FO: Horcrux socks

A project that I may have never blogged about are the Horcrux socks. I finished them last night. I really liked the pattern when I saw it as a serial pattern on Susan's blog. The fingering weight pattern is available through membership to the Six Sox Knitalong.





Pattern: Horcrux socks
Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug in the Castagna colorway
Project date: May 2, 2007 through May 24, 2007
Mods: none, I was a bit concerned that the pattern called for 60 or 70 stitches, but because the pattern utilizes a k3,p2 ribbing, the socks are quite stretchy. And it fits just fine. The only I would have done differently is the heel and the heel flap. In fact, on the second sock, I did change the heel because I didn't like how the first turned out. The pattern uses a stockinette heel flap which I didn't care for, but that's a matter of personal preference. The heel (whatever it is, b/c I don't know) didn't fit my foot properly, but it's wearable. It may be just fine for others.

The yarn was really nice to work, although I was a bit worried about the yardage. Since these socks are relatively short, it worked just fine and I still had a bit of yardage left over. I could have easily made them at least 1 inch taller, but that's again a personal preference. I would think this pattern would be good for those yarns with low yardage, such a Koigu or Colinette. I followed the pattern initially b/c I really didn't think about how tall it was, but it's not too short, but I'd prefer it be a *smidge* taller.

I think I'm falling a bit too tough for these merino handpainted sock yarns. I do worry about them wearing out and the lack of nylon, but I really do have plenty of hand knitted socks with nylon. Some of the handpainted sock yarns I have purchased are also wool/nylon mix, so I'm not buying all 100% merino sock yarn, but it is very nice to knit with, that's for sure.

It's been all about socks lately. The bigger projects, such as the CE Raglan Cardi *cough cough* is giving me fits and isn't working so well right now.

A Whole Lotta Randomness About Me

Hmm, I seem to have been tagged by several people for variations of the same meme. Andrea, Susan, Kim, and Pooch.

The premise is to post 7 or 8(depending on the version of the meme)random facts and then tag others. Well, I'm going to already go against the rules and not tag anyone else because it's taken me about 1.5 weeks to get to this, so if anyone wants to do it, feel free, if not, oh well.

I debated for awhile if I would even do this meme, as I tend to never get around to doing them, but then figured what the heck.

1. While I am childfree (lifting this from Beth's tag post) and have never had delusions of having children, although when I was in college I thought I might adopt, my partner has 3 kids and one lives with us. No biological children, but now I bear the moniker of "stepmom". How ironic.

2. My father died when I was two years old. I was born in St. Louis, Missouri where my mom met and married my father, when she moved to St. Louis to go to nursing school. I later returned to St. Louis to attend college. Life is cyclical, is it not?

3. I never met relatives on my father's side until I was 17, almost 18. He has several brothers and sisters (Grandma was a Rolling Stone) and there are still 2 uncles I have yet to meet, one is in jail for life and the other in TX.

4. No one in my family knits, except for me. My grandmother was a skilled seamstress and quilter. It wasn't until she died that I learned that she crocheted as well. Another of my aunts also crocheted, but doesn't any longer. I also grew up in the South, so knitting wasn't as popular as crochet tends to me in milder climates.

5. M comes from a family of 8 siblings, where I have only one sibling (but two stepbrothers who didn't live with us, if that counts). My mother comes from a family of 6 siblings, all female. Could you imagine if I began pro-creating? I leave it to my sister to be the fecund one.

6. Growing up, I was a voracious reader. I had dreams of living abroad and a life full of travel. While in college, I spent a semester abroad living in Leiden, The Netherlands and loved every minute of it. While there, I traveled to Barcelona, Madrid, Granada, Cordoba, Helsinki, Copenhagen, Lisbon, Antwerp, Brussels, Paris, Gibraltar and Morocco.

7. Every year I mail out Christmas cards. My Xmas card list in years past was over 150+. This past year was the first year that it was just about 100. Over the years I've lost touch with some friends and then with the addition of M's large family, there's a lot of cards that need to go out.

8. I am considering a Master's in Political Science and I have no idea what I will do that. But yet, I still want to pursue it. After leaving school without fulfilling my Bachelor's, I never thought I would go back to it. Again, life =cycle.

9. Are you tired of my randomness? It's not as easy as one might think, unless you're way more random than me. My sister and I are like night and day, completely different people. As we get older, we both seem to appreciate the differences a bit more. There is also a 6 year difference in age between the both of us and I am the oldest. Can you tell?

10. Even though I love meeting new people, internally I am actually shy. Those that have met me IRL would probably tend to disagree. I have to muster up energy to be more outgoing than I am. When I go to a party where I barely know anyone, I tend to stay in my corner and talk to whomever I know. And if someone talks to me then I talk, otherwise I stay in the corner. Pretty funny that dichotomy, huh?

I'm sure there's more randomness, but that's all I can muster up for now.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To the other half of the meme business, this is one I've wanted to do, more for me than others.

Bold for stuff you've done, italics for stuff you plan to do eventually and normal for stuff you don't intend to do

Afghan
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk

Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns-Clapotis, anyone?
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with Bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn—soy blend
Cardigan
Toy/Doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
baby items
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers-Fuzzy Feet, yes?
Graffitti knitting
Continental Knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)

Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
Teaching a child to knit
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Knitting to make money
Buttonholes
Knitting with Alpaca
Fair Isle Knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dying with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding

Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cosies...)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone else's handspun yarn

Knitting with dpns
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dyeing yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Knitting two socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars simultaneously-Why??
Fulling/felting

Knitting with wool
Textured Knitting
Kitchener Bind Off
Purses/bags

Knitting with beads

Swatching
Long Tail CO-that's what I use the most!
Entrelac
Knitting and Purling Backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegated yarn-umm, can you say socks!!
Stuffed Toys
Baby items
Knitting with Cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern

Gloves-tried them once and didn't care for them
Intarsia
Knitting with Linen

Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mits/armwarmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift

Knitting for pets-just wrong
Shrug/Bolero/Poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair-even more wrong
Hair accessories
Knitting in public-all the time

Such A Great Time

was had on my trip to Boston to visit a dear friend, Cyn. I didn't actually do a lot of sightseeing, but I was pretty tired, so I wanted to take it easy.

We headed to the NH Sheep & Wool Festival on Saturday. It was great fun and much bigger than Estes, although I was told that this was small and that Rhinebeck and Maryland Sheep and Wool are much bigger.

A bit of shopping was done there, as well as at Windsor Button. I also had the opportunity to meet old friends, as well as new ones. Absolutely tons of fun. Cyn was the guide and helped to make sure that we both hit up all the vendors.

At the wool fest, my wool haul was:


(from l to r)
2 skeins of Spirit Trail Fiberworks in aqua and a yellow-gold color, 2 skeins of Nature's Palette in a Zinfandel colorway purchased from Carolina Homespun, Fox Sox Yarn from Foxfire Fiber in the Loon colorway and lastly, a skein of variegated sock yarn from Judy at Ball and Skein.

Shopping at Windsor Button netted me the following:


2 skeins of Claudia's Handpaint in colorway Ingrid's Blues and 2 skeins of Lang Jawoll in a solid blue color.

The real gem of the day at Windsor Button was a skein of Handmaiden Sea Silk in the midnight colorway.




That's all for now. I'm tired of linking to everything. More later with actual knitting!

Don't Envy Me

I planned to visit Boston in May to see a good friend. Turns out it's the weekend of New Hampshire Sheep and Wool. Guess who's going? Hmm, one guess, Cyn and I! We didn't realize I was coming the same weekend as NHSW until a couple of days ago. It's especially exciting as I will be missing Estes this year (have to attend a family function that weekend, the nerve! ;-))

So, don't envy me, I'll be shopping and festivalling and meeting up with some blogger friends in MA & NH. Whee! See you on the flip side.

2 FOs, Oh My

The Monkey socks were recently taken off the needles. I'm very happy to have them completed and I love the pattern. I can definitely see making more of these in the future.

Project Specs
Pattern: Monkey from Knitty
Yarn Used: Austermann Step sock yarn in color Melba color 10
Size needles: US 1.5 needles or (2.5 mm)
Project length: entirely too long (mid-January to May of this year)
Project modifications: none, knit pattern as written, although I didn't follow instructions for the heel flap. I knit my standard heel flap and worked the heel turn as for a round heel, which is my standard.

Oh, my the Chevron scarf was the scarf that would never end. While I like it mostly, I was happy to just be done with it. Knitting this on size 5 (US needles) needles felt like I never made any progress, but it was great to work on while taking the Light Rail to and from school.


Project Specs
Pattern: Chevron Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts
Yarn used: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in Valentine and Desert Flower, 1 skein of each color
Size needles used: US 5
Project length: Approx. 2 months
Project modifications: none, the scarf ended up being 69 inches in length, although I still have a bit of yarn left, but not too much.


And lastly, this was a little sumthin-sumthin' I picked up last week. I adore these stitch markers. The shop vendor is Aija and her Etsy shop is, Zero. She sells the most beautiful stitch markers and will size the jump rings according to your needs, at no extra charge. The price is quite reasonable and I ended up picking up 3 sets and Aija dropped in a couple of single ones on a signature card. Quick service and great quality.



That's all for today.

Allow Me a Moment

of sheer unbridled happiness. The semester is done and so is my research requirement methodological paper. Who is happy? That is me. While I still have to receive my grade from the paper and the class and transfer that credit in to my old university and have them review the paper, it is surely the first step towards finishing my degree and for that I am ecstatic. After putting it off for so long, I didn't realize how much it meant to me to have it completed.


The paper was done on Thursday afternoon, about 1/2 hour before it was due. Nothing like putting it off until the last minute, but I don't do well with getting the actual writing done before the due date. That's why I always thought in college that I should be a journalist, as the thrill of a deadline really gets me cranking.

Anyhow, enough of the self-indulgence. I also wanted to say thanks to all of you that have sent comments of support, that has been really helpful when my spirits were flagging. Thanks again.

Knitting is still happening too. A couple of projects have come off the needles, the second Monkey sock and the chevron scarf. Pics to follow soon. And a new sock has been started as well

Well, I hope to post tomorrow or Tuesday with more knitting news later

For the picture lovers in you, my sweetie got me a cake and surprised me with it this weekend while at a friend's house and I had a bit of an audience.



Later all . . .