iron and woolcraft

A couple of weeks ago I picked up some wollmeise at the tale end of a shop update. Mostly there were solids left and Frosch. Frosch is not really cup of tea, but I could almost guarantee that SOMEONE I know would want it. I can even think of who.

Same deal as last time, almost. Friend lottery for right to purchase a skein of wollmeise. This is the Twin, 80% Merino Superwash and 20% Nylon. There are 510 yards in 150 grams. First number selected through the random number generator gets first pick, second second pick. These are not seconds, so the price is $35. If you change your mind, I’ll just move on to person number three.

1) I know you. Not that one time we met at such and such a thing either.
2) You live in Oregon, Colorado, Minnesota, Wisconsin or did while I was there. I’ll add California, Washington and Pennsylvania to the list.
3) You are willing to pay $35.00 plus shipping in November sometime for the yarn if your number comes up.
4) You leave me a comment on THIS blog post before November 2nd.
5) You are choosing between Frosch and either Mistelzweig or Aquarius. (I get to keep one of Mistelzweig or Aquarius, but I can’t decide which one.)

shop update

Last post for a bit. I updated the shop yesterday with a lot of Lachesis sock from Sock Summit. Sometime this fall there will also be some of a new sock yarn that is a cabled two-ply and also the 80-10-10 merino, cashmere, nylon sock yarn that has everyone talking. I also got some of the silver yarn base so if there’s something you want dyed in it please let me know. I ordered a very limited amount and am already going to do some reds, pinks or navy blues. I’ve gotten half my crockpot replaced so far, so I’ll be able to kettle dye maybe as soon as two weekends from now. (This coming weekend is Oregon Flock and Fiber after all.) This is a lot harder though with a baby and her dad will need to have the time to watch her. He’s really busy teaching, even with a smaller load this term.

I’m offering 20% off all yarns from now until October 31st in honor of Socktoberfest. Just be sure to type in “Socktoberfest” in the notes. I’ll refund the price difference through Paypal as always.

some purples (mostly) reskeined

I finally labeled and named some more yarn that you haven’t seen unless you’ve gone off to my flickr account. Now it’s in the shop or in the box marked “sock summit”.

1. lacheis sock – grapevine, 2. brower – lachesis sock, 3. lachesis sock – star thistle, 4. lachesis sock – magnolia, 5. lachesis sock – summer sandals, 6. lacheis sock – bittersweet, 7. lachesis sock – cranberry bog, 8. lachesis sock – larrkspur, 9. lachesis sock – prince

Created with fd’s Flickr Toys.

1. lachesis sock – delphinium revisited, 2. lachesis sock – a world of purple, 3. lachesis sock – evil stepmother

Created with fd’s Flickr Toys.

more to dye for

In preparation for Sock Summit, where hopefully I’ll be participating on a consignment basis I’ve been dyeing up some yarns. I’m hoping eventually to create repeatable colorways and am getting a little closer. In the mean time, there’s been some older dye solution that needed using up. This resulted in the kettle dyed yarns below. These are “Moirae’s Limited Edition,” which is the name I’m giving to the new 100% merino superwash yarn base I obtained. It’s a every so slightly heavier than the Kona Fingering Weight I was using before for Fatalist Sock and has a tigher twist. I used it to dye my Twilight inspired yarn. I may continue to dye the Fatalist Sock, but am still not sure about it. I’ll be winding this yarn up soon and then it will go into the shop. Some of it might go for samples at Sock Summit.

Below are some more. The first grouping is some kettle dyed yarn where I’ve experimented with Hot Fuschia and Burgundy and have layered in black and brown (in different skeins). I’ve got three more paler one’s in the basement in which I’m layering browns and pumpkin on top. In the middle chair, there’s green, cream and pink and a black white, fuschia and pink yarn. The latter is for Mia. I’m not sure I matched her wild pink crocs. In keeping with the shoe theme, the first two skeins of the  third chair match my own Teva’s. The one’s on the far right represent a darker version, without the teal.

So here’s a question. I’ve got to have some knit samples at Sock Summit. What socks should I make? I’m making Viper Pilots out of my bamboo. I will need to do socks in a semi-solid and in a multi-color yarn. I will probably let the person decide, but any ideas? How about Nebula by Cookie A for the wine colored yarn?

a continuation of a sale

I owe you

…a work-in-progress shot of the Twists and Turns Socks [r] by Stariel (Ariel Altaras) from How to Knit in the Woods. I’m a bit stalled because I have trouble coordinating the gusset count and the cable count. The yarn is Sea Wool from Fleece Artist. I love these socks and will go back to them soon.The yarn is not quite as orange as it is appearing in this shot.

shop update

I added a lot more of the yarn to the shop. There are about 5 skeins left to go.

I’ve put one line called test sock. These are varying yarn bases and I’m really experimenting with colors here. It’s a lot of work – when I’m feeling like a pro, I will probably develop some actual colorways. In the meantime, benefit from the learning process and get some great yarn at a great price!

I will always be wiling to send your yarn via first-class mail. Just let me know that that’s what you want and I’ll make sure you get the difference in purchase price. The trouble is that it costs another .75 or so for the mailer, so most of the time you might as well have it sent via priority mail.

earth day yarn swap

I was gifted some amazing stuff in the Earth Day Yarn Swap. Unfortunately, I’ve been swamped and haven’t had time to post about it! The photographs have been on flickr since April 23rd. I haven’t posted the Yarn Harlot event stuff either, if that gives you an idea. I just got back from a conference in Las Vegas and boy do I have some blogging to catch up on. I was supposed to be back at 1AM but got in instead at 10AM due to a flight cancellation. So I got 5 hrs of sleep and then got up to head to Portland. Finally!

Anyway, Owlette (Maria) sent me a great package from Canada for Earth Day. It included lovely yarn from Indigo Moon, dried pineapple (which I broke my diet to eat and it was good…), beeswax candles, and a pen and mechanic pencil set made from corn, soap nuts and Denman Island chocolate! The chocolate is all gone of course and now I’m going to have to figure out how to get more. The mint was my favorite, but I think I ate the espresso flavored one pretty quickly too. I don’t own nearly enough solid sock yarn and I’m totally into the green Tanis Fiber Arts yarn she sent me. (I love the blue-purple too.) The Indigo Moon yarn was bought from Trish Moon, a spinner and weaver from Gabriola Island off Vancouver Island. She uses natural dyes and was the only locally available yarn. It’s Canadian sourced wool too. Beat that! The goodies were local too.

earth day swap update

We’ve been discussing some interesting questions over at the Earth Day Swap on Ravelry like, ‘What makes a fiber planet friendly’ and ‘What are the most eco-friendly needles?’ I thought I should post my answers to the blog too, so here they are.

The planet friendly fiber question was so tough that I sent in a question to Sierra Club’s Mr. Green, who I hope is still mulling this one over.

I’ve sent a letter in to Sierra Club’s Mr. Green.You know, Ask Mr. Green?

Anyway, he’s looking into it, but here’s what he sent back. “Thanks so much for sending this info. Wow, it’s even more complicated than I suspected. For example, fiber made of soy, milk, corn, or bamboo is from a “natural” product, but if it is raised in an unnatural way with pesticides and land-eroding practices–which a lot of farm products are–then its value as a sustainable product could actually be quite dubious, and in some cases not significantly better than conventional cotton, which is notorious for its dependence on chemicals. (Even something like shrimp shells raises questions, because a lot of shrimp-growing damages coastal environments.)”

Here is what I sent: ”I’m glad you are interested in my question. Here’s a little background. In the past few years, many yarns have come on to the market claiming that they are environmentally friendly. Some are recycled fibers, but others are manufactured. Some is organic cotton. Many of the fibers are plant based blend. This is a particularly confusing issue because we don’t always what the source is for the “eco-friendly” portion of the yarn. Add to that the distances these fibers travel and the dying process…well the textile industry isn’t the most environmentally friendly. So we’d like to encourage it in whatever way we can.

Yarns and fiber claiming to be environmentally friendly may contain Soysilk™, Silk Latte™ , Inego, bamboo, milk-fiber, Tencel(R), organic cotton and hemp.

Fiber(s): Soysilk(R), Milk Fiber Brands: Soysilk(R) and Silk Latte™ Company: Southwest Trading Company Company Location: Australia Website: http://www.soysilk.com. Yarns: Tofutsies: 50% Superwash Wool, 25% SoySilk™, 22.5% Cotton, 2.5% Chitin (Shrimp and Crab Shells) Vicki Howell’s Craft: 65% Organic Cotton, 35% Milk Fiber They are working on two other fibers that are currently only available for spinning: Silk Latte™ is fiber and yarn made from Milk proteins and Ingeo is made out of corn.

Other companies of note selling Soysilk products: Patons.

Fiber: Milk Fiber Company: Cyarn claims to be the largest producer of milk fiber. I don’t know if they are tied to Craft. Website: http://www.cyarn.com/products/fiber/fiber_036.html

Fiber: Corn Company Website: http://www.ingeofibers.com/ingeo/home.asp Company Location: Minneapolis, MN

Company: Southwest Trading Company Location: Australia Yarn: AMaizing – 100% Corn Fiber (not sure if made from Ingeo I think).

Company: Crystal Palace Yarns Company Location: Richmond, CA Company Website: http://www.straw.com/cpy/yarns/Maizy-scans.html Yarns: Maizy – 82% Corn Fiber – 18% elastic nylon

Yarn Company: Kollage Company Location: Birmingham, AL Website:. http://www.paradisefibers.net/Kollage-Cornucopia-Corn-Yar… Company Address: Kollage Yarns 3304 Blue Bell Lane Birmingham, AL 35242 USA 888-829-7758 toll free 205-408-5815 phone 205-408-5813 fax info@kollageyarns.com

Fiber(s): Bamboo Company: possibly Bambrotex – may also have something to do with corn fiber Company Location: China Company Website: http://www.bambrotex.com

Yarn Company: Classic Elite Company Location: Lowell, MA Company Website: http://www.classiceliteyarns.com Yarn: Bam Boo – 100% Bamboo

Yarn Company: Alchemy Yarns of Transformation Company Location: Sebastapol, CA Company Contact Information: P.O. Box 1080 Sebastapol, CA 95473 Phone: (707) 823-3276 alchemyyarns@pacbell.net Company Website: http://www.alchemyyarns.com/yarns.html Yarn: Bamboo – 100% Bamboo

Yarn Company: Zitron Company Location: Germany Company Website: http://www.atelierzitron.de/ Yarn: ProNatura 75% Merino Wool and 25% Bamboo.

Fiber: Seacell(R) Company: SmartFiber AG Company Website: http://www.smartfiber.de/index.php Location: Might be Germany

Yarn Company Handmaiden Fine Yarn Company Website: http://handmaiden.ca Yarns: Sea Silk 70% Silk and 30% Sea Cell, Great Big Sea 50%Silk, 30% Wool 20% Sea Cel(R)

Yarn Company: Fleece Artist. Related to Handmaiden Company Location: Nova Scotia, CA Company Name: http://www.fleeceartist.com/ Yarns: SeaWool – 70% Wool and 30% Sea Cell(R)

Fiber: Tencel. Tencel is a trademark for lyocell and made of wood pulp cellulose. I usually see Tencel in products sold by Independent hand-dyers. I don’t know what their source is.

Yarn Company: Classic Elite Company Website: http://www.classiceliteyarns.com Company Location: Lowell, MA Yarn: Premiere which is 50% Tencel and 50% Cotton.

Yarn Company: Blue Moon Fiber Arts is a dyeing company. Company Website: http://www.bluemoonfiberarts.com/fiber_type_detail.php?fi… Yarn: Seduction – 50% Wool, 50% Tencel.

Fiber Organic Cotton

Company: PeruNaturetex Fibers Company Website: http://www.perunaturtex.com/ Company Location: Peru Notes: FairTrade

Company: Vermont Organic Wool Company Company Location: Middlebury, VT USA Company Website: http://www.vtorganicfiber.com/ Yarn: O-Wool(R) Notes: Certified Organic, makes fabric in addition to yarn

Company Name: Blue Sky Alpacas Company Website: http://www.blueskyalpacas.com/ Yarn: Organic Cotton – 100% organic cotton in natural and dyed colors. The natural cotton was bred for color.

Fiber: Hemp Yarn Company: Hemp for Knitting Company Location: British Columbia, Canada Company contact information: Lanaknits Designs / hempforknitting Melissa Duarte Suite 3B . 320 Vernon Street Nelson . British Columbia . V1L4E4 . Canada ph/fx: 250.352.6985 . tollfree: 1.888.301.0011 email: melissa@lanaknits.com info@lanaknits.com Company Website: http://www.hempforknitting.com

These are just some of the many companies that are using the new “earth friendly” fibers. Other fibers contain banana and coconut. And then there are companies that use recycled silk. A good one for that is Sari Silk which is made from recycled Saris.

before and after

I have some yarns on cones. I don’t know what they are. I fished them out of my mother’s stash some time ago and she won’t take them back, although I’m sorely tempted to just mail the both back to her.

Anyway I took the dark green tweed, which is beautiful but rough and washed it. It probably needs a second wash. I had a lot of trouble getting the color right with this and so the second time I added some yellow to the background. Maybe I should have added more yellow or tried the flash. There is about 336 yards of it.

Earth Day Yarn Swap 2008

I’m setting up for the (r). It’s a lot easier to set it up through Ravelry, so if you don’t have an account, sign up now! I bet you’ll get in before the swap sign-up deadline, which is a month or two away.

You will need a Ravelry account.

This is a swap for eco-friendly fibers. This would include: organic yarns, yarns made from more renewable resources such as bamboo, soy (byproducts) or corn (byproducts). In addition to the many fibers being produced by the Southwest Trading Company, the Vermont Organic Fiber Company, Blue Sky Alpacas, Trekking (ProNatura) and even Classic Elite produce more environmentally friendly yarns. Lots of Indie Dyers are using the new fibers too. Let’s influence the market for environmentally friendly yarns.

1. Sign up for the swap by March 17th and fill out the questionnaire (to be posted on my blog and to the Ravelry questionnaire thread by February 28).
2. Fill out the questionnaire and to the questionnaire thread by March 17th!
3. This is a secret swap!
4. If you do withdraw, please please let me know so I can try to get everyone matched up. Please don’t drop out without contacting me (MoiraeKnitting at gmail dot com).
5. Buy locally if you can.
6. Send out swap packages by April 7th – the idea is to get your package to your partner by Earth Day in the US (April 22nd).
7. Post about your swaps and enjoy your new fibers.
8. I’m sorry this is for North America based knitters only, because it’s not very eco-friendly to send yarn half way around the world. (It’s bad enough to mail it at all.)

Rules: 1. Dropping out without letting anyone know will earn you bad karma. 2. The suggested spending limit is $35, not including shipping. 3. Have fun!

Signing Up (Added 01/01/2008)

To sign up, please email me (moiraeknitting at gmail dot com.) Do NOT send me a message on Ravelry. Also drop a message on the Ravelry sign-up thread.

I need: Your Name, Your Ravelry Name, Your Blog Name, Your Address and Your Email Address. Otherwise you will not be signed up.

r=ravelry link

show and tell 2007

 

Finished Objects 2007

1. monkey socks, 2. central park hoodie, 3. another one skein, one day wonder hat, 4. mad cow socks, nancy division by Moirae, 5. mitered bag, 6. aurora cabled sweater, 7. rapid river socks in envy, 8. toe up socks, 9. multi-directional scarf, 10. monkey socks, 11. lizard ridge (knit for charity by bloggers), 12. hedera, 13. puff baby, 14. little raglan, 15. clapotis, 16. monkey socks for swap, 17. sky socks, 18. swallowtail shawl, 19. baby baseball tee, 20. monkey socks, 21. kim’s hat, 22. bff socks

Works in Progress 2007 (uncompleted or frogged)

1. Lorna’s Laces, Desert Flower, 2. failed anemenoi, 3. failed anemenoi, 4. frogged vesper toe-up, 5. madtini – frogged, 6. plain sock, frogged, 7. madtini, frogged, 8. wave socks, wip, 9. fabric for a knitting bag, 10. baby baseball tee, 11. chevron scarf in Mountain Colors, 12. multidirectional scarf, 13. Pearl Buck, 14. miters, 15. baby surprise, 16. plain sock in rare gems, 17. My creation, 18. pomatomus 2, 19. rusted root, 20. wool miters, 21. bayerische socks, 22. ripple and weave socks, 23. debbie bliss argyle sweater, 24. crochet larger than life bag

Warning, the next page is not for the faint of heart.

adventures in san francisco, part one yarn tasting at art fibers

San Francisco, Art Fibers. The hallway to the second floor walk-up is filled with xeroxed pictures of models, whose sweaters have been cut-out and filled in with swatches. Clearly, you are headed to a place of fashion.

And fashion it is indeed, with yarn of every sort, eyelash and chunky. Mohair and silk wool blends are common here. Worsted weight is harder to come by.

Like Habu, yarn at Art Fibers is sold by the ounce rather than the yard. For the most part, the fibers come in a array of colors. Take for example, the Ming I found, a silk wool blend. I had my choice of rust, blue and many other colors (although I eventually settled on maroon). Additionally, many of the yarns are available at a cheaper price in dye hanks. I found it hard to keep my hands off of 1000-yard hanks of lace-weight silk and wool, despite the knowledge that it the silk would hardly make this a suitable fiber for a first time dyer like myself.

Karrie and Carmen arrived ahead of me and were already examining the fibers they keep in drawers. Soon after I got there, Anabel and her friend Christina, appeared and we found ourselves tasting various fibers.

Art Fibers is well aware that none of their fibers come with a set gauge and needle size attached to them. They encourage knitters to knit a sample and have set aside a special yarn-tasting area complete with needles (circular, straight AND double points) and fiber for you to try out your potential purchases. They even have drop spindles for spinners to have their own roving tasting. I sampled my Ming with a US Size 4 and found (not at all to my surprise) that I liked the fiber.

Other products at Art Fibers include needles, pattern books and buttons. The staff here is helpful and will kindly draw up a pattern for you using their knitting software. Unfortunately, the one on one attention can come at the price of speedy check out service on a busy day.

I purchased both the Ming and also these artisan crafted buttons from Vermont.

Overall, I had a terrific time at Art Fibers. I’ll give it a rating of 4 1/2 stars and an E for Everyone.

Art Fibers is located at 124 Sutter Street in San Francisco. It is a very short walk from Chinatown.

photography upgrades

Thursday, I stayed home in order to get the timing belt on my car replaced. It needs doing every 100,000 miles or so and I wanted it done before we go to San Francisco for Thanksgiving. The car has 196,000 miles on it right now. Although it’s only a 1200 mile round trip to San Francisco, I think there probably won’t be much time left to get it done once I start being busier at work. It will also be the holiday season soon and it’s so easy to put off this kind of thing! I can’t let my engine fall out. That would be…bad.

I got off to being semi-productive rather late in the day. I left the camera in the car at the auto repair shop, but I got to thinking about the weather (i.e. all dark gray skies with lots of intermittent water falling out of the sky) conditions and how it has been interfering with my knitting photography. I therefore decided it was time to build a better light box than my previously jury rigged milk carton. I disassembled the milk carton rig over the summer and haven’t reassembled it since moving.

There are a lot of resources on the internet for making your own light box. I used the $10 cardboard model, but there are also some great directions for building a PVC pipe model. Anyway, I’ve already seen significant improvements and I am only using household lamps with no bulbs brighter than 150 watts (one 150 watt bulb and one 120 watt bulb).

yarn amongst the chickens

I went up to with on Saturday to check out the

 

.

I spied ravens, but missed the photo opportunity. When my husband and I went for a walk,
this guard

 

gave him the evil eye. We braved many

along our way. And then, this attempted to Seduce me,

 

but I resisted the urge. I met a wise

 

who made me regret having avoided temptation and sent for

who arrived bearing a skein of Seduction on her back.

 

P.S.

 

I also picked up for Karrie.

Finished objects and a knitting needle recovery program

Here is the Baby Baseball Tee from Knit 2 Together with the buttons actually sewn on (as opposed to sitting on the sweater pretending to be sewn on).

Pattern: Baby Baseball Tee
Pattern Source: Knit 2 Together
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Truffle and Nymph
Yarn Source: Digs in Northfield, MN
For: An unknown baby. It was going to be for a baby my friends’ adopted, but then I realized I didn’t have the faintest idea what size baby it would be. I made them a bigger sweater that won’t fit him for a year or two.

And here is the hat I promised my friend Liz. I said she probably wouldn’t see it until November.

Pattern: Kim’s Basic Rolled Brim Hat
Pattern Source: Last-Minute Knitted Gifts
Yarn: Malabrigo
Yarn Source: Nestucca Bay Yarns in Lincoln City, OR
Needles: Size 8 METAL DPNs. That was a really loud hat to knit! I have needles belonging to three people and I only have one set of size 8 dpns or circular needles (i.e., I own no Size 8 Circular needles). What is that, Stephanie’s Law?

Interweave Knits Winter 2007 – temptation

Just the other night I was looking at some yarn sales and wondering what I could do with Queensland Kathmandu Aran. It’s on sale for $4.29 a skein at Webs. At 85% Merino-Wool/10% Silk/5% Cashmere it seemed a shame not to find something to do with it. It’s a fairly chunky yarn though and I spent a while playing around on Ravelry to see what other people had done with it. Although it was in 132 stashes and in 109 projects, there wasn’t a whole lot there that I was interested in. I saw Shedir, a CPH Hoodie (which I’ve already made), some hats and scarves, a Durrow, an Irish Hiking Scarf, several examples of Fetching. I didn’t see a large number of sweaters. You can imagine my surprise when, upon receiving my Interweave Knits Winter 2007 yesterday, the Queensland Kathmandu Aran turned up in the form of Miriam Felton’s Logan River Wrap. I would rather make a sweater, but I love the idea of a $25.00 project in IK! (It only takes six skeins). I probably won’t buy any, but I just thought I’d tempt you with a sale.

Here’s a thought. Make Roam for under $75.00!

I think I owe you

I owe you one post about Cherry Tree Hill’s possum yarn and a post about Trekking that I bought and Thimbles and Threads, right?  What’s a knitting blog without full disclosure. I still have like $20 in yarn money too and I’m staying near Hood River (in Cascade Locks). Seems like a good time to head to Knot Another Hat to me!

I’m having a lot of fun in doing the training of my new program and hanging out with the other participants. Its back to hard work (but rewarding) in my community next week.

off to see terry pratchett

I will intersperse yarny goodness with a blather about my personal life in an effort to shed some light on why I may not have my own second sock done for Second Sock September. I’m almost done with the first of three border stitch patterns for my Swallowtail Shawl. This is such an exciting thing that I can’t bear to work on the socks. I’d post a picture, but do you really need another picture of lump lace?

Tonight I’m going to go introduce the Ankh Morpork knitter’s guild to Terry Pratchett, because he’s going to be in Beaverton at Powell’s hawking his new book, Making Money. I was just saying to Josh that I’d love another book about Moist van Lipwig. And then I turned around and there it was. Not literally.  I can’t work on the shawl during the book talk, but maybe I can quietly work on the socks. Incidentally, Beaverton is the home of the Farmhouse Knit Shop. I don’t think there’s time to go and there’s good no reason to go, having just invested in BMFA products on Saturday, but I want there to be.

Today was run around day. I went and picked up some amount of supplies for my husband’s birthday party, which is happening this Friday. I’m going to make Spanakopita, Baba Ganoush, Hummus, Tabouli, Samosa and some kind of chili/cheese dip. Do you think it’s wrong to use old chili for a party dip? I got some of the spinach at the farmer’s market along with some garlic. Yummy. I’m going to have to mix it up with some stuff from the grocery store though. I knew 1 1/2 lbs wouldn’t be enough. I’m gonna need another whole pound! (Probably more. There’s less after you’ve removed the stems, which I think I’ll do.)

I may have an apartment. I realized last night that I really don’t want to move out even for only a year. However, this morning I remembered that I really really need a place to stay some nights and I don’ t have to sleep at my second apartment if I don’t want to.

This weekend I’m going to go and get some furniture for my new place. Lamps mainly. And maybe a curtain. Nothing like a temporary apartment when it’s so spartan it doesn’t feel like home. I’ve got a $50.00 gift certificate to Pier One. I don’t want to use it. I’d rather go to IKEA. Does anyone want to buy it for $42.00? (That includes insured shipping.) Josh agreed that I can have the sales price for my yarn stash. I plan to invest all the proceeds into a cheap online source for Claudia, Louet and Cherry Tree Hill through google’s ads no less. It’s called The Sheep’s Tale. Has anyone bought from them? By invest, I mean buy yarn of course!

There are no subliminal (buy yarn, eat food, read books) messages in this post. None. Really.

A Beached Cat or Monkey See, Monkey Too

My second pair of Monkey Socks.
Yarn: Koigu
Yarn Source: Needleworks Unlimited
Needles: Size 1 1/2 Addi Turbo DPN
Pattern: Monkey Socks by Cookie A (available from Knitty)
Finished: June 14, 2007

socks in snow

Must knit faster.

I woke up earlyish this morning to a winter wonderland. Then I went back to bed.

I really would like to finish the sock depicted in this photograph soon – I’m nearly down to the toe and I’m a bit worried I won’t have enough yarn left. I’m not even sure how this is possible. You can’t see the sock right now, sorry, it’s not done. You really shouldn’t stretch your uncompleted sock over the handle of a shovel without expecting some stitches to come undone. And the big stripe in the photograph? I had to leave the ball of yarn in my pocket.

It’s a BFF sock in Cherry Tree Hill (by Cookie). There are several possibilities as to why I am worried about the amount remaining yarn. One is that the cables eat yarn and I mean EAT. Another is that when I divided the yarn into balls I did so unevenly. A third is that 420 yards isn’t what it used to be. We’ll see.

my pretend rhinebeck loot and yarn diet 2007 contest

I have to tell you that I never even knew Rhinebeck existed until sometime this summer. And now I know this, because the Internet is EVIL EVIL EVIL. I didn’t go to Rhinebeck and I missed Estes Park – too tired from a crazy week even though it was only a 1 1/2 hr drive so I yet again have failed on the fiber festival front.