birthday update

from the roommate, i got the yarn meter (so i removed it from my wish list) ... eca can dye now... when she gets a break
from the red, eca got these lovely hand spun and hand dyed sock yarn (pics to come) and these skien of noro





from the roommate's dad i got 3 skiens of 50/50 merino/silk (i think it's tussah silk) which i made simple toe up semi-footie socks ... well i only made one






and a skien of red worsted something...which i have to take pics of....

and for those of you who haven't seen a recent update of eca...she's got long hair now...
she takes really shitty pictures so be nice

OMFG

ALL HAIL AND REJOICE!!!

NO ONLY DID I JUST GET MY "Simply Socks" by Anna Zilboorg...

wrapped in ziplock AND bubble wrap....

IT"S SIGNED BY HER!!!!!!!!

YES IT IS SIGNED BY ANNA ZILBOORG HERSELF!

pics to come

--- update ---

okay b/c i probably have one of the very very few books signed by her left... in pretty much 99.9% brand new condition... i found another book on amazon.com (yes cheaper than the $200 we've all seen)... so THAT book, when i get it, will be the book i use. in the mean time, i'm going to ask the roommate about archival wrapping. i just can NOT use this signed book... i can't.

omg have you seen the new knitty?!?!?!

okay is this not the cutest little girl you have ever seen?

and red, we have another person to put out on our hitlist... well maybe just mine, but damn.... this girl is hot...and fuck, she's (around) my age! (and not that this matters, but she lives in the area). maybe i should go to the gym so i can get all pretty and what not... (ps. in the 3rd picture she actually looks like a slightly meatier calista flockhart) oh - here's her blog http://olgajazzzy.blogspot.com and yes, i'll probably be visiting this too lol

anyway...enough of the beautiful people...

i will be adding these patterns to my book of "must knits"

coachella - racerback, droop front tank
coupling - lace socks
sweat pea - less lace type of socks

okay...must do homework now...

call me "the sock wh*re"

okay rather than make ANOTHER posts about socks... i just added a bunch of patterns i like under wish list...

so i guess this was sort of another post, but i modified and old one b/c eca's crafty like that ;)

--- original post---
okay don't do that but still...maybe red was right about eca's sock obession?

Why you ask?
it all started with me stumbling across this picture from this site


to which eca found
site 1
site 2
and site 3

and fell in love with these pictures from site 3




after much scouring of the internet, eca discovered she can't read german and had the roommate's exroomate read sites for her ... bc he's german and can read and speak german...and read and speak english too

so anyway...eca scours internet to find this book is out of print...AND used copies are running anywhere from 200-400 DOLLARS ... yes...

eca put a bid on ebay...but we shall see how much eca is willing to pay for such book...socks are pretty aren't they?

about that birthday...

so the roommate comes home with ice cream cake and says "they ran out of wiis... so you get to choose what you want...a wii or that pink camera you keep playing with."

yes yes i know ... utterly no tact, but that's what's is lovable about roommate in a "i want to strangle you" sort of way...

so anyway, i just don't see really using a wii anytime soon (still in school and must do without distractions)

so i requested the following
package a:
down and up lace sock pattern



gothic spire




twisted flower sock pattern


soak aquae wash (b/c eca loves that clean fresh smell)

or

package b:
the yarn meter on the side bar

with either package i'd be happy...so we'll see what he gets.

yes red, eca and the socks. now hush!
marin gets a cookie for being nice to the eca =)

heaven help me

okay...so here i am at work...killing time while waiting for the printer and i check out ravelry.

so i go looking, start reading about the very upset knitter and decide to take a look at the screen shots. i must say i'm very impressed.

me, being the obsessive person that i am...started looking at the names of all the patterns. needless to say i ended up with 3 new sock patterns, and again, have fallen in love with "a step above." here it is on ravelry here it is on the knitting universe website.

so yes, i bought the back ordered issue. unfortunately, there wasn't much else that was good in this issue...but hey sock patterns normally cost around $5-8 bucks...so a whole magazine at $7.50 with free shipping wasn't bad.

ps. if you're going to buy the magazine, DO NOT use firefox.

pps. (or is it pss???) i'm going to be using the lorna's laces bucks bar i bought a while ago =)

because i grew up in a bi-lingual household...maybe??

okay so roommate always makes fun of me for getting sayings wrong...

and i was thinking of posting something like
"operation 'go behind the red's back' is successful" and then realized that "go behind so and so's back" is a bad thing. so the story on that is...the anti m (see the sidebar for link) and i got red (see the side bar please) a birthday present. yes, we went all incognito like and came up with plans on what to get the red.

we ended up getting her a swift and merion/silk roving.

now mistake #2...
i was knitting the worsted weight green yarn for the roommate and decided i would call the colorway "barely penetrated green" and realized that "penetrated" could (and probably does) have some bad/naughty connotations. but the word is very descriptive. the yarn wasn't colored all the way through because i didn't use enough die for the weight. 1/4 teaspoon measurements are good for fingering weight yarn, but not worsted! even though i did do my non-patented "add more dye during the dyeing process" moves.

but in both cases...oh well. the green isn't to my liking, but the roommate likes it. reminds him of moss or something???

but hey...my wrists hurt from marathon knitting.

i finished the embossed leaves pattern, but the socks are 1/2" too short b/c i made 6 pattern repeats instead of 7.

ps. links to come b/c i'm just lazy. can you blame me???
ps. pictures to come

happy birthday to me

okay, so it's like...super super early for my birthday...but...instead of the spa i bought dying stuff.

so... here it is
1. jacquard acid dye starter set that has Vermillion, Fire Red, Sky Blue, Sapphire Blue, Yellow Sun, and Jet Black. this means i'm going to have to think about how to make green lol.

2. three (3) skiens of superwash/nylon fingering weight yarn @ 462 yards each (to test subtle solid dying)

3. two (2) skiens of superwash/nylon worsted weight yarn @ 220 yards each (for aaron's socks that i still haven't done)

i need to get
1. a crockpot (going to target)
2. masks
3. white vinegar
4. gloves (i think i have some at home)
5. a wash basin (i think i want a specifc one for washing)
6. these instructions printed out before it suddenly disappears off the internet ()

but i do have to report the following good stuff
1. the cable ribbed socks have been done =) i need to wash them
2. finished ONE jaywalker sock today @ bf's basketball game
3. camisa is done being knitted. just need to block and seam =)
4. i got fitted knits (i know i'm horrible)
5. i got knitting on the road (dude you have no idea how quickly this book is disappearing!)
6. i got the cashmere yarn from red =) very excited....

but yes... i must go now...

---end---

back in the saddle

so i unravelled the branching out and the bayscheir (sp?). i actually did not get rid of as much as i thought i did lol.

i bought the "favorite socks" book by interweave press and have knitted a sock from it. i need to try it on to know when i should begin the toe, but all in all, i'm pretty pleased considering it's been forever since i actually knitted.

my next step will be to NOT start anything new until i finish what i have left to do.

yay they're watching

hehehe - cookie and kristi read my blog

*giggles*

oh... i guess i have to post something too....

well here's the long and short of it all - DON'T SECOND GUESS THE PATTERN - especially when the maker (eunny) finds the hypotenuse of shoulders so that stripes line up perfectly when wearing it...

b/c anyone who uses algebra and geometry to make a pattern... well, i doubt they post mistakes.

so my heel - i second guessed it... i knitted the the back loop instead of knitting - and i did k1, s1 instead of s1 k1 --- but atleast i was smart enough to purl until end and slipping the last...

but yeah, i'll fix it on the next one.

ps progress picks to come

---end---

socks socks socks... oh and progress oh and publicity?

yes i know... i took on the eunny jang - what was i thinking? well i was thinking roomie's coworker is a really nice guy. r's coworker is trying to invite us over for dinner - and for a non people person, that's a huge deal - so i wanted to give him a present. you know one artist to another...

it's in gems opan in the navy color from springwater fiber. i know i suck with the links right now , but i'm supposed to be doing other things.

the opal is sportweight and i DID NOT mod the pattern at all. i had called my red and asked for her opinion - and she just happened to be knitting a sock in sport weight for her dad who just happens to be the same shoe size... AND my buddy that i introduced her to happens to be the same shoe size and he graciously took measurements of his foot for her... which RED NEEDS TO EMAIL ME FOOT MEASUREMENTS =) hint hint... i love myself/red =)

but it is beautiful, surprisingly easy to follow. i'm starting to like charts.

remember elisha's jaywalker? well i ran out of yarn...well realized i was going to, ripped it out - oh and yes, the whole "knit the bottom in a solid color" thing didn't work... well b/c socks are in the round and not flat! so anyway... that got ripped out and became the rpm from knitty (although it's not mentioned in their archive, you actually have to google it... i don't understand why)

but this was the only picture that showed the colors well - the heel is different from what i'm used to. i like it. and i didn't try it on b/c her foot's longer than mine... i'm a size 6 and she's a 7.5-8. the toe was pointer than i'd hope, but i already grafted and i wasn't going to ungraft.

and yes...all you non believers, i casted on the 2nd sock for rpm.

okay so all you non believers... i did put down the 2nd rpm and casted on the pomatomus. *sigh* it was a tugging of the flowers roomie gave me (for no reason at all! you gotta love random gifting!) which happened to be the same colors as the yarn i got from kbrece on ebay. (i know i know links links)

the yarn is GORGEOUS and it does not pool in this pattern.

yes i know ... it took me how many socks to realize that things will pool depending on needle size, knitting round v flat, and pattern....

anyway... i love the colors. they're really fabulous. really really really fabulous. i can't wait to knit with the other skein i have...

oh and this is pretty cool - i'm still on the mailing list for the Nova KnitWits of Del Rey...and somehow one of the ladies has a photographer and/slash journalist coming to the knitting group next week to take pictures to MAYBE BE IN NOVA LIVING!!! how fantabulous is that?

and what's even better is that it's this coming tuesday and i maybe able to make it... b/c school will actually be slow! =)

it just makes me miss them and those - like red and g - who have left. there are a lot of new people - so maybe i'll make new friends????

it's always nice to find others who knit.

which reminds me, i love kristi of knitanon.com - she actually writes back and is really nice. she invited me to her spinning group =) too bad i live ... oh on the east coast and she lives on the west. b ut i love nice knitters...

i'm telling you - when i open my store, it's going to say "leave your egos behind" or something along those lines... and yes, i copywrite this!
hahhah

anyways ttyl!

---end---

oh dear - where have my jaywalkers gone

okay so my whole thing about knitting the top 1/2 of the sock in the varigrated and the bottom in solid...

well it was a nice though, but it won't work.
1. a sock is knit in the round so i'd have to cut the yarn after every row to reattach it
2. the sock is knit in the round so i'd have to knit 1/2 of the foot in varigated and the other 1/2 in solid

so... I RIPPED THE WHOLE DAMNED THING OUT!

and started the RPM pattern from knitty

it's a very lovely pattern - my first purls are loose while the 2nd and 3rd are tight.. so i have to adjust my guage or use a larger needle if it's to fit my friend.

but another unfortunate thing - the color pools a bit... but that's okay... it's a risk taken. and i'm not about to start another one!

so yes... pics to come later...2.5 of the 6 repeats for pattern rounds completed. so hopefully this will be a fast knit! i may have to go up a needles size to make it loser but it does have negativ ease!

anyways - picks to come.

---end---

picture pages

okay - so here are pictures of some progress i've been making

first up is this lovely brown sheep company's wildfoote luxury sock yarn in color sy09 mums. this is one of the 3 colors that the roomie purchased for me while on vacation with his family. it's machine washable, but it says something about vinegar???


next we have a close up of the pattern. it's the yo cable from "sensational knitted socks," a lovely book. it's cast on 16 in figure 8, increase until 15 stitches per each needle. use four US2 needles. I'm using susan bates.













now the jaywalkers!

isn't it pretty? well i ran into a bit of a problem... i'm running out of yarn. the pattern calls for a 465oz skein, and i'm using a 440. on top of that i'm doing the "bigger" jaywalker pattern, so i'm going to assume that's going to take up more yarn.

solution: knit the heel, the gusset (that arch part), the bottom of the foot (and if i'm really running out, the toe) in a solid complimentary color. i was hoping to bring out the green, but it looks like i should do a blue or purple. exciting huh? hopefully it doesn't look like ass b/c that would really suck.

anyways, hope you enjoyed!

---end---