Eye Candy Friday

Good friends! This picture was taken at our annual holiday shopping trip. We always have such fun.

Not much new on the knitting front. I decided to start Ariann in some Cascade 220 from the stash. And I'm still knitting on socks (for me and for my Bloomin' Feet pal both in Socks That Rock). Did you check out some of the new colors on their website? They all have some variation of Foo Foo in their name.

On a totally different topic, I have a sick child home from school. Please send good wishes that she is healthy for vacation.

Quick Bloomin' Feet Post

Plan A won't work unless my pal's feet shrink in the next few months. It looks like this fits someone with a size 6.5/7 foot. For a bigger foot, the issue is in getting it over the heel. Oh well, it's onto Plan B.

Much more stretchy. Pink seems to be popular this season.

Bummer...

As of yesterday, the powers that be where I work have blocked all blogger and typepad links so there goes my lunchtime reading. This means that blog reading time will be quite limited. Talk about sucking the fun out of my day. Oh well, maybe it won't be a permanent thing.

On a better note, this past Sunday was quite unusual. I actually got to spend some quality time with my spinning wheel. I am still working on "The Beat Goes On" from Crown Mountain Farms which has been taking forever. Well, to be totally honest, it seems like forever because I haven't been finding the time to spin. And I am trying for sockweight, so it is taking a bit longer. But I did make a nice dent in the roving and am now on my second bobbin. Hopefully I will find or make some more time soon to spend with my wheel. Speaking of beautiful fibers, check out Teyani's blog and see the new fiber colors that she has come up with - very tempting indeed!!

I am also working on my Bloomin' Feet sock for my pal. I switched to a pattern called Shell Gaitors. The yarn that I am using is a little bit thinner than my average sock yarn and the swatch I tried on size 1's was just a little too flimsy. So, I am knitting away on 0's and needed to find a pattern that worked with the gauge I'm getting. I'm enjoying the pattern but may have a friend with smaller feet try them on to make sure that they will fit over one's heel. The women at knitting all gave the sock a thumbs up so that was a good sign. I can't seem to decide if my pal will like them or not so it was great to get some positive reinforcement.

Oh, how I love productivity!

Last weekend was quite productive. I blocked CeCe (isn't she a beauty!) and now all I have left to do is find the perfect button. It's nice that I only need one button because I feel like I can splurge on a really special one if I need to. This is one pattern I would definitely do again - I love the one in the Coffee Bean Calmer that is shown on the pattern page.

My second Satisfaction sock was also finished. Let me tell you that the movie "Happy Feet" can't even compare to how great my new pair of socks are feeling on my feet. I know the true meaning of happy feet!

I have also joined my first sock swap - Bloomin' Feet. I will admit that I am quite nervous about getting the sock to fit correctly on someone else's foot. I know we have measurements, but I am used to trying on my sock to make sure it fits right. Let me ask a question of the seasoned veterans of sock swaps. Do I make the foot the length that was given me or do I make it a bit smaller to allow a little stretch?

I have ordered some special yarn for my pals' socks and am thinking of possibly trying this pattern. I figure the lace allows for some stretchiness which seems like a good thing when I'm making the socks for someone else that can't try them on as I go along. Plus, one of my resolutions for this year is to try some new sock patterns. I keep buying books of sock patterns and I love looking through them, but have not really made too many of them. Hopefully that will change this year.

As for my other goals - I amazed myself by NOT ordering any sock yarn for myself when I placed the order for the Bloomin' Feet yarn. I will admit it was close - I used all the arguments - I'll get free shipping if I order more, I've never tried this sock yarn before, it's been a really tough time and I need some yarn. But in the end, I submitted the order with just the Bloomin' Feet yarn. And you know what? I was really proud of myself! As for my other goal, I have been walking, both on the treadmill and outside with the dog. I need to drive the different routes that I walk with the dog so that I can accurately add up my mileage. But I think I'm pretty much on track with my goal of 8 miles per week.

The List with Pictures

1. Mail off red scarf for the Red Scarf Project.







2. Realize that even though a skein of Lion Brand Micro Spun has plenty of yardage for a hat, I totally misjudged the amount of Fancy Fur needed. Go back to Michaels to purchase two more skeins - one each of the two colors I had previously purchased. Finish blue hat and start red one. (As you can see from the picture, the second hat is well on its way to being finished.) The hats are for this excellent cause.



3. While waiting to get to Michaels, pull out CeCe. Realize that there is an error 4 rows down from the current row - and not just one stitch is off. I screwed up the pattern and about a third of the row is incorrect. Think for about a second that maybe I can leave it the way it is, realize that no way will I be happy with that and slowly unstitch each stitch as I work my way 4 rows back. But the story has a happy ending. I just finished the edging along the neck and now just have to do a small amount of sewing, block it and find a great button. I tried this on while it was still on the needles and I absoutely love it. It's just what I want to wear over a tank top.

4. Help my daughter with math. Sometimes they do these math stories. Here is what she came up with. "Mom wants to make a sweater. She has 5 skeins of yarn. She needs 9. I give her 4. Now she has 9 and can make her sweater." And here is the picture we made to go along with the story. Gotta love it. By the way, those are my skeins of Black Water Abbey (bought before January 1). The plans are to use this yarn for the Flyingdales Cardigan. Oh, and the other skein is a skein of STR (Christmas Bells) that my daughter picked out at Rhinebeck. She wants me to make her a shawl - I'm thinking Forest Canopy.

Hats Again

CeCe is coming along fine. I just added the sleeves so now each row takes a while, but at least I am slowly decreasing and I am still enjoying this knit. I will be taking a short break from CeCe to knit hats for the Boston Childrens’ Hospital. The information is over here at Mini’s blog.

This cause touches me because I have a friend whose son spent some time at this hospital just after he was born. Thankfully he was discharged and went home to his family and is now busy raising h-ll. He is a great kid and cracks me up everytime I see him. So I will make a hat – or two. I did have to buy some yarn for these hats since, if I do have some bits of fun fur in the stash, I couldn’t find them. But I figure this falls under the “gift” exception since the fun fur is a special request and these hats are for a special cause. I’m using the same pattern as Norma, the pattern from the Lion Brand website. It calls for one strand of Microspun held with one strand of the Fun Fur (I’m using the Fancy Fur just like Norma since it was on sale at Michaels for $2 a skein). Unfortunately the pattern did not specify a needle size, so I emailed Norma and she answered right back. Thanks! I cast on for the first hat at lunch and am moving right along. Although I will admit that I do miss working on CeCe.

Speaking of Norma, I do need to get the red scarf in the mail. I believe the deadline is the end of January – info over here for those who need it. I also am unofficially joining the “Walk 100 miles by April 1st” group. I need to get back onto the treadmill but am also able to add some miles to the total with the addition of Bandit to our family. Bandit is out almost 7 year old husky mix that came from the local shelter right before Thanksgiving. She loves going for walks and I usually try to take her for one before I leave for work in the morning. I’m not a runner, but when I saw we could do our 100 miles in a variety of ways, I decided it would be a good incentive. Currently, I am up to 11.5 miles.

Loose Ends

Happy New Year wishes to everyone. And wishes for a peaceful and healthy new year also.

I do have a few loose ends from last year. Just before Christmas, I sent off a package to Save the Children for Caps for the Capital. The total was 62 caps if I remember correctly. Two friends from work, Elaine and Maria, joined me in making hats, but the biggest recruit was Elaine's mom who donated an amazing 52 hats. Thanks to all of you for making this such a success!

I'd also like to thank Amy of Spunky Eclectic. I had ordered one of her alpaca mugs as a gift for a friend and figured I may as well order some fiber at the same time - for packing material, you know, to keep the mug safe. Don't give me that look, you know you would have done the same thing :). Anyway, everything arrived safely, the mug was a hit, and I love my new rovings! Actually, Cathy, my Yarn Aboard pal gave me the idea of using wool as packing material. She had included some brown wool in my package for just that purpose. You have to like someone who does that!

In the midst of all the holiday gift knitting, I started CeCe for myself. After all the hats and mittens (plain stockinette), I had a hard time wrapping my brain around the pattern. I emailed Bonne Marie with a few questions and she helped me immediately. If you haven't tried her patterns yet, go over and take a look. Great patterns and excellent customer service. What more could you want!!

I am actually thinking of some resolutions for this year - not something I usually do in earnest because I usually can't stick to them. But the past few months have been really difficult and something needs to change. There is a lot to think about - nothing major. Just changes I need to make since I am slowly realizing that the changes have to be with me since I can't change anyone else. One thing I need to deal with is all the STUFF I have and to deal with that I am joining Wendy's Knit From Your Stash 2007. I know I have enough to keep me busy for quite a while.

Hope everyone enjoys their New Year's Day!