Socktoberfest?

Eileen is making me look like such a slacker. But that's only because she's on fall break and can knit to her heart's content (so I tell myself). I actually have gotten some knitting done, hurrah!



My first Pomatomus is done except for grafting the toe; my worries about having enough yarn for three pattern repeats on the cuff were completely unfounded. Question: when you have a fair amount of yarn left over from a sock, do you start the second sock with that yarn, or do you use a second ball so you won't have to weave in any ends?

I found knitting Pomatomus kind of tedious; I love how the sock looks on but I guess I'm just not that into pattern repetition. However, I've (necessarily) gotten over my hatred of ktbl, which is good as it's used everywhere, and on like all of Cookie's awesome socks. I did run into a snag while knitting, though:



I had a needle that felt a little off, so I'm guessing it's been cracked awhile. That's the second needle from this set that I've broken (though at least this one wasn't in a stupid way), but I absolutely love the Brittany birch needles so I might just go ahead and buy another set. Since I'm knitting socks anyways, and it's October, I wonder if I should just go ahead and say I'm doing Socktoberfest?

I'm finding that red is, like everyone says, hard to photograph. This is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Red Rover; it's as bright as the second picture but with all the color variations (from plum to rusty orange) in the first picture. I'll try and get a decent photo when they're finished : )

My mom sent me ribbon in her last package, so my Summertime Tunic is officially finished. The knitting has been done for weeks; I was waiting for the ribbon that she said she'd sew for me. So here is a finished shot, dark because it was late afternoon and I am too lazy to brighten it up in Photoshop, because I'm generally too lazy to even post most of the time, so at least it's up.



It seems very large on me. Mostly just too long, but also a big bulky. I think I'll let it hibernate over winter and see how I feel about it & what's fashionable. And maybe in the meantime I'll find a well-lit place to take photographs of objects I'm wearing. This post is also an experiment with Flickr (thanks, blue lace fiesta for explaining the arcane workings to me!), so we'll see how it looks. I really want to be able to put in whatever size pictures I darn well feel like, but I'm using Flickr right now because of Ravely. Ahh, precious, precious Ravelry.

Yarn and Yarnability

To explain my title, I have been watching Blackadder, this older British comedy with Rowen Atkinson, and in Season three, all the episodes are a play off Jane Austen Novels, for example, Nob and Nobility, Dual and Dualability, and so on...

The moment we have all been waiting for! I have found the connector for my camera woohoo! (Though I still don't have pictures of everything).
Here is what I have been doing lately:This is the sock I learned to make at a Sock Club class at Sophie's. It is by Elise, called Mossy Diamond Sock. This is my first attempt at a toe up sock and I freaked out. Thanks to Molly I turned the heel successfully!
This is Queen of Cups from knitty. I am kind of upset that I didn't choose a better yarn for this. The pattern and the yarn are awesome, just not together. I guess I will try it again with a solid.
This is also Mountain Colors. The colorway is Rosehip and I love it! This is what my Mossy Diamond Socks are being knit with. I thought it kind of looked like an apple, which is why I am holding it like this.

My beautiful Mountain Colors! This is Tamarack and it is gorgeous!

This is my Brushed Suri (Lollipop), and with it, I am going to knit this:

This is not me or my work! I just thought that I would say that so I don't get in trouble. This is just the pattern that I am going to use. Isn't it cute!!

And now, ladies and gentlemen, the sad results of the first half of my adventures in spinning!! BTW, it is super hard!

The beautiful un-spun wool. I love the colors!

The Drop-spindle with the "yarn" on it. And I say "yarn" because I am not really sure my chunky mess of twisted wool deserves the title yarn just yet.

And this is a closeup of the "yarn." Notice the different widths? I think I have some sock yarn and some super chunky stuff all in the same batch!

More pictures to come, I just left some of my projects at school so I have to wait until I go back to take some more pictures.

Wool Fest? Heck Yes!

So I went to the Kentucky Wool Fest Yesterday with my aunt and her daughters and it was pretty much the coolest thing ever. We walked around this festival with a bunch of hillbillies. We got to see sheep getting sheered and hold baby goats that were teeny tiny!

Then came the best part: the 1000 pound cow-pig as my 4-year-old cousin Caroline calls it. It was really just a huge pig. Just kidding, the best part was really the yarn and wool part of it. There was a lady selling needle felting kits, which is really cool. Other ladies were spinning and combing out wool, it was awesome.

I bought two little sheep, one blue and orange and the other red and blue, made by needle felting. The lady gave them to me for $5! Then I bought a drop spindle and got some wool free and have been working on that for 2 days. It is really fun until your shoulder starts to hurt! I think I will like it more when I am better at making the yarn one thickness...it is kind of chunky. Oh well, first time for everything! The wool is beautiful though. It has pinks and browns and greens in it. and all that for only $15! woot!

I also got some alpaca and silk yarn from Sophie's to knit my mom a beautiful lace scarf for her birthday.

I still don't have a connector cable for my camera but I should get one this weekend because it is fall break. I will finally be able to post pictures of all of my projects!

So Many Projects, So Little Pictures

Now that I am away from home (I am living at Xavier University. Best college ever!) and have a laptop, there is no way for me to upload pictures right now. I thought laptops were supposed to come with all the state of the art equipment, but apparently that does not include a place to put your memory card. Well, I have decided just to put a bunch of links up to the yarn and projects I am knitting.

I finished the summer tunic with Cathay by Debbie Bliss as well (my yarn color is way cooler than Molly's, kind of a light green color but it isn't on the website).

I started this Messenger bag from Knitty for my friend Lauren's birthday (which was in August and yes I feel bad). The colors are black, blue and pink, her favorites! I also am making a shirt for her that is like Tubey that Molly was knitting, but there is no pattern. I am making it up as I go. Woohoo!

I am making scarves for a fund-raiser at my uncle's conservation park, Split-Rock, out of this hideous eyelash yarn that I got for Christmas last year. My godmother has the best of intentions and I love her for it but I am spoiled with all the pretty yarns and this eyelash yarn is not pretty.

Knit on in Newport is pretty much the coolest yarn shop ever! And not just because I may get a job there. They are cool because they Mountain colors, my now second favorite sock yarn next to Lorna's Laces. I am using it to knit Queen of Cups from Knitty. The only problem is that it is hard to see the lace pattern because of all the alternating colors. The socks are still gorgeous. I will just have to knit another pair in a solid.

Next project: hats for my friends with leftover yarn. I need to get rid of some and it is getting cold. Besides, who doesn't like hats? And I can use more friends here.

I promise to post pictures someday...