Burn - if you don't recognize yourself in their chatter, you aren't really a yarn buyer. And I don't know what to do with you.
Cast On
Knitty D & the City
It's a Purl Man
Lixie Knits It - because I swear everything sounds better with an English accent.

Ovewhelmed yet? Dude, I KNOW! If those aren't enough for you, my friend Manda also has a podcast and she has links to tons more on her blog. I always love listening to her because despite being informative, I am highly intrigued by the fact that she owns & admits to owning over 71,000 yards of yarn (and is on the road to knitting it up). There is also a chance that she'll mention me or someone I know & it makes me feel famous. I'm so lame.

Back to me.

I was looking over my list of FO for the month & it is once again pretty lame. I am making progress though - I am on row 44 out of 60 on my Noni Adventure bag so I could conceivably finish it this month. Doubtful, but I'm an optimist if not a realist, so don't rain on my parade. Today I got all the way to the toe on Patrick's wool ease socks, just in time for spring! (did you catch the sarcasm?) So all I have to do is kitchner the toe. For the love of all things that are holy, if you see me, please ask me about it & mock me if I'm not done. There really is no excuse for me not finishing them & then I can get on to some socks that are pink, I mean pretty, for myself without an ounce of guilt.

Saturday after going for a walk.....don't freak out, it's not like I'm doing it for my health or anything. I leave for Disneyworld 3 weeks from tomorrow and I'm deathly afraid that I'll miss a chance to see Mickey - or worse - Cinderella because I am dead from walking. Somehow I don't think the hours I spend sitting on my ass knitting up these gorgeous items are helping in the quest for walking miles & miles for a damn week. And I do have have to keep up with nieces - ages 8 & 5. And walking did give me more time to listen to podcasts. But I disgress.....

I dyed some yarn:

This was my attempt at using more than one color of Wiltons in my crockpot. It looks incredibly similar to the yarn that Liz dyed for me at the retreat last weekend. I think I'm stuck in another rut - albeit a pretty rut. Both of those hanks are drying in my garage as we speak so I'll put up their hanked up pictures in a day or so.

I cast on for a scarf from my Victorian Lace Today book. I can't find a decent picture of this scarf online so I took a picture of the damn book open to the page (actual pattern on page 90). I doubt I'll be wearing it along with the come hither look that the model has, but ya'll are welcome to hope.


This is my first attempt at what I call "real" lace knitting since it's small yarn. Jaggerspun Zephyr in Charcoal.

I gave this Multidirectional scarf a lavendar bath & prepared it for it's receipent (my Aunt Annette):

I have to say this. It pains me because I feel like I'm about to curse on the yarn alter...but I don't like the Noro Silk Garden. I think it's scratchy. And what is up with those sticks in it? The color changes are so beautiful but I don't think I'll be working with it again. It's pretty though, huh?

I added up the yardage of my stash. Let's just say it's not pretty. I was really fighting the urge to add it up - I have it logged in an excel spreadsheet and all I needed to do was the formula to add it up . Scary. More than a marathon worth. geeze - I was happier not knowing - this brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "the number".

This is how I spent my Sunday. At The Bead Market in Fort Worth. Don't fool yourself, all those beads that look purple aren't. They are pink. Forgive me, I have a sickness. Now I have loads of pretty beads to make even MORE stitch markers. Because wow, even though I have hundreds surely I need more right? It's also a sickness.



Tool of the week:

I know what you are thinking - "big deal, it's a row counter". But it's not just any row counter. And it's not just any PINK row counter. Dude, it has a lock. It's the best invention since Tivo. Please don't ask me where I got it because I don't know - it was a gift.

And I'll leave you with the picture of the week. My cat Chicken in lamb ears. Who on this day qualified for the most unhappy cat in the whole wide world. Hands down. But ain't it a hoot????

Sidenote: in case anyone is worried about the inhumanity of subjecting my poor cat to this torture, don't. He never bothered to leave my lap. He's that kind of cat. Had I attempted this trick on my other cat, I wouldn't be able to type this entry because she would have scratched up my hands along with my eyeballs. I'm just a little bit mean but I'm not stupid.

Oh geeze, does this really make me a loser?

Jennifer posted this on her blog & I thought I'd play along. I'm seriously about to tell on myself - I know I've seen tons of them & I probably own most of them....

"It’s been alleged that if you’ve seen over 85 movies you have no life. Mark the ones you’ve seen. There are 239 films on this list. Copy this list, go to your own blog, paste it in and put x’s by the ones that you have seen. Add them up, figure out whether you’ve got a life or not, and post it."

DAMN - By my count I've seen 160 of them. And I own 58 of the ones listed here. I think as knitters we will have unusually high counts since we can mutlipurpose our time. That's my story & I'm sticking to it.


(X) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(X) Grease
(X) Pirates of the Caribbean
(X) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest
( ) Boondock Saints
(X) Fight Club
(X) Starsky and Hutch
(X) Neverending Story
( ) Blazing Saddles
(X) Airplane
(X) The Princess Bride
( ) AnchorMan
(X) Napoleon Dynamite
( ) Labyrinth
(X) Saw
(X) Saw II
(X) White Noise
(X) White Oleander
( ) Anger Management
(X) 50 First Dates
(X) The Princess Diaries
(X) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
(X) Scream
(X) Scream 2
( ) Scream 3
(X) Scary Movie
(X) Scary Movie 2
(X) Scary Movie 3
(X) Scary Movie 4
(X) American Pie
(X) American Pie 2
(X) American Wedding
( ) American Pie Band Camp
(X) Harry Potter 1
(X) Harry Potter 2
(X) Harry Potter 3
(X) Harry Potter 4
(X) Resident Evil 1
(X) Resident Evil 2
(X) The Wedding Singer
(X) Little Black Book
(X) The Village
(X) Lilo & Stitch
(X) Finding Nemo
(X) Finding Neverland
(X) Signs
(X) The Grinch
(X) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
( ) White Chicks
(X) Butterfly Effect
(X)13 Going on 30
(X) I, Robot
( ) Robots
(X) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
( ) Universal Soldier
(X) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
(X) Along Came Polly
(X) Deep Impact
(X) KingPin
(X) Never Been Kissed
(X) Meet The Parents
(X) Meet the Fockers
(X) Eight Crazy Nights
( ) Joe Dirt
(X ) King Kong
( ) A Cinderella Story
(X) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
(X) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumber & Dumberer
(X) Final Destination
( ) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
(X) Halloween
(X)The Ring
(X )The Ring 2
( )Surviving Christmas
( ) Flubber
(X) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
(X) Practical Magic
(X) Chicago
( ) Ghost Ship
( ) From Hell
(X) Hellboy
(X ) Secret Window
( ) I Am Sam
(X) The Whole Nine Yards
( ) The Whole Ten Yards
(X) The Day After Tomorrow
( ) Child’s Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
(X) Bride of Chucky
(X) Ten Things I Hate About You
(X) Just Married
(X) Gothika
(X) Nightmare on Elm Street
(X) Sixteen Candles
( ) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
(X) The Grudge
(X) The Grudge 2
(X) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask
(X) Bad Boys
(X) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
(X) Lucky Number SlevIn
(X) Ocean’s Eleven
( ) Ocean’s Twelve
(X) Bourne Identity
(X) Bourne Supremecy
( ) Lone Star
(X) Bedazzled
(X) Predator I
(X) Predator II
( ) The Fog
(X) Ice Age
(X ) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
( ) Curious George
(X) Independence Day
(X) Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
(X) Darkness Falls
(X ) Christine
(X) E.T
(X) Children of the Corn
(X) My Bosses Daughter
(X) Maid in Manhattan
(X) War of the Worlds
(X) Rush Hour
( ) Rush Hour 2
( ) Best Bet
(X) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
(X) She’s All That
( ) Calendar Girls
( ) Sideways
(X) Mars Attacks
(X) Event Horizon
(X) Ever After
(X) Wizard of Oz
(X) Forrest Gump
( ) Big Trouble in Little China
(X)The Terminator
(X) The Terminator 2
(X) The Terminator 3
(X) X-Men
( ) X-2
( ) X3
(X) Spider-Man
(X) Spider-Man 2
( ) Sky High
(X) Jeepers Creepers
(X) Jeepers Creepers 2
(X) Catch Me If You Can
(X) The Little Mermaid
(X) Freaky Friday
(X) Reign of Fire
( ) The Skulls
(X) Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2
(X ) The Hot Chick
(X) Shrek
(X) Shrek 2
( ) Swimfan
(X) Miracle on 34th street
(X) Old School
( ) The Notebook
(X) K-Pax
( ) Krippendorf’s Tribe
(X) A Walk to Remember
( ) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
(X) The 40-year-old Virgin
(X) Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
(X) Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
(X) Lord of the Rings: Return Of the King
(X) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(X) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(X) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
( ) Base-ketball
( ) Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
(X) Elf
( ) Highlander
(X) Mothman Prophecies
(X ) American History X
( ) Three
( ) The Jacket
( ) Kung Fu Hustle
( ) Shaolin Soccer
( ) Night Watch
(X) Monsters Inc.
(X) Titanic
( ) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
(X ) Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard
( ) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
(X ) Hulk
(X) Dawn Of the Dead
(X) Hook
(X ) Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
( X) 28 days later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
(X) Waterworld
(X) Kill Bill Vol. 1
(X) Kill Bill Vol. 2
( ) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
(X) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) the Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
(X ) Army of Darkness
(X) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(X) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(X) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(X) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(X) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(X) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
( ) Ewoks: Caravan Of Courage
( ) Ewoks: The Battle For Endor
(X) The Matrix
(X) The Matrix: Reloaded
(X) The Matrix: Revolutions
( ) Animatrix
(X) Evil Dead
( ) Evil Dead 2
(X ) Team America: World Police
( ) Red Dragon
(X) Silence of the Lambs
(X) Hannibal

Retreat! Retreat!

And we did. 10 members of our local DFW Chicks with Sticks group went on a weekend knitting retreat at Arabella Gardens in Lindale, TX. First I must give a shout out to the B&B - the food was so freaking good & our hosts were uber hospitable. We basically took over the whole place and they let us leave our knitting bits everywhere. We left our bags in the main house, walked around in our pjs, everything I do at home so it felt...well....homey. We had a stitch marker class where I made these:

I know it's a bad picture & to be honest most of my stitch markers were total cheaters. I found some cute bracelets at a garage sale for less than a dollar so I took it apart & just added jump rings to the charms. Cheater stitch markers are still functional. Three of those are authentic though.

A needle felting class where I fixed my Noni carpet bag. It deserves it's own post so I'll talk about it later.


This is what I bought at the yarn shop near the B&B - Rose Path Weaving
This is such a great shop & if you are ever in that area I suggest a visit. It's a small friendly shop with an amazing selection. Clockwise from top left:
Rio de la playa yarn (much like Manos), Berroco Lazer FX mirrored yarn that was in the clearance bin, naked sock yarn - lots of it, Lorna's Lace (gifted from Lise - since it's my favorite colorway in the world & so me), Koigu KPPPM in green/yellow, Lorna's Laces in Camouflage, Zitron Loft yarn - isn't it beautiful? Pink Wildfoote. Proud of me? I didn't even BUY that pink & brown yarn. Ok, I bought the pink Wildfoote but whatever. I'm back on the yarn diet, that really did a lot of damage to my budget.


This is the yarn that Liz & blogless Betty dyed. It was all so freaking gorgeous. Mine is an aqua/purple silk and I completely love it. I just put it in a good smelling bath so I'll post it as soon as it's dry again.

We had much fun & lots of memories, I'm sure I'll be back to tell a few stories or will at least mention it again. The highlight of the trip for me was going into "town" in sheep ears - the ladies are the yarn shop didn't seem the least bit surprised but I think the people at Walmart questioned our sanity. Whatever they need to have some fun!

Lise blogged much more about the retreat if you want to go visit.

Priscilla is Out of the Closet

Yep, she's back! In case you haven't met her yet you can read her full story here
Patrick kind of hates her because being true Texans (ie, gun owners) he is afraid that he'll see her, assume it's someone in our house to do us harm, and shoot holes in her. For her own safety she lives in my craft room. But he's out of town & the minute he was packed I pulled her out and let her model for me.


Truly Tasha Shawl

Go ahead & ohh & ahhh, yeah, I know it's pretty. But it's not that big - as it stands it might fit an anorexic model - or come to think of it a transexual manequin. The worst part of this whole story is that I KNEW IT WAS SMALL. When I started the edging I thought it looked small but thought that the edge would be bigger. When I saw that it wasn't that much bigger with the border I should have stopped right there. I didn't. I just kept knitting the lace border which definitely took me longer to knit than all of the garter stitch. I have no good explanation for this ridiculous and irrational behavior but I do know what my punishment is. I'm going to pull out the lace border (you have to pull it all out because it starts at the top right), continue the most boring knitting ever, then knit the lace border back on. What a pain in the ass. I'm glad the cold weather is over so I can do this over time.


My So Called Scarf

I loved loved loved this project. It went really quickly though I do attribute some of that to the multiple loves mentioned. It's relatively easy with out being boring. I really wasn't thrilled with the bind off edge thus the fringe. I hate doing fringe.

Side note: if you read that original post on Priscilla & are wondering, no I never did learn to sew. It's on my list for 2007 but so far no progress. Also, I gave Priscilla boob job - I put a bra on her & stuffed it so she'd be more feminine. I do recognize that even having done this means that I need help.

February FO

Man I did a lot of knitting & didn't finish much. I was more of a starter than a finisher this month.

* Truly Tasha Shawl
* Square for Warm Up America - Superbowl Knitting
* Fast Finish Homespun throw

The sad part is that I'm going to frog that Truly Tasha shawl any minute now. It's just not big enough & I don't like it. You have to understand, I always lose love for my projects when I'm finished with them. This time I actually have reason. It's knit to the measurements in the pattern but I don't find that it drapes as well as I wanted it to. The really sucky part is that I realized this when I started the lace border & instead of addressing it, I just kept knitting it. Now I have to frog the lace border all the way around the damn thing & knit more garter stitch. Ick.

Counting down to the Knitting Retreat next weekend......

Dye to the Extreme

I'm in a dyeing mode. I am LOVING all of the indie hand dyers & I secretly (or not so secretly) long to be able to create my own works of art. I doubt very seriously that I could ever sell any of it just because something in my genes won't let me part with yarn of any kind, much less the kind that I created.

A few weeks ago a handful of friends & I went over to our friend Lise's house & had a dye day. Here are some of the results using Koolaid or easter egg dyes. All of it came out lovely.





My final result


And as if that wasn't enough! This past Sunday I attended a class at Simpatico which is a lovely shop & if you ever get to the DFW area I highly suggest visiting there. My dyers in crime were Liz, Manda (who also did a podcast about our dye experience), Dawn, & Lise. Some of our friends thought we were nuts for taking a class (read: paying for a class) when we already knew how to dye. I am a firm believer in that you can always learn something else & during the class we used 100% Wilton's icing dyes & the results were fabulous.

Here is my Wiltons / Simpatico yarn




Needless to say, I'm (im)patiently awaiting a 50% off cake supply sales at Hobby Lobby so I can stock up on every single color of Wiltons. Loved this method.

Lots to say today. And very picture heavy

I have no one topic to speak of for this post, so here is my mis-mash.

I don't believe in posting in progress pictures because quite frankly when I read someone's blog & have to see their sock/scarf/sweater/blanket in 14 different stages it bores me to tears. So unless a WIP is important to a story I try not to show them much. Here is my exception - My So Called Scarf - how pretty is this? I swear I think it's one of my favorite projects ever. The Manos was a Christmas gift & I love it!


A finished object for a change - not many are done this month! This is a throw I knit on size 50s for my Grandma using Homespun in Regency.


This was the view into my knitting bag on Sunday. I thought it was beautiful & it made me so happy that I took a picture. I realize that's pretty indulgent of me to think anyone else cares, but hey, it's my blog!


Inside of that bag is some yarn that I dyed & then this Cherry Tree Hill mill end that I found on ebay for a little of nothing. Really a great value. I know I'm not supposed to be buying yarn, but come on! It was cheap & it's gorgeous - it is screaming to become a lace shawl of some sort.


I fell in love with this yarn when I was digging around on other knitting blogs & found this picture I was in a panic when I quickly discovered that the yarn had been discontinued. Naturally I went to ebay where sellers were getting ridiculous prices for it and I seriously couldn't justify the price for Trekking - even if it was Brach candy colored. I obsessed over it for days & found a little hope when I saw a comment that they were reissuing the color since there had been so much interest in it. I promptly found an ebay buyer with a reasonable Buy It Now price & scooped it up.


That's all the new yarn I'm buying - I swear. Well, swear seems a bit extreme. It's just yarn. I am going on a knitting retreat here in a few weeks & it is dangerously close to Rose Path Weaving so I can't be held responsible for what I buy there. It's a lovely little shop with tons of naked yarn & I am on a dyeing frenzy. Dye post to come.

"I'LL NEVER KNIT SOCKS" - did I say that?

I have a love-hate relationship with knitting socks. This is my story.

I started knitting in August of 2005 & really hadn't bothered knitting anything other than scarves for the first few months. I was at a knitting get together in November and a few of my new friends were taking a sock class at our LYS. I was intrigued because I saw those Pipi Longstocking knee socks in my Stitch N Bitch book & thought they were the cutest things ever. On a whim I signed up for class too. Keep in mind - I had never knit on DPNs or knitted anything but a rectangle. Plus I didn't know how to purl. It didn't occur to me that knitting socks might be hard or that at my skill level I probably shouldn't be in that class. You can imagine how thrilled the teacher was with me and it showed.

I ended up not being able to sit near my friends during the class- it was packed & seating was limited. The only DPNs I owned were size 5 - I didn't even think about buying a different size. I picked out a pretty yarn that I liked that was worsted weight - what the heck did I know? Do I have to tell you how awful this turned out? I am a tight knitter anyway & knitting worsted on size 5s was pure hell. Here was the other issue: homework. I really hate knitting on a deadline / being told what & when to knit. So the homework aspect of class didn't thrill me & I attached that to the project.

So I finished sock number one & told myself that was it - I was done. I met several other knitters that didn't knit socks & refused to knit socks (you know who you are) and we all talked about the sock knitters. We said that sock knitting was like a cult. All of the sock knitters want all other knitters to knit socks & we wouldn't be sucked in. We wouldn't drink the spiked "sock knitter" kool aid. Now, I say all of that in jest because some of my best friends are pure sock knitters. I have 3 friends that amongst them have enough sock yarn to open a store, a really really good store too! I just didn't get the appeal and I threw out all of the objections that I'm sure every sock knitter has heard more than they care to:
* You can buy socks for $2 a pair at the store
* They are knit on double points
* Those itty bitty needles drive me nuts
* My personal favorite - I don't wear socks

Fast forward to this past November, a year after my first nightmareish sock class, We got a group of local knitters together & asked our resident teacher for a socks on 2 circs class. I could see the benefit of knowing how to do this for sleeves, hats, and many other circular projects so I signed up. One of my friends pointed out that if I knit the same sock from my beginner class that I’d end up with a pair and be done with socks forever! During this class I figured out all of the problems I listed above with the original class. Everyone else in the class was using pretty sock yarn on smaller needles & I was jealous. I vowed to knit ONE pair of socks on appropriate needles & cool sock yarn. Coincidentally I had some Sock that Rock in Mist colorway in my stash. So here is my progress so far. Then Patrick whined – something about me knitting for everyone but him & not having any house socks, so I started these basic socks for him in Wool Ease, but on appropriately sized needles.



So, after that super long story - I know you are wondering, why did I fall under the sock spell? Did I drink the Koolaid? Have I been brainwashed? Was it peer pressure? Welll.....probably a little bit of all of those things mixed with public enemy #1 - THE YARN IS GORGEOUS. It's just beautiful. There are so many main stream & indy sock dyers that it's insane. And you can get a yarn fix for $20. Way cheaper than yarn for a sweater, shawl, or in a lot of cases even a scarf!

So that’s it! My very long & highly uninteresting sock story. To be honest I was just tired of answering all of my peers giving me shit because I am knitting on a sock at meet ups so I figured I would explain myself. As for my objections? Let me help you out….

* You can buy socks for $2 a pair at the store – You can also buy a sweater for $10 on a sale rack & a scarf for $5 at Walmart – what’s your point?
* They are knit on double points – ummm, no they aren’t, they are knit on circulars.
* Those itty bitty needles drive me nuts – yeah, well, get over it.
* My personal favorite - I don't wear socks – I’m currently rethinking my fashion plan. And I can wear them with my ugly Birkenstocks. And I’ll be making some that I can wear with my flip flops pretty soon. So I COULD wear socks if I wanted to.

Damn the Koolaid!