Yarn Diet?

What a wonderful day! We had some snow today. It really wasn't alot, but it was nice to be home snuggled up and warm with no particular place to go. I love days like this. I can read, knit or explore on the computer. I still have a lot of work to do on my computer and I have definately been postponing it too long.

I have been reading. I am getting close to reaching my goal of 58 books read before the end of the year. I have read the following: Thursdays at Eight by Debbie Macomber, Twilight by Stephanie Meyer, Looking for Peyton Place by Barbara Delinsky (this one makes me want to go back and read Peyton Place - God I remember how I hid this so my mother didn't see it), Drunk, Divorced and Covered in Cat Hair by Crazy Aunt Purl (she's not crazy, but a great story teller), The Undomestic Godess by Sophie Kinsella (I love all of her books), Daddy's Girl by Lisa Scottoline, Yarn Harlot: The Secret Life of a Knitter by Stephanie Pearl McFee, and I'm enjoying the books by Sue Grafton: A is for Alibi, B is for Burgler, C is for Corpse, and D is for Deadbeat. When Sue's books came out I had no desire to read them and now I am going through the series and eating them up. What great stories!

These take me to 56 books read, so I only have two more to go to reach the goal of 58. I should be able to do that by the end of December. I already started E is for Evidence by Sue Grafton.

I still need to knit 4 more comfortghan squares to meet my goal of 12 by the end of the year. I have one started so I really need to get knitting with those. Next year I will make my goal 18.

I'm working on two pairs of socks. A pair using Yarn Pirate yarn and another using Trekking XXL. I am also working on my stuffed mittens. One is almost completed and then I can start on the second one. I have to complete the Noro scarf. I'm almost half way done, but it seems like it might be shorter than it's suppose to be. I can order more yarn, but the dye lots may not be the same although it may not matter since I am alternating the yarn.

I have gotten more yarn. Some Vesper sock yarn from Knitterly Things. Two great colorways: Candy Corn and Crew.

From Little Knits I got Noro Transistions at a bargain price. It's discontinued so I couldn't resist. I can make scarves out of it.

I couldn't pass up this yarn from Little Knits. The color is amazing for socks. It's Fly Knits in the Monarch colorway.

And, I got my Yarn Pirate sock club yarn. I like the color, but I'm thinking that I won't renew the sock club when it's done. I have enough Yarn Pirate yarn and I'm not sure that I like how it's been knitting up in the Spooky colorway and hope I don't have the same problem with the rest of the yarn that I have. The colorway is Solstice. It's a pretty blue and purple BFL yarn.

I want to get more Noro Silk Garden yarn for scarves and of course the Noro Sock Yarn to try and I definately want to get more Wollmeise. Except for those, I am going on a yarn diet at the beginning of the year. I have enough to knit from my stash for quite awhile.

Knitting Like Crazy

I finished my Wollmeise socks using the Suzanne colorway and size 2 needles. I am really pleased how these turned out. I will definately be getting more of this yarn.

I went to my knitting class at Kraemer Yarns today and started on my Yarn Pirate socks in the Spooky colorway. I didn't like how the yarn was pooling, so I ripped back to the ribbing and started using size 1 needles. This seems to be making a difference. I will knit more rows and if it looks okay, I will rip back to the beginning and recast on using the size 1's. This is the first time this has happened to me and I don't like it. Why does yarn pool and what can you do to overcome it?

On the more positive side, I got my order from the Loopy Ewe. I got Collinette Jitterbug in Gauguin. Since there seems to be some controvery about the yardage for this yarn, I purchased a half skein just in case. I'll see how this knits up before buying more. I think I will cast on for this sock after finishing the Trekking sock. I also got Claudia Handpaints in Chocolate Cherry. I love her colorways.

I couldn't resist getting a Woolpets kit to try. Hopefully, I will be posting a picture of my completed sheep soon.

Here is a picture of Maggie May after having her hair cut. She is growing up fast and I think she feels that this is now her home and she is the Queen of it. Sometimes I believe that she thinks she is human.

I think I'll keep her. ;-)

CRASH - Went the hard drive

Yes, my hard drive died. I did have a backup (thankfully), except my backup program only saved changes to files - now what good is that? I have the new hard drive installed and retrieved most of my files, but I did lose some. I think I got most of what I really needed back. I am slowly putting it back together, but I do know that I will have a good backup from now on.

Knitting wise: I haven't been knitting much since I have been working on my computer, but I have progressed on my Trekking sock. I am ready to turn the heel.

I have turned the heel on the second Wollmeise sock and will hopefully finish that off this week so I can start on a sock using Yarn Pirate's Spooky. I got the Apple colorway from her as well.

I have started a scarf for my husband for Christmas. It's the Noro Scarf Pattern found on Brooklyn Tweed's blog. I love the striping on it and even though the pattern is mainly k1, p1, it's not boring me. I just started this yesterday and I have gotten pretty far.

Catching up on my yarn purchases, My Loopy Ewe shipments have arrived. One was Austermann Step, Claudia Handpaints in Pepperment Mocha, and more Trekking Yarn.

I purchased Sheepaints in Grapes and Autumn forest from the Loopy Ewe. With my next order, I will become a Loopy Groopy!

I couldn't resist this yarn from Three Irish Girls:

Colorways are Guinevere and Maureen.

Last, but not least I have been reading a lot of good things about Black Bunny Fibers, so I purchased the Fog on the River colorway from her. It is 50% arcott/30% lincoln/20% alpaca. Watermelon Ice is also another colorway I got and this is 50% merino wool/50% tencel.

I have a few more yarns on order and except for getting more Wollmeise and possibly more Noro yarn, I plan on starting a yarn diet in the new year. I will be working part time from January to April 15th (yes doing taxes), so my knitting time will be reduced. This is a great time to start using up my stash.

Sockaholic?

I am still working on socks. I finished the STR Fire on the Mountain Socks. I really really liked this yarn. It was very nice to work with.

I have one sock completed in the Wollmeise Suzanne Socks and have started on the second sock. Wollmeise is definately my favorite sock yarn.

I just had to start the Trekking XXL socks since everyone seems to like this sock yarn. I love how it is striping.

As a diversion to socks, here is my stuffed mitten from the Kraemers class. It's not all that difficult to knit and I have the experience on double pointed needles from knitting socks. I am using Kraemer's Summit Hill yarn for these mittens.

Still getting sock yarn in the mail. I got my order from Little Knits of Opal and Trekking XXL.

And also an order from Simply Socks of Fleece Artist and Meilenweit:

So, when will I stop buying yarn? Soon, I must stop soon.

Sock Club yarns have arrived

It's fall and the yarn is falling into my mailbox. I joined the Yarn Pirate booty club and got my October yarn. It's called Killer Bees and it's a great color. I also got circular needles, a button and sticker. What a great treat!

I also received my STR Yarn for October. It's from the Raven series and it's called Lenore. The pattern is from the Yarn Harlot. The color of the yarn is dark, but it is deep purple color. I just love it. Note the spiders - they came with the yarn.

I was also excited to receive my Morehouse Farms Verona Shawl kit. Can't wait to begin knitting this one. I got the color aster.

Wollmeise yarn also arrived this week. This is the order that came directly from Germany. I just love the colors and can't wait to order more. Maybe next time, I can get some from the Loopy Ewe.

Looks like I have a lot of knitting to do.

Socks in Progress

I am still knitting socks. I really love them and I can't believe how easy it is and how rewarding it is to knit them. I have finished one sock and I'm working on the second sock of the pair of the Fire on the Mountain colorway from STR. I love the feel of this yarn so much.

I have knitted past the heel on the first Wollmeise sock in Suzanne. The side of the heel is better on this sock, but I read about another trick to get rid of the holes on the side. I will have to try it on my next pair of socks.

This is definately my most favorite yarn. Thank heavens that Wollmeise now allows you to order direct. Even though the yarn is coming from Germany, the price is about the same as ordering from the Loopy Ewe. I ordered 4 skeins from them. There are more colors that I want. I will watch the Loopy Ewe for sneak ups, but may still order direct. I want to wait for my first shipment from them before ordering again (If I can stand waiting).

I was able to get Trekking XXL yarn from Little Knits. I received my shipment last week and will post pictures later this week. I also ordered Opal sock yarn from them. My next pair of socks that I will be knitting is definately going to be the Trekking.

However, I have to get sidetracked a bit from socks. My local yarn shop (Kraemers) is having a class this Saturday on stuffed mittens. Apparently, they are also called thrummed mittens. The Yarn Harlot posted on her blog about these mittens back in 2004. So, I am taking the class. We even have homework in order to prepare for class. Can't wait to see how this turns out. If it goes well, these may be great for Christmas presents.

Can't finish off without showing an updated picture of Maggie May. She gets groomed on Tuesday, so she will look different then. It's hard to believe that she will be 10 months old on Monday. Happy birthday Maggie May!

I am a Sock Machine

Honestly, one sock on the needles isn't enough anymore. I have to be working on more than one sock because I have all of this neat sock yarn to try out.

I have finished the Luna Park socks and I'm very pleased how they turned out. I do have another colorway and will try that out at a later date.

As I was finishing up this sock, I cast on for another pair using Socks that Rock in the Fire on the Mountain colorway. I had been using this yarn with another sock pattern and didn't like how the sock was coming out. That was in my early sock experience days when I was a greenie to sock knitting. I rewound the yarn and decided I needed to try it again. I really like how the striping is coming out. I like this yarn a lot. It seems heavier than the Online and Luna Park yarns, but it's still a Fingering weight yarn. I am ready to pick up stitches for the heel.

I have been having problems with the heel. The stitches on the one size of the heel seem to be larger than the other side and as a result, I have a gap in the yarn. I have gotten some advice from knitters in the Yahoo forums I belong to and they have referred to two books I already have. One is Nancy Bush's Folk Socks and the other is Queen Kahuna's Crazy Toes and Heels. They are great books to have and have a wealth of information in them on knitting socks. I highly recommend both books.

Once I finished the Luna Park socks, I cast on another sock using Wollmeise in Suzanne. This yarn is like butter! I love it so much. I have two other skeins of Wollmeise that I got from the Loopy Ewe and now I must have more. It's hard to get since whenever the Loopy Ewe has a sneakup, it goes quickly.

I didn't go to Stitches. ;-( The Baltimore marathon was going on at the same time and I was afraid that I would have trouble finding a parking space. So, we didn't go. Next year we will plan better and maybe go down overnight or go on Friday.

Meet Patsy and Morris

I would like to introduce Patsy and Morris. Aren't they the most adorable toys? I got them from Little Cotton Rabbits . Julie does such a great job with these. The detail is amazing. I was so excited when I was able to get two of them.

More sock yarn. Ravelry is just great and one of the great things about it is that if you find a yarn you like on the site, you can trade or buy it from someone. I saw the yarn on Lolly's blog. I loved the colorway and knew I had to have it. She calls them her Autumnal Equinox socks. I searched on Ravelry and found someone who had the yarn and asked where she bought it. She was willing to sell or trade, so I bought two skeins. How wonderful.

It looks like I may be able to attend Stitches in Baltimore this Saturday. I will take my camera and report back. Sock yarn is definately on my list of things to get. I am scoping out vendors that I want to make sure I visit. This will be my first Stitches event. I am so excited!

Luna Park - How I love this sock yarn!

I have been knitting away on my Luna Park socks. On this sock, I have been perfecting my sock knitting even more. It's interesting how I am getting more and more confident on knitting socks and learning more as I go along.

I am enjoying this so much that I am already picking out what sock yarn I will use next. I haven't come to a decision yet, but I'm close. I really want to finish this pair up by the end of this week. I don't need a fancy pattern. The basic Patternworks sock is enough for me right now.

I have been working on comfortghan squares. I should have no problem getting a dozen completed by the end of the year.

Simple Garter Lace Square:

Elegant Lace Square:

Double Broken Rib Square:

I know that I will need to block these before sending.

I haven't been buying too much new yarn lately. I may be going to Stitches East, so I am waiting to find out if I will definately be going.

I did get some Wollmeise yarn from the Loopy Ewe. I was able to snag three skeins of yarn. I had some yarn in my basket and was checking out other yarn, when next thing I knew the yarn was gone. I quickly added these three skeins to my basket and checked out. I want to become a Loopy Groupy! I just love this online store.

The colors are from left to right: Spice Market, Suzanne, and Pfefferminz Prinz. I can't wait to try this yarn. Maybe one of these will be my next sock?

I was also able to buy some limited edition yarn from Sundara Yarns. They are both 100% superwash merino yarn.... Yummy!

Swirled Prussian

Crushed Cherries

I really love Ravelry. It's so cool to be able to see different yarns and what people have knit with the yarns. I was even able to buy some yarn that I saw in someone's stash. We worked it out and it should be on it's way by the end of the week. Can't wait!

Read and Watch the World Grow

I have been doing quite a bit of reading. It's funny, I have been keeping track of the books I have read since 1985. It's interesting to go back and see how many books I have read in a year. Some years it's quite a lot (at one time I worked in a library as a bookkeeper) and other years it's very few or none at all. The most books I ever read in a year was 57 in 1988. Because I haven't been working I have been reading like crazy. I have currently read 45 books this year and I am determined to at least meet or beat the amount of books read in 1988. Since, I only have to read 12 more books, I think I can meet that goal. I would have to read at least one book a week until the end of the year. Let's see how well I do.

I have currently read the following books: I'm a Debbie Macomber fan and I have read A Little Bit Country, Country Bride, 74 Seaside Ave, Caroline's Child, Dr. Texas, and Back on Blossom Street. I love them all. I have continued with Stephen White's series about Alan Gregory and have read The Program, The Best Revenge, Blinded, Missing Persons, and Kill Me. There is only one more book in this series and I will be sad that I have read them all. I am sure he is writing more, but I will just have to wait until he finishes writing them. I also enjoy Mary Higgins Clark and just finished No Place Like Home and I couldn't resist reading Wonderful Tonight by Patti Boyd. She was married to George Harrison and Eric Clapton. They both wrote wonderful songs about her. I see that Eric Clapton has an autobiography coming out. I will have to get that book to read.

What would I do without books and knitting?

More Socks

This past week has not been a good week. Around Tuesday, I started with a sore throat and felt awful the rest of the week. It didn't really feel like a cold so I guess it was allergies. I certainly slept a lot and didn't get much knitting done.

I did finish the Online blue socks and they even fit. I am so excited!

I have been adding more sock yarn to my stash. I ordered from Seaport Yarn. I saw Luna Park in a magazine and fell in love. So I had to get me some and while there I found Colinette Jitterbug. The Luna Park is color 200 and 204 and the Jitterbug yarn is in the Kingfisher color. I've heard some controvery over this yarn, so I will have to see what happens. It looks as if I may need to wash the socks separately, when I first wash them.

Since I finished the online sock, I really wanted to try out the Luna Park. So, I cast on and I've finished the gusset. I am ready to turn the heel. I am using color 200 on size 2 needles with the Basic Patternworks pattern. I really like how the striping is coming.

Stash Enhancement

Well, I have been adding to my stash and there is more to come. Of course, I had to buy yarn at Kraemer's fabulous 50% off sale. I didn't get many different kinds of yarns, but I got quite a bit. I got a skein of Sockotta in color number 6670 and I got 20 skeins of Summit Hill in pearl. Kraemer's name brand yarn was not suppose to be on sale, but they reduced the Summit Hill because they are going to be making hanks instead of balls.

When I went to class that Saturday, I got there about 5 minutes early and had a hard time finding a parking space. Fortunately, I have been there often enough, that I parked in the back of the store. I got in the store, picked out my yarn and got in line. It didn't take me long to get checked out. Thank God. Not too much later you had to wait in line for 45 - 60 minutes to get checked out.

I also added Shi bui sock yarn in color number 51302 and Dream in Color Smooshy in happy forest. I got these skeins from Simply Socks Yarn Company.

From the Loopy Ewe, I got Dream in Color Smooshy in Lipstick Lava, All things Heather in midnight frost, and Shi bui in color 1675 (it's like a pumpkin color).

I just ordered more yarn from the Loopy Ewe today. I wanted some Wollmeise. I had to order fast. I had yarn in my basket and before I knew it, it was gone. I got three different skeins though and just checked a couple of minutes ago and the Wollmeise is all gone. Thank god I got some.

I also was able to snag a skein of Dragons Blood from Hello Yarn. She is having another update tomorrow and I would really like to get some Homespun yarn. Hope she has some.

I guess I better get to knitting me some socks!

Knit One, Purl Two pick up a stitch that's all you do.

Where the heck did I get that title? Somehow it just popped into my mind. I must have learned it somewhere.

I have been knitting away and wanted to post my pictures. Mostly dishcloths and comfortghan squares.

Here is the progress on my sock. One down, one to go. I think it's looking pretty good, plus I got the second sock to start around the same point, so they should be a matched pair. I have to get me some sock blockers.

I have been knitting dishcloths. This one is from the Monthly dishcloth group. It's a Happy Birthday cloth designed by Kim Fortin. I used Sugar and Cream in a hot blue color.

The second one is called the Straight Vines Cloth from my Dishcloths R US Yahoo group. It is designed by Katherine Frazier and I used Sugar and Cream green stripes.

Here are two comfortghan squares I completed out of my goal of 12 for my Dishcloths R US group:

The one on the top is called Little Checks Square by Mary Dixon and the one on the bottom is called Basket Welt Square by Mary Dixon. I used size 8 needles for both and I used TLC Essentials yarn by Red Heart in Fusion.

I am currently working on another Comfortghan square in addition to my second sock. My fingers are flying!