More sock needles from KnitPicks.com

Not being able to get gauge on several sock patterns I decided it was time to buy some size 0(2.0 mm). Also needed different size ones. Didn't realize that my hiya hiya's are 2.25 and my knitpicks size one's are 2.50. So I bought some size 0's in various cable lengths and size 1/2.25. I really like knitpicks needles and they are way cheaper than addi's or hiya hiyas.

Yarn Eagle! Birthday Flop.

Happy Birthday to ME! My eagle of yarn yummy from The Loopy Ewe arrived today. Hmm. Perked me right up after stressing over insurance for Levi's MRI. The perfect antidote for stress. Yarn yummy in the mail! I explained to Sheri at the Loopy Ewe about how I rarely buy "new" yarn, that I buy it generally through Rav's classifieds and if I do buy "new" I do my homework. I told her the yarn I bought was cheaper in price and shipping on the original website. She is looking into it because she said they usually cost the same. I told her I was and still am excited to have shopped her site and plan to do so in the future. I just will only buy if I plan on buying more than one skein because priority mail is too expensive for one skein when I live so close that first class mail arrives in the same amount of time. She then invited me to visit lol. Someday!

Levi wasn't impressed with my 2 months plus of blood, sweat and tears (or at least skipped yoga classes and sore wrists) spent on his spiderman blanket. But who could blame him? 5 year old boys want to play with the monster truck not some silly blanket. I still love it and I know when he's older it will mean something to him. Especially if he ever learns to knit and realizes how long it took me!

I finished the tie dye/Roy G. Biv socks. Oh did I butcher them. Ay yi yi! I frogged back so they'd fit my daughter lengthwise since widthwise they were too tight for me. I then did the Fleegle Heel. I had never done this heel. It added too much length so Liv's toes when the heel was in the proper place on her foot came up to the end of the sock right where the toes ended and the body of the foot started. So I finished up the socks, of course I had to redo the bind off. It was too tight the first time. I don't think I've ever cast off the right tension the first time ever. Then I was looking at them and lamenting that they were too long for her. So I cut the contrasting toes off. Oh yes I did. Hmmhmmm. Yup. I shore did. The first one went rather smoothly. I threaded a needle and went through the first row of MC. Then chopped the yellow toe off, unraveled down to the first row and slipped it onto needles, did a couple of rows of decreases then kitchenered the toes. As usual, I did it bass ackwards. So the toes are purls. Looks crappy but I don't care. By this point I just wanted to be DONE. So feeling confident that I butchered and stitched the first sock just fine I started on the second. I don't know what the difference was but the MC stitch pattern was all screwy. It was like when you unravel something the wrong way? I don't know why it was different from the first sock. At least on the second one I did the kitchener graft correctly. So they are done. Fugly but done. She loves them. :) And that folks, is what knitting is all about. (and the yarn.)

Tomorrow is Levi's MRI and I hope to cast on a pair of socks for him while waiting. I'm going to try http://k2knits.blogspot.com/2007/03/my-favorite-toe-magic-loop-turkish-toe.html and her widdershin hybrid. I've never done this heel but it sounds promising.

Must get all this printed out and ready for tomorrow. Good night. Please say a prayer for my son.

That will teach me to not do my homework

I had bad day yesterday. Dh came home, took over cooking dinner and just all around made my evening much better than my day. We were sitting on the couch and he told me "You don't have enough yarn. You should buy some." So I immediately ran to my...I mean, clicked, my way to my wishlist at The Loopy Ewe. I had not shopped there yet and was very excited to do so. So I browsed, drooled, browsed, consulted my MIL, consulted my husband and finally chose a skein from Monkeypal's stash. If I'd done my homework I would have found Monkeypal on etsy.com and just possibly paid $5 less. The Loopy Ewe charges priority which is almost $6 plus the yarn is $2 less at etsy. I know the Loopy Ewe needs to charge a little more to make a commission but the least they could do is allow first class shipping. /rant

It's a froggy night

Sad news fellow knitters. I had to frog back some on my tye dye socks. I knew they were probably going to be too snug but I forged on to the heel. I did the first heel. Short row, in case you were wondering. And I couldn't get it over my ankle/heel afterwards. Decided to frog back about an inch and a half and finish them up for my oldest. I had her try it on and told her they'd be her socks and she smiled real big. She's such a sweetie. As much as I HATE to frog and am bummed that I don't have another pair of socks to slip on soon I wasn't really liking the colorway. To me "tye dye" should be pooling like a tye dye shirt looks but they weren't pooling at all. They look like regular ole Roy G. Biv or LGB pride socks. So she's happy and I get to start another pair for me. Oh, I'm also doing the Fleegle Heel on these now. It's a new heel for me!

I still haven't decided what to work with next. I think I'm going to save the Fearless Fibers colorway til I feel up to doing thigh highs. I think thigh highs would make the hubby happy. :) But I want QUICK projects. Levi's spiderman blanket about did me in and it only took about 7 or 8 weeks. Oh gasp I haven't updated my rav project page for it yet either. Shame on me! Ok it's updated. Granted I could only work on it when Levi wasn't around and Lucy would cooperate but still. I don't have that type of patience!

I would really like to knit into that brilliant orange Piazza I got from Etsy.com but after doing the Roy G. Biv socks I'd really like a calmer color. I might just start on the Cosmopolitan from Yarntini after all.

Here's today's knitviews.





I should go to bed. We had a busy day and, of course, since it's a holiday we all have a touch of a tummy bug. Just like Thanksgiving. And Christmas (ooh that was REALLY bad) which led into NYE. I think we were healthy for our anniversary/Vday in February! WOOHOO!

Livie sock yarn arrived! & 3 Irish Girls

Livie and I ran to the PO today to pick up her package. Pulled out the first yarn, red heart and sole tequila sunrise, and she was like "Eh, not so much." Ok she didn't verbally say that but her face did. So then I pulled out the Bernat Sox Multi crazy hot and she got a little more animated. Then I realized there should be ONE more yarn cake or skein. Dug around and pulled out the Confetti and she literally shrieked with delight. It has a lot of lime green. I will turn her into a yarn ho/fiber snob! LOL The confetti was the only indie dyed yarn. The other two were manufactured for walmart type stores. So she will be getting a pair of socks in the confetti, Levi will be getting a pair in the Bernat Sox multi and someday I'll get another pair made for me.

Levi's blanket is literally a row and 1/4 away from being done and that's counting the bind off row. I have to crochet vertical lines like spokes and it's DONE!! It takes about 30 minutes per row! Yikes. I'm up to 42 or 44 stitches per section so 44x14 is um....616 around. That's a few stitches! It's actually up to 46 so 644 around. Took me about an hour and 20 minutes to bind off using p1, *slip back to left needle p2tog, slip back to left needle, p2tog*.

Oh today's discovery...naughty me....was 3 Irish Girls. Just going to their homepage makes me want to cry. Click the linky. You know you want to! Someday I am going to join a sock yarn club. I have looked at the 3 Irish Girls and Socks that Rock. ~drool~ Thanks be to God that I do have a little bit of will power. I am forcing myself to wait til the end of the year due to the economy. Dh still has a job and all that and we're luckier than most in that aspect but I don't want to jinx us. So I'm sticking to my "no buy more yarn til I use up most of what I have." Unfortunately I ordered a bunch of 100purewool for next winter's/Christmas knitting so I might not run out for awhile. :( And some of it's sock yarn too. But Mother's Day is coming so maybe I'll send my hubby a linky to my wishlist on the Loopy Ewe.

Miracle Diapers Donation program needs donations!

Lisa Johnston posted an announcement to the cause MiracleDiapers.org.

----------------
Hi everyone!

Just a reminder that Miracle Diapers is closed until May due to lack of diapers.

At this moment, we do not have any medium diapers or covers at all, and we're in the process of trying to replenish our inventory.

If you or someone you know would like to donate:
Items we are in need of:
Medium Covers
Medium Diapers
Large Covers
Infant and Premium Prefolds
Inserts/Doublers
Non-Microfiber Inserts

Donations can be sent to the address in my signature line, and we do provide receipts for tax purposes!

Thank you for your patience. Please spread the word to all of your groups that we will "tentatively" be reopening on May 1.

Thank you so much!!

Lisa Johnston
Operations Manager
Miracle Diapers
www.miraclediapers.org
23945 Franz Rd., Ste E, #126
Katy, Texas 77493

Help me choose: Cosmo, Piazzi or Serendipity?

I'm up to the heel, well, almost, up to the heel with my socks currently OTN. That means time to start planning my next pair. Since I'm usually a good girl and don't have a big stash I only have 3 colorways to choose from.

First up is "Serendipity" by Fearless Fibers. 100% superwash merino and an AMAZING 550 yds. Holy smokes. I could make knee highs with that much yardage!



And then there is "Cosmopolitan" by Yarntini. It is only 260 yds. Can I make a pair of socks with only 260 yds??


Then there's my most recent purchase from Sharing/Karen's Heavenly Creations.
Description says "This is a hand dyed hank of blue faced leicester ultra superwash. It is a 3ply finger weight fiber with 400 yards." And here's a link to her Rav profile.


So leave a comment here on the blog or FB or via email and help me choose! I've never knit with any of these brands before either.

Great reminder

My massage therapist said to me "I deliberately make a mistake in everything I knit to remind myself I am not perfect."

Today's Knitviews (oh, and yesterday's!)

I skipped my Tuesday yoga. I am getting desperate to finish Levi's blanket. I'm oh so close but his birthday is even closer! The sitter (Aunt TT) showed up as usual and away I went. I decided at the last minute that instead of going to yoga I would journey here:




and knit. So I knit and listened to LimenViolet for about an hour. I found out that it takes me about 12-15 minutes per round. UGH! Every few stitches I have to push them around the cable so that's part of the slow process. I will be happy once this blanket is done.
Today I snuck in a 20 minute nap before Levi went off to school which gave me just enough energy to not NEED to take a longer nap after he left. OTOH, for the Lu 20 minutes is NOT enough. She got cranky, I gathered up my knit bag, etc, swung through McD's (waiting for her to fall asleep) for a grilled chicken salad (YUM but why don't they have fat free ranch?) and sweet tea and headed here.


I didn't get ALOT of knitting done because I had to eat then I remembered at noon on the nose that my son's Easter/Spring party was at 12:15. But I did feel close to hubby. See way off in the distance? That's where he works.
I headed out and was driving along between the waters and out of nowhere is this flock of medium sized black bird things w/ long legs. I slow a little because, you know, birds FLY. Oh no NOT THESE BIRDS. I hit the brakes but couldn't swerve due to oncoming traffic and I think I took out 3 of them. Oh the guilt! The anguish. I called my hubby and he and the guys got a good laugh out of poor guilt ridden me.

Some quick yarn porn. This should be arriving soon. It left the California shipping center on the 6th, I think.




There are several skeins but I'm only receiving one of each color. Which is two skeins.

Oh no what have I done??

I have heard about the Loopy Ewe many times. I see that people on Rav have bought yarn there. I have always been wary of going to the website. I just had this gut instinct it was a bad idea. Why can't I listen to myself?? Sigh. Thanks Lime & Violet.

OTN, socks and yarn for Livie :)

I'm just full of blogging tonight! Thought I'd share some photos. First up is Levi's Spiderman Blanket. I couldn't get a photo of all of it since it's on circs. There is another complete blue section and a partial of another blue section. The pattern has it ending with another 2 sections of red but I'm running out of time. I'm up to over 500 stitches per round and I'm lucky to get a round done in a day. 11 days til his bday. I'm also considering entering this at the fall fair. My aunt has entered things so maybe she'll pipe up with some ideas of what is required and who to contact for info. Anyway, here's the spidey blanket that so far I've been able to keep a secret from Levi.



Livie is always asking me to make her something, lately, since I'm making socks she's wanting socks. I found her some purty colored cheap sock yarn! Go mom! I bought these from Rav classified board specifically, SamplerStitcher. Red Heart and Sole tequila sunrise for 3 for $10.


Bernat Sox Multi crazy hot 4@2.50 ea




And Spinning Yarns "Confetti" for $11 shipped. May or may not make this for Livie. Maybe for me. :)

Oh and I yanked her pics so I hope she doesn't mind!!


Then I was bad. Oh so bad. But it was ohhh so good. On etsy I found these and couldn't resist!
Citrus Zest and Piazzi
. Usually that's about double what I'd pay for yarn but the day was a special day in my heart so to celebrate and lift my spirits at the same time I splurged.

Ok, on to my Lorna's Laces "Child's Play" socks. I have worn them several times. I wash them with towels or clothes and dry them in the dryer. No special treatment. They're a little fuzzy but otherwise are holding up so far.




An update of my tye dye socks. The pattern was for cuff down but I am doing these toe up and changed the repeats. So the pattern is technically upside down. I think I've cast on too few this time. Ay yi yi as Livie would say. Eventually I'll get it figured out.



Oh, here's some yarn I bought when I bought the tye dye. Yarntini.

Knitting views

So I'm at the massage therapist and as she starts on my arms I mention, of course, that I knit. Not a lot of it every day but I do knit daily. And to prove it I had a huge knot in my arm above my wrist. It's been there at least a year because I've had my dd rub it for me. So we start talking knit talk. She's a beginner knitter. I told her I am too. That I taught myself to knit about a year and a half ago but I've crocheted since I was a kid. She asked me which I like better. I said "Knitting, it looks better and I've always liked the way knit looks over crochet, but crochet's......ea...easier...?" I realized as it was coming out of my mouth that I no longer actually believe that crocheting is easier than knitting! I was always told that if you learn to crochet first then you find knitting more difficult to learn and vice verse. And I thought that was true. I was very intimidated by all the loops on the needles and oh lawdy how do I fix a mistake several rows down? OR drop a stitch?? Oh the horror of horrors! But, now, NOW I can knit without looking! I can FIND my mistakes and drop down to it fix it and it looks sort of ok! And I LIKE that better than ripping alllll the way back like you have to do in crochet. I would just like to know when did I pass that bend in the knitting journey?

Stolen moments of knitting time. I don't get very many opportunities to knit uninterrupted. I have a 16ish month old and she's absolutely fine playing by herself but as SOON as I pick up the needles she's all over me like sti....um.....flies on.....like (oh there has to be a knitting term I can use...)....oh do I have the best daughter or what? My 7 y/o just walked up and started rubbing my foot. What was I saying? Anyway, toddler=no knitting. I finally figured out that after lunch and during my daily dose of brain rot brought on by Days of Our Lives, if I close the gate to the living room she will go play in the kitchen and I can knit for about 20 minutes. Desperate to finish my son's blanket before the 16th I try to do this every school day. Friday I was almost busted by my son. He gets home at 2ish which Days is over at 2 so I knit from 1:30 to 2ish. Well, he got out early! PANIC when I saw the short yellow bus in front of the house just a couple of minutes after I picked up my knitting. So I shove it in my project bag and jam it in the space between the couch and wall.

I discovered another way of stolen time to knit. Well, I know it's not a new idea I just don't have many opportunities since I don't go many places. Drive around til toddler falls asleep, pull over and knit til she wakes up or I need to get home. Doesn't work well during the school day. I nap with her during her morning nap otherwise I don't make for a nice mommy in the afternoon when it's me and 3 kids (3 grumpy, tired, hungry kids) until daddy gets home at 6. The toddler also is ready for a second nap at about 2 on. It's difficult to get her down w/out falling asleep myself but having the 4 y/o run amuck is never a good idea. It gets pretty tense when it is time to make dinner. The joys of motherhood! Anyway my point is her nap time doesn't coincide well with my sans older kid time during the week. But, today I was able to drive around this morning, park at a beautiful country cemetary and knit for nearly an hour! BLISS! Then we went to my MIL1's house for fake Easter dinner and on the way back all 3 fell asleep and you guessed it! I pulled over and knit for about 30 minutes. And on Saturday I took my oldest to the park and knit in the van while the toddler slept. YES! Score for all involved. I will be updating this with pics here in a few. I hope!
My knitting views today:









OH and I am SO trendy! Or is it technologically advanced? Or geeky? Or all 3? I had discovered podcasts as previously blogged. I also have downloaded them to my MP3 player (way cool) AND for my bday (double 3 my hubby kept saying) he bought me a stereo w/ not only a cd player (imagine that? NO CD PLAYER!!!) but an aux plug for my mp3 player so as I knit by the cemetary or park I have been listening to Limenviolet's podcasts. They are a freaking riot! They are dirty, foul mouthed and unPC but I love them! They ramble on with some resemblence of a topic list but they get sidetracked much like myself. I envision myself with them sometimes because I can so relate to the potty mouth, trainwreck conversations only I tend to have w/ my husband because no one else likes to listen to me ramble and certainly usually don't appreciate my more colorful language. My amazing hubby just called me to dinner so I'm signing off. I may just get a spanking if I'm late to the dinner table.....

Wordle.net fun