It's All Traceys Fault

It really is. Tracey is a rather awesome person I met on Ravelry. She is wonderful and also a bit persuasive. She has told me I must post on my blog in order for anyone to read it. I am now blogging Tracey! So I have some yarn to show you, some socks, and I think that's all.

A whole bunch of the most wonderful yarn came this week from Bellamoden.
From left to right: Nori 1/16 fingering, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea sport, Chocolate artists proof sport, Possession sport. Rebecca makes the most wonderful yarn and has also made me decide that sportweight yarn is good.

Numma Numma in Whiny Butt and,
Numma Numma Blackberry Jam. Both from The Loopy Ewe naturally. The Blackberry Jam will be something for my mom, I think.
This is the work of three Ravelry friends. We have a little Loopy book club going- it's named The Loopy Nerd Heard. We read The Historian for June and July and it was decided that being knitters we needed a kit to go with it. So Tracey made the pretty dragon project bags, Sandy who has no blog made two stitchmarkers, and Rebecca dyed some of her Bellamoden yarn in a super special Historian colorway. Didn't they put together a great kit?
The yarn made me want to knit with it immediately. So I knit up a pair of Philosophers House Socks. I made them longer because the pattern is for short socks, plus I have that following directions problem... My first sportweight socks and my first pair of socks from Cat Bordhi's New Pathways sock book. I like 'em. Sportweight socks knit up way fast too!
Wollmeise. 'Nuff said. Rittersporn, Rhabarber, am kalten Polar. Probably spelled them all wrong. Love this yarn. I have the problem of choosing the perfect thing to knit with it. So it may be all skeined up forever. Also, it may not all live at my house forever, I might want to share it.

Got a phone call yesterday from a gallery owner in Colorado. She wants me to be a featured artist in their Art To Wear show. Yay! I'm so flattered. I am also a bit panicked. I need to get ten to fifteen bags to the gallery by September 2nd. That's a lot of knitting and felting. Also because Sheri does not at the moment carry any yarn I can felt with at The Loopy Ewe I have a minor yarn emergency. Like I need feltable worsted or bulky yarn fast!

Well, the awesome girls of Ravelry strike again. Tracey, Sandy and Rebecca dug into their stashes to find yarn I could use and are sending it to me. Honestly, I could not ask for a better bunch of friends than the ones I have made on the F5 thread on Ravelry. They are the most encouraging and generous people. Knitters are amazingly kind and giving.

So, even though I have maybe a dozen projects on needles I will be stopping everything to knit bags, bags, and more bags. And then I'll knit some more bags. I started one last night. Gotta get the fingers moving and the needles flying.

Been A Long Time...

I was surprised to see how long it has been since I've posted here. Oops! I have been getting stuff done though. Well, when I'm not wasting my time on Ravelry. I have finished my project for my Loopy Ewe swap partner. I can't show you pictures yet because it might ruin the surprise for my partner, but I will show you.

My newest order from the Loopy Ewe . Wooly Boully in Blue Bird and Alpaca With a Twist Fino in black. The alpaca is so soft, it's heaven. Of course that may be partially my love for alpaca talking, but I don't think so. I'm going to use it to knit the Honey Bee Stole. It will be my first big lace project so we'll see how that goes.

Monkey socks knit in Claudia Handpaints Peppermint Mocha- a Loopy Ewe exclusive colorway.
These are Spirited socks by Bellamoden. The yarn is Sunshine Yarns Soft Sock in Tree Frog.

On a unrelated note- I made gravy from scratch for the first time in my entire life last night! I was rather proud of myself. We won't talk about how long it took me to learn to make gravy.

Some FO's, UFO's, and New Yarn

I've still been a bit AWOL from my blogging duties here. So I do have some stuff to show you.

A finished object! A Mr. Greenjeans sweater from Knitty.com. Sheri at the Loopy Ewe is having a sweater KAL with Dream in Color yarn. I know, a sweater KAL from a sock yarn paradise. Basically,Sheri really wanted to knit a sweater and thought that if she did a KAL and had all of her loyal customers knit with her she might actually finish it. There has been talk of prizes, but I don't know for sure:)


So here is my Mr. Greenjeans in Dream in Color Classy in their Good Luck Jade colorway. The button came from Mudcakes Etsy shop. It's not really that bright of a green in person. My mom will be proud. I knit myself something to wear and it's not black!

One of my current UFO's or WIP's- WIP is better since I am actively knitting it. I am turning some Sunshine Yarns soft sock in Tree Frog into a sock. I'm test knitting this sock, called Spirited for Rebecca aka Bellamoden. If you knew Becca, her yarns or this pattern you would know Spirited is the perfect name for it. This yarn is also the perfect yarn for the pattern.

Another FO! A pair of Jaywalkers in Paca Peds from The Loopy Ewe (of course). I don't remember the exact fiber content, but it's an alpaca/ superwash wool blend of some sort. Since it has alpaca I just had to try it. Not as soft as I thought it would be while knitting it, but nice and snuggly on my feet. The color is Mixed Berries.
Alpaca Jaywalkers again.

On Saturday I went on a quick trip to Fiberspace in Sterling, CO. My LYS- it's the closest shop to me and Linda, the owner, rocks. So in that pile of yarn-y goodness I have five skeins of Brown Sheep Lambs Pride Worsted- two in Chianti and three in Deep Pine. One pretty skein of recycled sari silk yarn that I've been meaning to try for years. Two skeins of Brown Sheep Wildfoote Handpaints sock yarn in Soft Jazz. That pretty blue yarn you see up there is Lonesome Stone Yarn- handpainted 50/50 merino/alpaca in Old Blue Eyes. It's so soft and I love the color, she only had one skein but it's 500 yards so I'm sure I'll be able to find something good to knit with it.

There yo have it. What I've been up to. Well, some of it anyway:)

In Over My Head

This past week I have started on so many new knitting projects, I think I may be in over my head. I have three sweaters on needles, rarely do I ever knit sweaters. I don't know for sure how many socks...

This is the start of the Gathered Pullover in the Winter 2007 Interweave Knits.

The first of a pair of 9-5 socks for the Loopy Ewe sock KAL- at least one is totally finished!
A start on a Plain Vanilla Pullover (from Knit Picks) Not sure why I picked that light of a color...
I cast on Mr. Greenjeans from Knitty.com yesterday. I'm doing it for the Loopy Ewe Dream in Color sweater KAL. I think if it's a KAL I'll actually have motivation to finish the sweater- it has to be done by June 1st! I love the yarn, but I have yet to meet a skein of Dream in Color that I didn't like. I'm in real trouble now that Sheri stocks more than sock yarn at the Loopy Ewe. Sock yarn from indie dyers was a big enough addiction, now indie yarn for sweaters too- drool!
Two pattern repeats done on Cookie A.'s Monkey socks- also from Knitty.com. These are for a swap so I actually have to finish them in a reasonable amount of time.
Finally another pair of Jaywalkers. I got some Paca Peds- superwash alpaca sock yarn!!! The Loopy Ewe strikes again. I love alpaca. Anyway, I had to try it out as soon as it came, it's alpaca for crying out loud how could I just let it sit and wait to be knit with??? I liked the Jaywalkers I knit before so I decided on that pattern since I already knew what to expect.

Holy links Batman! I sure put a lot of them in there:)

That's six projects that I started recently. That doesn't even include what I already had going, plus I have to rip out and re knit a pair of gloves for a customer since we had a tiny miscommunication about ribbing...

Told ya, way over my head.

To top it all off today is my daughters 11th birthday and she has her very first dance tonight. Makes me feel old.

Cute Boys and Socks

I don't really post pics of my kids, but this is too cute. They fell asleep like that. Do you think they're close?

My Twins. Chase in red and Aiden in blue. Too bad they're not that sweet when they're awake!

Mingus socks, pattern by Cookie A. Knit in Numma Numma Toasty- Red Raspberry Jam.
A close up of the pattern, for some strange reason it's hard to see.
Without the flash. Doesn't help much.
9-5 socks in Claudia Handpaints- Chocolate Cherry. The detail is hard to see again. I really like this yarn. The Numma Numma and Claudia both came from The Loopy Ewe. Where else would I get it???
Last but not least Knight Bus socks. Just a plain old sock patern in some pretty cool yarn. It's from an indie dyer- Shelby B. I have a rather large collection of her yarn, I think I have all Harry Potter themed colors, but she does other lovely colors as well.

See? I really am trying to get some projects done!

It's Been a While...

Since I've had time to post. I've been knitting like mad and my husband has decided to hold the computer hostage from me all day long most days. The good news is his back is feeling better!

I did a little craft show here in town on Saturday and didn't do too bad. I did better at it last year, but the weather was crappy this year. Either way I still did better in six hours than I did in two days in Colorado.

Today I listed a bunch of new stuff in my Etsy shop. New gloves and about six new bags. Hope it's not too late for Christmas shopping! I really like the way most of my new bags came out. You just never know what you're going to get when you make it up as you go along...

I started on my Christmas knitting on Sunday. A pair of Snapdragon socks in Scarlet Fleece Antique Watermelon (the pattern and yarn can both be found at the fabulously addicting and wonderful Loopy Ewe) for my mom. I have two other gifts to knit as well, but I'm pretty sure that I'll make it in time. I'm already done with the foot and gusset of the first sock (knit from the toe up- yuck!) and I really haven't been working on it that much.

I went through my sock yarn (doesn't count as stash) yesterday. I have discovered that I have enough sock yarn to knit well over 30 pairs of socks. Oh I have such a sock yarn addiction! Good thing I love knitting socks and have no less than four pairs on needles as I type!

I better go feed little boys lunch. Sorry no pictures of FO's this time, but soon.

Julianne Rocks!

Just so you know this is quite a long post because there are a lot of pictures!

I had an Owl Post delivery on Friday. My HSKS 3 pal Julianne completely spoiled me! It was like having Christmas come early- thanks a bunch Julianne! As excited as I was, I managed to contain myself enough to take pictures. So here are the package contents before I opened them:
Just look at the big pile of packages all carefully wrapped in Gryffindor house colors. I tried to read the note that came with it, but the note told me not to. I had to open presents first- no problem! I knew I was spoiled as soon as I opened the box, but I had no idea how much until I opened each gift.

Look at all the awesome Harry Potter and Knitting stuff she sent me! What more could a Harry Potter loving knitting freak possibly want? Nothing but Molly Weasleys knitting skills. Thank you Juli, I'm in love with it all! I know there's a lot in that picture, so I took more pictures with all that loot split up for you. First, the Harry stuff:

Yay for candy! There is a box of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, they really do mean every flavor. A package of Blood Pops, which are thankfully strawberry flavored not blood flavored. A chocolate frog too- I haven't eaten it yet so I still don't know which Wizard Card is inside. Maybe Dumbledore... As if the candy wasn't enough, she also sent me a pad of Harry paper, I've never even seen such a thing before. That's a small town for you. On top of all that I also am the proud owner of an awesome Harry Potter bookmark that happened to come with a rather cool poster. I told you, spoiled. A lot. That's not even the fibery knitting stuff, wait till you see it:

It's like knitters gold! A set of five 5" size 1 Rosewood Sock Stix by lantern Moon, which came in their own little bag. They're beautiful, I've always wanted to try them but never dreamed I would actually own a pair. The yarn, oh my goodness. It's a skein of All Things Heather hand dyed superwash sock yarn in Phoenix. I had my eye on just this yarn at the Loopy Ewe. How perfect is this yarn for a Gryffindor? Great name for the colorway too. I might have to make Fawkes socks out of it, using my new needles of course. Should I decide that Fawkes is not the right pattern for this yarn she gave me lots of new pattern choices:

Oh yeah, and entire new sock book. Lots of great patterns, I have the first one I want to knit narrowed down to two. Decisions, decisions. Then there are the handmade Gryffindor stitch markers. A set of five, with one special to mark the begining of a row, just the right size for sock knitting. I'm pretty sure she made them herself. Talented girl that she is. Did you notice that cute little sheep up there? I love him. He has moved into his new home with three other sheep- he's the only white one, plus a llama, and an alpaca. They all live close to my yarn. As if Juli hadn't shown enough talent and generosity, there's more:

Two shots of the perfect sock knitting bag. She made this herself too. Great Gryffindor colors and a brilliant way to carry it and keep it closed. I love it, a lot.

So once again Julianne- Thank you, thank you, thank you! I love everything! I could not have asked for a better swap pal. Thanks for making it fun for me.

The Muggle post man had a package for me too. My eagerly awaited order from the Loopy Ewe I had my very first skein of Dream in Color. It's lovely:

So on the left is the Wollmeise I ordered before in Tiefer See which translates to Deep Lake. The colors don't show up the greatest, but it's yummy. The other skein is the Dream in Color in Night Watch. Oh how I wish I could be knitting socks right now!

I do have some FOs to show:

A pair of fingerless gloves I designed myself. I used Plymouth Boku. The other glove is striped differently due to the way the yarn is dyed. I like them. Think I'll save them for that rapidly approaching October 19th show. In my last Loopy Ewe order my extra treat was a little red sock kit. I knit that up too, it turned out really cute. I forgot to take a picture so you can't see it.

Told you it was a looong post. I'm finally done now. Thanks again Julianne! I hope the person who has you is as good to you as you were to me.

Knit Sock Weather

OK, I suppose it feels like fall now. Football season has officially started, it's dark when I get up in the morning (if when I get up counts as morning yet), it was 50 degrees here yesterday and it poured. 50 isn't bad, right? Two days ago it was over 90. The best part of it getting cooler outside is that I can break out my knit socks again. Yesterday and today I put on pairs that hadn't even been worn yet, well except for trying them on. I can't believe I only finished two pairs since last winter! Too many UFO's hanging about my house. So, since I have nothing better to post I will show you my toasty warm feet.

I wore these yesterday. They are just plain stockinette because I was too excited to try the yarn to find the perfect pattern for it. They are knit in Hedwig from Sunshine Yarns, which can of course be found on etsy.com. Note the Harry Potter connection- Hedwig- I really do have a problem...

These lovely socks are keeping my toes warm today, although I will have to take them off to go to work. My feet would get too hot running around in them all night at the hospital, plus I wouldn't want to risk defiling them with blood or other bodily fluids I run into! I don't remember what exact pattern these are, but I know it came from Sensational Knit Socks. It looks nice but they took FOREVER to knit because I got so bored with the pattern. I used Sublime from Fearless Fibers, love the yarn. If you can't figure out where it came from you haven't been paying attention ;)

That's it. I have a pile of stuff to do today, so I'm off to try and get some of it done!

HSKS 3 Questions

I got my first email from the person who has me for the swap, and have emailed back and forth with my person as well. The person who got me had a list of questions for me, and then these questions got posted on the blog. I'll just answer both!

1. What Hogwarts house have you been sorted into?



Gryffindor


2. List your favorite double-point needle brands, including size and length. Or would you prefer circulars?



Brittany, Takumi bamboo, Comfort Zone- all dpns. I generally use the 6 or 7 inch ones and knit with size 1 or 2, although I have needed to go up to 3 before.


3. Would you like to try a new brand needle? If so, which brand? Size? Length?



Sure, I'm sure there are lots I've never tried or heard of!


4. If you are a RAVENCLAW, do you prefer the colors in the film or the book? Do you have a strong preference?



Just ignore that one since I'm Gryffindor!





5. Do you have any allergies?



Not to pets or fiber, but I break out from a lot of lotions, soaps, candles, and other things that smell.



6. If you are swapping scarves - what is your desired length for the pattern? This will help your partner find the pattern that is just right for you and buy yarn accordingly.



Socks for me!


I think everyone in on the swap is really excited about it judging by the blog posts, so this should be lots of fun. Gryffindor has won the House Cup the last two "years" so all of us first year Gryffindors have a lot to live up to! I hope I'm good at Quidditch...


Other than swaps what am I up to? I have the toe to finish on the first Burrow sock, I've done the cuff and a bit of the leg on the Hermione socks and I have the first Ginny sock nearly done too. Right now I have sock knitting ADD, so many new yarns and pattern ideas. I'm going to have to finish a few pairs because I'm using all my dpns now! I really should get to working on more bags for the show I have in October. I think I got a bit burned out on them trying to get all those gallery bags done. Which reminds me I need to be sure they made it there alright!

Six Degrees of Draco Malfoy ans A Tough Decision

A challenge issued by a prefect for Hogwarts Sock Swap 2 - a character must be traced back to Draco Malfoy in six steps. The character must be picked from a list provided by the prefect. So here is mine:
1-Arabella Figg
2-neighbor of Harry Potter who is the
3-best friend of Ron Weasley
4-Rons father is Arthur Weasley
5-who despises Lucius Malfoy
6-who is Dracos father
Hopefully it will win some points for Ravenclaw!

Oh- and to my swap partner: never fear I have stared the second sock. You shall not have one cold foot after all!

The tough decision? Which sock yarn club to join. A Harry Potter book cover art inspired club 7 skeins, one a month plus a book inspired pattern. Or another awesome club done by one of my favorite etsy sellers- five skeins of yarn, one skein plus a pattern and a few goodies every other month. I can't do both and I'm in love with both peoples yarns! If I wait too long to decide I'll miss out in them entirely. What to do... Suggestions welcome;)

OMG- Lime and Violet!!!

OK, I checked my email this morning and had an Etsy conversation from someone who writes on Lime & Violets blog. For those of you who have not experienced Lime & Violets awesome fibery goodness- otherwise known as sock yarn- you must check it out. It can be a bit hard to get your hands on, but it's well worth it. Anyway! They have chosen my etsy shop to be featured as an Etsy site of the day on their blog- Lime & Violets Daily Chum!!! Sometime this week I'll be there with lots of other Etsy sellers, some rather good company I must say as Etsy people rock! I don't know why they picked me, but I'm really happy about it- thanks!!!

I have a photo of a Jaywalker work in progress on here a few posts back that is knit with Lime & Violet yarn should you care to see it.

Otherwise...I have finished the first sock for my Hufflepuff sock swap partner. All of the first one- third time's the charm I guess. Hopefully my Hufflepuff pal will like them when I'm done! Besides that I have made lots of progress in the bags for the gallery department. Only two left to knit (one is half done) a handfull to felt, several need finishing touches. That may not sound like progress, but trust me it is. However, my needles are calling my name and I really must knit- which I can do while watching football today, yay!

Another Hogwarts Sock Swap

I can't seem to help myself, I've joined another Hogwarts swap! This one is the Hogwarts Sock Kit Swap 3. It should be a really fun swap. We get to put together sock knitting kits for our partners in their house colors- bag, yarn, needles, markers, pattern, etc. It's always great to see what other people come up with. The sign ups close when 100 people have joined or on August 29th, whichever comes first. Get yourself over there and sign up now- it's easy! I got sorted into Gryffindor for this swap- the house I belong in must depend on the day!

I'm supposed to earn five points for Gryffindor if I put the button for the swap on my blog. I have yet to figure out how in the world to do that but I'll see what I can do. If nothing else here's the picture of what the button looks like:

It's not my fault!

I swear it's not my fault I have such a sock yarn addiction. I could blame it on loads of things, my love of knitting socks for example. Right now I am going to place the blame squarely on one persons shoulders- Liz! She keeps making all this great yarn and selling it. She's a yarn dealer! I can call her that because she threatened to send me to Knitters Anonymous.
Isn't the yarn awesome? The colors are Ginny (as in Weasley) and Half Blood Prince (Harry Potter). I love them. I currently have so much sock yarn I could keep my fingers busy for a year. I'm going to have to try and control myself or I will have spent all my pennies on sock yarn. I don't think we can live in the sock yarn... So help me out and buy her yarn up before I do!

Better be... Gryffindor!

The Gryffindor socks are finished! These were a special order for a customer. They were lots of fun to knit and I think they turned out great. I might even knit up a pair for myself.

I'm patiently, well maybe not patiently waiting to discover who my swap partner will be for the Hogwarts Sock Swap 2. I keep checking out the blog for the first swap and drooling over the socks that owls are delivering all over the world. Who would have thought that making socks for a total stranger would have me so excited? Sock knitting and Harry Potter combined- two addictions in one I suppose.

I have lots of new hand dyed sock yarns on their way to me, pictures as soon as they arrive.

The Jaywalkers are coming along quite nicely, the yarn I'm using is great with the pattern. Can't wait to wear them. Seems as though I've been on a bit of a sock knitting kick lately. I'll never get anything else done this way...

Finished My Hedwig Socks- Yay!

I've finally finished my Hedwig socks! If only it wasn't 100 degrees out. I used a really simple pattern, mostly because when the yarn arrived I didn't want to take the time to find a certain pattern I just wanted to get the yarn onto needles. I got this yarn from http://sunshineyarns.etsy.com/

she hand painted it with colors that reminded her of Hedwig, Harry potters owl. I absolutely love the yarn. Now I will have something to wear when I go see the new movie and read the last book.

Bag in limbo

I finished this bag the other day. I really like it and can't decide if I should keep it or sell it in my Etsy shophttp://loveyourbagdesigns.etsy.com. I don't usually carry a bag this size because I don't take much with me when I leave the house. Unless it's knitting of course.

I finished one Hedwig sock and started the other last night. I've found if you don't start the second sock immediately upon finishing the first you may never get the pair done. What good is one handknitted sock? I have more handpained sock yarn on its way to me, so I really must get some socks finished. I'll have loads of awesome socks to keep my toes warm this winter. It's hard to think about cold toes when it's 95 degrees out...

I plan on wearing my Hedwig socks to see the latest Harry Potter film when it comes out. The yarn is handpainted with colors that resemble hers. It can be ordered from http://sunshineyarns.etsy.com/ It's really lovely. I'll post photos of the socks when they're complete. I need to get busy re-reading all the Harry Potter books in anticipation of the last book:( being released next month.