Socktoberfest - Right Around the Corner

One of my knitty pals, Susie, aka Knitting Knoobie, just reminded me that it's almost time for Socktoberfest, a month long festival of knitting which you can find on Ravelry.  I've been looking for some patterns on Ravelry (and I've been looking at Susie's project page on Ravelry because she finds great sock patterns!!).  Here's some patterns that I'd like to knit.

Diagonal Lace Socks by Wendy D. Johnson



Hermione's Everyday Socks by Erica Leuder



D-Man Socks By Karen Lauger

Now to go through my stash and select some yarn to use! What sock patterns have you run across recently that you are planning on knitting soon? Share with us here! 

Block Party!

I think most knitters would agree, a knitter's idea of a block party is significantly different than what most people would think...I finally blocked some finished knitting projects.  I had so much to block that my small set of Knitpicks foam blocks wasn't enough to get the job done.  I had my mind on completing this huge task and so last week I went to Target and found these children's foam blocks:

And, now, some blocking progress!

I finally cast-off Romney's Kerchief....I couldn't get myself to do the recommended cast-off...it seemed like it would be just too time consuming. Last week, I decided to go up to size 10 needles and cast-off.  A bit of a risk, as I was almost out of yarn but it all worked out fine.

My Not At Sock Summit Socks...I loved knitting with The Sanguine Gryphon Skinny Bugga yarn although I was "meh" about the pattern....size 1 needles too...a never ending project but very nice results!

My Rose Lace Stole!! I love this! I love the lace pattern! I really love rectangular shape! I want to knit another rectangular shawl ASAP!

Andrea's Shawl - Loved this pattern too!  Such a pretty combination of green! And, surprise! Look!  The lace looks mostly like the pattern photos! (I thought I was making all kinds of mistakes!)




What did I learn from my block party? Wow, blocking can really accenuate lace patterns! And, all of my shawls blocked to the correct size.  Even the Rose Lace Stole which I was soooo worried about.  Now, to get some photos of all these finished projects onto Ravelry! 

Crimson Tide! A New Pattern on Ravelry




Crimson Tide Socks on Ravelry

 

I cannot begin to tell you how much I enjoy knitting colorwork projects! And, now, just in time for fall (better known around here as Football Season!), I've designed a sock pattern called Crimson Tide.  Priced at $2 US, I am going to contribute all of my proceeds from sales of this pattern through January 9, 2012 (date of the College Football National Championship) to the Red Cross Disaster Fund.  Originally, I wanted to raise funds for the Red Cross to help with Disaster Relief from this Spring's tornadoes in the Southeast, particularly in Alabama (hence, my design inspiration!).  With the recent hurricanes in the Northeast and along the East Coast, I have decided to contribute to the general disaster relief fund to help wherever funds are needed most.


About Crimson Tide...a basic sock pattern really with an easy to memorize pattern that repeats around the leg of the sock and across the top of the foot.  The colorwork striping on the bottom of the foot adds extra interest to the look of the sock (and minimizes the need to weave in loose ends!).  I've used KnitPicks Palette in Pimento, Garnet Heather and White...perfect for all of you Alabama fans out there!  This pattern would also be pretty in blues and greens for a more aquatic look.  

I Couldn't Resist

Kirsten Kapur has some of the prettiest designs on Ravelry.  One of my current favorites is Cladonia.  I think I'll knit it as part of the Small Knits Knitalong (SKKAL on Twitter) that Rachellynnec on Twitter is hosting.  Yes, another knitalong, but, really, who could resist knitting such a pretty shawl!

Cladonia by Kirsten Kapur on Ravelry

Knit from the top down, it has a large stockinette section and a comparitively smallish lace section.  Perfect for sitting in carpool (the stockinette section) and night-time knitting (the lace section).  I found this beautiful yarn at The Loopy Ewe:

 

It's Alpaca with a Twist Baby Twist in Natural and Seasprite. It is amazingly soft! 100% Alpaca, DK weight. Hand wash and dry flat. Each skein is approximately 245 grams and 549 yards, so I am hoping to make two shawls from this beautiful yarn! 

I love knitting with this yarn!

WIP Wednesday: Knitalong Progress

Whew! With the kids going back to school (and, for the first time ever, going to two different schools), knitting has take a bit of a back seat to, ummm, driving. My daughter is in a school carpool which is a blessing and the kids get out at different times so the biggest distraction to my knitting is getting my son to evening cross country practice while my daughter is at dance. This is temporary (I hope!) because once it gets a bit cooler, his practices will be after school and not at night. Also, we will have a dance carpool too! Yay! More knitting on the way!
Needless to say, there are way too many projects on my needles right now!  I seem to have a fear of the kitchener stitch so I have two and a half pairs of socks sitting on needles waiting to be finished.  Just the kitchener stitch, that's all! The funny thing, I'm actually pretty good at the kitchener stitch once I sit down and get started.  Also, two shawls waiting to be blocked, a half complete sweater and one mitten half-way completed.  A definte case of startitis this summer!  And, to add to all of that, there are two shawls that I absolutely must knit! Yikes! I need a plan to get these off the needles! Help! I need ideas!




Cladonia by Kirsten Kapur on Ravelry

 

Holden Shawlette by Mindy Wilkes on Ravelry


Definitely must knit both of these soon!

Sharing Secrets about Wollmeise Craziness

Today I scored two skeins of Wollmeise yarn...that beautiful sock yarn that is so coveted and so hard to obtain! How did I do it? Let me share my secret....sshhh!

I had, in the past, been able to buy a skein from The Loopy Ewe (online) by keeping an eye on their Tweets.  It pretty much was just luck that I noticed their Tweet while in the carpool line about a year ago. But...here's my just discovered secret....

About a week ago, I noticed in Sheri's Blog that they were expecting a shipment of Wollmeise very soon.  So what did this resourceful knitter gal do?  I text followed The Loopy Ewe on Twitter!  And late this morning, The Loopy Ewe announced that Wollmeise was on line.  I received this tweet via text as I was standing at the pay register at the grocery store!! Whoosh! I practically ran out of the grocery store!! No, I don't need help out to my car! (I just grabbed all the bags and threw them in the front seat).  Would I like my receipt? Well, not really, but if I have to, sure.  Got to the car, started it up and blasted the air conditioning to keep the refrigerated and frozen items from melting.  (It was already 90+ degrees out!)


Wollmeise Sock Yarn in Turkise Markise from
© The Loopy Ewe


I got to The Loopy Ewe website on my phone and found my way over to Wollmeise 80/20 Sock Yarn. What I noticed on my past attempt to buy Wollmeise from TLE is that it literally goes in front of your eyes!! It is crazy, crazy, crazy! (That really is half the fun...finding out what you actually manage to get!) I'd put a skein in my cart and by the time I was checking out, it was gone, literally gone, from my cart! You just hope you can get through the checkout process with something in hand. But I think I caught some pretty colors:   Nazar Boncugu and Turkise Markise. 

So, keep track of Sheri's Blog and The Loopy Ewe Tweets for Wollmeise announcements and, hopefully, you will be somewhere that you can join in all the Wollmeise Craziness!! Good Luck! 

What Size Do You Like Best?

I'm talking about knitting needles, of course!!!

When it comes to DPNs (Double Pointed Needles), I find that I am rather picky about the length that I use.  For instance, I've tried those tiny, 5 inch long DPNs for knitting socks but I always tend to lose stitches even if I spread the 64 or so stitiches amongst 4 needles.   Seven inch needles tend to be too long and pointy when I use smaller size needles for knitting socks but are perfectly fine when I'm using a larger size to knit, for example, hats and mittens.  My favorite DPNs are generally six inches long which is long enough not to lose stitches but not so long that I keep getting jabbed in the wrist!  So...what size do you like best?