Countdown begins...

Yup, tomorrow Stephanie comes to town! Stalking is over, welcoming starts. Plus the logistics of getting her to town, as well as all the extra people we are expecting. If you are coming - please, PLEASE be prepared - it's supposed to be ridiculously hot, and we meet in the upstairs room of a heritage house, and it will be crowded. Dress appropriately (I'll be the one in denim shorts and a golf shirt!) and bring a bottle of water or something. It will be HOT! Show off your wool handknits, but please, don't wear them!
I have a lot to do before tomorrow, so this will be kept rather short. You can be assured that posts as of Wednesday, will be slightly more interesting!
I'm also hoping the LuckyCanuck allows Steph out of her car - she is threatening to keep her hostage for a while... I know firemen - I'll keep the Jaws of Life on standby...




I did get the Fourth of July socks done, and made some progress on Icarus and some other socks.

Off again

After staying in town last weekend (and having Socks that Rock compared the Phentex - ICK!) we're back to the cottage this weekend. It's shaping up to be a quiet one - just the three of us, plus the in-laws. Even the neighbours won't be around! It will be remarkably strange - we are used to having friends and family around all the time up there. I wonder how we'll occupy ourselves?? Yeah right, like that will be a problem! Swimming, sunning, fishing (for the boys) knitting (for me). It's a rough life, but we put up with it...
Really spoiling ourselves this weekend - I stopped at our butcher and picked up a decadent treat - a beef tenderloin that Hubby will do on the spit - yum! Also, the Ontario sweet corn is starting to show, so we'll have a feed of that along with the beef - double yum!
I hope to show you the completed pair of Fourth of July golf socks after the weekend.
Next week I will have way more interesting stuff - Stephanie is coming on Tuesday, so that should be good blog fodder for a while...

picot edge clarification

A short post to clarify a point when making a picot edge... The picots are created on the "K2tog, yo" row. Then you knit the 7 or so rows for the inside hem. The hem will naturally want to fold at the picot row, and then you sew down the bind off edge.
If you aren't fond of picots (and some people aren't!) you can simply do a purl row all the way around. This too, will create a natural fold line.

Eliza also asked whether or not I switch to a smaller needle when doing the hem stitches, to avoid any flaring of the top.
If I had been able to find my 2mm needles, I probably would have - but since they have gone MIA, I didn't and to be honest, the flaring is not noticeable, so I guess I dodged a bullet there!

I was planning on adding pictures to illustrate what I'm talking about - but of course, my camera is not anywhere near me. And the memory card is full. (I know, I've got to download the pictures from last Christmas - I will, really!) And I can't find my other memory card. Didja ever have one of those days???

I've got to get my camera is shipshape soon - the Harlot is coming next week - like I'm going to let that opportunity pass by without pictures!

Weekend musings...

We had a small family get together this weekend - an Aunt of mine was in town, so my Mom had myself and my brother, our spouses and kids, some cousins and their kids and another aunt and uncle. Basically a gathering of some of my maternal side of the family. No pictures - that would contravene the whole "keeping the blog a secret" thing. Hubby was great about coming - my family can be a little off the wall, and when the Aunt in question keeps referring to him as "what's his name" in phone conversations, I can't blame him. (I guess 14 years of marriage don't count). Actually, it's really his lack of Francophone background that has her peeved. And not just my husband - of her 13 nieces and nephews, only 3 have married Francophones. What really gets her is that all three of her sisters that married (my Mom among them), ALSO married Anglos! Personally, I find this hilarious. She is so concerned about us "diluting" our French heritage (yes, she used this term to me), that she can't see how great these people are. I should also mention the score here - married Franophones? all three divorced. married anglos? 6 - all still married.
The get together was pretty good - thanks to my Mom, who did a wonderful job of keeping everyone fed and happy. She also made sure my aunt had a few sherries before we arrived, so her sharp edges were somewhat blunted. This is a good thing. It was great to connect with some of my cousins again - we don't keep in touch as much as we should, and that's a shame. We made all the promises about rectifying that, so we can only hope that we carry through with it.
I did pull out a sock in progress while I was there - all conversation ceased while everyone stared. Please people! I am quite capable of carrying on a conversation whilst knitting a sock! I had to explain that a few times. Then there was the inevitable question about "how I get the yarn to change colours like that", and having to explain self striping sock yarn. Of course my well-sherried aunt had to comment on how she knits as well, but she wouldn't dream of using wool like I was - "what a waste!" were her words - "no one can tell the difference between wool and "orlon" (as she calls acrylic). She showed me the bootie she was working on - in PHENTEX! and she compared it to the Socks that Rock that I was using. Ack! I didn't even want to TOUCH the phentex, let alone let it anywhere near my beloved STR! For the sake of family unity, I didn't get into it, but REALLY! I'll debate the relative merits of Fleece Artist vs. STR any time, but please don't ask me to compare merino to Phentex. Ever. I've made my share of fun fur scarves - I admit it. But now? Fibre Snob? You betcha!

I've been outed as a stalker!

As posted on Stephanie's blog yesterday, I've arranged to have her back to the York Region Knitting Guild. Back, you say? Well, yes. She was kind enough to visit us last year - we kept it kinda secret so that she wouldn't be inundated with requests. For those wondering how I did it - well, persistence is a word that has been attributed to me - Stalking is another. Assume whatever you want...
Either way, I've got the goofy grin thing going - I've been linked by Stephanie! How cool is that? And she's coming to our Guild! And dinner! (oops! did I mention that? That part stays private. I can imagine knitters checking out restaurants all over Aurora on August 1st, looking for a large group of women, knitting between courses). Please don't try this - you really won't find us...
I'm a little concerned about the number of people coming. The room where we meet can handle a few, but if you are planning on coming, drop Jen an email at ripandjen@look.ca so we can prepare.

I've started another cotton golf sock - the 4th of July colourway.


This colourway is pooling differently than the licorice allsorts socks, where the pink kind of swirled around the sock. This one seems to be keeping the red and the blues separate - I like it so far.

Also, I had a question yesterday about the picot edge I used on my Fleece Artist socks, and how it is done. Since I get so few comments, I figured it would be rude not to answer!
When the sock is as long as I want it to be, I do a row of K2tog, YO, all the way around.
Then I knit a few more rows (the inside of the hem - I usually knit about 7 rows).
Then I bind off - I use a stretchy bind off, and usually go up at least one needle size - i.e. I knit the socks with a 2.25mm and bind off with a 3mm needle. The bind off I use is: K2tog, place this stitch back on the left needle, K2tog, place this stitch back on the left needle, and so on. It makes for a non-binding bind-off. There is also a sewn cast off that Wendy uses, but I have had no problem with the one I use, so I will keep going with it.
Finally, I sew the edge down, LOOSELY. This is the key - it has to be tight enough so the hem lies flat, but loose enough to have some give. It's really a case of trying it yourself and doing what works best for you.
(Is it obvious that I'm not a very good pattern writer?)This is too bad, since there are a lot of pattern ideas swirling around in my head. I'm going to have to do something about that...

FA FO* and AC**

*Fleece Artist Finished Object

I love this yarn. It knits up beautifully, very similar to Socks that Rock. The only issue I have with this is:

see the colour difference? I KNOW it's a handpainted yarn. I expect colour differences. But we're talking about the same skein here, not two different balls. One sock is significantly darker than the other. Significantly. To be honest, I bugs me a bit, but not enough to rip out or do anything else. These are headed to the Christmas box, designated for either my MIL or one of my SIL. It's my usual toe up, short row toe and heel - the only deviation from my regular brainless pattern is the picot edge top, rather than ribbing. I like this top and will use it again.

I think it's very pretty, and surprisingly, the sock doesn't sag. Yet. (I only wore them for as long as it took to take the picture at 6am this morning).
Yes, I am awake at 6am. Against my will and better judgement. I need coffee and newspaper time to myself in the morning, so I force myself to get up at 5:30 to get it before I wake up the boys in my life. By the time hubby is showered and ready for the day, Son is dressed and having breakfast and I am out the door. Hubby handles the morning drop off, I get the Boy in the afternoon - it's a good system.
**This morning it was easier to get out of bed - our AC crapped out last night. And Hubby is leaving this afternoon for a business trip for three days. The good news? I have to leave work early tomorrow to wait for the fix-it guy. The bad news? Yarn money will be spent on fixing my AC. But needs are needs - Icarus is knit in alpaca. Alpaca and heat do not get along. I've got to the point on Icarus where I really don't need the pattern - it is easily memorized.

Hopefully, I'll have cooler news for you tomorrow - i.e. air conditioned news...

Weather and other ramblings

As Lucky Canuck has told you, we've had some interesting weather in the Toronto area lately. Monday evening, it was lovely, if a little hot. I got home from work early enough to walk over to the sitter's to pick up DS, and we had a nice few minutes walking home together as he told me all about his day. I love these times. He's 7, so I have a few more years befor the secretive teenage years start. I'm hoping he stays as open as he is, but I remember myself as a teen, and well, I can only hope. Then again, I'm keeping this blog a secret, so I guess I've never really outgrown it. Doesn't bode well for the boy. Where was I? Oh yeah, weather. So DS and I have a nice dinner out on the deck - Hubby was out. We watch Mythbusters, and he goes to sleep. I'm lying in bed, reading, and all of a sudden, our calm evening turns into wind, rain and lightning from hell. While Lucky lost power for the entire night, we only flickered - long enough to make me run around the house resetting all the clocks. (Why does every appliance I own need a clock?) I ended up sitting on the front porch (protected) watching the lightning show - it was amazing. But I am slightly worried about a couple of trees. We have a huge birch outside out living room and master bedroom windows. Birches are not known for their longevity or their resistance to wind, but so far so good. We also have a sugar maple near the driveway that doesn't seem to be doing so good. Only half of it has leaves, and that can't be a good sign. If it does go, my car will be the victim - the tree is right beside the driveway. I am calling an arborist to come and take a look. I fear they will tell us it has to come down. DId I mention that right below it is my favourite shade garden? Because the tree provides SHADE? Man, I'm going to have to replant...

Knitting? Ummmmm, yeah, I do some of that. No pictures, though. Do you really need to see an extra inch of another sock? Or the first few inches of Icarus? Or 2 inches of a hemp towel? You do? Well, you'll have to wait.

At a loss for words...

For those that know me, being at a loss for words is a rare situation. I can usually find SOMETHING to talk about.
But not today. The knitting is going along - everything is at a different level of completion. I will probably concentrate on the Seashore Fleece Artist socks - I'm about 4 rows away from the picot row, then the turn down part, sewing up and done. There are a couple (well, actually 4) more pairs on the needles that will need some attention. Plus the Icarus shawl and the Mason Dixon hemp teatowel. And the Whisper Scarf. Oh, the the lonely one mitt wonders. And... well, I can tell you about ALL my UFO's now can I? A girl's got to have some secrets...

Hot, hot heat...

Whew! That was one hot weekend! And today is no better - 35C (95F) with a humidex expected around 45C (113F). And here's how silly it is. I'm wearing a sleeveless linen blouse, and because our business owner seems to care nothing for the environment, I need a WOOL SHAWL in order to comfortably sit at my desk and work. At least I dodged the bullet on Friday, and I'm way too busy to get involved in anything today, so I'm hoping to stay invisible.
Enough ranting - on to the knitting! I finished the licorice allsorts socks:

Project specs - toe up - short row toe and heel. Elann Esprit Cotton/Elastic sock yarn. 52 stitches on 3mm needles. Knitted to just above the ankle, 3 rows of 1x1 ribbing. There was enough yarn left of each of the balls to make a calf high sock, easily. This is a much bigger needle than I usually use for socks (usually I use a 2 or 2.25mm), but this sock is much thicker. The elastic makes them very cushy, and I hope will be perfect for my golfer friend and her pink and black golf shoes!

I also started a couple of new things (What? What? You can't be surprised by this. Really now...) I had the hemp with me at the cottage, and started the Mason Dixon chevron tea towel in raspberry for my Mom. My Mom is the queen of all things pink. I also have some of the hemp in a soft seashell pink for her as well. I love this pattern - two rows in and the pattern is memorized - perfect beach knitting! It is looking a little loose, but I am hoping the hemp will bloom a bit, plus, once it softens that should make a difference. I know, I could have swatched and washed the swatch. But what fun is that? (I don't swatch well, if ever. Shoot me now).
I also started the Icarus shawl from the current Interweave Knits. I rarely make anything from this magazine lately, but this shawl is beautiful. My one SIL has been heavily hinting since last Christmas for a blue shawl. I seem to make one shawl for one SIL each year, and this SIL will treat it very well, so it's her turn. I'm loving the pattern, but won't be tempted to keep it, as I am using the same blue alpaca as my Fiddlesticks shawl. Since I already have one, I won't keep it. That is the reason I'm using the alpaca - otherwise, I'd want this for me!! No pictures - I'll try and get some soon, but lace before blocking just looks like used dental floss.
My other SIL gave me a great idea for Christmas gifts - throw cushions. Two of the girls are redecorating, so this might just work. Plus, I can whip them up on the machine when crunch time comes! Stay tuned for more on this...

Hello? Is anybody out there...

Now, I'm really not insecure. Well, maybe a little, but really, I'm pretty happy with my lot in life, and feel good about the contributions I make to life in general. But if you're out there and reading this, could you maybe let me know? A little comment to say hi? I'm not trying to be a comment whore, and I certainly don't want to become Stephanie with 600 comments a day (I'd feel like I'd have to reply to all of them, and then, well, I'd have to either warp the time space continuum, or give up sleeping. Physics was never my strong suit, and sleeping is way too important to me. Unfortunately, I never get enough.

So last night - one of THOSE nights. Son has soccer at 7pm. I race out of work, pick him up, we drop in at the butcher shop (decide to spoil ourselves with fabulous rib steaks and smoked salmon this weekend), get home, make him some dinner, change for soccer, go to soccer, get home around 8:30, leave son with hubby to put to bed, race out to library before it closes (they had Knitting Nature on hold for me - I want to check it out before buying...) off to the grocery store for weekend supplies, race home, start our dinner, while unloading the dishwasher.
Off to a meeting this morning - the same one where I was reamed last week - I am SO NOT looking forward to this. What I am looking forward to is going to the cottage tonight. It is already stinking hot, so I foresee a late night swim once we arrive.
I hope everyone's weekend is stellar. Enjoy...

The girl can't help it, she really can't help it...

Sigh. More shopping. No, not more yarn. These. Franklin cracks me up, and I just love the humour in these shirts. I want to be Dolores in my other life.

Other than that, not much is going on. Knitting away on the licorice allsorts socks - I'm loving the bigger yarn on bigger needles, and the fact that golf socks stop at the ankles. I've got one done and the second is halfway up the foot. I should finish these puppies on the weekend. Yup- back to the cottage for the weekend to escape the forecasted 30C (with a humidex of over 40C) For the non Celcius of the bunch - that's just DAMN HOT. At home we may have air conditioning, but what fun is there in sitting inside your house all weekend with the shades drawn, when we can sit at (or in) the lake? And yes, I know how incredibly lucky we are to have this option. Even with all the work and worry that comes with a cottage, it is a luxury that not many are able to enjoy, and we count out blessings every time we go there.
I'll take a couple of pairs of socks for variety and the brown mohair/silk scarf probably. Maybe the Fiona Ellis tank top if I can find the right needles. Maybe my bag of Briggs and Little worsted for the Mason Dixon log cabin project. The joys of having so many projects on the go - I rarely get bored...

Mmmm, white boxes...

OK, so I'll cop to ordering more Elann yarn. So sue me. (actually, envy me - this is some nice stuff!)

Elann Canapone 100% Hemp. To be honest, at the moment, it feels like the hard twine I use for trussing chickens, but I have been told that it softens incredibly once washed. I am picturing some of the tea towels from Mason Dixon Knitting. And yes, that is the Barbara Walker Second Treasury there - can you believe I didn't own any of her books until this point? I have a ton of books on all kinds of crafts (including those that I have no interest in pursuing). But not a single Barbara Walker. After flipping through this, I'm ready to order the set! I just have to do it in small increments - the credit card is getting a little overworked these days...

For those that were wondering about the other 5 colourways of the Elann Esprit Cotton Elastic sock yarn - here's the first white box that showed up this week:

The blue, white and red is also for my golfing buddy - the rest is not yet designated for anyone. Maybe I'll make some golf socks for moi! If I ever get out on the links again. I've gone from someone who had her clubs in the car from May until October, ready at a moment's notice, to someone whose clubs are still in the basement this year. Sigh. Seven year old son's schedule keeps me busy...

I swear, that's it for the white boxes for a while! Really...

What's a girl to do...

What I am supposed to do when I get home and see that lovely white box sitting on my doorstep? (For those that don't know, Elann ships their stuff in beautiful white boxes)...

If you're me, you dive right in and start ANOTHER sock! Elann's Esprit cotton/elastic blend in the "licorice allsorts" colourway. I bought this stuff (and 5 other colourways, cough, cough) to make golf socks for my friend Sue - an avid golfer and curler and the best friend someone could ask for. Maybe I'll tell her I'm blogging one of these days! She loves black and pink together, so this seemed perfect. The nice thing about this yarn is fewer stitches and bigger needles, so faster progress. Usually I use a 2.25mm and 64 stitches for a sock. These are on 3mm and there are 52 stitches. Doesn't seem like much of a difference, but it is.
I've also got another pair of socks to show (really, I do knit other stuff!) - this was a pair I did using a different kind of dying experiment. I took the yarn and machine knit two "blanks" - simple rectangles of stockinette - takes about 5 minutes on the knitting machine for each, especially since gauge didin't matter. I then laid the rectagles out side by side in a rectangular pyrex dish and put the kool-aid on in strips - blue at the bottom, green in the middle and orange at the top. Cooked the dish to set the dye, let the blanks dry, then wound the yarn - unravelling the blanks and winding into balls. Started knitting at one end, watched the colours change and presto - tri colour socks. The yarn I used was Knitpicks Dye your own, by the way. I'm really happy how they turned out!

Now, before you think I am that exact with my dying to have the colours change at exactly the same spot - no way. There was some cutting of yarn to make sure the colours change at the same spot. I'm not really anal, but this made sense to me.
I've got three more skeins of the Dye Your Own, and a whole package of Wilton Cake Dyes. I'm picturing some spring-y socks in green, yellow, violet, and some more autumn-y ones - tan, blue, orange and yellow. Maybe something kind of Christmassy?

Done!

I actually finished a couple of things this weekend - the suede booties (this was a no-brainer - they only take about an hour each...) and the pink mohair/silk ruffly scarf. I love this Ovation yarn - 75% kid mohair, 25% silk, or as someone near and dear to me described it - goat and worm poop. Yeah. Thanks for that romantic vision of lovely yarn...


the booties are equally sweet.


These are being sent off shortly to B.C. - a co-worker is due this fall. One of the co-workers I like - a rare thing around this job. I'v said it before - I'm really looking forward to getting out of here - If you're so inclined, pray I get a phone call in the next little while...

As per the norm, we were at the cottage on the weekend. This was a much needed weekend, as Friday was horrible - I was made to look like an incompetent by the owner of our company, in front of the entire staff. He just talked over my discussion, asking if I really knew what my job was and how to do it. At that point, I just shut up. It's one thing to defend yourself, it's something completely different when he won't listen. At least 6 people came up to me afterwards, commiserating with me. It seems to be my turn this month. Great. I can't wait until Friday so we can go north again! And in August - we'll take our vacation there. Ah, heaven!

Of course, what would a cottage weekend with kids be without the current trend of a Diet Coke/Mentos geyser? 15 feet of Diet Coke straight up - the result of adding 6 Mentos to a 2 litre bottle. The kids were ecstatic.



The things we do...

Me an' Wendy...

Is it wrong that I am slightly psyched by the fact that Wendy and I are knitting the same colourway of Fleece Artist sock?

(the one on the right - "seashore" colourway)
I think that's pretty cool, but to be honest, if it was Stephanie and I knitting the same thing, well then you'd have to smack me upside the head to knock the goofy grin off my face. (I will admit to some heroine worship here.)

Heading north again tonight - some serious knitting time ahead of me. One of the joys of summer is how late it stays light - we won't start our drive until around 8pm, by the time we get stuff done around the house, and it stays light until around 9:30, so there's a solid hour and a half of sock knitting time - small, mindless, so I can carry on a conversation - perfect! Saturday and Sunday - sittin' by the beach, knitting bag beside me - now that's a good use of time. Then there is the car ride back home - another 2 1/2 hours with the needles. I love the cottage on so many levels...
I should probably have some FO's to show next week - Finished objects - such an alien concept for me. I'd have a contest to see who could guess what I will finish, but considering the readership of this blog, its dead nuts sure LuckyCanuck would win!

Lace WIPS

Lace Wips - if someone googles and spells "whips" wrong, they will be sadly disappointed when they get here!

As much as I knit socks, I also love knitting lace - hence the Fiddlesticks Florence Scarf shown previously. Another Fiddlesticks project on the go is the Whisper Scarf, in cream Zephyr - delicious stuff!

The only change I have made to this project is the smaller-than-recommended needles - they recommend a 4mm or 4.5mm, I am using a 3.25mm. I wanted this to be more of a neck-warming scarf, rather than an open weave shoulder warmer. I do like the fabric as it's coming along.
Then there's this one...

don't get me wrong - I love the Leaf Lace shawl pattern from Fiber Trends, and green is my favourite colour - it's just, well, I should know better than to use varigated wool sometimes. I mean, it has its place, but the place is not this shawl. The yarn itself is quite nice - Knitpicks merino laceweight in the Leprechan colourway, but the varigations are just not doing it for me. I will probably finish this, and overdye it to tone down the colourway - Either that or I frog it and overdye the yarn itself - opinions? Of course I could finish it, and decide it's great as is. Who knows?

As is becoming painfully obvious, I start way more things than I finish. I do actually finish quite a few things - I try to give something hand knitted to everyone at Christmas. Most of the UFOs are things that are destined for me, so they seem to get pushed aside when I decide to make something for someone else. That's ok - I like giving hand knit stuff away, especially to those that appreciate it. Those that don't, well, they don't get much. My brother and SIL are good examples - they each have one pair of handknit socks. They both "couldn't believe I would waste my time - didn't I know you can buy perfectly good socks - probably better quality than these?" Yeah, thanks for that. Off the list. They now get gift certificates at Christmas. Then there's my Mom, MIL and FIL - they care for their hand knits. They wear them, wash them properly and wear them again and again. I love that! My MIL even darns the socks. Wow.
I'm starting to plan my Christmas knitting for this year (I have a BIG extended family and group of friends. I need to start early). Last year, the girls got felted Sophie bags with beaded handles a la Norma, and Elann baby cashmere scarves. The guys got merino neck warmers. Now, before you think I have tons of time, I also have a knitting machine - the neck warmers and scarves were EXTREMELY quick that way. This year, I'm thinking felted slippers for the girls - there are far fewer guys on the list, so socks may do it (gift certificates for the non-sockers). Does anyone have any ideas for a great gift that can be done over and over and won't break my bank?

York Region Knitting Guild

As I mentioned yesterday, I belong to a Knitting Guild, that was to remain nameless unless I got their permission to broadcast it. Well, last night, they agreed to let me talk! (Trust me, it's pretty hard to keep me from talking, but I did not want to say anything unless they agreed.) Privacy being what it is, information will be sufficiently vague in order to protect the innocent. The York Region Knitting Guild encompasses an area north of Toronto, ON - our members come from all over - from Thornhill through to Barrie, and all points in between. We are pretty widespread as far as location, and Aurora is the centralized meeting area - upstairs at Needles and Knits (a FABULOUS yarn store!), the first Tuesday of each month at 7:30pm. If you're in the area, come join us! We have a very diverse membership, from knitters just learning to people that produce Kaffe Fassetts and Dale of Norways like there's no tomorrow. (I'm in awe most of the time...) Every one is willing to share tips, tricks and techniques, we ooooh and aaaaah over WIP's and FO's, and generally have a great time together. We have wonderful guest speakers (Fiona Ellis, Maureen Mason-Jamieson are two that come to mind), and presentations from yarn producers - Wellington Fibres. All in all, I have been very lucky to find this group and be welcomed by them.

Another project:


I did a kool-aid dying experiment at the Guild a few months back and ended up with some space dyed 1 ply Briggs and Little. Not enough to do much, so I came up with the idea of making the hat brims, then making the hat out of alpaca to be softer against the forehead. I've completed one, a pale pink alpaca with just a regular ribbed brim (not shown), this one is a brim pattern worked laterally - it's a lacy arrow pattern from a stitch dictionary. I will then take the blue alpaca, and pick up around the edge to make the hat. Maybe. I may also make this into an ear warmer band and line it with the alpaca. I tend to design on the fly. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't - I'll let you know.

I also picked up some fabulous blue Mandarin Petit cotton last night to make the Fiona Ellis lacy edge cable tank top from her book Inspired Cable Knits. I was leaning to the green, but Elizabeth pushed the blue - smart girl, that Elizabeth...

And in another case of starting something before finishing ANYTHING... Blue Suede Booties! The Ugg Booties from DIYnet. Two pregnancies around me, so these should be fun and fast. Elizabeth to the rescue again - she recommended the Phildar Neige instead of Berroco Plush (which I couldn't find). I already had the blue suede in my stash. (Using stash yarn - what a concept...)

cottage knits

Well, we're back from the glorious north. I know, it was only three days, and we won't be up there for an extended period of time until our holidays in August, but still, three days is three days. Swimming with the kids (son and nephews), getting the garden in shape, re-connecting with the neighbours over drinks, all the stuff cottaging is supposed to be. Oh yeah, great food, and lots of knitting time!


Socks that Rock - Metamorphic colourway. I love this stuff. I am keeping these, even though there were some thinly veiled hints, and one outright request for them! For those interested, I do a toe up, short row toe, short row heel sock. Usually stockinette, usually ribbing around the top, but for women I've been starting to use a picot edge a la Claudia . I really like it. I sometimes branch out into a lace patterned leg. It's not that I don't like variety, it's just that sock knitting is my "go-to" knitting when I don't want to look at charts, count rows, or do anything but knit mindlessly. That's why I love great sock yarn - I let it do the work!


A ruffly (very ruffly!!) scarf in a mohair/silk blend - not Kidsilk haze, but virtually the same - just lower in price. It's produced by S.R. Kertzer, and I can't for the life of me remember the name of this stuff. I've used KSH, and this stuff is absolutely interchangeable. But I get three balls for the price of two KSH! This is my own design, but nothing that hasn't been done by a ton of knitters I'm sure. I cast on a bunch of stitches (about 80), using about a 5mm needle. I knit into the front and back of each stitch, then knit a few rows, then increased in every other stitch and knit a few rows, and did this a few more times. My plan is to have it about 3-4 inches deep from the cast on row to the cast off row. The number of stitches has increased to about a thousand (? - maybe more, I'm not that interested in counting them!)and I am knitting the final 3-4 rows (no increases) with 8mm needles . The plan is that the ruffles will fall about the neck, framing the face of the wearer. Let's hope it works! I should have this done this week - the joys of mindless garter stitch, even if it is in laceweight mohair...

Blogger seems to be limiting my pictures today - not that there was a whole lot else to see...

More tomorrow - I have my knitting Guild meeting tonight - I will ask them how they feel about being out on the 'net - I won't show anyone who doesn't want to be shown, nor will I mention the name of hte Guild unless they agree.
Hopefully they do agree - they're a fabulous bunch, and some of the best knitters I know!