Wow, December already, huh?

Where did the month go?  Where did I go?  Well, I might not have met my goal to blog everyday, but I did blog more often which was really my goal!

I hope everyone had a terrific Turkey Day.  I was visiting family and had a fine time.  In my last post I showed you the gifts I finished at the last minute.  Well, here they are with their new owners…

My nephew’s new obsession is the lasso. Well, you can imagine the fun he had when his aunt and uncle handed him 2 gloves connected by a very long cord!

And T seemed to really love her blanket!

I got a good bit of knitting done while traveling. No pics right now but very soon!

I did hear from my SIL that she did get the package with my niece and nephew’s birthday gifts. Then I remembered that I never posted L2′s Wonderful Wallaby.

She said they were wearing them this weekend and really liked them.

And, when I got that picture off of my husband’s camera I was also able to get these:

These were the socks that I knitted for the 4th year I was in the Hogwarts Sock Swap. The pattern is Heather Colorwork Socks #347 by Rebecca Hatcher. I used Trekking Pro Natura. I really enjoyed making them for Angela.

Not that there aren’t other things to report…

I did want to report that I FINALLY finished and got the HSS3socks in the mail and to their recipient!  And she likes it!  She really likes it!  She is Sally-Anne Skrewt or Twice Knit!  You can link there for the picture of the whole package (cause I forgot to take a picture).   But I did get a picture of the socks:

Pattern: Hiiumaa Mismatched Socks
Yarn: Louet Gems Merino Sport Weight in Ginger and French Blue
Needle: 2.25mm
no mods.

Gotta show you what has been distracting me for the past week:

Starting at the 3 o’clock position: Socks (white feet, ya know!), then at 7 o’clock we have Sophie and then at 10-11 o’clock we have Sassy.  These are some “feral” cats I rescued from a mom in my neighborhood. They were born just before Easter.  They have another brother but he escaped after I caught him.  Anyway, the other 3 are doing great and will be adoptable in about 2 weeks.  Anyone?  More pictures will follow.

Package

Nothing pulls you out of a blogging slump like getting a package in the mail.  Whew!  Thanks, Susan! 

I won’t go into the details but I’ll just say that I wasn’t having a very good day when I pulled into the driveway and saw the package.  My first thought was, “what did I buy this time!?!”  As I opened the package, it became obvious what it was.

My Hogwarts Sock Swap 3 package!!  My pal, Lavendar Kadavra (aka Susan), sent me socks from a pattern she wrote herself (seen top left), the best stitch markers (better picture below), lots of HP candy, a kitty notebook and stickers, some HP trading cards and Knitpick needles!!  SCORE!!

The socks really are great.  I believe that she handdyed the yarn as well as wrote the pattern, so WOW!  The yarn really is so very soft and it has this shine to it like it has tencel or silk in it.

And this is just the best bit…little tongues on my “snake socks.” 

And I had to show you an upclose of the stitch markers.  Aren’t they perfect?!?

Thank you, again, Susan for such a wonderful package!!

And where, do you ask, am I with sending my package out?!?  Oh, well, I won’t give too much away but I will say that I have contacted my pal to let her know that they won’t make it by the deadline. 

I mean, would you wake her up????

 

Now for the rest…

First, WOW!!!  The weather was gorgeous today and there would be no better way to spend it than to be on the golf course.  And, guess what!!!  I got my first PAR!!!  But I won’t go into what my total score was….

OK, first package…the October Socks That Rock Kit.  Love it!  Unfortunately I did not think to take a picture when I uploaded the others and I am being lazy right now.  The kit is pictured all over the knitting blogopshere so if you haven’t see it…what planet have you been on?  It really is just gorgeous and the pattern (by the Yarn Harlot, herself) is going to be so great to knit up.  They truely outdid themselves.   And I, for one, am glad I signed up for 2008.  In so many ways, I have been happy with every kit received.  Some colors or patterns may not have grabbed me from the very beginning but I had promised that I would do them as written and with the yarn sent.  I have made 3 of the 5 socks so far and I have loved each.  I promise I will do the others (Summer of Love and Lenore) after the Christmas knitting madness is over and I am sure I will love them as well.

Ok, package #2:

Hogwarts Sock Swap 2 Ravenclaw socks from Holly Heathertoes
Wonderful, totally amazingly fitted socks…did you send a house elf  to measure my feet while I slept or something???
Beautiful Koigu yarn
Twisted Flower Sock Pattern from Cookie A (can’t wait to try that and I know exactly what yarn I’ll use!)
Dumbledore bookmark
Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans in a cute little collector bag

THANK YOU SO MUCH, HOLLY!!!
(Yours is on the way…soon, but you know that, right?)

Finally, I have been meaning to share this with those of you concerned about the proper footwear to have to show off your hand knit socks.  Little did I know I owned said footwear until I attended Stitches East.  I got stopped more for my shoes than for my gorgeous (if I do say so myself) socks.  I thought I would share…

They are made by MUDD (can’t remember the model name) and I bought them at DSW. I wear them so much that I think I’m going to get another pair for when these wear out.  Won’t these look amazing with Lenore?!?

Well, this was exhausting…posting twice and 6 hours of golf in one day!!!

An Embarrassment of WIPs

I’m taking a break from all the cleaning to share my latest pictures of WIPs.  I will say that so far I have gotten quite a bit done (on the housework).  Kitchen clean, 4 loads of laundry done (2 folded and put away), vacuuming, sweeping, dusting done.  I’m going to be honest, I know that sounds like nearly everything and certainly the house looks better but it just needs so much more.  Cindy and Bethany have heard me say this before, I just need someone to come in and help me do all the really deep cleaning stuff.  And then I need an organizing specialist to come in and help with that mess!!!  Ugh!  This is why I don’t like to clean…it never ends up making me feel any better!!

Now onto a better subject:

I’ll begin with the oldest:

Work has not gone quite as planned on this but I am still determined to finish it. I have a new goal of having it done before Stitches East in October. We’ll see.

Then we have the Hufflepuff socks for Hogwarts Sock Swap II:

Trying to teach Lucky to knit them up but he is all hooves.

Socks That Rock June Kit (The Solstice Slip Socks):

The August kit is getting mailed off this week or early next week and I really want to be finished or nearly there by the time it arrives. I have cast on for the second sock and am going to catch it up to the first sock so that they are the same length having used as much of the yarn as I can.

After finishing my niece’s Wrap Dress I got gung-ho to work on her brother and sister’s October birthday gifts and casted this on:

Nearly done! Refer to this for the details but notice that I changed the colors.  J helped there and it is now refered to as the Mint Chocolate Chip Vest.

I joined Sockknitter’s Anonymous on Ravelry and they are doing a sock a month kal (you actually have 2 months to knit them, thank goodness) and every month you have the choice between a different technique or designer. This month was lace/Sockbug so I chose the lace and I chose Early Spring Socks. I’m doing them out of HipKnits 100% Cashmere.

Love the pattern and the yarn is heavenly!

The August pattern on Socktopia is a Mystery Sock. I originally picked Jitterbug yarn in Copperbeach to do this but soon discovered that the pattern gets completely lost in it. I switched yarns and this is where I am.

Sorry, not much to see. The yarn I’m using now is KP Essentials Tweed in Inca Gold.

And, as if this all wasn’t enough, I started a new project on Tuesday. Its the Minimalist Cardigan from IK Fall 2007. I’m using some stash (YES!!!! YOU HEARD THAT RIGHT!!!) Cascade Sierra in a Chocolate Brown color.

Only 1.5″ until I decrease for the armholes!

OK, I just heard the dryer stop so I have better go take care of that and do another 45 minutes of housework! On my next break I am knitting!!!

As if I knitted them myself!!

Really!  She even put the ribbing on the sole of the foot like I like.  How thoughtful!  But I’m getting ahead of myself!  Let me start at the beginning:

I knew my socks were coming today because my pal was kind enough to email and tell me my tracking number.  I also knew what else was arriving today.

We have a few (read: lots of) trees that need to be trimmed and/or taken down.  Because we are (he is) such DIYers, we decided to just rent the “cherry-picker” and do it ourselves.  He was like a kid with a new Tonka toy!  This was one of the first trees that had to go since it threatened to wipe out the next car that drove by:

It went from that to this:

And left this behind:

Horrors!!  How would the UPS man get my package to me!?!  Well, I just stood down near the road and pretended to be busily picking up sticks until the brown truck drove by.  Success!  I then decided that I needed a break from all this backbreaking work and went inside.

Cute card, huh? 

Original artwork by Sockergirl  with my sailboat and Marmalade on the stern! 

Venturing into the box I discovered:

There was a small toy that looks like a mermaid, a really nifty post-it holder from Lanternmoon, a SOAK mini, and a heart-shaped tin that unzips. Inside the tin (which would be perfect for notions!) was:

A sheep tape measure (one I haven’t seen yet!) and my SOCKS!

Pattern: Mashed-up Madness from the Sock Madness KAL
Yarn: Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock in colorway: Glenwood (105)
my thoughts: GORGEOUS! The yarn is a beautiful varigation (color is true on my screen, at least). The pattern is so interesting. If you weren’t involved in Sock Madness (I wasn’t) it is the neatest combo of lace and cable. The fit is PERFECT! Like I said, it was as if I knitted them for me or she knitted them with me around to try them on, but I’m pretty sure that didn’t happen since we live on opposite coasts! And, Sock Pal Gal, I will get a picture of me wearing them with my clogs on (she said she picked the colorway to go with my cool clogs! Sweet!

I didn’t try them on right away for all the above reasons…trees, hot, humid, yuck! But we did take a break this afternoon and I was able to shower and try them on:

and I wanted to get a shot with some of the detail:

I think you can see the lacy panel (with a few cables) in the back of the leg and the cables with some lace running down the front of the leg and along the instep.

Another successful sock swap!  When do we sign up for 5?

Whew!

Got this is the inbox today:

Thank you, thank you, thank you!  I love them!  They fit perfectly and are so beautiful and fun!  I love the colors!  I can’t wait to wear them! 

And, I love the keychain!  Not sure if I mentioned this, but I moved in to a new place in February, and ever since then I’ve been keeping my eyes open for a new keychain.  Now I have one!  I’m very excited about it.  It’s already in use.

Thanks for all the other goodies too!  I was so excited when I came home from work and saw the box outside my apartment.  It was like being in college again and getting a care package!

I really enjoyed the HP book.  Immediately after I finished it, I gave it to my 14-year old neice.  I hope to get it back soon because I’d really like to read the last 200 or so pages over again.

Thanks again for everything!  I’ll be sure to check out your blog now that I know who you are!  Have you gotten you socks yet?

Michelle

Yay!  She liked them!  She really liked them!

To answer her last question, no, I’ve not gotten mine.  I did get an email from Sock Pal Gal saying they are on their way and, according to UPS, they will be here tomorrow.  I can’t wait!!

Progress continues on the Hogwarts II socks…just waiting to hear a reply to a question from Holly.  But I think I know the answer.

No pictures right now but I promis that when my Sockapalooza socks arrive I will take a picture of everything else I am up to (and there is so much!).

Hello, again, Dirk!

The Postmaster has seen me more in the last few days than in the last few months! 

On Wednesday I sent off my niece’s birthday dress.

Again, maybe a little longer than I wanted but I’ll let her mother decide if it needs to be shortened.  In general, I am very pleased at how it came out.

This is an upclose of the button I crochet using the tutorial on Crochet Me.

Then this morning I dropped this in the mail:

My Sockapalooza 4 Pal’s socks with a few goodies: Knitpick’s Memories in Cape Cod, a sock blocker keychain with tiny sock made with same yarn as her socks, SOAK minis, and notebook.  I hope she enjoys and, most importantly, the socks fit!  (These also qualified for Summer of Socks 07)

Tuesday I took a class and made this:

Please pardon the area around the step. I would love to say that we are in the middle of a remodeling, but, in fact, we just pulled up the railing that seperated the den from the diningroom and are now just in a holding pattern. Who knows when we will get the time to continue.  Anyway, I just love my new stair step basket!!  Even though you are looking at the only 2 steps in my house I just had to have this basket!

This is what it looked like until about 10 seconds after I got home:
 
Now it is filled with my knitting magazines and some yarn. Surprise!!

I continue to work on my VLC and several pairs of socks.  I hope to have update pictures soon!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

FOCUS!!!

I am beginning to stress about the items I need to be making for others that will need to be done and sent by the end of the month.  So what do I do instead of locking myself in a quiet room and knit?  I do an update on ongoing projects.  I don’t know, think of it as the figurative pad of paper on your bedside table that you write everything on so that you can more easily fall asleep.  I’m hoping that by writing about these I will be able to move on and focus on the 2 projects that need to be completed!

Roza’s Socks sock#1 with Tofutsies.  (Summer of Socks 07)

I’ve been finished with this one for awhile but haven’t casted on for #2.   I’ve very pleased with it.  SO SOFT!

Finished Pomatomus #1 and quickly cast on #2.  Boy, I tell you, I guess you have to win sometime, right?  I literally just picked up the end coming out of the ball (Lana Grossa Meileweit Cotton Spirit #3008) that was left from cutting off #1 and the stripes just lined up!!!  I love these socks and these have to be the hardest not to pick up and work on today!

Embossed Leaves from Favorite Socks in Socks That Rock lightweight Lemongrass.  I actually cast these on before my Ireland trip so that I could work on them over there (so they don’t qualify for Summer of Socks 07).  I didn’t get much past the cast on.  I picked them up on the boat this past week and it was amazing how quickly they grew!  Like a weed…or leaves!  Again, love them and it will be a struggle to not pick them up!

(sorry about the terrible pic)

What was I thinking?!?  For some unknown reason I decided to start this last night!  The Soltice Slip Socks from the June STR kit in Firebird (lightweight)  These will be another Summer of Socks 07 “entry” (although I’m not really in the running for any of the contests, or anything).  I think I was intrigued by all of the people NOT doing the pattern that I wanted to give the pattern a try to see if I liked it.  I do, so far.  And the colors are growing on me (I wasn’t dissappointed with them, but I wasn’t as excited about them as everyone else seemed to be).

Finally, one of the things I need to be working on.  It is the little Wrap Dress for my niece L1 (birthday is the beginning of August).  It is slow going with 20″ of stst (with garter edges) before you get to the shaping and I am only 6″ or so in.  Instead of doing 3 separate pieces (back and 2 fronts), I have cast on all the stitches and am doing them as one piece.  The most aggravating thing is keeping all the yarns from wrapping around each other when you change colors or turn the work.  I’m loving how it is all coming together, though.

And the other project I’m working on is my Sockapalooza 4 Socks.  These are also due by Aug 2nd.  I have turned the heel on both (doing them simultaneously but on separate circulars) and am on the decreases.  Luckily, my pal has very small feet!

OK, while this post doesn’t make me really feel any better, its good to have this off my chest.  Off to knit and finish listening to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

SPEAKING OF!!!  I bought tickets for myself and my brother-in-law and sister-in-law to go see the IMAX version this weekend!!!  Squeeeeeee!!!

 ETA:  I completely forgot that the new HP book will be released on the 21st and I was going to lock myself away so I can read it without fear of spoilers.  WHERE AM I SUPPOSE TO FIND THE TIME???

HEY! Why not do it again?!?

 Rebecca is doing it again!  Not only is Hogwarts Sock Swap back, but those that previously participated and want to participate again, are now Second Years!!  New year, new rules. 

Check it out:

Also, go check out the orginial Hogwarts Sock Swap (button on the right).  Check out the great packages people have sent and received.  Maybe you’ll want to join us this go around?

Now for my Second Year questions: 

Hogwarts Sock Swap Questionnaire Second Years 

1.  What Hogwarts house have you been sorted into? 

This time I was sorted into Ravenclaw (I think I always rode that line).  I think I would be great with either the movie or the book colors. 

2.  Shoe size?  Foot length?  Foot circumference? 

US 9.5  length: 10″  circ: 9.25″

3.  List your three favorite sock yarns.

So hard to choose but…

a.  Socks That Rock lightweight

b.  Colinette Jitterbug

c.  Cherry Tree Hill  Supersock\

d.  Tofutsies (sorry, had to add the 4th)

4.   Would you like to try a new brand of sock yarn?  If so, which brand? 

Sure.  Uh, any of the great indie handdyers out there (Sundara, Yarn Pirate, etc)  

5.  Do you prefer variegated or solid sock yarn?

I have loads of varigated, but I want to have more “tonal” yarns.   You know, the ones that almost look solid but aren’t.

6.  What colors would you like to add to your sock yarn stash? 

Any and all.  The more variety I have, the better!

7.  What kind of sock patterns do you gravitate toward?  Lace?  Ribbed?  Fair Isle?

Lace, cable, ribbed.  I’m not as much into the color work.

8.  Do you have any allergies?  (smoke, animals, etc.)

No allergies but I would prefer no smoke. 

9.   Will your socks be exposed to cigarette smoke or animals as you knit them?

No to the smoke but yes to the animals…cats.

10.   Are you willing to have an international Hogwarts Sock Pal?

Yes, of course!!!

Looking forward to another great year!