New Projects

I have about six projects on the needles right now. I'm working on The Clementine Shawlette in some amazing hand painted fingering weight merino with sterling silver that was given to me by a dear friend. I'm also making a pair of socks using some Intention Yarn by Lime & Violet using the Nutkin pattern by Beth LaPensee that was giving to me by another great friend. Yet another friend (I know, I'm so lucky) gave me some Blue Heron Chenille that I haven't found the right pattern for yet but I'm looking. I don't have photos of any of these projects and I haven't added them to Ravelry either.

I've also started Print O' The Wave by Eunny Yang out of some gorgeous Penthouse Silk by Neightborhood Fiber Company that I bought a couple of years ago. I started several projects with this yarn but none stuck until now. I've got about 8 inches of the center panel finished and was going pretty strong on it until the Loopy Ewe got in a shipment of Handmaiden Sea Silk. I've been waiting a long time for some Ivory Sea Silk and there it was in my cart at last. That's when I saw the Moss color. Out flew the Ivory, in went the Moss and that was that. I had been saving my money for Stitches East in November but a skein of Sea Silk might be impossible to find there so I wasn't taking a chance. It came a couple of weeks ago and I fondled it and sniffed it and let it sit on the coffee table for weeks knowing that I wanted to make the Swallowtail Shawl but that I had so many things going right now that I just couldn't start another one.

You know where I'm going with this of course. On Sunday I finaly wound the skein and dug out the Fall 2006 issue of Interweave Knits and started. It's going really fast because this isn't really a "laceweight" yarn.

I'm always working on baby socks and have a pair done. I'm working on matching handsies to go with these socks because I had a request for a set.

I've had two chemo treatments now, one-third of the way done, whew! This one left me tired, so tired. But I can't complain because I can handle tired just fine. I'm back at work this week and next week and then it'll be time for my third treatment. Friends and family are taking such great care of me. How will I ever repay everyone's kindness?

It comes down to this...

• On July 28th I found a lump in my left breast
• On July 30th I had a mammogram and sonogram
• On July 31th I had a biopsy
• On August 4th I found out that I have an Invasive Ductal Carcinoma.
• On August 8th I had an MRI
• On August 12th I met my Radiation Oncologist and discussed treatment options
• On August 13th I met with my surgeon to schedule the surgery
• On August 26th I'll have a lumpectomy.
• Sometime after that, if all goes well, I'll have radiation (MammoSite RTS) twice a day for five days (if there's not enough healthy tissue left I'll have seven weeks of conventional radiation)
  
• Sometime after that, I'll start chemo.

That's my life right now. I'll go for hours and forget all about it and then something reminds me that, oh yeah, I have breast cancer. When it's on my mind I can't concentrate on anything else. Work is getting to be joke right now but I think my boss and coworkers understand. I have a lot of stuff to get done before I leave next week but I just can't muster up enough brain cells to think about them right now. Time is running out though and I must force myself to concentrate on the tasks at hand for a little while.

My boss is okay with me working from home while I'm off. I'm taking my laptop home and there will be a spare one on my desk for those days when I feel like coming to work. I'll officially be on sick leave (because my employer doesn't have a "work from home policy" in place) but at least I won't have to come back to a mountain of work. I'm the only one here who can do my job (webmaster) so except for emergency postings that will be done by one of my coworkers following my written documentation, everything else will sit and wait for me to get to it.

I think I have a good attitude. My friends say I'm taking it very well. I haven't had any breakdowns, though I came close when I found out the the tumor is most likely triple negative. The surgeon said that the biopsy only samples a very small portion of the tumor and the pathology report after the surgery may show that there are some positive hormone receptors in the much larger sample that is examined. If there's even one positive cell in the sample then I'll receive the hormone treatments. Otherwise, I'll just have the radiation and chemo and then wait. I couldn't have regular breast cancer, oh no, I had to have triple negative breast cancer. But I'm not complaining because there are worse kinds of breast cancer and worse kinds to cancer in general. Breast cancer is highly treatable these days.

And by the way, all you ladies out there who are reading this and saying to yourselves that you don't have anything to worry about because there's no history of breast cancer in your family should WAKE UP AND DO YOUR BREAST EXAM RIGHT NOW (unless you're at work, of course) because the only history in my family was a great-aunt on my father's side.

I never thought of getting breast cancer for that very reason although I did do my exams. You see, cancer has cut quite a swath through my family, but not breast cancer. My mother and her mother both died of colon cancer and I have regular colonoscopies because of that. My father died of lung and brain cancer, and my half sister (dad's daughter) has kidney cancer. Everyone who didn't die of cancer died of heart disease. So breast cancer took me by surprise.

Fortunately for me, I have a fantastic husband, great friends and coworkers, a wonderful local breast cancer awareness program and good medical facilities very close by. I'm more curious than scared at this point.

My wonderful sister-in-law from Santa Fe sent me a beautiful Zuni horse fetish that I've been wearing in my bra. According to my research "the horse is an animal of freedom and the horse fetish has the power of healing, strength and safe movement". I'm knitting a pouch for him right now that I can fasten to my bra so I don't have to keep feeling myself to make sure he's still there. I've named him Victor (the Lone Ranger's nephew's horse's name, from A Christmas Story).


He's my constant companion now and probably will be for the rest of my life. Isn't he beautiful? I think he's carved from marble with veins of pyrite. Thank you, Robin, for sending him to me.

He's posing with my latest pair of baby socks. They're Koigu and the pattern is Miriam Felton's Infant to Toddler Sized Socks. We've given away all we had so I've been working on these when I get the chance and hope to complete some more while I'm off from work. So, that's how it stands right now. I'll update the blog again after the surgery but I don't want this to turn into a "breast cancer blog". It's all about the knitting!

Spring Fever

I've been very busy knitting this spring but just not in the mood to blog. I don't know why I keep up this blog. I don't think that anyone reads it and I don't really know why they would want to. I have nothing witty or interesting to say. Just the same old stuff.

What have I knit?
Well, I knit Miss Dashwood, Katja, and these ribbed soakers all from Kraemer Yarns Little Lehigh Pebbles. Katja and Miss Dashwood are from Knitty. I found the soaker pattern while cruising on Ravelry and don't know where it came from.

These were knitted as a gift for one of our favorite waitresses at the Waffle House who is due in mid-May. They were very quick and easy to knit except for Miss Dashwood (the hat). I found it a bit of a challenge where the brim joins the hat but I think it was mostly due to the non-elasticity of the yarn I was using.

I also knit an alpaca baby jacket (b13-3 Jacket, socks, soft toy and blanket in Alpaca by DROPS design) using Classic Elite Alpaca Sox in the Oatmeal Melange colorway. This is the cutest little thing.
I left the crochet edging off because it was for a little boy and I thought that might make it look a little too feminine. I knit the Baby Bell Bottoms by Alison Hansel out of
Cascade Yarns Cherub Collection DK to go with the jacket. These were made for a friend who had her little boy a couple of weeks ago.

I made numerous pair of baby socks using Miriam Felton Baby to Toddler Sized Socks pattern to give away and I did indeed give them all away and am making more. I didn't keep track but I estimate that I've given away a couple dozen pair by now. Here are photos of just a couple of the
them. I ordered more Moo Cards to attach to them in case the mothers have any questions about care or materials. I love making these socks and always carry them in my purse as my portable knitting. So far no one has turned me down when I ask them if they will accept a pair of socks for their new baby. It was all my husband's idea to start giving them away to strangers as an act of kindness.

I've completed a couple pair of adult socks as well. One pair was made for one of my co-workers, Harold. He's an avid fisherman and when I came across a skien of yarn from Woolly Boully called "Fishing with my Father" I knew they were for Harold.

Socks for Harold
Woolly Boully Softie Sock
100% Merino
Colorway: Fishing With My Father
Purchased From The Loopy Ewe
Pattern: my usual toe-up on #1 circs
I can't remember where the leg pattern came from. K3, YO, K3, SSK then reverse for the other leg, K2tog, K3, YO, K3.

This is Harold modeling the socks. I wanted to get a detail of the heel and the leg portion. I'm making a pair for me out of Claudia Handpaints with this same pattern.

Let's see, what else have I knit and not blogged about? Oh yeah, I just finished "A Better Bucket" by Amy Swenson. Talk about quick... I started Thursday and finished Saturday without even really trying. I've got to get a button or a big pin to put on it for decoration.

I'm buying the yarn to make another one of these for another waitress at the Waffle House who is graduating from college soon and moving out into the working world. I know she rides horses and this is a very warm hat. I wish I had made mine last fall. Now I have to wait months to wear it. The brim is double thick Malabrigo Worsted Weight Merino Wool right over your ears where you need the extra warmth. I may get some wear out of it at the baseball games for the next few weeks until it really warms up once and for all.

That's about it for now. I started "The Woodland Shawl" out of Dream In Color Smooshy in the Flamingo Pie colorway on Sunday but I don't have any pics yet. Enjoy the spring weather because it'll be hotter than Hades out there soon enough.

Quick post to let you know I'm still alive...

I haven't dropped off the edge of the earth or fallen into a big hole. I'm just busy at work and at home and haven't really had anything interesting to talk about (do I ever?). The most exciting thing to happen to me lately is that my hair stylist talked me into changing my hair color and I agreed! I've had dark auburn for over 20 years but she suggested that it's time to lighten up. I started going gray in college and have been coloring my hair since I was 29. I'm almost 51 now so I guess she's got a point. A lighter color will make those glowing silver roots blend in better between colorings. So Friday evening she stripped my hair of most of it's red (no way to get it all out, red is extremely hard to remove) and then dyed it with a complex combination of colors to counteract the remain red. It's now a honey brown or dark honey blonde color.

That's the old hair on the left and the new hair on the right. I've never had light hair before and I don't know myself when I look in the mirror. I like it though and we may add some highlights come summer.

In knitting news, there's not much to report. I still working on the Harebell Fichu from Victorian Lace Today to give as a gift. I dropped a stitch on Sunday and just put it away for a while. I'll have to rip out several rows to get that stitch back on the needles correctly and I just couldn't face it at the time. I'm also working on a pair of socks for a coworker and more baby socks as my most portable project.

I ordered more Moo MiniCards so I can put them with the baby socks when I give them away. I wish you could divide your order in half and have different text on 50 of the cards. I would have liked to put care instructions on some of the cards and my contact info on the other half. Have you seen the Moo cards? They're wonderful little creations that let you use your own photos. They work with Flickr and you can drag your pics straight into the Moo card window. I didn't have quite enough so I used some of their stock photos to fill out the order. I like having a nice picture on one side and my info on the other.

Doug and I got a Wii a couple weeks ago and have been having a blast playing Wii Play and Wii Sports. Doug pre-ordered Wii Fit. Who ever thought that two 50+ year olds would be buying a video game? Doug is anxious to get Guitar Hero so he can practice and beat the teenage nephews when next we see them. How mature is that?

Many Irons in the Fire

I know it's been a while since I posted. I just haven't been very talkative lately, I guess. So here's an update on what I've been doing.

I made a pair of socks with Trekking XXL Color 100 that I purchased at Y2Knit with Christmas money. It's my usual recipe based on Wendy's Generic Toe-Up Socks. Knitpicks Harmony size 0 circs.

Let me sing the praises of the Harmony needles. They have the smoothest joins - I mean that it's like there isn't a join at all. I didn't have any problem seeing this yarn on the stained wood. All in all, an A++ rating.

I also made a baby jacket using Blue Sky Alpaca Organic Cotton. The pattern is Super Natural Stripes by Fawn Pea. Isn't it cute? I followed the directions without deviation and it turned out great. I still have to add a button and a loop.

The yarn has a tendency to fuzz up while you knit and I don't really like that look but I guess that's how it's supposed to be. If I make this again I may use a different yarn. The colors really speak to me though. I'm an earthy kind of girl and I really like this combination.

I also started a new lace project from Victorian Lace Today. It's the Harebell Fichu and I'm making it for a waitress at our local Waffle House who will be graduating from college in May and starting work for the federal government. She's been waiting on us for years and I wanted to give her something that she can use in her new job. This should ward off drafts quite nicely while staying in place. For a lace project, it's a little understated and therefore perfect for office use. She is a natural redhead and I think the emerald green should suit her perfectly. I'm halfway done and should have plenty of time to finish and block it before she leaves.

I'm still making baby cloths and socks. One recipient is due any day now, one in April, and two in mid summer. Doug has suggested that I carry socks with me at all times so I that I can give them out whenever we see a new born or an expectant mother. He calls them random acts of kindness. Whenever we're out he points out babies that I could give socks to if I had them with me. Do I have a great husband? Yes, indeed I do.

Somebody Stop Me, Please!

I can't seem to stop myself from making baby socks. I've already gifted one pair and I've almost finished the 6th pair. I haven't even modified the pattern yet, though I keep thinking I might. I'm seriously addicted to these little things.

Pattern: Miriam Felton's Baby to Toddler Sized Socks

Yarn: (clockwise from top left) Cherry Tree Hill "Jewels", Cherry Tree Hill "Serengeti", Cherry Tree Hill "Spring Frost", Perchance to Knit "Seascape", and (center) Tofutsies "Three Feet Short"

Needles: KnitPicks, HiyaHiya, and KA #0us/2.0mm.

My husband reminds me often of how tolerant he is of my obsessive behavior. He even got me a new Cub Cadet to help me refocus my compulsion and do something "useful" at the same time. I enjoy the mowing but it hasn't stopped me from making baby socks.



I have two friends who are due in Feb. and Apr. and I have quite a few items I'd like to make including Baby Bell Bottoms by Alison Hansel and Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmerman. I think I might be the only knitter in America who hasn't made one of the those yet.

So my poor, long-suffering husband will have to bear with me and my obsessions for a little while longer. He's a good man and like I keep telling him, there are worse things to be obsessed with then knitting.

The Busiest Season of All (for me anyway)

I've read that many people consider the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas to be their busiest time of year. For me it's fall. My husband and I belong to a farm toy collectors club and every year in November and April our club holds a farm toy show that attracts hundreds of visitors. We only have about 15 members and only 8 are really active so this means that a few people do a tremendous amount of work. Our most important activity outside of the two shows is to sell chances on a pedal tractor to raise money for a scholarship. Every year we award a $1,000 scholarship to an area senior. That's a lot of chances for 8 people to sell. Doug, Linda and I take the pedal tractor around to various tractor shows and festivals, most of which are held in the fall. This provides many opportunities for Knitting in Public.

I knit in public all the time so when I learned that many consider this to be an unusual activity I was a little puzzled. Yes, I get comments and questions but I've never had anything other then a positive experience. More often than not, I'm approached by other knitters who want to ask about my yarn or pattern. I love this aspect of knitting in public.

Saturday Doug and I went to Crownsville, Maryland for the Renaissance Festival and I took my baby socks to work on while we're sitting around watching people (and drinking beer). I saw a woman knitting on the bench where I had been sitting and knitting just a few minutes before. I approached her we got to talking and really hit it off. It is amazing how many subjects we touched on during our short conversation. Her name is Sherry and she was there with her family. She was working on a sock but told me that she had only been knitting for a few months. You would have never guessed that by watching her knit. She went to a social knitting group with her daughter in Columbia, Maryland and I think that's how she got pulled into the knitting universe.

The Saturday before, I was knitting at an arts and crafts festival where we were selling chances on the pedal tractor when a little girl about 9 or 10 walked up to me and said, "You're knitting a sock." I was stunned. Not only did she know I was knitting but that I was knitting a sock. She scampered off before I could ask her how she knew what I was knitting. I looked at my knitting and it wasn't really to the point where it looked unmistakably like a sock hanging off my needles but she recognized it as such. I hope whoever the sock knitter is in her life teaches her how to knit.

Being out and about with time on my hands is a wonderful thing right now because I can sit and knit (or stand and knit) and I get to meet new friends like Sherry.

The Next New Thing

I buy two Vogue magazines each year, the big spring and fall issues. I'm not a slave to fashion but I like to see what the trends are especially in knitwear. One of the latest trends had left me baffled.

Toe-less knee socks.

Have you seen these things? They have a heel and gusset and a band of ribbing and that's it. They come to an abrupt halt about halfway down the instep. They were everywhere in the fall issue. Usually two tone though I did see some solids.

Here's a link to the page where I found this photo. You have to scroll down to read about the socks. If you scroll down a little farther you'll see a blurb about fingerless gloves.

I guess this year's fashion statement is frostbitten toes and fingers.

Neighborhood Fiber Company

Last Saturday I went to a trunk show at my lys, Y2Knit, for Neighborhood Fiber Company. This is a small company based in Washington D.C. owned by Karida Collins. She handpaints everything from lace-weight to roving and names her colorways after the neighborhoods of D.C.
Here's a photo of two very hot women, Karida's on the right and I'm the pasty red-head on the left. It was sweltering in the shop that day even with the air and fans. My random hot flashes weren't helping any.

I'm glad I got there early because I had a great selection of fibers to choose from. Not that it was easy to make a choice from so many beautiful skeins. I immediately grabbed a skein of 100% silk lace-weight in the Logan Park colorway.

This yarn is so yummy that I am flummoxed as to what to make with it. I've vowed to make something from Victorian Lace Today but I swatched for the Myrtle Leaf Shawl and decided it was too lacy to show off the yarn. Then I swatched for and started the Handsome Triangle but 40 rows in I decided it was not the right yarn for the project so I frogged it. I want something that will show off the sheen of the silk. I'm sure inspiration will come to me eventually. This subtle variegation is perfect for lace, not enough that the pattern gets lost but enough to lend texture.

I couldn't leave the trunk show without some sock yarn so I bought a skein of Dupont Circle. It's a salmon, carnation, purple colorway that I couldn't resist. It's going to make one wild-ass pair of socks.

Karida was a joy to meet and really seems to love what she's doing. She also loves her home and wants people to see the beauty of Washington.

The colorways are available in each type of yarn she carries so you can coordinate yarns and vary the fiber content in the same project, while maintaining the overall color.

A Suprise Package from the Loopy Ewe!

Look what came today from The Loopy Ewe! I made a guess in Sheri's Anniversary Contest. She asked us to guess how much yarn she had in the shop. I didn't win but she drew some additional names for consolation prizes and MINE WAS ONE OF THEM!!!!!

Clockwise from the top:

• Cider Moon Flurrie - Peas and Carrots
• Seacoast Hand Painted Superwash Sock - Greensleeves
• Perchance to Knit Superwash - Rainbow Black with stitchmarker
  

I never imaged anything like this - I thought maybe one of the clear Loopy bags or maybe, just maybe, a skein of yarn. But this, this is beyond my wildest dreams. And this is a consolation prize!

Sheri, thank you so much. You are so generous.

Sockdown: Ravelry Socks

Over on Ravelry, in the Sock Knitters Anonymous Group we're playing a little game.

Sockdown: Ravelry is a year-long personal knitting challenge that will begin on August 1, 2007 and end on September 30, 2008. Members of Sock Knitters Anonymous are NOT required to participate in the KAL.

This month the challenge is Sockbug/Lace. I chose the River Run Socks and started them in Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in the Champlain Sunset colorway but I got distracted by Wendy's Double Eyelet Rib Socks. I started them in Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Spring Frost. They're lacy so they qualify. Sorry for the flash photgraphy but it's raining here today (Yipee! We need it so bad).

These are working up great. I'm not using the heel in the pattern though I am using another of Wendy's heels. I didn't have the pattern in front of me yesterday when I started the heel but I did have Wendy's Southwestern Socks pattern. So I used the heel from that one. I'm going to rip the heel back to the beginning of the gusset and a add a few rows because they're a little short. It's the first time I've made this type of heel and I wasn't sure where to start the gusset.

I think this heel is going to fit my ankle much better than the short-row heels that I've been using. I guess I could even make the gusset a little bigger if need be.

I really love Cherry Tree Hill Supersock yarn. Thank goodness The Loopy Ewe keeps a good supply on hand. It and the Claudia Hand Painted Yarns that I get from my LYS Y2Knit, seem to be my go-to sock yarns.

Awwwwww....

Isn't it cute! It's my first baby sock ever. It was a littly wonky working with something that small on my dpns but I stuck with it and about 1-1/2 to 2 hours later I had a finished baby sock.

Miriam Felton created the pattern and it was just what I was looking for. So many of the baby sock and bootie patterns I looked at are knitted flat and seamed. I didn't want to fool with a seam.

This will go to one of my friends who is due in February. Late winter babies need lots of warm socks so there will no doubt be other pairs made from leftover sock yarn. There are so many things that I want to make for this baby that I know I'll never get them all done. I've never had a baby to knit for before and this is my big chance to knit baby things.

I used to crochet baby cloths and sell them at craft shows many years ago when I was unemployed for a brief period. That was fun but this is better. Not only am I enjoying the knitting but I get to use yummy yarns. Back then I used Red Heart. Yeah, I was young and stupid.

Project details:

• pattern: Baby to Toddler Sized Socks by Miriam Felton
• size: newborn
• yarn: Perchance to Knit, Seascape colorway from the Loopy Ewe
  
• needles: #0US/2.00mm dpn's

It was a Loopy Ewe Day

What a day! I received my yarn from last weeks sneak up in the morning at work and when I got home another box was on the porch. I was the second installment of The Loopy Ewe Sock Club.

Claudia Hand Painted Yarns, O-M-G! I love Claudia's yarns. The package was loaded with goodies for fall including two Good to be Girl stitch markers: a chocolate covered donut with sprinkles and a pumpkin. I love stitch markers and have started making some of my own. I've found those rubbery ones from Clover are too light and have a tendency to fly off the needles during transfer. I like markers with some weight to them. I loose the Clover ones left and right and can go through a whole package while making a lace project. But haven't lost a handmade one yet (knock on wood).

The pattern looks like fun. It's Pheasant Run Socks by Lisa Parker from Wildhorse Farm Design. Sheri also included a pocket reference for all things knitting. That will come in handy along with the small Loopy Ewe pouch. I love the clear bags and pouches.

Earlier in the day my sneak up order came. I exercised remarkable self-restraint and only purchased two skeins. I like to try new yarns so both of these skeins were first-time purchases from these dyers.

First up is Seacoast Handpainted Yarns in the Greensleeves colorway. It's 100% superwash merino and it's a whopping 560 yards.

I also ordered a skein from Gypsy Knits. Here's Sheri's description, "Kathy has hand dyed this yarn in small batches and you will love it. She calls this BFL Superwash Fingering Wool the "poor knitter's cashmere"! This yarn is milled in the UK from long staple BFL fleece producing a strong, soft yarn. Because of the long staple it is especially durable for socks yet it is as soft as cashmere." I like a fine spun yarn is this fits the bill. I can't wait to try it for myself.

But that will have to wait because I have two pair of socks on the needles and a lace project, as well as a Clapotis that I've moved to the back burner for now.

If only I didn't have to work...

Ribbons, I got Ribbons!

I think I mentioned in an earlier post that I was entering some things in the local Ag Expo, Washington County's equivalent of a county fair. Thursday before last I took my Icarus shawl by Miriam Felton, a pair of socks based on Wendy's Toe-Up pattern with a feather and fan leg, and a pysanki (Ukrainian) egg down to the Agricultural Education Center and somewhat reluctantly handed them over to strangers.

Friday evening I went back down to pick them up. I really expected the egg to be broken but to my surprise it appears unharmed and it has a blue ribbon (first prize) taped to the stand! The socks had a red second prize ribbon pinned to them. And Icarus? Another first prize! I'm so thrilled. It was my first lace project and it wasn't perfect by any means but it was good enough for FIRST PRIZE!!!



There wasn't a category for shawls so I entered it under scarves. There wasn't a category for socks either. I entered them under "knitted: other". Most of the other entries were gone when I got there so I don't know what I was competing against but I'm sure there were other great knits there. Next year I'll have to go during the week and see the other entries. This year I just didn't have the time.

Casting On, Casting Off

I'm in a slight slump. I have cast on and started Monkey and Cornucopia, in two different yarns and just didn't feel right about any of them. I frogged everything.

I just started the Lucy Socks by Wendy. I think that these will be the ones that break the slump. I needed a pattern that will work on a dark colorway and still be a little interesting, not just stockingette.

The yarn is All Things Heather but I'm not sure of the colorway at the moment, it might be Champlain Sunset. I got it from The Loopy Ewe. It's rich and dark; it suits my mood at the present. I guess I'm still a little sore from the recent death of my FIL. It was a mighty blow to all of us and we're still learning how to cope.


And to add to my woes, the finish is coming off my Knitpicks us#0 dpns. In the photo above you can see a tiny spot of silver in the center (click on the photo to enlarge). That's the finish that's flaking off. I love these needles so much - sob. I guess I'll have to order another set soon.

Middletown Valley Barn Tour

Saturday was a beautiful day here in Maryland, clear, breezy and almost cool. That's rare in a state that's the capitol of hazy, hot and humid so we took advantage of it and went on the Barn Tour. Eleven barns were featured on the tour which ran from 10am to 5pm. We made it to 10 of them before calling it a day. My husband's family are retired dairy farmers so he's very interest in old barns. We have one across the road from our house that's about 200 years old.

I took advantage of our stops to sit in the shade and knit. I'm almost done with the second Anastasia Sock by Pepperknit. I lost one of my dps at one of the farms where I was sitting on a hill under some tall pines enjoying the breeze and scent of the pines. It was one of my new KA bamboos and I hated to lose it but it wasn't worth going back and looking through pine needles to try to find a bamboo size 0US!

The first farm had about a dozen peacocks roaming around and I took lots of photos. They are such beautiful birds.

I is so handsome! Take picture of me!

You get my good side, ok?

I has nice legs!

Flag the Itchy

The last farm we went to had horses. We parked in the shade beside a fence and I sat in car with the door open and knitted. Eventually the one of the horses , a pinto, came up to the fence to check me out and we ended up having a 15 minute scratch orgy. He was very clean and well groomed but he had lots of itches that needed to be scratched and I was happy to oblige. I got all the critial spots: under the mane, behind the ears, under the halter straps.

He leaned into the scratches with such obvious pleasure that I just kept on scratching thinking he would walk away when he had had enough but he never made the slightest attempt to leave. So I moved on to styling his forelock into a mohawk and was getting ready to take a picture when my husband came back and told me to quit torturing the poor horse, whose name it turned out is Flag. So I bid Flag farewell and we headed off to dinner. It was a wonderful day.

Ravelry!!! Nuff Said!

I got my invitation to Ravelry on Tuesday afternoon and I've been sucked into the vortex along with all the other Ravelers. There is something for everyone and spot for everything. I've been entering projects and stash and needles and looking at other people's stuff and looking at patterns and... the list just goes on and on. Thank you so much for creating this site!

I'm nearly finished with the first Anastasia sock but I didn't get to work on it at all yesterday. Hope to have some pictures soon.

Ok, now I understand...

I purchased my first-ever Socks That Rock (lightweight) last year at Stitches East. I picked up five skeins at the Blue Moon booth and brought them home, put them in a Rubbermaid tub and never really thought too much about them. I knew I'd get to them someday. Saturday morning I got one out (Fairgrounds) and wound it into a cake and decided to make the Anastasia Socks by Pepperknit.

I know about the fascination (obsession) with Socks That Rock here in Blogland and it's very pretty and all but I guess I just didn't get it. That was until Saturday night at the baseball game when I cast on and started knitting with it for the first time.

WOW!! It's so-o-o tight. I don't spin so I don't know how else to describe what it is that's so different from the other yarns I've knit with. Is it tightly plied? Tightly spun? Both? I don't know, but it's smooth. No splittyness (well if it's not a word it should be) whatsoever.

The softness, the stitch definition, the squishiness - indescribable. I've joined the other Socks That Rock devotees (addicts, zombies) and will make that booth my first stop at Stitches East in October and stand in line with my sister sock knitters.

I saw the line at Maryland Sheep & Wool and skirted it to see what all the fuss was about. "Oh," I said to myself, "Socks That Rock. I have five skeins of that at home. I'm certainly not standing in that line for more."

Ha! I just hope I haven't incurred the wrath of the yarn goddess with my dismissive attitude. Please forgive this humble woman for her ignorance, oh great Mistress of the Skeins. I was blind but now I knit.


Edited to add: I'm using the KA High Quality Bamboo Needles in size 0US/2.0mm instead of my usual KnitPicks dpns and I like them. The Brittany size 0's that I used in the past were too weak to pick up and knit the wraps on my shortrow heel. I snapped one on the first sock I knit with them. But these KA's are tough. Almost no bending, even on the k2tog's. They're made in Japan of aged bamboo and I guess that makes all the difference. Mine came from Y2Knit.


Here's a picture of the points for comparison. The KA's are a little blunter but sometimes that's a good thing. The KnitPicks are capable of drawing blood.

Loopy Ewe Sock Club Scoks Are Done

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Wow. It's been a while, hasn't it? I apologize for the long gap in the blog. I've been busy, depressed, distracted, you name it. I do have some knitting to report on though. I finished the Loopy Ewe Sock Club socks last week but just got around to photgraphing them yesterday. Yes, I know I have on two different socks but believe me both Loopy socks are done. I didn't follow the pattern exactly. I made the foot stockingette and only did the pattern on the leg and I did them toe-up using Wendy's Toe-Up pattern with US0/2.0mm Knitpicks dps.

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These were a very fun project! I loved the yarn from All Things Heather (not my first yarn from her, by the way) in the wonderful Skinny Dipping colorway. They fit pretty good and will brighten up my days come fall and winter (I don't often wear socks in the summer).

I also finished one of the Mirabella socks by Mary Jo Gumayagay. I started these socks months ago and worked the first one to the heel and then put them away to work on something else. I picked them up again on Saturday and finished the first one Sunday evening.

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They look a little different than the photo on the pattern because I left off the squiggly section on each side of the lacy. It just didn't look right to me. They are also made of yarn by All Things Heather, her 50/50 merino/tencel in Teal. This yarn is so great to knit with that I will definitely be buying more. I used US1/2.5mm(?) Brittany dps and worked the toe as in Wendy's pattern.

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These could be summer socks, they're so cool and thin and silky. My only problem is that they are tight across my ankle. I'm going to try adding a few increases as I get close to the heel and then decreasing as I start up the leg. I have big ankles because they've both been broken at one time or another.

When I finish the second Mirabella sock I hope to start on the Lily of the Valley smoke ring from Wooly Wonka Fibers. I ordered the needles from Knitpicks and I also ordered a pair of Addi Turbo Lace needles from my lys Y2Knit.

I'm in the mood for lace...simply because it's near me...