Sock swap

I participated in a sock swap earlier this year. I made socks for a young mother in Norway and a lovely woman in England made a pair for me. We were members of the Vintage Sock Swap, from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks.



These are the pair that Michelle made for me. They are known as Little Child's Sock. This is a pattern I have not tried. They fit just right.

I had posted the Child's First Sock that I made for myself. These are the one's I made for Johanna in Norway:



The color reminded me of the lakes, rivers and fjords of Northern Norway. Blues and greens are shades that she liked, and it seemed fitting. The yarn is Cherry Tree Hill in the colorway Green Mountain Madness.

See you tomorrow!

FO Friday

This was a good week. I finished a few things.......


Child's First Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush. The yarn is from Yarn Pirate's Booty Club in the color way Kalamata. I used 2.25mm Needles. I love these socks!


For Superbowl weekend, I decided to do a bunch of charity baby hats. The two on the right are Filatura Di Crosa Zarella, knit on size 8US needles. The three on the left are Cascade Cherub Collection DK knit on size 6US needles. Aren't they cute?





I had a skein of TLC Wiggles and I figured it would make a decent hat. It looks a bit loud, doesn't it? I'm thinking of giving it to charity, but if I wore it in San Francisco, I wouldn't really stand out. I had enough left over to make a baby hat. I used size 6US needles.

I'm casting on a new pair of socks this weekend, and continuing with the hat knitting. It is a great way to get through stash!

Wednesday's Knitting

So what am I up to this week? Another pair of Child's First Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks.



Isn't it pretty? The yarn is from the Yarn Pirate Sock Club and is called Kalamata. Brown's and purple's and green's. I love it! The way the colorway is spiraling around the sock is great, the feel of the yarn is amazing. Buy her yarn! You won't regret it. I have three other skeins and I want to use them all now!

I knit a pair of these for a swap pal. Next week for my Friday Finish, I will put up a photo of the box and goodies I sent her. Personally, I would love to get a box like this myself.

A Really Long Update

This is what happens when I fail to post as I complete or do stuff. It backlogs and I feel bad. So get your adult beverage of choice and enjoy the post.

September Baby Hats

I wanted to do some baby hats for Hats for Alex. I managed eight! The yarn used was Lion Brand Baby Soft in Pastel Yellow and Candy Print. Here they are...


Ribbed Baby Hat - pretty typical ribbed pattern - single strand


Lattice Baby Hat - alternated rows of stockinette and rib - double strands


Spiral Eyelet Hat - single strand


Raindrops Baby Hat - a combination of single and double strand - when stretched there is a faint pattern.


Rolled Brim Hat - double strand


Subtle Strip Hat - alternating yarns for a striped effect.


Spiral Eyelet V.2 - single strand


Seeded Hat - double strand - alternating k1p1 to create the seeded pattern

So that is it for the hats. Aren't they cute?

The Bag

I wanted to create a felted hand bag, and embellish they hell out of it. Here is the bag felted:



I used a little over 2 skeins of 2 Cascade 220 colors (8912 & 5015). The fabric is dense and rigid, which is what I wanted. I will be lining it. I have finished beading it and adding some surface embroidery. Once it's lined, I will post and update. I wrote a pattern for this, and I want to do it again to see what I need to do to bring it under 4 skeins of Cascade. When I have it done, I will post the pattern.

All Scarfs Should Be Made from Alpaca Blends

I had two skeins of Cascade Bulky Leisure, which is a 50/50 blend of Alpaca and Cotton. OMG it is so soft! I had planned on this going to the Red Scarf Project, but I had already made two scarfs and they had asked for quality not quantity. The other two were machine washable, and this is most assuredly not. So I got out the stitch dictionary, and decided to use the Moss Stitch.


The picture doesn't do it justice. The color is a much deeper red. I want it to get cold so I can wear it.

We're better than half way through.

Another Chemo Hat

I still have enough yarn for at least 10 more Chemo Hats, so I thought I would get another done. I have completed this pattern so many times, I now can get it done in one night.



And Then There Were Socks

So here are three of the 4 pairs of socks I have done this month.


A whole bunch of Mini Socks for my Sock Blocker Key Chain. I now have a mini sock for every pair of socks that I have made.


I call these Broken Rib. This is a pattern I wrote myself, and I am quite happy with it. I will be testing it again before I publish it. I used 2 skeins of Regia Design Line Kaffe Fasset #4252 on size 0US needles.


Heelless Sleeping Socks, from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush. The yarn is Super Socks Color, 2 skeins in #29 and knit using 2US needles.

I participated in Sock Wars this year, and I "died" today. I was able to "kill" my target, so I have that. It was brief, but fun. These are the socks that I knit:


Lana Grossa Meilenweit 6fach Special, the pattern is Scar by Julie Gardner and I used 3US needles. There was enough yarn left over to make a pair of ankle socks. I will post that in a separate entry later this week, along with the other stuff I finished the last couple of nights.

Well, that's it for now. I will be posting again tomorrow or Thursday with some cool news. Come back and check it out!

Thanks for stopping by.

Child's French Sock

I started these on 4/17/07 and finished them on 4/29/07. I knitted another pair of socks between the first and the second sock of this pair. The pattern source is Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush - I love this book! The yarn is a "vacation purchase". I purchased this in Idaho falls at the Yarn Connection when we were visiting the In-Laws last Thanksgiving. I also bought yarn for a hat and scarf to match, though those skeins are from two different companies. I don't usually do pink, but the ensemble is going to be quite nice. This yarn is Wildfoote in the color Sonatina. The pattern was easy to remember, and the instructions were thorough and easy to follow. I wear a size 7 shoe, and there was very little yarn left over.

I Guess I Spoke Too Soon

After much soul searching, I decided to leave the job I took just 6 weeks ago. This is something I've never done. I usually stick with something until way past the time a normal person would give up. I guess I've finally gotten to a stage in my life that I don't want to have to settle.

When one door closes another opens.

My reasons for leaving were simple - I couldn't stand the way they were running the company. Douglas Adams once said: "I love deadlines. I like the sound whooshing sound they make as they fly by." I think this was part of their mission statement. There was no sense of urgency. This is the first time in 15 years that I haven't had any part of the "operations" of a company, and, quite frankly, I was looking forward to it. Had I failed to provided system access or business cards to a new hire that had been in place for 6 weeks, I would have had my keister handed to me on a silver platter.

The job hunt continues.

Off to happier thoughts......

I love to knit, amongst other things. It has pretty much become an obsession these past few months, even though I learned to knit at the tender age of 8. Here is an example of something I finished just a few days ago....



They are green, aren't they? This is the 12th pair of socks that I have knit this year. This particular pair was knit using Schaefer Anne, a Superwash Wool/Mohair/Nylon blend that feels just wonderful to knit and wear. The pattern is from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush, and it is called Gentleman's Fancy Sock. I think this is the 4th pair I have knit from her books. I met her at Stitches West this year, and she is a very lovely, charming woman.

A couple of days before I finished another entry for Socktopia (www.socktopia.net). These are called Move Your Fanny, and the pattern is available at the site.



I used Tofutsies from Southwest Trading Company. The yarn was wonderful to work with, and I liked it so much and had enough left over for these....



These are called Wristers and are from www.soxie.com./wristers.html. Very quick knit. I finished them last Sunday.

I will blog again soon. I'll take some pictures of what I am working on and load those. It's supposed to be rainy tomorrow, so maybe I'll stay in, watch some movies and just knit.

Thanks for stopping by.