29 July
Pair 5 casted on this morning. Another pair of ankles socks, this time for MissKaboom. I just turned the heal and picked up stitches for the gusset.
July 28, 2009
My Knitting Basket: 28 July 2009
28 July
Pair 4 Finished
This isn't a very good photo. I used my iSight camera, but I have other pics on my dslr (and yes, that is dog hair. MissCreativity loved them and didn't want to take them off! And, yes. I need to sweep. All the time. The dog sheds like crazy.)
July 17, 2009
My Knitting Basket: 17 July 2009
17 July
Pair 3 finished!
Pair 3, Preschool size ankle socks for TheBoy (he wears about a 7) in Packers colors. Chestnut Bay Fibers (find them on Etsy). Part of the Sport Team sock club.
I also have a knitting injury! I really thought that by now I would have a nice callous to protect me from the size 3 and under needles, but I don’t! I don’t know why! I have a little puncture/cut in my index finger of my left hand from moving the needles along. Those small tips are doing some damage. hrmph! Sometimes I have to put a bandaid on it, but I really hate having to do that.
Today I am casting on more Packers socks. This time for MissCreativity. She’s not really a football fan (YET. We’ll get to her,) but since she’s basically forced to watch with us, I’m making her socks so she can join us in that, too! 
July 15, 2009
My Knitting Basket: 15 July 2009
15 July
More Socks!
Here are some more socks:
color is so wrong in this, but they are cute anyway!
almost, but not quite, done!
June 25, 2009
My Knitting Basket: 25 June 2009
YIPPEE!!!!
My Chestnut Bay Sport Team Club yarn arrived!!!!! It is gorgeous! I have 5 hanks of Green Bay Packers colorway yarn and two skeins of traitor Cowboys colorway yarn and I also received a special treat from CBF: a newly dyed hank of sock yarn in a really lovely colorway, thought I don’t know the name of it! The color combination is lovely. It is bright, but not loud. There are so, so many colors that come together beautifully. Can’t wait to use it (after football socks, of course…. the NFL season will be starting before I know it!)
"mystery" colorway
gorgeous, isn't it?
June 25, 2009
finally finished
FINISHED!!!! The first pair is finally finished. This picture shows the colors closely, but not quite accurately. It really is a rich, beautiful color way.
52 PP III ~ Pair 1, Happy Feet yarn (color #11), basic ankle sock pattern (my own, plain, nothing special, but oh-so-comfy pattern)
June 16, 2009
Knitting Stuff I’m Thinking About
My Knitting Basket
Apart from figuring out how to tame the Stash Monster, (i.e. my ridiculous amount of yarn, needles, patterns, books and other notions) I have several things going and planned right now. As I mentioned in a previous entry, I have signed up the the 52 Pair Plunge. I’ve gotten almost nowhere, really, considering this is the third week of the Plunge and I’ve done ONE sock, but I have confidence that I will be able to make up for some lost time on our trip to South Carolina in 2 weeks (we’re driving.) I am going to do some baby socks (yes, they count) to try to get caught up. I will also be bringing along 2 other “Works in Progress” (WiP) to that end (or maybe even to “get ahead” of the basic idea that we do a pair a week.)
I heard from Chestnut Bay Fibers and my Sport Team Sock Club yarn should be here this week. I’m very excited about that! I can’t wait to see the colors! (I ordered 5 hanks in Packers colors and 2 hanks in Cowboys colors so I can knit team socks for everyone, including the TRAITORS, in our family.)
I am going to have to fix the sleeves on the completed sleep sack (they really are ridiculously long) and I am still working on the striped one as well. Along with all of that, I have a couple of other things planned, but I’ll mention those when I get closer to actually casting on or picking it back up.
June 15, 2009
1 Down, 103 to Go: My Knitting Basket: 15 June 2009
15 June 2009
52 Pair Plunge
One sock complete. It’s a start!
Happy Feet Yarn by Plymouth, color 11
This pic is not showing true color. It is much darker/deeper in real life
This pic is not showing true color. It is much darker/deeper in real life
The coloring in this pic is VERY close to the actual color
I love how this sock fits. It’s really comfy. Snug, but not too tight. Just right!
June 11, 2009
One Half of One Pair
I’m off to a terribly slow start, but here’s what I did toward the 52PPiii today.
(Click to enlarge)
Happy Feet Color Number 11
June 3, 2009
My Knitting Basket: 3 June 2009
3 June 2009
Sleep Sacks
(Pictures to be added later…after I download them!) A few days ago, I finished up the sleep sack. I love how it looks *in general*, but the sleeves turned out way too long, I was “off” a couple of rows in one area and misunderstood/didn’t properly read part of the instructions for the hand mitts and had to cut one of the mitts, rip it out and start again. *sigh* It’s alright, but it’s not what I had hoped for. I used KnitPicks “organic” cotton in ginger for the main and used Bernat’s Cotton Tots in “natural” for the drawstring and the neck edging. The contrast between the colors is lovely.
I decided that with the little bits of the KnitPicks yarn and the rest of the Cotton Tots, I could make a hat to match. The hat is lovely! I just kind of winged it, not using a pattern and just following the ideas that are already in my head (from previous hats made) but making a totally new hat in the process. I had to make a couple of “on the fly” adjustments at the end so that the decreasing at the top would work out evenly. I am much more pleased with the hat than the sack.
The sack really would have been better if it had been knit in the round (up to the arm holes) and the mitts could be made in one piece at the end of the sleeve. True, making the mitts in one piece will mean they are more square than rounded, but I think that will be fine because it really won’t matter to the newborn it is intended for if it is square. I have casted on another to be knit in the round. I’m using Cotton Tots of various colors to be knit in uneven stripes. Because of the multiple colors, I thought that the birdseye pattern was unnecessary and am knitting it in stockinette stitch instead. The colors are pretty “strong” but not really bright. I am not sure that what I am envisioning in my mind is exactly what the end result will be, but I hope it will be close to my imagined sack. If it is, I think that it will be quite cute.
I intend to only have TWO seams. One at each shoulder ~ and those will be handled with a 3 needle bind off! (I hate seams.) The plan is to knit the sleeves on in the round. I think the sleeves may be solid rather than striped and knit in a gender specific color (and shorter than the ones on the original!) So, I guess I’m writing a pattern inspired by my experience with the one in the Pipsqueak Knits: 12 Deluxe QuickKnits for Your Baby & Toddler
Socks!
Inspired by my friend, KC, I have joined the 52 Pair PlungeIII sock knitting “knit-along” (KAL). The rules are simple. Knit (or crochet, if that’s what you do) 52 pairs of socks, any socks, baby, adult, child, (but no slippers, mocs, whatever) in a year. And YES, WIP’s count! There is a blog for it, but the KAL was announced ” through a ravelry group “52ppiii”. I signed up there and was instructed to email a few things about myself for the KAL. I thought it would be fun, especially since KC is on board, so I signed up, too. As I told KC, if I “fail” then I’ll just be prepared for the KAL police to come and take me away or something!
(edited to add this bit from the ravely group page:)
The Challenge
- Knit or crochet 52 pairs of socks in one calendar year (midnight 1 June 2009 – midnight May 31, 2010)
- Socks may be any pattern, any yarn, any size (baby, child, adult) – leg warmers, knitted boots, slippers, etc. do not count because they are not socks! And yes WIP’s count!
- Anatomy of a sock: Socks have 3 parts, toes, heels and cuff. Yoga socks, pedicure socks, and tube socks will not count for this years plunge.
Anyway, I thought it sounded fun and it will help me bust some stash… especially with the sock club I just joined that will be adding more sock yarn to said stash. ( Baby Ull is great for socks, too! and as you know, I just got a bunch of it… and already had a bunch of it in my stash before that acquisition.)
Found Yarn!
I felt like I hit a jackpot yesterday! When I cleaned out the closet under the stairs, I found a bag of Lion’s Wool Ease chunky in there! WhooHoo! I am not sure what I intended for it, but it appears that there is enough for an adult size sweater.
