LaLa's Knits

I'm still over there

2010-03-15T12:27:00.002-04:00

I'm still over at the knitgirllls, so don't despair if you haven't heard from me in a while. You can catch up with me over there :)

Socks in Progress

2009-06-29T20:01:00.002-04:00

I have more socks on the needles than I care to admit to right now. I'm actually down to the wire on 2 pairs for the Wendy Knits Knitalong going on on ravelry. Every month, members of the group can pick from 2 patterns (one from the book and one free voted on by members). You cannot begin before the 1st day of that month and must finish before midnight on the last. I liked both patterns for this month, so of course I started both.
My status on the Lacy Ribs (pattern from the book) right now is slow but steady. I am almost done with the 2nd socks' cuff. I have around 3 inches left and hope to finish them tonight. Here's a photo from earlier in the week:

Not the best, but I hope to make the finished photo a little bit better. The yarn is Yarn Pirate in the Rum Runner colorway. It was a booty club color and I'm really happy to be using it. First, because it looks great, but also because I need to use up some of the stash in a big way.

The second sock is also a stash-buster. The yarn is Zauberball in the Tropical Fish colorway. The pattern is the Sprucy Lucy and is available for free on Wendy's blog. Unfortunately, this sock is at the same place as is pictured below:

Luckily, that is the 2nd sock, so there is some hope of getting that to the heel tonight and finished tomorrow.

In spinning news, I'm attempting to spin an hour every day for the next few weeks that I am off. Right now, I am spinning some Lorna's Laces Wooltop in Envy and hope to get it done and plied tonight. Tomorrow, pictures of hanspun (fingers crossed)

I'm Back!

2009-06-27T23:08:00.002-04:00

I'm back! I love Raverly with all the forums and notes and patterns, but I miss the documenting the process of how something became something. Long story short, I'm returning to blogging.
So what's going on? I recently designed a sock for Sarah of Perfect Day Yarns Sock Club. I love Sarah's yarns and her Ode to Sea Sock blend is one of my favorites. Here's what the finished product looks like:

I really, really like it. I'm a little anxious to see how other knitters feel about it. I guess I'll find out as people start to knit it. I'm thinking of actually starting a second pair sometime next week.
I'm also in several KALs and I'm going to try to post some progress shots for those tomorrow.
Goodnight all!

Moving

2008-05-05T10:30:00.002-04:00

The blogging thing has not been working for me lately. I think ravelry combined with my lack of love for blogger has stolen my mojo. So, I'm moving to a new site that my freinds Leslie and Lish are also on. Between the three of us, I think we can come up with some interesting blog posts. The new site is www.theknitgirllls.com It has three Ls because the three of us have three L's. BTW my name over there is Laura which is my "real name." I hope y'all enjoy the new blog!

Blogging

2008-04-30T17:28:00.002-04:00

I'm horribly behind on my blogging. I have projects to put up and the Loopy Ewe Spring Fling still to blog about. It seems there is never enough time in the day. Now that God has become one of my minions on Ravelry, I'll get him to add more time into my day
:)

Another Reason Why No Knitting is Being Done

2008-04-14T22:15:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow I promise more spinning pics (my first plied skein!!!!!) and some actual knitting content

One Reason Why No Knitting is Being Done

2008-04-14T22:01:00.003-04:00

So I got a giant trampoline. I figure its good exercise and there's always an reason to invite knitters over that way.

Yummy Numma Numma

2008-04-07T23:05:00.003-04:00

I came home to find my Birthday present to myself on the doorstep this afternoon.

I ordered three Toasty Treat skeins from Numma Numma. The cool thing about ordering from the etsy shop is that you get a free short skein after you buy three regular skeins. So really, I got 4.

I love this yarn so much. I just want to roll in it.

Sunburned

2008-04-06T11:17:00.002-04:00

I got sunburned yesterday helping out with Super Mustang Weekend at Nikki's school. I did manage to get a great photo of her in the dunking booth.

And I managed to get a little knitting done. More on that later...

Why I've Been Gone So Long

2008-04-05T10:53:00.003-04:00

My mom totaled her car a few weeks ago the Monday after the knitting retreat. She's fine but we've been having to share a car for a few weeks and that seems to suck up a lot of time.

Leslie and I went camping (that's a picture of me knitting and freezing my butt off above). And I also had my 27th birthday party which was tons of fun. I'll update tomorrow with some pics of what I've been working on.

A set

2008-03-14T12:24:00.003-04:00

Before I leave on the Mississippi Knitters Retreat, I have to share some finished objects with you. I'm vending at the retreat (sooooo nervous) so most of this weeks been about dyeing. I also found some time to knit this:

The pattern is the Unoriginal Hat by the Yarn Harlot. Love the pattern! I finished the hat in around 2 hours. The yarn is Schaeffer Esperanza that I bought when I heard her speak at Stash.
And mittens of the same yarn for Nikki (now that its 70s and sunny, she'll really get a lot of use out of them).
Pattern is from the Knitters Book of Yarn (fabulous book). It is the Chunky Winter Set by Amy King.

Lucy Neatby is coming to Memphis

2008-03-10T15:18:00.002-04:00

and I get to take 2 classes from her. The Saturday one is multi-directional knitting and the Sunday one is socks. I just can't wait! It's 2 weeks after I get to meet Cookie and Wendy. Wow! My Spring is going to rock!

Finished Objects

2008-03-09T10:10:00.003-04:00

I finally figured out a sneaky way to get around all the photo posting issues that I've been having with Blogger. I just upload my pics to my flickr (something I do anyhow) and copy the HTML from there. Here's some of the projects that I've finished in my February is for Finishing month:

A baby shrug. This was supposed to be a shrug for me (the pattern is the One Skein Wonder from Glampyre Knits), but due to my inability to read, I made a newborn size instead. I think its pretty darn cute.

I also created this hat which I am calling Baby Bling. It was improvised at my Magic Loop class and done using some leftover Dream in Color Classy in the Lunar Dazzle colorway. It should also fit a newborn.

Then we have my camo baby socks for Robert's grandson. I was just happy to get these done. The yarn is Lorna's Laces and they are just my standard baby sock pattern.

Last but not least, we have Betsy. This was a Fleece Artist kit that I picked up while in Jackson. Here's an after felting shot:

It always amazes me what a little friction and hot water can do.

Best Day Ever

2008-03-08T10:31:00.002-05:00

I truly had a fabulous day yesterday. I went into work yesterday morning knowing that snow was in the forecast. I've been disappointed by Mississippi weather before, so I was trying not to get my hopes up. We got out at 11 due to the threat of snow. I was excited to get out because that meant my Spring Break (which was to start at the end of the day and last until school resumed on St. Patrick's day) started a wee bit early. Then this started:

I can not explain the excitement I get from snow. There was jumping up and down, but at that point in time (the picture was taken much later) it was just a few flakes, no real accumulation, so Lee and I decided to go see Jumper. Got out of the movie to see snow still flying, but not a lot of sticking. Dropped Lee off at his car, started an impromptu snow ball fight, got my arse kicked in said snow ball fight, and went home.
Nikki called to see if we wanted to do girl movie night, she came over and them we looked outside. It now looked like this:

We played in the snow. Made snow angels. Got REAL cold. Came inside and I decided to knit a pair of mittens. Watched more movies and ate some pizza and fell asleep watching another movie.
In my book; no work, snow, great friends, movies, knitting, and pizza pretty much make for a perfect day.

Quiz

2008-03-06T18:38:00.000-05:00

What kind of yarn are you?

You are Merino Wool.You are very easygoing and sweet. People like to keep you close because you are so softhearted. You love to be comfortable and warm from your head to your toes.
Take this quiz!

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Turning 1

2008-03-02T15:01:00.003-05:00

My godson turned 1 today. I can't believe how quickly a year can go by.

Best idea ever

2008-02-28T17:42:00.000-05:00

New Pattern!

2008-02-23T12:04:00.004-05:00

Girly-Girl Wristers are now available as a free pattern. Look at the link on my sidebar. They are also in ravelry!

Loot

2008-02-22T19:35:00.003-05:00

Look at all the great loot I got from my Loopy Swap partner, Jennifer. I wore the socks to school and my students loved them. I loved the great package which included the awesome Duets socks, hershey kisses (could you get more Loopy than that?), some great soap, and Loopy Groupy yarn, plus some SOAK wash. I love everything (perhaps the kisses a bit too much). Thank you Jennifer!

I'm Posting!

2008-02-21T17:11:00.006-05:00

You know it's bad when you go to the list of blogs/knitalongs that you are a member of and your own is at the bottom because it is the least updated. I guess the number of secret projects I've been doing makes for a lack of real blogging, but I get to finally show you two!

I finished both of these in February and had started them earlier, so they count towards my goal of finishing projects in February.
First, the Evangeline Mitts. These were made out of Dream in Color Classy in Lunar Dazzle. I followed the short version of the pattern found here. They were an easy and quick knit that I could handle while watching a movie with 30 6th graders.

The second is the Koolhaus Hat from the Holiday issue of Interweave Knits 2007. You can also purchase a downloadable version of the pattern here. This one is not so good with the sixth graders, although I did get to try out cabeling without a cable needle. I loved both these patterns, although I would make the mitts 3 repeats longer next time. I'm planning on posting tomorrow so that I can show you all the goodies I got in my Loopy Swap package.

Catching Up

2008-02-10T18:53:00.002-05:00

The last few weeks have been kinda hectic over here at Chez LaLa. We had some out of town visitors last week and while they were here we went to the Memphis Zoo. This is one of my favorite pics from the zoo. It was kinda cold, but that just meant that the animals were more active. One of the big draws of the Memphis Zoo are the two pandas we have. They like to hang out and eat bamboo. It seems like they do very little else.

That same week, we had HD Direct TV installed for Wheezy. While I had to hang around the house, I dyed some yarn. Most of them sold the night that I took it up to the yarn shop. I guess that means that I need to dye more :)

I was faithful to the no purchasing sock yarn during Lent while I was in Jackson yesterday. Instead I got all these goodies. Enough yarn to make the White Witch Mitts (free pattern from Knitting Daily/Interweave Knits) and a skein of Lornas Laces for the Cabled Footies from One Skein.

Jackson

2008-02-09T21:07:00.000-05:00

Lisha and I went down to Jackson today and had a fun time knitting with the ladies down there. I got lots of work done on wicked, so I'm hopeful that it will be done in the next two weeks or so. I also picked up a new knitting bad (Della Q). I'll try to post some pics tomorrow. Happy knitting!

What's New and Lent

2008-02-06T20:18:00.000-05:00

I got my hair cut today. You can always tell it's going to be bad the more mouse and junk they add. You know it's really bad when they do a comb over. I got the comb over. She got to fix it. This is the "fixed" cut. At one point the left side was 2 inches longer than the right and she let me leave the shop like that. I went back and all is better (or as good as it can be).

On a knitting note: I've given up buying sock yarn for Lent. I'm also going to try to knit/finish a pair of socks a week during Lent. During the month of February, I will try to complete all the half finished pairs that are lurking around my room (see how that counts? I'm being quasi smart today). On a less smart note: I signed up for sock Madness again. How that happened, I will never know.

Ben

2008-02-06T19:24:00.001-05:00

How could you resist him?

February is for Finishing

2008-02-03T22:41:00.000-05:00

I've been quiet lately on the blogging front. I've had so many projects that I've been knitting and no time to take pics, so it seemed as if I never have anything to blog about. I'm planning on making February my "finishing" month, so that I can get some of the stuff off needles and to various new homes. Here's what's on the needles right now.
1. Wicked
2. 9 pairs of socks
3. Koolhaus hat
4. Fingerless mitts
5. A hat made out of Seawool doubled (don't ask)
6. Baby Surprise
7. 2 pairs of baby socks
8. Orchid mitts
9. Secret of the Stole 2

I'm sure I'm forgetting something. If I could finish 4 of those projects this month, I would be happy. Let's see how I do :)

We've Been to Jackson

2008-01-25T17:16:00.001-05:00

The test knit is done and sent off to its new home! I feel as if I have time to breathe before the Loopy Swap deadline (Febuary 16th is the final mailing date) so I think that I might start on one of the Fleece Artist kits I got in Jackson. You didn't know that I had been to Jackson? Well, Eloise and I drove down there last Saturday and played with some of the knitters from the Mississippi Knitters group on Ravelry.

We met up at a very cool new shop. Some of this might have come home with me.

I also got to meet Chanda, my co-mod. She is very cool. Here's a pic of us taking pics of each other.

We had a great time! It was so much fun to meet all these people that you feel as if are already your friends. It was great and I can't wait to go back.

Rip Back

2008-01-20T20:07:00.000-05:00

I just had the most heart stopping experience of my knitting career. I'm currently knitting my first "real" test knit for someone. I want it to be perfect. Well, I found a glaring mistake a few rows down and had to fix it. I contemplated dropping down the errant stitches, but there was too big of a mess so I took out the needles (size 0 circs) and began to knit back. As I grabbed the second circular, the whole needle came undone. The cord had come unattached from the needle. I usually have a plethora of extra circulars in all sizes. The exception to this seems to be size 0. I shoved the cord back into the needle and will attempt to super glue it later. For now, I can use it to pick up the 66 stitches needed back unto a needle. The yarn is also a little on the splitty side, so that will made it all the more fun.
On the plus side, I've really enjoyed knitting this pattern. The construction is very interesting, and I can't wait for the book to come out to try some of the other patterns.

Have I mentioned I love pirates?

2008-01-13T20:46:00.000-05:00

Look at the cute stuff that Kathy made yesterday. The pirate one is for me. I feel so fortunate to have a friend like her.

Just In Case 1 Picture of Babies Wasn't Enough

2008-01-10T16:46:00.000-05:00

Babies at Sock Class

2008-01-09T18:31:00.000-05:00

Dora brought her babies to my sock class last night. Look at how cute they are! The class went well. I always have fun with my sock classes. I've taught it so many times (Is it 6 or 7?) that I know what's going on and what people will have problems with and where we should be. It's extra fun when I get to hold babies.
On my own personal knitting, I should finish the Clap tonight and block it. Then I have a secret project that I'm starting and hope to have done by Sunday. After that, another secret project (this blog might be boring for a while). I should be dying more yarn this weekend and will have fiber guild on Saturday, so I still will have stuff going on to blog about.

Yarn

2008-01-06T13:38:00.000-05:00

In case you thought I did nothing yesterday...
I dyed 5 skeins of sock yarn (all are spoken for) and learned how to "kettle" dye silk. All in a days work....

Sock Stash Pics

2008-01-05T12:53:00.000-05:00

When Becky was here, we decided to organize my sock yarn by type. This was the first movement in the getting the sock yarn stash ready to be photoed (I know its not a real word, but I'm working on making it one). We dumped all skeins of sock yarn into a large pile upstairs and then began to separate them out by dyer. It was lots of fun to see some of the stuff that I got over a year ago. It was also a fun sister knitter thing to do. I can't wait until I have the flickr space to get the rest of the sock yarn into Ravelry.
On the knitting front, not much is getting done. I've started the first of my 30 projects for 2008, the Clapotis. I'm making it out of some alpaca that's been in my stash for over 5 years. This is good. 5 less skeins to photo. I also ran a contest on one of my ravelry groups, Mississippi Knitters. That sent 5 other skeins of yarn to a new home. On a side note, if you knit, spin, crochet, weave or dye yarn/fiber, you should join Ravelry. The waiting list isn't that long and its well worth it.

It's Official

2008-01-02T19:36:00.000-05:00

I have too much sock yarn. If you look at my flickr account you can see some of the 35 colorways of sock yarn I photographed and added to my Ravelry stash yesterday (notice how I didn't say skeins?). I have 5 more boxes to go. I'm scared...

2008 Knitting Goals

2007-12-31T11:10:00.000-05:00

Goal Number One: Get all the yarn I own to fit into the 16 clear plastic bins that I have. That means knitting from the stash, alot.

Goal Number Two: Complete the following 30 projects so that I have room in the stash (I think I have the yarn for all of them and I do have all of the patterns)
1. Clapotis
2. Pea Pod Baby Set From Interweave (because you know someone I know will be having a baby). I have enough of Knitpicks Shine to knit 1 set for a boy.
3. Cinder's Fairy Godmother Scarf. I have the beads and the lace-weight yarn. Now all I need to do is knit it.
4. Simple Shawl from KnitspotI have enough Alpaca to knit it.
5.Cherry Blossom Socks by Silvia Harding. I'm thinking about using some Yarn Pirate for that.
6. Ms. Marigold by Sarah and Rachel of Zephrstyle. I have enough Berroco Pleasure to work it up if it gets gauge.
7. Kathy's Fingerless Gloves. I don't have the yarn for this one, but have asked Melissa from Stash to get it for me.
8. Red Light Special by BrooklynTweed. I have enough Dale Baby Ull to knit this. I would just need to figure out what to line it with.
9. Wavy . I have enough Cascade 220 for this.
10.Penllyn Socks by Lisa Parker for Wildhorse Farm Designs. I seen a bunch of these knit up and they are very pretty. I have the materials to make a bunch.
11. Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap. I have enough sock yarn to make these and baby socks to match for quite a few expectant mothers.
12. Branching Out. I have the Silky Wool to make a bunch of these
13. Dashing. The plan for my father for his birthday for next year. I have a tweed Alpaca that looks like it would work perfectly.
14. Endpaper Mitts. I have the Louet Gems for this.
15. Vog On. They seem like the perfect Summer Socks.
16. Shifting Sands Scarf. It seems like it would be perfect in some hand-dyed sport Weight that I have.
17. Hearts. How can you resist these guys for Valentines day? Perfect for using up little scraps of leftover yarn.
18. Mountain Peaks Shawl. Perfect for using up some of my laceweight.
19. Marina Piccola. I have the perfect yarn for this thanks to my Holiday Swap partner, a lovey lightweight STR.
20. My So Called Scarf. I have the perfect yarn for this, 2 skeins of Malibrigu in a varigated colorway.
21. Koolhaas Hat. Perfect for the Alpaca from Shibu that I got last week in Little Rock.
22. Sheep and Wool Hat. Because it's cute and I have enough Cascade 220 to knit a house cozy.
23. Falling Water Scarf. It's beautiful and uses a pair of socks worth of fingering-weight yarn. Need I say more?
24. Retro Wedge Felted Bag. Super Cute and uses Cascade 220.
25. Summer Cardigan by Knitting Pure and SImple. I'm thinking of making it out of some of the Noro Lily that is in the stash.
26. Secret of the Stole II. This is a yahoo group mystery stole knitalong that begins in mid-January. I'll be using some of the green lace-weight in my stash. More info can be found on the Nautical Knitter's blog.
27. Bell Hat by Pickupsticks. Perfect to use up more Cascade 220.
28. Titania's Revenge. I want to make these before the Loopy Retreat in April and wear them there.
29. Central Air Socks. Because I have too big of an STR stash and I love this pattern.
30. All the STR club kits from this year that I never got a chance to make.

Goal 3: Knit a pair of simple plain-jane socks every month.
Goal 4: Photograph the stash and get it all into Ravelry (I'm starting this today).

That's about it (although it seems like a ton) for my goals for 2008. What are some of yours?

Hmmmm....

2007-12-30T11:16:00.000-05:00

So I need an opinion (or several). I knit this Orchid Lace Mitt yesterday and I'm not really feeling the love. The yarn is gorgeous (It's Wollmeise in the Suzanne colorway) and the pattern is very pretty also (you can find it here). But together they seem to lack something. Hmmmm... I am planning on knitting the other mitt today, just because this is a great way to use up sock yarn (and with Wollmeise's yardage I can get the mitts done and socks for someone with smaller feet than I out of one skein). I also need a pair of fingerless gloves. These will be my last project for 2007. That's kinda sad. Tomorrow I will post about my knitting goals for 2008 (I'm going to list the top 30 projects that I plan on making in the coming year, most of which will use sock yarn).

Specifics

2007-12-29T17:45:00.001-05:00

Ignore the fuzzy photos. Apparently, my camera can't handle to excitement of photographing people in what I knit for them. I'm going to give you the specifics on some of the projects. If you're on Ravelry, you can just look at my projects page. I think this is more fun.

Project: Trick's Mitts

Made for: Trick, Becky's boyfriend of forever/partner in sin

Why I selected this pattern: From prior posts, you can determine that I was going to knit Trick a very cute snake and mouse. Well.....I ran out of time for the felting process (It would have been wet in the gift wrap, never a good sign) Trick's a smoker, so he needed some fingerless gloves so that he would no longer freeze his fingers off. I looked through several books and my queue and found this pattern in a book I already owned (always a plus when knitting at the last minute). I also had some very guy friendly Noro I got at Woolgirl's sale a few months ago.

Pattern: Medallion Mitts by Michael de Vecchio. Found in the book, Knitting with Balls.

Needles: I used size 5 and they seemed a bit small but fit Trick perfectly. I would use a size six next time around. I used my addi lace and magic looped them. Loved it. Need to use that technique more often.

Yarn: Noro Kureyon. It took 1 ball plus 10 yards of another.

Mods: I made these a little bit longer than the pattern called for (hence needing extra yarn).

Notes: I love this pattern, it was a super quick knit and the cables kept it interesting. One that I would make again.

A Good Time Was Had By All

2007-12-27T14:01:00.000-05:00

A belated Merry Christmas to everyone. The gift knitting went down to the wire, but all was completed in time. Here's some pics from our holiday. I'll go into more detail about the projects knitted (the watch was a gift, can you get more rockstar than a purple leather pirate skull watch with rhinestones? I think not) at a later date. Today is my day to recover.

Free Patterns

2007-12-24T10:38:00.000-05:00

I've uploaded the Vadleany Socks pattern to the free pattern link on the side and will add it to ravelry patterns selection after Christmas. For tech reasons, I can't get the 2 parts to merge. You will have to download part one (which is the first page) and then part two (which is the second page). Like always, please enjoy my patterns and have fun. If you have any questions, you can send them to me via the contact this person button on the free pattern page. Please do not claim my pattern as your own. Thanks and Happy Holidays!
LaLa

Christmas Meme

2007-12-23T23:20:00.000-05:00

Kathy tagged me to complete this meme. So here goes...

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I like to give gifts in cloth or homemade bags when possible. I hate wrapping but the hippie in me also hates the amount of waste created by paper and gift bags.

2. Real or artificial tree? - I like the smell of real pine, but I'll be honest. I visit houses with trees in them, I'm not real big into them myself. I'm def. not a theme tree person.

3. When do you put up your tree? - See above

4. When do you take the tree down? This is getting repetitive.

5. Do you like eggnog? No. I'd rather have hot coco or hot apple cider (with or without the rum) any day.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? -Every Christmas I got something that was my favorite. Santa is awesome at my house. This year I'e gotten a kick ass pirate watch from my friend Nikki along with HeMan and SheRa Christmas Special on DVD. Rockstar.

7. Do you have a nativity scene? - No (I don't decorate)

8. Worst Christmas gift you've ever received? - My students have given me some pretty bad ones. But it's the thought that counts and any present is better then none.

9. Mail or e-mail Christmas cards? - Email and some mailed

10. Favorite Christmas movie? - Muppet Family Christmas (unfortunately, one of my evil ex roommates stole it and you can't get it anymore).

11. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Whenever. If I see something that makes me think of someone than I get it for them.

12. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Cookies made by mom.

13. Clear or colored lights on the tree? - I like the clear or just blue

14. Favorite Christmas song? -Silent Night

Credit Card Fraud

2007-12-19T22:46:00.000-05:00

Someone stole my Chase credit card number and has been having a good old time with it. It caused my to loose out on the next round of yarn pirate sock club and has caused all sorts of other trouble (mainly not being ably to knit because I have to be on the phone and the computer at the same time looking up every little paypal payment I've made in the last few days). Totally sucks. Everyone out there, please check over everything that you need to. Trust me, the whole thing sucks.

6 days Until Christmas

2007-12-19T19:34:00.000-05:00

Twas 6 days before Christmas,
and all through the house,
busy fingers were knitting
though not done with the mouse
A hat was all finished and packaged with care
But LaLa would still not move from her chair
The yarn was all nested, all snug in the stash
While LaLa knit on in quite the mad dash
No snake, and no mouse in a box yet for Trick
No bag to be wrapped for my good friend Miss Nic
No mittens for a Thing one or Thing two
Can you believe stuff yet to do?
And reindeer are still on the list to be knit
It's enough to cause anyone sane a huge fit
Luckily, work will be over tomorrow
That will create a lot more less sorrow
Merry Knitting to all and to all a good night!

One Present Down

2007-12-18T18:28:00.000-05:00

So I changed what I was going to knit for Rae. I had already gotten her the cool body wash type stuff on top of the washcloth and decided it needed something hand knit to go with it. Today at work, I cast on the washcloth from Mason Dixon and got to work (thank goodness for exams). Here are the washcloth specs:
Yarn: Peaches in Creme, bought at the local Walmart forever ago (at least a year) and has been chillin in the stash since.
Needles: Size 7 circs and dpns
Total time: Around 5 hours give or take children's interruptions and going to check children out of school.
Being done with one of the items for someone on my Xmas list, priceless.

Button, Button, Who's Got a Button?

2007-12-16T19:35:00.001-05:00

The baby bolero from Mayfield's baby girl is almost done. It's just lacking the buttons. Here's a recap:
Pattern: Child's Neck-Down Bolero by Knitting Pure and SImple
Needles: SIze 8 circulars and DPNs
Yarn: 2 skeins of Cascade 220 Superwash
Notes: Not so found of picking up stitches, but love that the only thing that needs sewn is the buttons. I LOVE the Cascade 220 Superwash. It really softens up after being thrown in the washer (Yes, I threw this in the washer on cold, deleciate cycle). I let it air dry because I'm not that brave. Great written pattern + great yarn= fantastic sweater. I would make this again, but not right before Christmas. I have enough stress as it is.

Speaking of Christmas Knitting, if you are anyone I might be making a present for. STOP READING THIS NOW

No really, Becky. I mean both you and Trick.

Are we ready?

Here's the list of stuff I still need to knit. I'm warning you, it's very scary.
1. A bag for Nikki. I'm currently thinking this one
2. A toy snake and mouse for Trick. If you haven't been here, you need to go. It's awesome.
3. The reindeer from the same site for Becky. I've seen them done out of leftover bits of sock yarn and have fallen in love.
4. Fetching for Ray with a matching Calorimetry (I would link, but that's taking up valuable knitting time)
5. Mittens for Julie and Mister (Luckily, they have small hands)
6. Socks for Grandma
7. A lace scarf for Trotter out of the Camelspun I got in PGH.
8. Fingerless gloves for the woman who sells me my Desoto Appeal everyday to take to school. She's very sweet.

I think that's it. It's only 1 project everyday to be done. I'm off of school starting on Thursday. It can be done, right?

Basics of Fair-Isle Knitting

2007-12-15T09:57:00.000-05:00

I'm teaching a class on fair-isle knitting today and I thought I would share with everyone some of my favorite fair-isle patterns and sites.

First, if you're just getting started and you can't take my class, you might want to the video that the Philosopher's Wool Company has put together. While you're there, you should totally buy some of their kits. I'm in serious love with this. In case you needed more reason to buy from them, they are seriously nice people and always go to Maryland Sheep and Wool.

If you're still a bit confused, knitting help also has a video here.

Now that you have the basics down, there's a few things about color dominance you need to know. Eunny Jang totally knows a ton of information about everything (I would love to be in her brain for a while). While you're there, you should check out her Endpaper Mitts and other great patterns (I love the mittens).
Now we're at the fun part of looking at patterns. Some of my favorites are Fake-Isle, and the We Call Them Pirates Hat from Hello Yarn (They also have some squirrel mittens, I've been thinking about making). Interweave always has a ton of cute Fair-Isle patterns in their magazine. If you can get your hands on an Alice Starmore book, you're golden. I'll have to hunt up more patterns later, I've got to get going for the class. Happy knitting all!

Go Elf Yourself

2007-12-09T17:17:00.000-05:00

watch me here

Holiday Swap

2007-12-09T13:14:00.000-05:00

I am in love with Socks That Rock Yarn. I think the huge bag of it that I have can attest to that. Debi/Cockeyed happens to be a sockateer for Tina and got me one of the few of the purple/blue colorways (my favorite) that I didn't have. She also got me some great Tazo tea, Godivia Chocolates (yummy!), bath and body works lavender shower gel, lotion, and pillow spay, a great Yankee candle, and a fabulous pattern that I've had my eyes on for quite a while. I can't wait until all the Christmas knitting is done to get started. Thank you so much Debi! I loved every bit of it!

Because I Can

2007-12-08T22:43:00.000-05:00

Swaps and Yarn, Oh My!

2007-12-08T13:06:00.001-05:00

This first picture is my package from my secret pal, Christina. She went out of her way to find stuff that was so me. It's amazing what a great job she did. I love all the yarn. Love it! And the gorgeous stole that all the stuff is on, she made that for me. Wow! She is truly amazing. There is some more stuff that she sent that is not pictured. The chocolate (some yummy stuff called poppets in mint and toffee) were very yummy. I also have a magic bean that's not in the picture. It's getting ready to take me to the land of the giants as we speak. Thank you so much, Christina! You are a rockstar!
I'm going to save pictures from the second swap that I was in until tomorrow. I don't think it's fair to ply you with so much swap goodness at once.

Playing on Picnik

2007-12-07T20:53:00.001-05:00

I've been playing on picnik. It's very cool. I might have to get a premium account.

Lies

2007-12-07T00:15:00.001-05:00

Apparently, 10 p.m. is not a good time to take pictures of yarn. The swap packages are just so awesome that you have to see them. I promise I'll get pics up soon.

Dyed Yarn

2007-12-05T23:15:00.000-05:00

My hands are currently pink, purple, blue, and black because I dyed some yarn today. Can't wait to see what the students think about that tomorrow. I'll post pics of the dyed yarn and the awesome swap packages I got this week tomorrow.

The Land of the Books

2007-12-04T21:57:00.000-05:00

I've been super busy for the past couple of weeks with work stuff because I decided to have a book fair. Book fairs are not fun. They involve a ton of work for very little money. My students love them, though. Even if all I sell is a few books and a plethera of junk (have you seen the amount of junk?), it makes me feel like my students are interested in ~~junk~~ books. Anyway, very little knitting is getting done because of the book fair. I just wanted to show you what's been keeping me so busy and at school from 6:30 in the morning until 7 at night.
On a positive knitting note: I formed a Knitting Pure and Simple group on Raverly and everyone should join it. Really, go join it now.

Shirley's Scarf

2007-12-02T11:35:00.001-05:00

The second project that I completed over Thanksgiving is the Liesel Scarf. This is a free pattern that you can find here. The scarf is not a hard knit, but it wasn't a pattern that I could memorize. It took me the car ride home to complete (I'm thinking that I knit at least 10 of the 12 hour trip).
Here are my specs for the scarf.

Size Needle: I used size 8 addi turbos. I might go up to a 10 next time to make the scarf more lacy looking. Although, for the PGH climate, more substance is better.

Yarn: I used Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted and got 22 repeats of the pattern completed. I might have been able to squeeze out a 23rd repeat, but I really didn't want to have to rip back. Thinking about it now, I could have put in a lifeline with no worries. Hmmmmm...

Other Notes: This is a project that needs blocking. It looks so much better after being steamed blocked. It is also a fairly reversible pattern. This is one that I would knit again.

Punk-Rock Socks

2007-12-01T10:03:00.000-05:00

I'm going to try to be better about posting in December than I was in November. Time just seems to be flying this year. Can you believe that in just a few weeks, I'll be halfway through the school year? Neither can I. Here's an FO from Thanksgiving week.
The pattern is Bellatrix from Momma Monkey . (Awesome! Bloggers letting me do the cool links again). These actually started out as the fingerless gloves version and they were way too big. I didn't want to waste 4 inches of knitting so I just changed them into socks. Think of these as a loose interpretation of the patttern. They were knit on Knitpicks 16 inch circs on size 1.5. The Yarn is Yarn Pirate Culture Club (I love her stuff!). Some color did come out in the wash, but I expect that with blacks and pinks.
Now I have got to get a move on with the Xmas knitting!

Thanksgiving

2007-11-29T17:37:00.000-05:00

I spent Thanksgiving in Pittsburgh in the land of no blogging. I had a great time ~~causing my credit card to scream at Bloomin Yarns~~ with my family. Matt and Emily are always a fun time and the food was awesome.
We may have gone to Bloomin Yarns a couple of times. Like always, it rocked. I wish I lived closer so that I could shop there more often. The owner is super nice and it turns out that my mom's friend Janice is working there. Some Smooshy and Claudia's slipped into the car. So did an awesome Christmas present from my mom. I just can't show anyone the Christmas present until Christmas (My mom has such harsh rules -grin-). I got lots of knitting done and I'll take pictures of it all as soon as I get it blocked.

So Cute!

2007-11-20T07:00:00.001-05:00

Here's my teddy bear modeling the finished baby blanket. This pattern is in the November 2007 Magknits (www.magknits.com) and is called hooded baby blanket. I did everything as per the directions except I didn't bind off the main blanket and then pick up those stitches. I just knit them in the new color. I think it cam out pretty well.
Today at 3 p.m., we leave for PGH. I'm not going to take the computer. This is the last time I'll see Matt and Emily until summer, and I'm going to make the most of every moment (plus I have a ton of Xmas knitting to do). Leslie, I'm taking some Yarn Pirate sock yarn to make the Bellatrix mitts (I think I'll have enough to make two pairs).

Cold

2007-11-18T20:49:00.000-05:00

So Nikki and I went to the outdoor mall of Cordovia. It's quasi cold here, so I got to wear the Noro Silk Garden Lite hat. I've added a button I got a few weeks back from http://lizstaley.etsy.com. Liz has a shop that sells all kinds of geeky stuff like buttons with quotes from Pirates of the Caribbean. I got that set and am currently wearing the button that states, "I am disinclined to acquiesce to your request." I love it, although others find it less amusing.
On the knitting front I finished the baby blanket during the Steelers game today (they lost to the Jets, the JETS). I'll put up pictures tomorrow before we head out to Matt and Emily's for Thanksgiving. I can't wait to see them and go visit Bloomin' Yarns.

Blogger

2007-11-15T22:44:00.000-05:00

Blogger has been hating me and not allowing me to post. I tried posting several times with no luck this weekend. It's frustrating and I'm thinking about moving to Mac...
In other news, Mom and I are hosting part of the house crawl for the fibers guild which means cleaning up. Since the stash has gotten out of control lately, I've been knitting up lots of stuff like this:

~~And this:~~
Never mind the photo won't post.
I wonder what I was thinking to get so many single skeins of yarn. And then I realized that habit really hasn't changed much. Must clean up the stash by eliminating the bulky yarns...

Rockstar Package

2007-11-12T17:51:00.000-05:00

Warning: This post is picture heavy, you should look away now, if you encounter symptoms of yarn/swap jelousy.

I came home from school sick today (I think my exact words to my principal were, "I think I'd better go home before I throw up on a child." He let me go home). I came home to see at my doorstep a super neat package from my secret pal. I was a little bit worried, because it had been opened and was almost falling apart. But luckily, nothing inside was damaged. My pal did an awesome packing job. I think it's safe to say, that it took a visit to customs land for a while. Inside were the best goodies a girl could hope for. I'm totally in love with kinder eggs and have been forever. They have really good chocolate and then a toy inside. It's like a chocolate Happy Meal. I'll have to post pictures of the toys after I eat the eggs (nothing is going in my stomach today). I also got a very cool felted bag with a pirate lining and a Steeler's colored bead on the outside. That was so thoughtful! Thanks Secret Pal! Of course there was lots of yarn. I can't wait to try the lace and sock yarns. I also got some kick a** stitch markers. Seriously, skull stitch markers. Freaking awesome. I know the tapestry needles will come in handy, because I'm always loosing them at classes and such. Thank you again Secret Pal! I've loved getting to know you and can't wait for the second package!

In Case You Were Wondering...

2007-11-11T20:48:00.000-05:00

Becky (my lil sis) has her own blog, ravelry account, and Flickr. Look at the pictures I just stole off her flickr account. I guess you can figure out what we were doing while we waited for my brother's wedding to start. You can read about all her crazy knitting adventures and industrial design mayhem at http://halfbisqued.blogspot.com/. I'm trying to con her into another sock off this year. I wonder what I'll have her knit me this year :)

Needle Felting

2007-11-11T10:51:00.000-05:00

I had a fairly productive day, Saturday. I knit the Sidekick Bag from Knitting Daily and went to the Fiber Guild Meeting to play by Needle Felting. First the Bag:

Here it is prior to being felted. It was a quick knit and I enjoyed the way that the handles were kitchnered together. There was no sewing involved in this piece, except for the weaving in of ends. I love that. It also used up less than 1 skein of Cascade 220.

Here's the bag after felting. I really lucked out on this one. I threw it in the washer with a pair of jeans and a bath towel, took a shower, and caught it at the right time. Perfect. I used a tapestry needle to sew on a bead I got over the summer as a button.

Then we began needle felting. I opted for the freeform method, rather than using a pattern. I liked making the spirals the best, although the dots were fun, too. Here's some pics of the finished product:

Edited to add: Apparently, Blogger is having some photo issues. All the pics are on my Flickr. You can check them out there until Blogger's hiccups are gone (Is it just me, or is this happening a lot lately?)

Whiplash

2007-11-10T09:07:00.000-05:00

I've been knitting on deadlines so long, now that I don't have one, I'm experiencing what the Yarn Harlot calls "whiplash." It's a term she uses in her last book "Stephanie McPhee Cast's Off." Basically, it refers to one that has temporarily lost the will to knit. I've lost my knitting mojo. I actually went into a yarn store the other day and bought nothing. Nothing. This calls for some serious intervention. I'm going to a guild meeting today with mom. Maybe that'll keep my mojo back into gear. In the meantime, I've cast on 2 garter stitch scarves.One is for Emily's friend, who lost everything in a fire and the other is a shop model for Kathy.

Coffee Swap Awesomeness

2007-11-08T17:41:00.000-05:00

Look what I got this week! Jennifer from http://www.rundpinne.blogspot.com/ sent me an awesome package for Coffee Swap 3. The yarn is lace-weight (5 skeins!) and Knitty just put up an extra pattern that will be perfect for it. The stitch markers are glittery (Oh, shiny!) and the coffee is delish (you can tell, we couldn't wait to get into it). I also got a Starbucks gift card, perfect for a happy on my drive to work. This was another great swap for me. I don't know how I keep getting such rockstar people.

Coffee Swap

2007-11-07T21:41:00.000-05:00

I got my coffee swap package and it rocks! I especially love the yarn and the stitch markers. I'll take pictures sometime when I get home before dark (the plan is tomorrow). Thank you so much Jennifer!!!!

Freedom

2007-11-04T21:07:00.000-05:00

I find myself with a novel experience, no project that I HAVE to knit. After I finish off the very cute baby blanket (have you seen the new Magknits?) that is currently on my needles, I am free of commitments. Yes, I do have Christmas knitting, but it's very little this year. I'm really only knitting Endpaper mitts by Eunny and several pairs of Fetching. That leaves me with the novel experience of being able to knit whatever I want. Wow. Now my question to you is, what should I knit?

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-31T22:23:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween Everyone! Today has been a fabulous day! First my computer tech got me a new checkout computer! I've been using the computer back in my office to check in and out books for the last three months. It seems wierd to have my desk back after all that time. There was some definite celebration going on after the computer was installed and working.
Second, I finished the Monkey socks and they will be sent out tomorrow (right on time). I love being on time. I'm really proud of getting these socks done, because I really didn't think that they had to be mailed until the end of November. Luckily, Becky told me better. This brings my total sock count for Socktoberfest up to 6. Three pairs of baby socks and three pairs of adult socks, all done.
Gotta send some e-cards! Have a happy and safe Halloween , everyone!

Can You Keep a Secret?

2007-10-30T19:58:00.000-04:00

Remember the Secret Project I was working on for my Hogwarts Sock Swap partner? She got it today and you can see the socks I knit her at http://vikkelatvarpaat.blogspot.com (for some reason, when I got my mac, I lost the ability to do the here links). Check out her blog while you're there, she knits some really awesome stuff!

101 Designer One Skein Wonders

2007-10-29T17:25:00.000-04:00

Looky, Looky, I got a Bookie. 101 Designer 1 skein Wonders came to the house today. It is super cute. I'm totally making the fishbowl hat for the Baby shower I'm going to next week. There's a Boy-Oh-Boy sweater in there that will go with it perfectly. I can't wait to cast on, but I need to. The monkey socks are going slowly but surely. I'll get them done and in the mail by the right time, there's just not going to be a ton of other knitting going on. No pictures again today. I went to Kathy's to discuss something and forgot the camera there again today. You'll have to wait until tomorrow. Have a great day all!

Left Behind

2007-10-28T10:59:00.001-04:00

My camera got left behind yesterday at the shop. No worries, Kathy has it safe and sound. The shower went well yesterday. A fun time was had by all. I needed to be working on the monkey, but I started knitting The Everlasting Bag Stopper Pattern from Knitty. Bad LaLa! I plan on finishing that today, during the football marathon and then getting down to the heel flap of the second Monkey. I really don't have to send them out until Thursday. Which gives me until Tuesday night before I have to wash them. That's plenty of time, right?

Guilt

2007-10-27T10:51:00.000-04:00

I stress about going to baby and wedding showers to an obsessiveness. I'm always afraid that I didn't do enough. Today is Dora's shower (I'll show you pictures of what I knit after it) and I feel like I didn't do enough. If Eloise was here, she would tell me (for the 15th time over the past two weeks) that what I have is fine. And for a few seconds I think, "Okay, it's enough, it will be fine, no worries." And then I catch myself planning on waking up at 6 am (on the only day I get to sleep in) to knit a pair of baby booties. I didn't actually do that, my hand managed to find the snooze in time.

With twins, the guilt is doubled. I somehow managed to make 3 pairs of socks for the girl, but one one for the boy (Luckily, one can kinda go either way, at least the number came out even). Likewise, 3 hats for the girl, 1 for the boy (I'm just going to give 1 hat for each). I also bought some stuff. Deep breath. It'll all be okay. Now I just to figure out how I want to wrap all this stuff...

One Down...

2007-10-24T07:02:00.000-04:00

I finished the first Monkey sock at my beginner sock class last night. I had the best group this time around. They walked into the last class with at least 1 pair of socks done (some had 1.5). Very Cool. The sock class is going on the back burner for the next few months and some simple skil building classes are comming. Next Sat (the first Sat of Nov.) I'm teaching a hat from the top down class. It's one of my favorite ways to make hats (you can try them on as you go). Very cool for, insert your seasonal holiday here, presents.

Friday Night Out

2007-10-22T22:34:00.000-04:00

Friday night, I took a full car load up to Stash to see the legendary Cheryl Schaefer of Schaefer Yarns. She spoke about how she dyes her yarn and the inspiration she gets from women (famous and not). All of her yarns lines are named after women that she knows and most of the colorways that she dyes are based off of famous women. A god time was had by all and Melissa had a great turnout. A few skeins might have slipped and hit my credit card into the machine on their way into a bag. But can you really blame me? Look at all the yarny goodness I resisted.

On the Monkey sock front, I deliberated for quite a while what to do with the Humbertoified sock. I wasn't real happy with the pooling on it and I wasn't sure about the colorway for my swap pal, so I ripped it out. I then spent the next 11 hours knitting. After knitting on it for around 2 episodes of Firefly today, I have 1 more full pattern repeat before I start on the toe. The plan is to finish the first sock tomorrow and complete the ribbing of the second. I hope to have both socks completed, washed, dried, and in the mail a week from today. That will still give them a few days to get to their destination. Then I have some shop models and a baby shower to knit for. Crazy...

That Darn Cat

2007-10-21T11:27:00.000-04:00

ate the monkey sock I'm knitting for my pal last night. He got into my CLOSED bag and to them out and ate them! He only eats my good yarn. Grrrr.... I'm off to reknit a monkey sock (luckily, I wasn't very far into it).

Monkeys, Monkeys, Everywhere

2007-10-20T10:18:00.000-04:00

I got so much stuff in this swap that I can hardly remember it all. Look at the photo... now look closer. That's all stuff I got. For serious... Heather spoiled me rotten. I must be the luckiest swapper, I always get the best people. I've already used the sock monkey keychain for my keys for school and the have the Mon Key covers on them. I put the one with the tongue sticking out for the office doors and the one who looks sick for the outer library doors. I've also worn the handknit monkey's and loved them. I really could go on and one about how rockstar this package is (just ask my mom and coworkers, they've heard it all week.) I loved it all.
As for the monkey package that I'm getting together... I've gotten all the Monkey stuff, I just need to knit like the wind this week. For some reason I thought the swap was over at the end of November not the first. I'll be panic knitting all week long, but stuff will get done and sent by next Sat.
The Hogwarts package is leaving the house on Monday (the socks are done and drying but I wanted them to stick around to meet some royalty of the hand dying last night, so I had put off finishing them until they got to meet her). That's my story and I'm sticking to it. You'll get to see all the pictures of the event and the stash additions in the next post. Until then, may your needles be swift and your yarn free of tangles. :)

Skein Winder

2007-10-18T23:48:00.000-04:00

I just bought a Will Taylor skein winder. I can't stand winding skeins on the niddy noddy anymore. I think I may have a yarn problem...
I'll post pictures of the awesome Monkey package I got when it stops raining and there are no tornado warnings. I find that tornados put a cramp in my picture taking.

Buddy Walk

2007-10-16T09:57:00.000-04:00

On Sunday I walked in the Memphis Buddy Walk to promote awareness and help for the MidSouth Down Syndrome Association. A great time was had by all. It was a beautiful day and I am so proud of the students from my school that showed up. They took time to get rides up to Memphis on their fall break to help other people. It gives you hope for the future, doesn't it?

Monkeying Around

2007-10-15T17:22:00.000-04:00

I get the best upstream swap pals (I can only hope that I live up to their awesomeness). It's pouring here, otherwise you would get to see all my Monkey Swap goodies that arrived in the mail today. I got socks knit out of cotton. That alone is a great treat because I hate to knit cotton. I also got soooooo much stuff. I'm totally overwhelmed. I can't even think! More raving tomorrow, but I had to get a head start now. Thank you so much Heather!!!!! I love every bit of it!!!!!!!!

Socktober Fest

2007-10-15T13:57:00.001-04:00

For some reason, I always seem to be lacking on the blogging during October. This month always makes me feel a bit behind on everything. Luckily, I have today and tomorrow off to catch up. These are Nikki's socks. I finished them the first week of October, in celebration of Socktoberfest (there's a flickr group). My goal for Socktoberfest was a pair of adult socks every week and a pair of baby socks every other week. That would be 6 pairs of socks total during the entire month. How am I doing so far? Well, I have Nikki's pair to count for the first week and a pair of really cute baby socks that I need to take a picture of. I also have my pair of baby socks for this week done (again lacking on the picture). But I've been lapse on completing a pair of adult socks for last week. I'm almost there. I just need to find time to sit and knit. Maybe I'll work on that this afternoon... Tomorrow, I'll post some pictures I took of the Buddy Walk that I participated in yesterday. And maybe some pictures of those baby socks. Maybe even a picture of some adult socks.... Who knows????

~~Edited to add: apparently, blogger is having some picture loading issues. I'm going to load the picture into flickr and you can check it out there in the meantime.~~ Got it now. Bad Blogger!

Spoiled Rotten

2007-10-13T17:09:00.000-04:00

Check out what I got in the mail this week. It's my Hogwarts Sock Swap Two package! In it were all kinds of goodies like awesome yarn, chocolates, tea, a bookmark, a Moomin, a sock pattern, and socks. I know there were awesome other things that I've missed, they were there too and they were awesome. I'm really lucky to have such a great pal! Thank you Victori! I'll get your package out this week.

Coffee and Hogwarts Swap

2007-10-11T22:58:00.000-04:00

I got my Hogwarts 2 swap package a few days ago (bad blogger, no cookie) and it is rockstar! I'll post pictures and rave about it tomorrow. In the mean time, here are my questions for Coffee Swap 3:

QUESTIONS
1. Whole bean or ground? Whole bean, please
2. Fully-loaded or decaf?The more caffine the better
3. Regular or flavored? either is fine with me
4. How do you drink your coffee? with cream and splenda (I'm a wimp)
5. Favorite coffee ever? Pumpkin Spice Latte or White Chocolate Mochas from Starbucks
6. Are you fussy about your coffee or will any old bean do? Most anything is fine
7. Favorite treats to have with your coffee? cookies
8. Anything else about your coffee preferences? I'm good
9. Yarn/fiber you love? I love all natural yarns
10. Yarn/fiber you hate? Novelty crap
11. What's on your needles? It might be better to ask what is not on my needles at this point. Hmmmm... 3 shawls, a they might be pirates hat, 10 pairs of socks, a baby surprise sweater, a kid's skirt, several baby hats, several bags, a lace scarf, and a my so called scarf.
12. Favorite colors? Purple, pink, blue, green, and black (not all together)
13. Allergies? Nope
14. Anything you really love, really don't like, or just need to get off your chest? No dark or white chocolate, please. I only like milk chocolate. I think that's about it...

Fall/Winter

2007-10-08T20:38:00.000-04:00

I was going through the mail from Saturday and came across some L.L. Bean and Land's End catalogs. They are filled with warm wooly winter and fall goodness. Unfortunately, these things are totally inappropriate for the 90 degree heat that we've been having in Mississippi lately. I think the thing that I miss the most about the north, besides the family, is the cool weather. I am a cool weather person at heart and love the fall and winter. That seems to be lacking down here. I'm planning a trip to visit Becky in March, so I might get to see some snow then. In the meantime, I need to prevent myself from ordering that lovely bright pink jacket with matching boots and polar-fleece vest. I can't see much in the negative degree temps happening here

Muggle and the Motorcycles (Part Two)

2007-10-07T21:35:00.000-04:00

Wonder what I did during the field games? Yup, I knit. And I listened to people compare engines and speed and all sorts of things involving numbers and motorcycles. Everyone was very nice and stopped to admire the socks in progress.

After the field games, we sat and waited for the prizes to be awarded. Mom won the nifty hat she's wearing and something for Becky's bike.

As we were waiting, the Alabama group came in dressed as pirates. Apartently, when my dad's group went to the Alabama rally (known as the chicken rally) they wore chicken hats and this was the Alabama's version of retribution (I think motorcyclists may be odder than knitters, but don't tell Wheezy).

A Muggle in a Motorcycle World (Part One)

2007-10-07T12:47:00.000-04:00

This is Wheezy. He is my father. He likes motorcycles. In the motorcycle world, they do things similar to Fiber Festivals. They are called rallys. Wheezy took me to the Return to Shiloh BMW rally this weekend (Mom and Maggie came,too). There were tons of bikes.

And vendors.

And field games where people compete to see who can throw water ballons over a pole and then catch them on their way down, and put Kermit chairs together.

Wheezy got his butt kicked on the Kermit chairs. I'll post some more later. There will be knitting included in that one.

Sock Wars

2007-10-04T22:23:00.000-04:00

I just removed myself from Sock Wars and I feel that I made the right decision. After reading numerous posts, I just felt like I had enough going on and really was not as ~~obsessed~~ into it as some of the other members. I like knitting socks for the enjoyment of knitting socks. They are reserved for people I like and I take those people's considerations into my knitting. Socks Wars is not for my kind of knitter and I have so much stuff going on, that I felt like it would be taking up knitting time, energy, and materials, that could be better used elsewhere. So goodbye sock wars and good luck to all involved!

Sunday is for Socks

2007-09-30T19:11:00.001-04:00

Thanks to lots of football listening (The Steelers are never on t.v. down here), I've almost finished the second of Nikki's socks. The picture above is from a few days ago, but it shows off the true colors of the yarn, better than I picture I could take tonight would. The yarn is Fiesta Ballet, a 50% merino, 50% alpaca blend, that is very nice to knit with. It also seems to knit up very fast. I'll put up all the stats when I show the picture of the second sock. I also wanted to say thank you again to everyone for their comments, thoughts, and prayers. I appreciate it more than I can say.

Yarny Goodness from Bloomin Yarns

2007-09-29T17:10:00.000-04:00

A week ago I went to one of my favorite yarn shops to vacation at. Bloomin Yarns, in McMurray PA, has great yarn selection, esp. sock yarn. We're talking Yarn Pirate, Shibu Knits, Claudia's Handpainted, Cherry Tree Hill, Bamboo Wool and Cotton, among a ton of others. It also carries unique non-sock yarns like hemp alongside Dale and Cascade. Overall, a very cool store. The best part is the people inside. The owner, Michelle is as nice as nice can be. She even remembered us from the one time we visited over the summer and asked if we were back for the wedding. That is a rockstar shop owner! (she also accused me of being a secret of the stole enabler, which is true and you can still sign up until tomorrow). Overall a great store. If you're in the PGH area, I would def. check it out. As you can see by the yarn that came home with me, I managed to have a great time :)
Edited to add: If you didn't already know this, I am a horrible speller. It's all fixed now. Sorry if the misspellings made you want to kick someone (probably me) in the head and light them on fire. I will use spell check, I promise. And Eloise, I did not buy all of the yarns Michelle sells, although I wish I had.

2007-09-28T21:53:00.000-04:00

You're Adventures of Huckleberry Finn!

by Mark Twain

With an affinity for floating down the river, you see things in black
and white. The world is strange and new to you and the more you learn about it, the less
it makes sense. You probably speak with an accent and others have a hard time
understanding you and an even harder time taking you seriously. Nevertheless, your
adventurous spirit is admirable. You really like straw hats.

Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Nikki's back in the hospital again. I will get around to blogging about Blomin' Yarn because it is a truly awesome store. But not today. I'm too busy distracting myself so that I don't go spend the night at the hospital. Hence the quiz above. I really like the part about the straw hat and me speaking with an accent.
I'm planning on going to Kathy's early tomorrow morning to figure out the class sched. for October (I'm thinking about switching the lace bag to a lace scarf class. Any thoughts?). I'm sure that their will be a beginning sock class and a candy corn hat class somewhere in there. Any other ideas?

Socks For the Infirm

2007-09-27T22:32:00.000-04:00

Thank you all for your kind comments. I took off work yesterday and spent the day in the hospital with Nikki. While I was there, I knit on her socks. The first one is done and I have started the second, I am knitting them out of Fiesta Ballet in the Wild Oak colorway. I love the colors and the 50% Superfine Alpaca and 50% Tencel content. I am hoping to finish these by Saturday. I am almost finished with my project for Sheri, I didn't want to take projects for people other than Nikki into the sick room just in case (BTW, that was pointless because she hasn't been contagious since Monday). Hopefully, I can finish those up, also. Tomorrow, I plan on blogging about a really cool yarn shop in PGH and showing you all the goodies I got from there (It's really that good). I'll try to show you pictures of Nikki's socks on Saturday and get permission to show the secret project. Have a great Friday!

Nikki

2007-09-25T22:43:00.000-04:00

This picture is of my sister and my friend Nikki at PGH over the summer. Nikki is the type of friend that you always want to be around. She is outgoing and always has a joke and a smile. She is always in motion. She is the perfect protagonist to my antagonist self. She understands my sarcasm like no one else. She has become part of our family.
Nikki and I met when we both taught Middle School English two years ago. She has since moved on to teaching Drama and 8th grade English elsewhere and I moved to the library. We still remain close friends and often go out to get sushi or dinner. Yesterday evening, I got a phone call from Nikki telling me that she was in the hospital with Bacterial Meningitis. She was admitted on Saturday and didn't want to bother me because of the wedding. I went and saw her tonight. I think that this was the first time that I've seen her still.
What do I do in times of stress? I knit. And knit. And think of Nikki. The socks I'm knitting are going to be a gift for her, but they are a kind of therapy for me. These are socks crafted of tears, happy memories, thankfulness, and hope.

Love and Marriage

2007-09-23T21:05:00.000-04:00

Saturday, at aproximatly 3:45 pm, I gained a sister-in-law. I couldn't be happier for my brother and his wife (the little girl is the flower girl and Emily's Goddaughter). I already know that Emily has the makings of the perfect sister-in-law. She makes my brother happy and she bought Becky and I yarn as presents for being involved in the wedding. What more could I ask for? Congratulations Matt and Emily! I wish you a life filled with happiness and love.

Emily

2007-09-21T16:40:00.000-04:00

As of tomorrow, I will have a brand new sister. I'm really excited about this and translated that into knitting. Emily's birthday was on Sunday and this is what she got:

It's Fetching ( a shortened version) and Calorimetry. Both patterns are available from Knitty and together require 1 skein of the fabulous Malabrigo yarn. I love that yarn and both the patterns (so much so that another skein might have slipped into my pile of yarn purchases from Bloomin Yarns today.) I'm off to the rehearsal. Don't look for another post until after the wedding!

Wide Open Spaces

2007-09-20T22:14:00.000-04:00

I did end up bringing my laptop with me to Pittsburgh. I'm test knitting something for Sheri at The Loopy Ewe and wanted to be able to email my finished pictures to her and notes. It's a great pattern and I want to wait until I get permission from her to post any pictures. I got over half of it done on the plane ride and am hoping to get the other half completed tomorrow (i've cast on and am working on the ribbing). I'm using my bag that I got from the White Oak Studio Thelma and Louise Kit to store all my knitting in and it is working out great. On another note, Emily loved her present and I'll post pictures tomorrow. Time for bed, I have to be up early tomorrow to pick up Becky and Trick at the airport (and go yarn shopping).

Hide and Seek

2007-09-19T21:23:00.000-04:00

Dear IPod Nano,
I understand that your selling point was that you were so small you could fit anywhere. You've also proven to me that you're very good at the hiding part of this game. However, I would like to take you to PGH with me so I can listen to the rest of the Yarn Harlot book on tape I downloaded from Audible. Please......
The Management.
(How did I misplace a bright Red IPod????????)

10 Min Later: I found him. He was making out with my Lucy Neatby DVD. He's been hanging around the middle schoolers too much recently.

Wedding = Pretty Nails, Knitting = Bye Bye Pretty Nails

2007-09-19T18:26:00.001-04:00

I got a French Manicure so my nails would look nice for my brother's wedding. Of course, I've already messed them up. Knitting + Wet Nails = Bad They really don't look too bad unless your staring at them up close. I really hope people have better things to be doing than staring at my nails. ANYWAY.... I'm going out of town tomorrow and won't be back until Sunday. I've made the decision not to take the laptop with me, but I'll take plenty of pictures to post when I get back. Maybe, I'll even have some Monkey socks done for you to see.

Close up of Wollmeise

2007-09-17T19:28:00.000-04:00

This is what Wollmeise in the Suzanne color way looks like up close and personal. It's soooooo pretty. I can't wait until I get to knit some socks out of this for me. In other knitting news, I have finished the first part of Emily's present and am moving on the part 2. I think she reads the blog, so I'm going to wait until after I give her presents to her to post the pictures. Happy Knitting all!

Vibrant Colors

2007-09-16T17:37:00.001-04:00

Here are 2 of the finished objects created at Chez LaLa this past week. The first is a hat created out of Noro Silk Garden color 2010. I love the colors that Noro creates in their yarns, I just wish they'd pick out all the junk like little twigs. This is a simple hat and I cast it on during a MASH marathon last night and finished it before 4 today (keep in mind that I slept for 11 hours in there, too). Cast on 98 stitches on size 7 needles and go to town. The second picture is of some baby socks I made out of Wollmeise in the Suzanne color-way. I love the colors of this yarn! The best part is that I still have around 500 yards to make of pair of socks for me. That's just rockstar.
Next up on the needles is a present for my future sister-in-law. Today's her birthday!!!!!!! I figure I can give her a birthday gift before the wedding (only 6 days away!).

Cooper Young Festival

2007-09-15T18:30:00.000-04:00

Wheezy, Mom, and I all went to the Cooper Young Festival today. A fun time was had by all. I got an Edgar Allen Poe bobble head and a Jane Austin action figure for my desk at school. I also wound up with some yarn from Stash. It was good to see Melissa and all the girls I used to trek to Memphis to knit with. I'm really going to have to go up there at least once a month to see everybody.
Since Wheezy was driving, I used the 45 minute commute to knit. I have finished the first of my Hogwarts socks (I'd show you but they're a surprise). It only took a week and I knit a pair of baby socks and a clutch bag (a red version of the Forest Path bag) also.
Speaking of the Forest Path Bag, I know that the chart and directions for the stitch pattern are small. I'm going to find a way to fix that. It's an image, so I'm having some problems trying to enlarge it and keep it on a single page. In the mean time, you can do this. Take it to a copier or scanner and enlarge the chart to where you can see it. You can also download the pattern and zoom it on the text. Those are the only solutions I have for right now. I'll work on fixing it...I promise.

Knit Visuallizer 1.2

2007-09-14T20:14:00.001-04:00

I just got some software to help with the charting of patterns. It was pricey, but I got the Forest Path Bag all charted out in no time! It was def. worth the price and I'm thinking of it as an investment since I've been writing quite a few patterns recently. Now it's time to go knit!

Link

2007-09-14T18:13:00.000-04:00

I got the free pattern link to go up! Yeah!!! I'll play around some tonight and see if I can get some of the other patterns I've written up.
BTW: I am a wool hog, I got 4 skeins of Woolmeise in the Loopy Ewe update. They're very pretty. That's all the non-vacation yarn I'm allowing myself to buy until the end of October. The only exception is yarn for classes that I'm teaching.

Perfect

2007-09-12T21:36:00.000-04:00

The weather here was perfect today. 85 was the high. I love it. I got to wear a sweater and some corduroy pants (purple pants, black sweater). I love the fall and winter. They are by far my favorite seasons. This type of weather really makes me miss living up north but I'm going up for my brother's wedding next week. I'll try not to buy too much yarn while I'm there...