sock

lots of provider visits = lots of knitting.
here's my pansy socks. they are just lovely. i'm using a 2.5mm needle (my luscious darn pretty needles) and getting 8 sts/inch. this is a tad off for the pattern, but hey, they're socks.
the fabric is a bit dense, which will be a bonus since they will be worn by a teenager.
my one concern, will i have enough yarn??

can you relate??

so this arrives in my mailbox yesterday from my dear sister (who appears to know me too well). the image is an article from newsweek that shows a 98 year old women who was trapped in the wreckage of her home for 30 hours after the earthquake shook italy last week.

she worked, she knitted.

yeh...... i can relate.

spinning saturday

sunny, warming temperatures....perfect day for spinning! i finished ~summer stream~ the blue wool/alpaca blend from sandy long. i have 1,156 yds of a light worsted weight, 2 ply yarn. i've been contemplating a special project for a dear family member. it's a landmark birth-year, so what could be more perfect than a handknit, handspun garment. this is definately her colorway, now i just have to decide what garment to make. i have actually left myself enough time to do this one right!
i just needed something fun. fun to do, happy to spin and there sat this pencil roving. it's lollypops by louet. i'm always tickled to see this.....
turn into this! i'm thinking that i'll two-ply it. and i may even need more. this is just wonderful to spin and on sale (pollywogs) it doesn't get much better!

pansy

amy~the fibergoddess~ has a new focus. handpainted sock yarn. and not just any old yarn.... her wool combined with alpaca put up in a dk weight hank with lots of yards.

how cool is this? sweet pansy just waiting to be worked into a charming pair of socks.and there is already dissent in the air as to who will get the socks......

why i knit

if i had ever lost the reason why i picked up needles and yarn it all came back to me. i had my elderly father at a provider appointment. we arrived on time and settled into the waiting area. out came my latest traveling project which is a basic sock, knit with jitterbug~castagna, using my luscious grafton needles. as always, dad asks 'so what are you making now?' i don't think he really even knows or remembers, but he loves the attention we garner when i bring it out :)
sure enough, a staff member walks over and starts chatting about my sock. turns out she is also a knitter and has never seen anyone else knit socks. i was dumbstruck! never? (i ask) never was the reply. so dad pipes up that' she knits that stuff everywhere' totally missing the point that i'm trapped with him at these appointments and would go mad without it!
so, how long does it take to have a nerve study done? well, i'll give it to you in knitterly terms... knit the heel flap, turned the heel, did the gusset, completed 2 inches on the foot.
since surgery will be required, i'll need more sock yarn!

dare i say done?

the kauni craze initiated by 'the yarn harlot' ended for me today. i'm still slightly woozy with the realization that i did it. having never undertaken a fiber project of this magnitude, well lets just say it was better that i didn't know. knit in the round on wee tiny needles, using wee skinny yarn, with two skeins simultaneously. must. have. been. nuts!

i got nervous half way through that it wouldn't fit. seems that i was a bit tight on gauge figuring out the pattern. so i made myself loosen up. i know, sounds impossible, but i did it. i loved the steeking element of the project and would do that again in a snap. i love knitting in the round, so that works very well for me. the sleeves were perfect length pre-wash/block and may be a tad long, but i they seem quite comfortable so leaving them as is.i may even put it on my list of 'seconds' to do another.