Chroma sock

i really do love this yarn.  so much that i went back to Knit Picks and ordered some more.  ssssshh.

i've been working on a sock in the fingering weight.  toe-up, like i usually knit my socks, with a short row heel.  i decided to use a different yarn for the heel so that the colour changes in the Chroma wouldn't be interrupted. 

heel:

a picture taken using the flash because it really makes the colours pop!

so... i've been knitting...

a little thing like divorce and complete life upheaval cannot keep me from my yarn and needles! here's a post with a few of the knits i've completed since my life changed :)

"Sweeney Todd" men's socks:

"Acid Alice" socks:

and life would not be complete without some rainbowish jaywalkers:


i have a free toe-up sock pattern available for download on Ravelry :)

and shawls! lacey things have taken my fancy:




i was also completely surprised when Vogue Knitting contacted me and asked if they could feature my Edwardian Ruffle Collar pattern in one of their issues:




....aaaaand... one of my current works in progress. a simple stripey scarf done in Knit Picks' Chroma Worsted. i'm using the colours Lollipop and RollerSkate.

oooo, i love Noro...

Yarn: Noro Kureyon sock in colour s182 and Regia 4ply in black. my regular toe up pattern. a black heel and toe, knit four rows of Noro, four rows of black and you get some fabulous socks!

i put these up on Etsy but i may regret selling them. even if i did another pair with the leftover yarn there is no way i'd ever get them this perfectly rainbow again.

on a personal note, i can't sleep. i went to bed at 6:30ish because i was getting a pretty nasty migraine. i couldn't sleep then either. so i took half of a sleeping pill and finally passed out around 8:00. slept very well. i woke up around 4:ooam to pee and now i just can't fall back to sleep. i don't want to take the other half of the sleeping pill, so i figured i'd get up and do a few quiet things. thank goodness we have nothing on the agenda for tomorrow, i'll nap if i need to :)

not enough time to type...

so here are a few pictures of socks i've been working on:

on a finishing SPREE!

i started these socks way back in February 2007. they got put aside for a long time after i brought them to loads of dentist appts with John. i would sit there as moral support and knit... and then every time i picked up the socks anywhere but the dentist office i would hear drills in my mind. i would smell that icky dentist office smell. so they got put to the side for a while.

now they're done. i love them!!

the yarn is Fleece Artist merino sock. the pattern is my own.




and what good would finishing be without a little starting too? new socks in On Your Toes yarn. sweet colours huh!

more finished socks

another pair of Noro Kureyon socks. they took my a while to finish because i just wasn't that into the colour of these ones.

Bellatrix complete

i cast off with a ruffly sort of edging to add a little extra fun to these socks.

they turned out too loose. my fault, i cast on my usual amount of stitches, more than the pattern called for. the dropped stitches loosen everything up. oh well. they'll be my slouchy Bellatrix socks.

Bellatrix socks.

did you all hear that the new Harry Potter movie has been pushed back to July 2009?? wtf!? we were really looking forward to seeing it in November. :(

speaking of Harry Potter, i'm working on a pair of Bellatrix socks (thank you Ravelry!). love the pattern! i'm past the heel now on the first sock, but don't have a new photo yet. i'll take one when it's wearable :)

the socks...

for Holly. here are the yarns i used for each pair :)


for the blue and pastel socks below i used Estelle Arequipa (blue) and Trekking XXL (i don't have the ball band anymore... i bought the yarn a long time ago. it's one of Trekking's slowly changing colourways in soft pastel colours):




for the next pair i used the same Trekking XXL as the pair above and the blue is Meilenweit Mega Boots Stretch in colour 704:



the beige in the next pair is Elann's Sock It to Me and the green/blue is Colinette Jitterbug in Lagoon:


and then i have a poor lonely sock who's waiting for it's partner. the blue is Meilenweit Mega Boots Stretch again. the red is a Regia sock yarn. again, i've lost the ball band so i can't tell you the colourway. and i can't seem to find it anywhere online either.

so... i used to blog

blogging may not have been my forte these last months, but at least i've still been knitting... right?

and i've been knitting socks. surprised?








i started a shawl or two:



finished a shawl:


since it is 1:21 in the morning, i'll just leave it at that... and maybe warn that I'm Back!

now here's an anomoly on my blog...

the RubySapphire socks are finally done!! i love love love them!! the yarn is so yummy. they feel really great on my feet... so smooth. i haven't washed them yet... so i don't know how they'll stand up to that, but otherwise i highly recommend RubySapphire's Luster Sock yarn. mmm mmmm good.

and now you can stop gaping... i know... it's really weird to see actual knitting on my knitting blog!

now i'm going to work on Jake's socks. while the kids are outside and there is no soap, or body butter, or lip balm OR solid fragrances to be made and before i have to start dinner!! (we made a solid fragrance with Monkey Farts... it makes me giggle every time someone says the name of it. LOL)

food poisoning...

the only upside? it wasn't my cooking that did it!

omg. this is never ending. the kids go up and down... fine for a few hours, bad for a longer few hours. poor Jake had to have his sheets changed THREE times last night because icky stuff was oozing out of him.

and we've become one of "those" homeschooling families.

food poisoning? hrmm... i think we have an "edutainment" tv show somewhere about food poisoning and how your body deals and why you feel like crap during it. so while they're suffering the kids are dying to know why and have done a little research into it.

so, no knitting for me tonight. trust me, nobody wants to be here during this fun.

i have been knitting a little though! not much... i just turned the heel on Jake's first Regia sock and i just finished the toe (on a toe-up sock) of my second RubySapphire sock.



psst... i added an Etsy widget in the column to the right... is it showing up okay for everyone?

pictures to go with last night's post...

(i just uploaded them to photobucket and then edited the size to 640x480. smaller than usual, but meh, it'll do for now.)

i turned the heel on the RubySapphire sock last night. lovin' it! i just decided to go with plain stockinette. i thought a pattern might get lost in the colours (Jaywalkers might work though), and i wasn't really sure how the yarn would knit up. i'm really tempted to buy another hank of their "luster sock" (50% merino, 50% tencel).

my sock yarn stash is getting bigger again... i just sold a bunch of it! Red Bird Knit's sock of the month club kit showed up late last week (thanks Sharon!)... it has two balls of yarn in it, enough for 2 pairs of socks OR the pattern that came along with the kit - isn't the sock pretty?!. of course, Juliet has claimed the kit as her own yet again ;) i guess since i'm ripping back the Yorkminster sock i might be able to accommodate her wishes... eventually!

it all makes me wish i could knit faster ;)

tomorrow is a big day... it's my brother's 30th birthday!!! and he still lives at home... mwa hahahahaa!! (i laugh, but he's going to school, so living at home is the only option at the moment) i saw the BEST t-shirt for him, but wouldn't you know it's sold out in his size. ARG. we'll probably head up to see him next weekend to do some celebrating! :)

i can't edit my photos!

i took some of the RubySapphire sock-in-progress (i'm really enjoying knitting with the yarn!), but for some dumb reason the program i'm very used to using to edit my photos will not work. guess i'm going to have to pester John to fix it when he gets home from work tomorrow.

i'm going to rip back the Yorkminster sock. while it fits, it's snug on me, but just a bit too snug on Juliet. i'm considering redoing the pattern, but going up a needle size.

and because this has become the house of one sock wonders, i've started yet another one... for Jake this time. in some funky variegated Regia. i have a photo of that too, but...

and i got a little tired of using scraps of yarn as stitch markers, so i pulled apart a bracelet i had and made 4 cute beaded ones, with small rings, specifically for my sock knitting.

so... the soap thing is going well. she's sold quite a few considering. we've discussed putting some up on Etsy.com along with making 100%, entirely, absolutely handmade soaps. i guess that should read that *i* would be making the 100% handmade soaps because there is no way i'm letting her mess around with lye. tomorrow we're going to check out some local stores for the ingredients needed IF the weather permits. (i have no objections to 100% homemade soaps... i really prefer them over store-bought soaps! :D )

alrighty... since i have no pictures i'm going to end this. abruptly. ;)

my shrunken socks

a little tale of caution... here are my lovely Fleece Artist socks BEFORE washing...


and here they are AFTER (notice the placement of the tattoo above... and the 2 little dots of it visible in the after photo to get the full extent of the shrinkage)...


a little felted, shrunken (but still wearable and incredibly soft)... just not the same. granted it took quite a few trips through the washer and dryer to get to this stage, but they got there. so i'll be hand washing my socks from now on, especially the merino ones!