Guess What Came in the Mail

yesterday? Hmm, a Bachelor of Arts diploma from my alma mater in International Relations. Whee-hee! I'm a happy girl!







Ok, back to my little hole. Gotta run off to work now, but more really soon!

Thanks guys for all your support, it was and is still very much appreciated.

February Goals

Now you might be thinking, what is Wanda thinking? Posting her goals when more than half the month has already passed?

Well, I'm definitely a bit behind with keeping up with blogs and my own blogging. I still wanted to post my goals because it helps me to keep with them and what I wanted to focus on. Going back to school has definitely cut into my knitting time (even though many of you seem to think I get a lot of knitting done), so some of my knitting projects just won't be that complex right now.



1. Finish the Jaybird hoodie. Shouldn't be too difficult as I'm very close now.




2. Finish the second Mary Kay sock.




3. Working on the pair of Wool in the Woods Cherub Thujas for me. Yes, another pair of Thujas. But sometimes a pattern is just right and why mess with perfection?!





4. Finish the sleeves on Everyday Tweed. This pattern is another top-down raglan (you know, my fave) and one sleeve is done, now on to the second. Should be doable by the end of the month, I hope.


By the end of March, I want to have the sleeves done on Ribby Pulli too. It may take me forever to get that one done, but at least if I get over my sleeve phobia, I'll have all the sleeves that I was avoiding done on my sweaters, yay! I'm halfway through them now.






I also wanted to thank everyone for their comments on my last post. Please don't worry that I won't keep knitting socks with Opal. I love Opal sock yarn and this one example of aberrant behavior will not keep from it. Opal has been very good to my handknit socks and I'm not sure what happened with that yarn, but honestly I had so many feelings of self-doubt and wondering if I would finish the paper and get it done, that I'm ok letting all those old, negative feelings disappear into the trash and move on. Out of all of the socks that I've knit, this is the first pair I've ever had that happen and you know, I'm always knitting socks for myself, so I figure one pair of socks that I didn't particularly like can bite the dust. I just knit them partly because I felt I should, since the yarn had been sitting in my stash for so long. Perhaps i shouldn't force myself to knit things I don't like? Just food for thought.

That's all for this time . . .

Throwback Tuesday (or whatever-Day-This-Post-Lands)

Just under the radar for Tuesday. This is a segment that I've wanted to do for quite some time. I didn't really feel like talking about my current knitting. Nothing wrong with it, although my time is a bit limited. I'm just not really inspired by my own knitting, so instead I've been trolling the blogs in the evening.

Some bloggers have discussed their older knitting projects and how they've held up over time. I've always found this refreshing and while this is something I'd like to do occasionally. It's a feature that won't be every week or on any regular schedule.

Today's segment will feature a couple pair of socks. Socks, you might ask? Not really very exciting and yet it is relevant. A pair of Opal socks I finished in July of last year have already bit the dust. And no, this was not some 100% merino yarn that bit the dust, but Opal. Opal is my steadfast, go-to yarn. It still is, but these socks did not hold up.

I got the yarn many years ago. This was when Opal was very hard to get and a couple of friends and I all chipped in and bought a "surprise" box of Opal sock yarn on eBay. A German seller sold nine skeins of Opal sock yarn in various colors and we paid about $20 a piece and each got 3 skeins. I think this yarn was in my stash for about 5 years. Perhaps it "aged" a bit too much.

However, after the socks were finished, I noticed a hole in one sock. It looked like a dropped stitch. I was a bit mortified, but I finally sucked it up (like 2 months later) and grabbed some of the leftover sock yarn and attempted to mend the hole. I put away the socks and happened to pull them out over the holidays. Now the second sock has a hole, but it isn't a dropped stitch. It's as if the yarn had a blowout and the stitch "burst" or it was ripped. If you look in the picture below, you can see what I mean.



Now, I'm just over the pair of socks. I had a lot of problems with the socks to begin with and frankly, I'm always knitting socks. Losing one pair of socks isn't a huge deal. I think I have about 16-18 pairs of hand knit socks in my sock drawer and none of them had worn out yet, considering that I've been knitting socks for over 6 years.




Also dusted from the archives are a pair of socks knitted by Sockapalooza pal in 2005. The socks are absolutely beautiful. However, they were always a bit tight through the heel. I've really never worn them out. I have worn them once or twice around the house, but never out. I never wear the socks, so these are going to my mom. Pink is her favorite color and they should fit her just fine.

And I've been the lucky recipient of one of the latest awards going through the blogosphere, a Make My Day award:



Kat,Amanda and Sarah all nominated me. I was really touched by it.

There are so many bloggers that make my day. I know I'm behind as usual with this {meme}, so I'm not tagging anyone, nor am I listing any blogs. Really everyone makes my day!I love reading knitting blogs.

Ok, now, I'm off to bed. I mean, really, does anyone want an even longer post than what's already posted for today.

Happy Knitting all until next time.

A Little Bit of Everything

Boy, howdy, I keep thinking I would make it over to ye olde blog, however, I can't access blogger at work, so unless I get the post written up at home, no blogging will ensue.

Thanks everyone for the comments on Juliet. I do like it and have worn it a few times since it's been finished. School has been slowing my knitting down. Some nights after class, I am so tired, I just surf blogs, but can't actually sit down and knit or post. Mentally, it's exhausting. Probably that combined with my new job, a lot for my poor little brain to handle at once, but both are going well, so that's something, right? :-)

I do have another FO to report, but the ends haven't been woven in yet, so that might take a little time. Just a garter stitch scarf I whipped up with some leftovers. I'm pleased with it.

Right now, I've been working off and on the Jaybird hoodie for my friend's son. After I "completed" the body and knit a sleeve, I realized I was running out of yarn when I started the second one. Although the yarn has 687 yards, b/c I made the body far too long (after the sweater was on hiatus b/c I didn't want to rip back), now I'm running out of yarn. So I ripped the body back to the right point, but worked the second sleeve as far as it will go. Now I have to find my place in the pattern for the body and finish it, so I reclaim the rest of the yarn to finish the second sleeve and sew on a button and I'll be done. Sad, but true. This sweater is trying to become the death of me, but I won't let it. I really want to be done with it.



Socks have seen a lot of the precious knitting time that I have of late. I can knit while I read, so a sock is ideal for this type of knitting. I really felt the need to cast on for something new. I wanted a "quick" pair of socks, really instant gratification, but I'm not sure why, you know, since we knit and all. Not much is quick. About a month ago, I picked up some Wool in the Woods Cherub yarn, which apparently produced by Cherry Tree Hill. It's pretty stuff and 100% wool, but a bit thicker than fingering. I'm knitting it with US 3 needles on 48 stitches. It's working up well in the Thuja pattern (from Knitty). I've been using the eye of partridge heel flap and that turns out so pretty with hand-dyed yarns. It's a wonder to me that I haven't used it before.



The Mary Kay socks are moving right along too. I finished the first one and gave it to her a few weeks ago. Since she had foot surgery right before Christmas, Mary Kay has been wearing a walking cast. I felt bad for her the night I saw her at knititng as she was wearing a short sock on the foot without a cast. Since I was kitchenering the toe of the first sock, I gave that one to her. So this pic really is of a second sock, really! Although it looks pretty similar to another pick I put up of the first sock.



In between all of those, I'm also working on a new sweater, Everyday Tweed in some Marisol Hacho yarn. Really gorgeous stuff. Right now, I'm at an awkward part, so I'll put up a picture when it doesn't look so strange.

I was recently tagged with a cute award. I'll be back with that by the week's end.

Happy Friday everyone!

Romeo, Romeo, Wherefore Art Thou?

It's Juliet, here to greet you. This one's been a long one in the making, which is pretty sad, because I knit it fairly quickly. Then I outsourced the finishing (haha!), which was just to have some crochet done around the neckline and armholes. But I let it sit for months before I crocheted two loops for buttons and sewed on two buttons on the sweater and called it good.







Because I knit the body of Juliet in stockinette and not garter stitch, the sides tend to curl. The neckline did lie flatter during the day, but by the end, it wasn't as flat. When I took this picture, it was around 8 or 9 p.m., so I was pretty tired, which is why my head is cropped out of the last photo, b/c it just wasn't a good picture.

Project Specs-
Pattern: Juliet
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton-Ease in Taupe, 7 skeins
Needles: US 10 and 10.5
Project Length: Sept 2007-Jan 2008
Mods:Knit body in stockinette, not on purpose, but when I realized I was supposed to do garter stitch, I'd already gotten pretty far with it and decided it was a "design element". Also, I didn't put the garter line right underneath the girls. Didn't think that line of demarcation would be that flattering, so I put it closer to my natural waist and I'm pretty happy with it. At first, I thought I would have preferred my Juliet to be longer, but honestly after looking at pictures of myself in it, I'm very pleased with it. I put the buttons on last weekend and wore it twice. My only thought now is to make one in wool. It's perfect as a topper and I'm surprised at how much I like it.

Ok, just one more FO to go, but honestly, it's so simple, it'll probably get thrown in with a regular knitting post a little later.

FO: January One Monkey Socks

The first FO of 2008. I tried to get it done by the end of 2007, but got tired of trying to meet an arbitrary deadline. In the end, I finished these socks very early on in January, but with time constraints, it's taken me a bit to getting around to photographing them.

I absolutely adore the colorway! These socks, when I worked on them, really flew off the needles.





Knitting with Socks That Rock was a most pleasurable experience. I can tell that I will be knitting with this yarn again.

Not too much say about the pattern because I've knit them previously. I just opted not to knit the pattern on the foot this time and I'm pleased with this decision.

Project Details:
Pattern - Monkey
Yarn - Socks That Rock in the January One colorway
Needles used: size 2.5 mm
Project Length: October 2007-January 2008

Modifications: none, other than knitting sock foot plain. I love my January One Moneys! Sweet!

Oh and Happy MLK day! Don't forget to take a look at the stash sale I'm having.

Next up, a finished
Juliet. Betcha you all forgot about that one. Heehee.

Stash Sale, first for '08

Sorry, you may see this post pop up in Bloglines as I update the post for changes in status to various items up for sale.

Hmm, the more I go on, the more I want to reduce my stash. It's still a good size in my opinion, but I've got some goodies up for sale.

The rules are:
1. Please send me an email, not leaving a comment if you want to purchase something. Email is awandaATgmailDOTcom.

2. Price includes shipping. Preference is mostly to ship to the USA. If you're out of the country, feel free to send me an email and we'll discuss shipping prices.

3. All purchases will be conducted through Paypal.

4. Shop early and often! :-)

There are a lot of pics, so sorry to anyone who may be on dial-up.

First up, a skein of Spirit Trail superwash 100% merino wool sock yarn. The two pictures below show the yarn and a sock that was begun from it, but it was ripped. 1 skein, 400 yards. Sale price $19





9 skeins of Reynolds Sedona, 100% mercerized cotton. 111 yards each, light worsted weight. A real steal, pretty plum color, selling it for $15



Patons Kroy sock yarn, two colors. The first is a color, midnight mix, which has greens and blacks. 85% superwash wool, 15% nylon, 203 yards each. 2 skeins is enough for a pair of socks. Price $7



Second set of Patons, color is chocolate brown. Price $7


Elann Lana Cash, 70% wool/30% cashmere. Sport-weight yarn, 256 yards each, 8 skeins total. Price $34 SOLD



Hand-dyed sock yarn, 400 yds, 100% wool. I don't recall much about the yarn, except it may not be superwash. A friend dyed it for me, but the colors came out more pastel than I would have liked. I thought it might work, but it's not my style. Price $10.



Cascade Eco Wool+ 1 Skein, please note the picture shows 3 hanks of Eco Wool, but there is only one for sale. The color is a wine, burgundy color. 478 yards, 100% wool. This is a bulky yarn. Price $13



2 skeins Lang Jawoll, 45 g each of solid blue color, 75% wool/18%nylon/7% acrylic, 210 m each. Each skein includes 5 g of reinforcement thread dyed to match the yarn. 2skeins enough to make a pair of socks. Price $8



1 skein of Brooks Farm Acero (again, I know the picture shows 2 skeins, but one was traded to Mim for another skein in a different color to finish the giant Clapotis). Acero is a "sock yarn" from Brooks Farm, which is heavier than normal sock yarn. It contains approx 60% wool, some silk and rayon. Pretty stuff and the color is a wine red. Price $13 SOLD



It's sweater weather and I have a sweater's worth of yarn here. Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran wool, 85% wool, 10% silk, 5% cashmere 93 yds each, 15 skeins total. Worsted weight yarn in color ricepaper. Price $60 SOLD



Cherry Tree Hill, one of a kind, superwash 100% merino wool. The colors are vivid pinks (fuschsia), purple, turquoise. One skein 400 yds, enough for a pair of socks. It's very pretty, but it's not for me. Price $17 SOLD



Okay, now this picture shows only 2 skeins of Zephyr Wool/Silk, there are 3 skeins for sale, 50% wool/50% silk. color: burnt sienna. Each cake has 630 yards. I started Mystery Stole 3 with it, but true to my form, I didn't finish it and ripped it. One skein was knitted and frogged, but it was only a small portion as I never got very far with the mystery stole. Price $21



Austermann Step sock yarn. One skein over 400 yards. This is the sock yarn that has aloe in it. It's great to knit with, but I sort of oversaturated myself with this stuff to the tune of 3 skeins, so I'm over it, but it's your gain. Price $14SOLD



Ball and Skein sock yarn. 75% merino sock yarn/25% nylon. Different shades of purple. Very pretty stuff and very soft. Price $16 SOLD



Spirit Trail sock yarn in a yellow, maize color. 400 yds, superwash yarn, 100% merino wool. Price $19



Cherry Tree Hill solid sock yarn, bark (brown color). 400 yards 100% merino wool. Price $16


Opal UNI sock yarn, one skein 420 yards. 75% wool/25% nylon. Price $11SOLD


Please remember to send me an email at awandaATgmailDOTcom and that all prices do include shipping in the US. If shipping out of the country, please be advised that the shipping price will be additional to the price listed.

If you don't see anything here you like, but you're in the mood to shop from other's stash, go see my friend Jeni's stash sale.

I'll be back, perhaps tomorrow, with an FO.

An UFO makes a re-appearance

Since the New Year began, I decided to cast on for a new project. It only seemed appropriate, however, I also put another project on hold. Ribby Pulli just wasn't holding my interest right now, though, I know, I will love the finished project. So off to a project bag, to hold it, till I get back to it.

However, a friend's son was turning one this past weekend and I realized I had this children's tunic hoodie that was never completed. I think the length of the hoodie is a bit long, but I figure I'll just knit the sleeves a little long and hopefully he'll get an extra season of wear out of it.

I think it was last January that I had project ennui and put this down. How fitting, that it has now been picked up again in the New Year. I'm working on the Children's Tunic #232 for my friend's son. I started last December in a yarn that I haven't seen before, Filtweed. It is a 65% wool/30% acrylic/5% viscose in a dk-weight. Still has enough wool weight, that it feels fine to knit with and it's a tweed yarn. It runs about $14 or $16 for a skein, but each skein has a put up of 250g for 681 yards. I really like it. I may get more for M2 to make him a sweater. Something machine washable just makes sense for him.

For the skimmers, well, you know I am always verbose, so here's your picture:


Where I left off on this project was right at the turning hem. I realized I'd knitted longer than required for the length and was loathe to rip it, so I stowed it. Good policy huh? I guess it's a good thing that kid's knits go so quickly. I went ahead and just finished the garter hem and am almost done with the hood now. Hopefully I'll get to the decreases done and kitchener (graft) the hood. Then, once I'm done grafting the hood, I'll kitchener the foot on the second January One Monkey sock, as well as the first of the
Mary Kay socks.

As much as I think that I'd like to post more often, with my new job and school starting (tonite, yikes!), I know that's just not possible. I told myself that I wanted to post at least once a week and that's been helpful to me. I do like to blog, but sometimes let other things keep me from blogging. My once weekly schedule seems to be working, thus far, so let's hope I am able to keep up with it once I have assignments and deadlines to meet.

Till next time . . .

2007: Knitting Year in Review

It's that time of year, to take stock of the year that has passed and think about what is wanted out of the new year.

Looking through my blog records, I found that of the projects documented, I completed 25 projects, in 2006 I completed 31 projects.

At first, I was a little disappointed that I didn't complete more, especially in the way of sweaters. It seems I only completed one sweater, Ariann. But of course, there was the sweater debacle, which brought down my sweater total.

In case you want to see the run-down of knitting projects:

2 baby burp cloths
4 dish cloths
2 fingerless mitts
4 scarves (Fair Isle Jazz, Farrow Rib, Chevron and My So-Called Scarf)
2 tanks (Ballerina Camisole, Lacy Rib tank)
1 sweater (Ariann cardigan)
8 pairs of socks
1 hat (Rasta hat)
1 lace scarf/shawl(Diamond Fantasy Shawl)


Of course, this year I also went back to school to complete my bachelor's, which cut down on knitting time on bigger projects too. Oh well, I'm not sweater it. It's definitely not a race to compete against myself. And my productivity will probably drop again this year. I'm starting a Master's program in Human Resource Development next week. Fun times, eh?

I also knit a whack of dishcloths and didn't think that anyone wanted to see a bunch of them, as some are quite plain, but they were useful at home, and that was the main purpose.

Looking back on my 2007 knitting resolutions:

1)Knit more socks. The sock yarn stash (as well as other stash) has been thinned throughout the year, but more keeps joining in. My main focus is to continue to knit socks and mix it up with more patterned socks this year. Done, done and done! I knit 8 pairs of socks this year. Pretty good and I'm very happy. Of course, now my sock drawer is getting full, but I'm not complaining.

2) Knit more lace, which should not be a problem as I love it. Eh, not so much. I still love lace. But lace is not intuitive for me, so it goes slowly. I did complete Diamond Fantasy Shawl last year. However, this past year I also cast on for Juno Regina and Hanami, but as the weather gets colder, I'm less inclined to knit laceweight.

3)Learn more techniques, primarily short-rows. I did learn short-rows with Ballerina Camisole, but it can be perfect.

4)Focus on the structure of garments and really learn what looks best on me and not fall for every project which looks bad after. I feel I'm better in this department that I used to be, but sometimes still fall prey to this. Also, just working more on the fit of an item. Each time I knit a garment, I learn a bit more and that's always a good thing. Hmm, not much to say here, still a work in progress.

5)Knit more from stash. It looks like this goal was 50/50. Not too bad, I think. The knit exclusively from your stash for 6 months didn't work out at all.

5)Enjoy knitting, it's not a race and just have fun. Shouldn't be a problem there.

I decided to drop the knitting resolutions for 2008 as I am doing monthly goals instead.

I hope to be back soon with a finished object, or at least WIPs.

See you on the other side . . .