Another Sock Bites the Dust

Another one down and many more to go. I finished the Angee socks and they do fit mom. She said I could keep them, but I made me a pair of purple Trekking socks earlier this year. This was another great Cookie A pattern.




Specs:

Pattern: Angee from Sock Innovation by Cookie A
Yarn: Sundara Yarn Sock in the original 185 yard put up. No color just a number.
Needles: Knit Picks 1.5 (2.5 mm) dpn's
Size: 10 for mom
Started: April 19, 2009 Finished: April 29, 2009

Love, love, loved knitting this pattern. If you can "read" your knitting you will be able to memorize the pattern. I also loved knitting with the Sundara Sock. It gives excellent stitch definition. I used the same yarn for the Cascading Leaves socks.

Going With the Flow

I'm sitting here watching CSI Miami and knitting away. Knitting steadily and wrong. I got caught up in the show and autopilot knitted when I should have been knitting and slipping. All is back to normal now.

I completed the first foot of Angee last Thursday. (click to enlarge and see the detail of this sock.)


I ordered this Sundara Sock a few years back and don't know if she's changed her base since then. It knits up beautifully and shows stitch definition very well. This is the second time I've used it and I'm enjoying it as much as the first. I knitted mom's Cascading Leaves socks from the same yarn. I have two more skeins in a maroon color that I will use for myself.

I'm in a sock mood at the moment so instead of forcing myself to knit other things I'm to go with the flow for as long as it lasts. Eventually I'll pick up my other projects. There's a shawl to finish and another I want to start on, but for now I'm going to work on what is calling to me.

I've also started reading The Shack by Wm. Paul Young. This book crossed my path three times in one day and I took that as a sign that I should read it. It is a contemporary Christian story and has touched everyone I come in contact with who has read it. I'll give a synopsis once I've finished reading it.

Socks and books. That's it for now.

Shameless Knitting Pr0n

The past couple of days have been about shameless stash enhancement and accessory acquisition. I had a great time at the Stitches Market although we still think it was a scaled down version of the others. Some of the vendors you typically hear about were not in attendance. A lot of the patterns that I wanted were available in kit form only and I was not going to spend $150 - $200 just to get a pattern.

I was also disappointed that you couldn't take pictures inside. It's not like we were exposed to any knew or breaking kntting news or gadgets. I would have loved to have had this documented for the four of us that went down to Atlanta together. I joined fellow guild members Nova, Laurie and Kim for wonderful day trip.

I purchased mainly sock yarn because I wanted to try yarns other than ones available here in Columbia.


From left to right:
1. Pagewood Farms Chugiak
2. Pagewood Farms Yukon
3. Ivy Brambles
4. Knit Witch
5. Shibuiknits Sock
6. Creatively Dyed Calypso
7. Dream in Color Smooshy
8. Miss Babs Yummy Monochrome
9. 2 skeins of Plymouth Sockotta
10. 3 skeins of Kureyon Sock

3 skeins of Skaska Design 50% Merino / 50% Silk Laceweight each 1260 yards.


An assortment of patterns, a book on sweater design and a dvd.


Enough Jojoland Melody and the pattern to knit the Swirl Shawl.


The Ashlar hat pattern and the Miss Babs Yikes! Toes to knit it.


I purchased this assortment of Namaste bags prior to Stitches, but picked them up from Jodi, one of our guild members and a knitting designer, who ordered them for us. 3 for me and 1 of the Newport bags for mom. She was able to get us a great price on the bags so I ordered a small, medium and large size to suit all knitting occassions.


One of the lys, the Hook N Needle, had Cascade at 50% off if you purchased ten or more skeins and I couldn't resist. I plan to make hats and mittens for Christmas out of these skeins.


Mom returned from her trip today and the first thing that got stuck in my hand was a bag of yarn. She found a knitting shop in Key West and purchased several skeins of sock yarn.


3 skeins of Classic Elite Alpaca Sox and ...


6 skeins of Colinette Jitterbug.

I wasn't planning on buying the Jitterbug due to its short yardage, but I will never turn down sock yarn. Especially free sock yarn. I think this more than makes up for the relative lack of knitting purchases that have occurred this year, excluding the Kauni yarn of course. From know own I'll be busy knitting instead of buying.

Frogging

Much as I loved the Rick socks it wasn't meant to be. Those twisted stitches sure do eat up a lot of yardage. More yardage than I had available. I quickly ripped it out and started Angee another pattern from Sock Innovation.


The only problem I'm having now is that I added five additional stitches and after trying the sock on I doubt that it will fit mom. It is rather snug on me. I'm not going to rip these instead I'll keep them for myself and see if I can find a nice shade of purple at Stitches on Friday. If that doesn't work out I'll dye the yarn myself.

I looked over the vendor list today and I'm a little disappointed. It doesn't seem to be as many vendors judging from comments I've read about previous Stitches events. I hope to be pleasantly surprised in Atlanta.

Sheep Art

I came across this on Yahoo video. If you haven't seen it you must take a look. It's amazing!

SAMSUNG LED SHEEP @ Yahoo! Video

Swirls

I've got a good start on my first pair of socks from Sock Innovation. From the moment I previewed the book I knew that I would knit this pair. It is the Rick Socks.



Something about the way the pattern swirls around the leg and angles on the foot appealed to me. This pair is also for mom. I'm using Sundara Sock from the stash. This was purchased way before the current purchase program started when she was selling sock yarn 185 gram skeins. I'm worried that I may not have enough to complete a pair of socks. I always find it difficult to estimate how much yarn is remaining and usually end up with some left. I'll keep plugging on and if I run out there'll be a ripping party.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

I finished my first pair of Cookie A socks on Thursday. If her Monkey socks pattern is indicative of her other patterns then I'm in for a treat. I found it well written and easy to execute. I love patterns that repeats that are easy to memorize, but not boring. By the way, this is the first top-down sock I've made since I can't remember. Most of her patterns are written for top-down socks and I plan to make them as written with exception of adjustments for size and length.


Specs:

Pattern: Monkey Socks from Knitty by Cookie A
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino Champlain Sunset
Needles: Knit Picks 1/2.5 mm 6
Started: April 1, 2009 Finished: April 9, 2009

I've casted on my second pair of Cookie socks. They are the Rick socks from her new book Sock Innovation. I'm not ready to dive back into sock design at the moment, but when I am this will be the first book I consult. One of my goals is to knit 1-2 pairs of socks a month and a significant portion of them will come from her patterns.

I started my CPAP therapy for sleep apnea on Tuesday. I also discovered that my legs are moving most of the time when I am asleep. I don't have this problem during my waking hours and the doctor said it also probably contributed to my tiredness. After almost a week I feel more rested than I have in a long time. I was told by the respiratory therapist that it may take 3-4 weeks for me to feel the full effects. Here's to better health, clearer thinking and getting more accomplished.

Off Schedule

So much for committment. Knitting on Cassidy has been slim. I did get the right front cast on and started but that's been about all. There's too much going on. Yard work, housework, spring cleaning and getting all the winter duds put away. All that and a very distracting pair of Monkey socks.


The rest of the additional Kauni EQ I order from Knit-Purl arrived yesterday. They called to let me know it was on the way and that they were winding it since it came in hanks instead of skeins. There is one large 250 gm ball and a smaller 134 gm ball. This color is also destined for a sweater.



Two more days and the basketball blitz will be over. This has been a great year for basketball. Most of the games have gone down to the wire and kept you on the edge of your seat. I hope the games on Monday and Tuesday will be as exciting. The two women's games that were on today were both blowouts. Things will be back to normal on Wednesday and the knitting schedule will resume.

This Little Monkey

Yesterday I boarded the Cookie A train. I've been wanting to knit one of her patterns for quite a while. I purchased several last year from her website planning to knit up a pair but never got around to it. I cast on her Monkey socks from Knitty Issue Winter '06. I reached in the sock basket and picked out a skein of Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in the Champlain Sunset colorway. It is the perfect match of pattern and yarn.

I knitted a plain pair of socks for myself in this colorway from a different dyelot. The difference between the two is drastic. This current skein has longer repeats of the blues resulting in more of a self-striping appearance when knitted compared to the mottled look of the other skein. In this pattern the effect is beautiful. If I didn't have a pair in this colorway I would be tempted to keep them for myself.


Once I started knitting it was easy to see why so many knitters have chosen this pattern. Over 8600 pairs have been catalogued on Ravelry. The 16-stitch, 11 row repeat is easy to remember and quick to knit. I'm certain there will be a pair in my future.