Flashing that Sock Stash

I have a helper at home this week. A is my kindergartener. She had school Monday, but the rest of this week, they have kindergarten assessments, so she's here with me, except for the 40 minutes we went to the school this morning for her assessment. She loves the ways of the yarn, so yesterday afternoon, we decided to do a little stash-diving. That's mostly "leftover" acrylic stash. Most of the stuff I really love is better organized in the cubbies. A said she was going to choose some of the yarn to be her own. She chose all the little bitty balls of leftovers. She also talked me into knitting her some pink wristwarmers. They were done by this morning, and she wore them to her assessment. She said they helped her think better. LOL.



She spent some time drawing after we were done stash-diving, but she was a little cool, so of course she had to wear a lace shawl! That's my birch, knit with Rowan kidsilk haze.

Now, to the point of this post. Sock yarn stash! As a part of the socktoberfest festivities, I'm sharing my sock yarn stash. Counting it up, it looks like only 10 1/2 pairs of woman-sized socks! I've done pretty well on keeping it under control. I do have two pairs of socks on the needles right now, in addition to this. Most of this is yarn I bought "just because". I know I will use it, but I don't have any particular pattern in mind. The green was bought to make some leaf-motif socks. The two skeins of sockotta (bottom right) were bought on vacation this summer because it was a good deal, and it was pretty, and they don't have it at my LYS. (OK, they don't have much of anything at my LYS.)



The little balls and deflated skeins over to the left are leftovers. There's enough of that autumn-colored knitpicks yarn to make A the rpm socks she wants, "just like yours, mommy."



So, pretty standard, kinda boring sock yarn. LOL. I don't have any of the fancy stuff. I've never seen it in person. I did join a monthly sock club so I can try new and different stuff. I'm only on month two, but it's been fun so far! I knitted the first pair and wear them, and I'm currently knitting the second pair. When I get that new stuff, I want to try it out right away! And I always have to have a small project to carry around for all those "waiting" times.

Mason-Dixon madness continues!

I don't know if I'll ever get tired of knitting things from this book (Mason-Dixon Knitting by Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne). I wouldn't be surprised if I eventually knit almost every pattern in there. I don't know what it is, but they are just so satisfying and fun!




These are the latest. Baby bib o' Love, with added ruffle, and Baby Genius burp cloth. No. I don't know anyone personally who is having a baby girl right now, but someone is getting a cute gift when they do! The ruffle pattern is "Lace Bells" from Knitting on the Edge by Nicky Epstein.

I was knitting the burp rag as something midless to carry around with me, and I wasn't paying attention and made it WAY too long! So I ended up ripping almost half of it to make it a normal length. Then I had enough pink left over (from a 100 gram ball of Lily Elite Cotton) to make the bib. Just barely. I actually made the straps a teensy bit short, but they still fit around the neck of my nine year old daughter comfortably, so I'm thinking a baby will be fine. (She thought it was a tank-top front and was holding it up to see if it would fit her. LOL.) That ruffle sure did suck up a lot of yarn, but it was worth it, I think!

I have some blue and the leftover white in this yarn to make a boy set sometime, too. I really like this yarn, and I'm hoping to find it somewhere local.

I went to KIP (knitting in public) last night, and had fun as always! I took my two oldest daughters this time, and they had so much fun, it's going to be difficult to make them stay home most of the time. But mom needs her "me-time"!

Found this quiz on my friend Michele's knitting blog. :) Pretty accurate, but I don't think I'm as flaky as this sounds.



What kind of knitting needles are you?



You are interchangeable.Fun, free, and into everything, you've got every eventuality covered and every opportunity just has to be taken. Every fiber is wonderful, and every day is a new beginning. You are good at so many things, it's amazing, but you can easily lose your place and forget to show up. They have row counters for people like you!

Take this quiz!

Socktoberfest Questionnaire

Lolly posted a socktoberfest questionnaire, so I'm answering it here. I hope you enjoy my sock history.

When did you start making socks?
One year ago, September 2005.

Did you teach yourself or were you taught by a friend or relative? or in a class?
I was visiting a friend halfway across the country, and we saw that the Yarn Harlotwas going to be visiting a yarn shop near her while I was there. Of course, we had to go! And if we were seeing the Yarn Harlot and her traveling sock, we needed a sock of our own. My friend, Christina, does not knit, and I was a novice, but I dug out the sock yarn and needles I had brought with me (see, it was going to happen anyway . . .) and cast on a sock that afternoon. I worked the cuff before we went, but I was not pleased. The ribbing was too loose and floppy. But, we used it for pictures, and I told Stephanie that I was unhappy with it. She told me to go down a needle size and try a 2x2 ribbing rather than the 1x1 my pattern called for. I ripped it after my vacation was done and re-did it, much better! I basically taught myself with Priscilla Gibson-Roberts' Simple Socks: Plain and Fancy, a free pattern from the ballband of Lion Brand Magic Stripes sock yarn, and a little help from the Yarn Harlot.

What was your first pair? How have they "held up" over time?
They were those Magic Stripes socks. They've held up great. They fit me well, and so far, they haven't gotten worn out at all. I wear them quite a bit in the winter.

What would you have done differently?
I don't think I would have done anything differently. Getting a little tip from Stephanie Pearl-McPhee is a great way to knit your first pair of socks. :)

What yarns have you particularly enjoyed?
I loved my Trekking XXL I bought, not having a clue, that evening when we saw the Yarn Harlot. So Pretty! I haven't bought any of the really fancy sock yarns. I've used lots of utilitarian yarns, and they've worked great. Right now, I'm using some jaggerspun 3-ply that's very splitty. I started these socks on wooden needles in order to be able to take them into the courthouse for jury duty. But, now that that's done, I'm switching back to metal!

Do you like to crochet your socks? or knit them on DPNs, 2 circulars, or using the Magic Loop method?
I'm a very good crocheter. I've crocheted for over 10 years. But I've never crocheted socks. I don't think the fabric has enough stretch. I prefer to knit them on DPNs. I'm not fond of two circulars or magic loop. I love shiny, slippery, pointy metal needles. The Susan Bates silvalume ones are my favorites.

Which kind of heel do you prefer? (flap? or short-row?)
I prefer a flap heel , generally. I like the way it snugs up to my heel, and picking up stitches is fun. But I actually do short and flap heels about evenly. Short row heels require less thinking for me, so I kind of default to that when I'm just whipping up a generic sock.

How many pairs have you made?
About 16? I believe I've made 9 pairs for other people and about 7 for myself.

Yay for Socktoberfest!

Fetching Fetching

That's one of those words that starts looking funny if you read it too many times. Fetching fetching fetching fetching fetching fetching fetching. See? A little too close to retching. But I only have two fetchings to show you. (No retching.)





These are the fetching wristwarmers from the summer 2006 issue of Knitty. The dark pair I made for myself shortly after the issue came out, from Reynolds Odyssey. The cables show up much better in person, and the yarn has so much depth. These took one skein and I have one more of the same. Any grand ideas for it? The purple pair was made from leftovers of KnitPicks merino style. I made a sweater (recently finished, but not yet shared with you) for myself from it. These wristwarmers were a gift for my sister's birthday a couple weeks ago. I knew she would love them, but I was surprised by how excited she was about them. This is really a great pattern. It doesn't take long, and the cables aren't too complicated, but they look (and feel) so nice! I like how the cables around the wrist give it a little tighter fit right there.

Totally unrelated non-knitting content:

I had jury duty this week. Like most other people, I was not looking forward to it, and would have gotten out of it if I could. But, there I was yesterday morning. My number was called in the second group of prospective jurors, and from the pool of 28, I was one of the chosen 12. Only three of us were women.

The trial commenced after lunch and continued until 4:30, when we were dismissed until this morning. Of course, you can't discuss the case with anyone or form any solid opinions until you deliberate. Then, when it's all done you can blab all you want.

This morning, we were all there on time, with our juror badges on (which let everyone in the courthouse not to discuss anything related to any trial where we could hear it). We sat in the jury room, very carefully not talking about it, until our jury instructions were ready. Then we went back out and heard the instructions and closing statements. Then it was time to go back into our little room and deliberate.

It didn't take us long to come to a verdict, but we did carefully consider all the evidence. It was a fairly cut and dried case, and we all hope that the 5-6 years the defendant will likely get at sentencing will be enough to help him make the decision to turn his life around. We didn't know what the sentence would possibly be while we were deliberating (and we couldn't consider it, even if we had). The judge told us later when he came back to talk to us. We also didn't know that this young man who is now barely 19 and has been in jail for the 5 months since the crime was committed already had an assault conviction on his adult record, as well as at least 3 juvenile felonies in another state.

It all makes me wish that a young man wouldn't build this kind of record. That he wouldn't be homeless, with no one to come to his trial, at 19. I just really, really hope that the system can help him and he can overcome his past, and his past bad choices, to emerge better on the other side. In any case, I'm glad he won't be back on the streets for a while.

Squirrel. Nuts. Zipper.

Or squirrel, acorn, hole.

We have two big oak trees in our backyard. These trees play host to many adorable squirrels, always chasing each other up and down the tree trunks. Recently, the acorns have been dropping. If you listen, you can hear them thump the ground when they fall. Today, I have been watching the cutest squirrel behavior. One squirrel has been gathering acorns and burying them. It sniffs around with its tiny squirrel nose, all over the ground. It picks up an acorn, very quickly nibbles it and stashes it in its mouth. Then, with its teensy paws, it digs a little hole. If it doesn't like one spot, it steps over a little bit and chooses another. It digs a little hole then sticks its face in and twitches, presumably to spit the acorn in. Then it pushes all the dirt back into the hole and pats it over and over until there's no trace of any digging. So cute!

How do the squirrels find the acorns when they want to dig them back up? Do they sniff them out? Do they bury so many that they're likely to find one wherever they dig? Funny. I guess I need to do some squirrel research.

Finished and finished.

No, none of the house stuff is done. Those potential buyers looked at it AGAIN yesterday. That makes three times, bringing different relatives through each time. Come on, people! The first time they looked at it, they even talked up the guy across the street, asking all kinds of questions about the neighborhood and schools, etc. We really want to sell the house for obvious reasons, but a secondary reason is that the house across the street is going on the market next month when aforementioned guy gets remarried and moves into another house. His house is smaller, but I'm pretty sure it will be cheaper, and he lives alone, so it will probably show better. Do you know how hard it is to keep the house looking sparkly with four kids and a non-neatness-oriented husband?

So, here's a couple things I did finish. These are M's socks on her feet. She loves them. I used Knitpicks Simple Stripes socks yarn for these.



And here is the baby blanket. It's so cute, I want to find a baby somewhere and just wrap them up in it. But, I suppose I'll store it away and wait until my new niece or nephew is born. My son was very kind and tried it out for me to make sure it was soft and warm and comfy. It passed the test.