Wind

It is really windy here today. As I was working from home this afternoon I heard that terrible creaking, splitting, popping noise that means a tree is on its way down. I wasn't sure where it was, so I braced my self for the crash. Luckily it fell away from the house.

The latest monkey socks are coming along.

I hope to have a new pair of socks to wear next week.

Check out my new little row counter/stitch marker. Pretty nifty, eh?

Monkey love

The new purl-free monkeys are off to a nice start.

I just took a few pictures to share. Once again, I am most pleased with the eye of partridge heel.

I received a lovely shipment of more sock yarn from WEBS yesterday (on sale!). Since that did not come overnight, I had nearly forgotten what I ordered--so it was fun to go through the box. They did forget to include two row counters that I ordered, but a quick phone call later and I was told they would be on their way. A very nice customer service encounter.

I also got some of the new grapefruit scented Eucalen. I'm having a grapefruit phase (shampoo, conditioner, body wash)--it will be the upstairs wool wash--for those days that I want a bit of a change from lavender.

Take a good look

'cause this won't be here for long.

I'm just not happy with the way the yarn and the pattern are playing together. I think this will make a saggy sock--and I won't give up ~15 hours of my life for socks that I won't wear.

So off to the frog pond it goes. Maybe I will give the clapotis a try?

What kind of knitter are you?

Take this quiz, to find out.

Here's me.

You appear to be a Knitting Goddess. You are constantly giving and are unconcerned with reward, you simply want others to love knitting as much as you do. If someone wants to knit miles of novelty yarns, you are there for them. If someone wants to learn short row shaping, you can help. There are no taboos in knitting, only opportunities to grow. Everyone should have friend like you around if they want to learn to knit, and there’s a good chance that your passion has rubbed off on a few others.

Monkey socks!

Here they are. I had a lot of fun knitting these. So much so, that I plan to start another pair tonight. This time I will try them without the purls.

Pattern Monkey by Cookie A.
Needle US 1 / 2.25 mm
Yarn Shelly Dyes Shelly Dyes Sock Yarn

Made for me!!

I used an eye of partridge heel, but pretty much followed the pattern otherwise. I think for the next pair I may use a slightly bigger needle for the top of the sock. Getting these on is a little tight, but once on, they fit very well.

It is still winter

If you're in New England and you haven't yet looked out your window here is what you will see.
Nothing new with the knitting. I'm nearly done with the Monkey socks, and I am planning another pair straight away. So it will be a Monkey sort of January.

I love packages

Another swap gift has arrived.

A lovely scarf made from Patons Shetland Tweed Chunky. The pattern can be found on the Misti Alpaca site.

That is all for swaps. Now I'm waiting for some sock yarn from Webs!!

Confessions of a Fearless Knitter

I was so excited about buttons (I've wanted a button) that I slapped on the Knitting Daily Fearless Knitter button.

But I have a confession to make--I do have a fear. It is a fear of colorwork. Sure I can do stripes--if you can knit and you can tolerate weaving in all those ends, stripes are nothing. I mean the real stuff--intarsia, fairisle etc. So as part of my goals for this year I will confront my fear of colorwork. I will find a project I find interesting and work through this fear of color. I want to learn about the floats, and the holding of two colors, and the twisting of the strands.

Then I can wear my button with pride.

edited--Did I somehow fail to mention my fear (terror!) of steeks???? Hmm, something else to add to the list.

A (swap) package for me

I received a package in the mail today!! Look at all of the goodies.

A mug and yummy tea. Rose scented oil diffuser and candle. A knitters note pad and funky flower pen. A sparkly flower. Some chocolate :) and enough Regia cotton sock yarn to make a pair of socks.

I've never used a cotton blend for socks, so that should be fun. I never did recieve a pacakge from my original swap partner--this was sent by an angel.

I love it all, and it made my day so much nicer.

Another hobby

Look what I bought. Now to start!

Poncho

Another quick peek at the wildlife outside my window.


I've completed a poncho for my friend's daughter. This didn't come out as nice as the one that I modified for my niece. Was my row gauge off? Did I miscount? Who knows. I kinda don't care anymore. I think it turned out cute, but not perfect. I think this almost 8 year old will like it (and if she doesn't--no big deal).




Pattern Easy Lace Poncho (AC-69) by Bev Galeskas

Needle US 10½ / 6.5 mm and US 7 / 4.5 mm

Yarn Lion Brand Cotton-Ease I used just a bit more than one skein.

Now on to more knitting for me!

Kali Chronia

Warm wishes to all for 2008.

Thought you might like to see who was taking a nap under my tree on New Year's Day.

Can you see the ginger furball?

On to knitting. I spent Saturday night knitting for myself--Monkey socks! I see why everyone loves them. They are super fun to knit. Now to share a bit of my stupidity.

I was half watching a movie while starting these. I'm not much of a chart follower, but I want to change that. So I used the chart and it made sense. Hurray.

After two pattern repeats I took a good look at the pattern. Hmmm, funny, those K2tog really should have been SSK on that side to make the pattern look good. Guess what? They were meant to be SSK--but silly me just wasn't paying attention. Rip, rip, rip 20 rows, back to first row after the ribbing. It would have bothered me to leave them as they were. And the socks are for me afterall.

So here they are now.

I've turned the heel and I'm working on the gusset.

My only modification so far was to use an eye of patridge heel. I thought it would look nice with this yarn, and I like the way it turned out.