Too Much Yarn

In progress...

I wasn't able to go in to work yesterday because the building was closed (the city of Plymouth shut down water supply as they worked on road construction by the building) - YAY!!  But that means, I have to go in today - NAY!!  We are a bit behind in our super major release in June so we have A LOT to do.  I'm getting tired of putting in 50 hours weeks for over a month now - it's starting to get old...

Anyway, since I last posted, I did finish the first Annetrelac socks.  I need to get the PAIR completed by April 30 to be eligible for the drawing of prizes so I casted on the second pair IMMEDIATELY.  Things were going great until I started to read the pattern for setting up the first row of triangles and then, I realized that I casted on 64 stitches for the first sock (pattern said 72) and I did not adjust for the second sock.  So, I have 1.5 inches of cuff that is the wrong size.  Frogging it went and I decided right then that I am not going to finish that sock by April 30.  So, I continued on the Lemongrass Cascading Leaves and THEN, a bunch of people from the Socks That Rawk group twisted my arm (you know what I mean...), begging me to start on a pair of Monkey socks using the Faulty Dyer colorway.  I also worked on Nerdgirl's project (no, I can't show you yet!).  So, here are my knitting progress for the week:

Annetrelac Sock:

Lemongrass Cascading Leaves in progress:

   

Monkey in Faulty Dyer:

2nd April Socks Done!

I finally finished the Sock Knitters Anonymous March Mystery Sock.  Here is Emily modeling my new socks.  I turned the cuff over for a Springy look.  The texture of the 'wrong' side seems OK, don't you think?

 

I have 7 more days to finish the Annetrelac Socks - I'm only on the first sock - I'm about 2.5 inches from being done.  Then, I have to do the second sock.  But entrelac is so addicting.  Once I get into it, I can't put it down - instead of 'one more row', it's 'one more round'..

I also want to thank everyone (who left comments and on Ravelry) who's been helping me decide which Cascading Leaves sock I should continue.  After I posted my blog about those socks, I worked 8 more rows on the Lemongrass.  I guess my instinct is getting to be as good as all the other more experienced knitters...   It will need to be on hold until I finished the Annetrelac Socks.  I NEED TO STAY ON TRACK!  I want to work on Pomatomus (I started this in January!)

And then, there's the Ankle Biters (from the Don't Be Blue Sock Kit from the Loopy Ewe), I want to join the Cedar Creek KAL, there's going to be a Monkey Socks KAL coming up, I have 2 Pennyrose Sock Club kits I haven't started, the Math Whiz pattern I want to do for the May sockdown.. you get the picture - there are more socks that I want to make than I have time for...

Koigu yarns (handpainted), in my opinion, is one of the most beautiful yarn.  I purchased Koigu before I knew how to knit socks.  I bought 3 skeins plus 2 skeins of Shibui (similar weight) to make a shawl.  I brought all 5 skeins (thank goodness they were small!) to Malaysia in February 2007 to work on (long flight, in case I got bored visiting my mother and sister...).  This is the time I learned that I suck at reading charts.  I need to read the instructions line by line - I've converted sock charts into line instructions... so while I was at the Holiday Inn resort in my hometown (this is the view near our bungalow) 

I decided that I'm not going to finish the !@#!$#@#% shawl.  I packed the yarn up, not know what I can do with them - they would make a lot of iPod sleeves - little did I know that I can make scarves with them then...  Fast foward to August - I learned to make socks.  Suddenly, I realized - hey, I can use those Koigu yarn.  I dug them out and brought them back to the yarn store I bought them from. I bought matching skeins so I can make socks out of them.  I have made one pair of socks from Koigu (my first Monkey Socks) and I'm using Koigu now for the Annetrelac socks.  The rest of my yarn - are simply for looks only.  And I have not used any of the yarn I bought originally (or the matching skeins) for the shawl!  My Koigu collection so far: (enough for 9 pairs of socks)

 

Lots to Tell!

Wow!  It's been over 9 days since I last posted!  Tonight, John went to the Santana concert - that gave me a chance to dig out all my newly acquired yarn stash (well, some from the Leap Day Sale from Amazing Threads) to photograph them.  I spent most of the last week finishing up my March Mystery Sock. I'm about 3 inches away from being done:

I also started knitting my project for my Swap partner from the Loopy Swap organized in Ravelry.  I have to send my partner, NerdGirl, a hand-knitted item, a skein of yarn from The Loopy Ewe, and other goodies by June 22.  Since I know what it's like to wait until the last minute, I decided to get a head start.  I can't tell you what I'm knitting, nor can I tell you the yarn I'm using, the color of the yarn, the needle size, the pattern, NOTHING!!  Because NerdGirl may check my blog.  We decided to not keep the partners a secret, but I sure am not ruining the surprise of what she'll be expecting.  All I can tell you is that I'm going to love it so much that I may need to order the replacement yarn and make one for myself - yes!  This is the first time I'm making this item.  Emily asked me the other day what it was and who it was for.  I told her... and she said, "And you are telling me myspace.com is dangerous!  You are making stuff for STRANGERS!"

Earlier this week, I received the Don't Be Blue Sock Kit from The Loopy Ewe - this is a kit reserved for those of us who didn't win the lottery to be in the Official Sock Club.  The yarn is Dream In Color Smooshy in the colorway, Don't Be Blue...  The pattern is called "Ankle Biters", but it's a toe-up pattern - I've never knitted socks toe up, so this may be a challenge!  Here's what it looks like:

For the April Sockdown, I've decided to knit Jeanne Townsend's Cascading Leaves Socks.  I started with Gypsyknit's Sock It!  in Appalachia - I felt the pattern is not showing up as nicely as I like to... so I tried another yarn - Socks That Rock in Lemongrass.  I didn't realize that it will stripe, so I'm now debating if I should continue on with Appalachia...  Thank goodness I don't have to finish this until end of May!

Applachia:

Lemongrass:

I guess the last thing I wanted to tell you is how much I've been thinking about Sock Camp.  Non-knitters think I've gone overboard with my knitting hobby.  The best place to read about Sock Camp is probably on Yarn Harlot's blog - look for link on the right...  It is held on Orca's Islands (not sure if it is in Washingon State or Oregon).  You are in this resort with KNITTERs and the celebrity knitters are Stephanie 'Yarn Harlot' McPhee, Cat Bordhi, and Cookie A.  It's usually held in April... so with my luck, it will be when Emily has her driver's license and her own car when I can travel in April, as John coaches golf in the Spring and I have to drive the kids around.  But until then, my dream is to go to Sock Camp one day.  Perhaps the next best thing is to attend Stitches West next February.  Stitches West is a yarn and fiber convention  (or is it knitting/needlecrafts?) that is held in Santa Rosa, California.  Santa Rosa is a nearby suburb of Sunnyvale (when my sister, Tiffany, lives).  My brother-in-law, Albert, sent me a newspaper article, telling me that I may be interested in Stitches West... I told him I may just go next year since I'll have a place to stay!

Well, I want to show you my Koigu collection, but the garage door just opened!  I'd better go pretend to be asleep!

Another Pair of Socks!

I have a new pair of socks (I still have to complete 3 more pairs this month!  I have 2 or 3 of the 6 socks completed - depending on which pairs I want to complete this month).  This the Leafling Socks from the Socks That Rock Sock Club's March socks.  I have learned to do a different heel (adapted from Cat Bordhi), it's nice not to have to pick up stitches.  I will get a better photo here once my models come home from school.

I already received yummy yarn from The Loopy Ewe this week.  I'm trying my best to only order 1 (or 2) of each brand before I invest heavily into ... (who am I kidding?  I've already heavily invested into TLE).  This shipment includes (from left to right): The Sanguine Gryphon (Critias), Yarn Love (Scarlett O'Hara - Mariner), Sheepaints (First Blossoms), Sheepaints (Spring Water).  Sheri also threw in a surprise Loopie pattern and a stitch marker. Thanks, Sheri!!

Tomorrow, I will be scrapbooking the ENTIRE day - 9 am to 9 pm at The Providence Academy with my good buddy, Chris, and her daughter, Monique.  I've been neglecting my scrapbooking hobby and I need to pick it back up.  One only has so much spare time for hobbies.  I don't know when this sock knitting passion is going to die down - Chris is still patiently waiting for me to get back into scrapbooking.  I see scrapbooking is for my family (they enjoy the pages I finish), knitting is for myself!  I told Chris I will be bringing ONE knitting project in case I get bored... BTW, the event is called, Page For The Cure.  Proceeds go to the Susan G Komen Foundation for Breast Cancer Research.  Food is provided by local restaurants and there will be door prizes (but alas - no free yarn there, that's for sure!).

I don't know what I was thinking!!

I have two March Sockdown socks to finish (oh wait, I THINK I casted on 3rd one sock, Ann Budd's pattern using Dream In Smooshy) so I have no clue why I started on these Lucky Leafling socks!  But boy, are they pretty and comfortable to wear!  Well - one is anyway... I casted on the second sock on Friday night.  On Saturday, I went to the office to catch up on some work and in the evening, knitted while I watched the 10 o'clock news.  John changed the channel to HBO or STARZ or whatever, and The Patroit was on (Mel Gibson, Jason Issacs).  It is a LONG movie.  John went to bed at 12:15 a.m.  I figured, OK, just one more row... The next thing I know, the movie is over and it's 1:52 a.m.  Well, I had the leg finished on the second sock.  I started on the gusset this morning.  I don't think I will have much time today to knit (well, I do, but I CANNOT!!).  I have to dust and clean (we've had a crew working on 3 bathrooms at our house) and I have to work on our tax returns!!  The bathroom remodeling project is almost over but the walls are being painted and grout is being set before we can use it.  Here are some pix of my bathroom:

BEFORE: (shower stall)  - you can see the vent on the upper right hand corner for comparison.

AFTER (Whirlpool Tub)

Can one knit in the tub?

Here's the status of my Leafling Socks in the Lucky colorway. I frogged the original one that I made in the Medium Size.  These are in size Small.  On my queue - itching to start are the Cascading Leaves Socks and the PennyRose Sock Club for April...