Sock Yarn

I decided to break down and take pictures of the sock yarn portion of the stash.  The first drawer has a few other goodies inside.  There is some Nevada Sport yarn that will become a Chanel Jacket at some point this winter.  It was purchased from a yarn store in the Galleria back in 1985 and I never found the time to make it.  I have converted the pattern from two needles to a seamless one with three needle bind off for the shoulder seams.  There is also two skeins of CashSoft in a wonderful blue that will become a scarf or cowl.  There is also a skein of Artyarns Regal Silk that has been turned into a cake but has not decided what is wants to become.  And one lone skein of Cathay remains to join the newest acquisition from Ellen for the Deep V Sweater by Erika Knight.

Drawer two contains a lot of Indie yarns.  You may also see a few skeins from Malabrigo.  There is one of their sock yarns in colorway 801 Boticelli Red.  There is one of their lace yarns that was custom dyed for me in a swap.  Three is a their chunky and for the life of me I can't recall the name of the colorway.  I got it from Amy and still haven't done much more than fondle it.  You may also notice the lone skein of Manos Del Uruguay in the middle of the pile.  It too has not decided what to become and until it does, I just fondle it as well.

The funny part of all of this is that most of these beautiful skeins in the second drawer will become shawls, scarves or other pieces and not socks.  What about your sock yarn stash?  What does it look like?  Flash pictures...but I can assure you that I will be instituting a self-imposed sock of the month club myself and will begin posting about that in December.

Thoughts on Thursday

Random thoughts cross my mind today....

For instance, I want to buy some of the beautiful pins I found at The Metropolitan Museum of Art Store.  If I was in NYC I would just spend a day at the Museum.  It has been years since I was in NYC.  SWCNLBN is from Upstate NY and folks from that part of the State wish that NYC would slide off the map, so we never went there, EVER.  What a shame all those wasted years.  Oh well, the past is the past and I am ready to re-discover places I have missed the last twelve years.

I have been knitting up a storm even though I have not added any pictures.  I keep putting it in writing here so that you all will hold me accountable for the pictures.  I finished the second Shur' tugal sock today and will do the Kitchener later when I am at home and have total silence.  As many years as I have been doing it you would think that I could do it anywhere.  Alas, no way.  I still need to concentrate even with the wonderful key chain that Amy gave me in the last swap.  The socks are so cozy.  Lizzie did a wonderful job with the dying process and I am so glad that I was able to see it in process and then turn the hank into these lovely socks.  I hope to get them soaked and blocked by the end of the weekend so that I can drop them off next week for the contest.  Officially, we don't have to get them to the shop until the 23rd, but I don't want to tempt fate.

I have also been knitting away on the USS Lehmus-huivi.  I had made it all the way up to almost twenty-five repeats when a small child picked it up and it slipped off the needles.  Totally my fault.  I did not have point protectors on it when I laid it down and I didn't have a life line in it either.  With no wee little ones in the house any longer I hardly ever use point protectors, unless I am packing the project to transport it some place.  As for not having a life line in place, there is just no excuse and I knew fate would get me for that.  I wanted to cry; however, the parents were mortified enough so I just graciously picked it up and put it on the dining room table to fret over after they left.  Aside from having to unravel it all and start over I learned a few very important lessons.  Lesson one is to always use a life line with lace of this sort.  Lesson two is to always use point protectors on lace of this sort.  I am finally back at the twenty-five repeat place and need to get some pictures taken.  It is stunning even though it has not been soaked and blocked.  I can only imagine how wonderful it will look when it is done.

The Red Hot is in limbo.  Why?  I loathe and despise seaming.  In fact if I didn't feel that way I could already be wearing it.  When I am finished with the Lehmus-huivi I will be seaming it together.  I must admit that the Rowan Calmer was a joy to work with and I am looking forward to making more things with it.

There are currently twelve other projects on the needles on my Ravelry Project Page.  Wait, technically Red Robin is done except for the buttons.  I don't consider it finished yet because I couldn't use it without the buttons.  I must rectify that this weekend as well.  Goals for the rest?  You bet I haz dem.   One of them is a secret project that will be finished in a week, no later than two.  As soon as I'm done with that, I will be finishing up the Lehmus-huivi first so that I can get it to Lizzie.  Next will be the Traveling Woman followed by the Multnomah.  After that, I will get the Turn a Square done.  From there it will be a toss up to get the ones with the least amount of work done so that I can turn up the volume on to the ones that will remain.

I really want to see if I can get 10 Shawls in 2010 done.  I'm not sure if it is a reasonable goal, as I only have six completed that meet the requirements.  The Lehmus-huivi, Traveling Woman and Multnomah would get me to nine.  We'll see.  I have a skein of Noro Kureyon Sock that may become a Citron but we'll see if I can get to it before the year ends.

I also wanted to toss out this link.  I had to laugh at first but then I printed the flyer and thought about it a little harder.  I think I'm into it now and will be considering the options so that I can participate.  I also have items to send to Amy for her work as well.

Okay gang, I have rambled long enough....

Monday

Okay, so I am stumped.  No, not really stumped.  I have a color challenge and that is most unnerving for me.  Color is something that I usually have great mastery over.  So, I am asking all those followers, stealth or otherwise, to help me on this.

This wonderful picture is ShiBui Knits Sock Yarn in colorway Roppongi (#4103).  It is a combination of Peony (intense berry), Lily (bright peachy orange) and Mulberry (deep Merlot purple).  My challenge is that I need to find solids from The Loopy Ewe - Solid Series that work with this wonderful yarn.

Now, I could be safe and get the black or white and that would work.  Or I could be totally unoriginal and get the Mulberry and it too would work.  What I want is two colors that will make this colorway sing.  Not like a little nursery rhyme.  I want a big chested jazz singing diva combo.  Some combination that will slap you awake without being gaudy.  I want to say that Malachite and Lake or Malachite and Oyster would be the best combination choices.  What do you think?

I know you have opinions....please share or I'll be forced to ask random strangers for their thoughts....  Come on Miss Ginger.  You have the best fashion sense going...what would you choose?

USS Migration

So, I have been knitting like a fiend lately and that is a good thing.  I have managed to finish up several old UFO's and that feels WONDERFUL!  I have the buttons to finish the Red Robin and I'll most likely do that this weekend since we have a large percentage chance of rain.  I have decided that the remainder of this year will be devoted to projects that I want to do for the pleasure of knitting.

I have been knitting for others for so long that I had almost forgotten how much pleasure one can derive from making the project all about ME!  Now don't get me wrong, I love making things for other people.  It is such a joy to be able to share with others.  I just think it is high time I made some things for myself.  So far, out of the twenty-nine projects that I have completed in 2010, only three have been for me.  I have made the Clementine, the Sugar Rush Tank and the Calais all for my pleasure.  I still owe you pictures of the Clementine.  Hopefully today I can get the correct lighting.  It is beautiful and soft.

I do have four projects in my WIP pile and they are all getting love; however, I have been branching out again.  The CLACK group has some amazing women as members and I have begun to make time in my weekly schedule to attend as many Monday's as possible.  One of the ladies works for the Upstairs Studio in La Porte.  She posted in Ravelry that she needed some Sample Knitters.  I had never considered sample knitting but I thought this was a great place in my life to offer my self for the store.

I am glad that I did!  I went by there this past Wednesday.  Shame on me for not having a knitting project with me that day.  I was running late that morning and didn't have the time to gather one up.  So I arrived empty handed at a yarn store.  But, in my defense, I never expected to be so drawn to these women and the one young man that was there.  Clarice, the owner, is a wonderful woman.  She is funny too!  There were several ladies, all with various skill levels.  One was busily crocheting blocks for charity, one was knitting her first ever pair of socks from Noro and one was making socks for a friend.  The lone young man is also part of CLACK and I have been wanting to meet him.  He was a hoot!  I can see that he and Lizzie are going to be serious enablers.

Lizzie quickly rounded up the yarns and the book for the sample knitting.  I decided that I could stay a while so I sat down to start on the socks.  Right away I saw an issue.  The pattern was Toe Up and I had never made a pair of socks that way.  I advised Lizzie and she asked if I wanted to learn or for her to find another pattern.  I decided that if she was game enough to teach me I was more than able to learn.  So, in the first hour I learned Turkish Cast On, Magic Loop and Toe Up.  Three new techniques all in one day.  Not to mention that the selected pattern is a color-work pattern.  I am making the Migration socks from The Eclectic Sole.  They are the socks on the cover of the book.  While I was knitting with these new-found skills we also discussed Alpaca (they have some that is to amazing for words) and Bamboo thread on a cone for a shawl.  Needless to say, as soon as I have the socks done I am already down for a shawl.

Now don't fret...I am not distracted by this and the bonuses are great!  The store supplies all the yarn for the project and after they are on display for six months they are returned to the test/sample knitter.  So, I will have these beautiful socks for my very own feet delivered back to me around Valentine's Day....  So, even though I am sample knitting, I am able to pick a few of the details myself.  For instance, I picked the shawl pattern from a list she found from a search on Ravelry and the bamboo was from a wall of colors.  It is a bronze brown.  It is hard to describe, so I'll get the name of the stuff on my next visit.

So, the three pictures above are the teaser for the socks.  I am stoked and will be knitting on them at the same time I work on Red Hot and Green Gable.

Stephanie's Mother's Day Calais

This post is long overdue.  I finished Stephanie's made to order Calais for Mother's Day on May 16th.  Details can be found on my Ravelry Project Page.  The more I work with this pattern the more I love it.  The two charts are super easy to memorize and the sock yarn that I used for this one was a super fun way to use one skein of yarn on something other than socks.  Not that I don't love making socks, I just love to see what else I can make out of the yummy yarns that are available for socks.

Pictures

The finished object.....

Trying to get a close up.... not so good this time

A few rows into Chart A

Colinette Jitterbug in Bright Charcoal