No, the sock isn't small, that is a 1L mug. It's in my kitchen now, and I have no idea what to do with it. Maybe I'll use it as a vase. Also, I wish I could blame the blurry pic on drinking, but I just have shaky hands. By the time I'd finished the beer (and declared myself champion of the world) I'd knit the heel. First sock was finished last week, so I'm very close to a pair! After that, slippers for Dad, and then I'm ready for Christmas.

I also made some good progress on my giant doily blanket, but the Santa Ana winds are making it too hot again for big heavy knitting. Hopefully it will cool down again soon, because knitting is way more fun when it's nice and cold.

First, a FO to share - SG's Chicago Bears socks. They were finished a few weeks ago, but made their debut for Sunday night Football.

The yarn is from seller YarnMagnet on Etsy, who does several sports teams colorways. I'm pretty happy with how the striping worked out, and I had just barely enough for size 13 socks. Luckily the Bears won on Sunday, so the socks are now lucky ;)

In other news, I finished all the pieces for my sister's sweater that got stalled out last winter, and started assembly.

If anyone has sources for small black buttons, please let me know.

I also got started on Christmas knitting, and am halfway through my mom's gift. After that, I need to make another pair of felted clogs for Dad, and I'll be all set for December. I'll be back soon with pictures of baby knits. One set is all ready to be given, so that's up first.

In the mean time, I finally finished the Little Child's Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks.

Pattern: Little Child's Socks by Nancy Bush (in Knitting Vintage Socks)
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock in Bold Red
Needles: Knitpicks 2.25mm 32" circs
Started: October 17, 2007
Completed: April 11, 2008

This was my laundromat project for many moons. The yarn was lovely as usual, although it bled more than I expected. Also, I don't think Bold Red is a very accurate color name. It's more like a Strawberry Red.

I'm very happy with how this project turned out. Of course, finishing one pair of socks means casting on for another. I decided to go with the Francie socks by Rebekkah. Yarn is Dream in Color Smooshy, and I'm in love with them so far.

That's the beginning of Currer's peplum, with Pepper inside the circular needle. Apparently I wasn't paying enough attention to her need for pettings, so she decided this was the best way to get at my hands. Crazy cat.

I'm a little further along now, but still have quite a bit of peplum to go, about 36 rows. The rest of the sweater pieces are finished though, so once I cast off for this piece it's just assembling and finishing work. The weather is supposed to be really nice this weekend, so I'm hoping to finish in time for our Sunday trip to Balboa Park.

Coming up next, I'm going to try to alternate new knits with UFOs, so either my orange raglan or my brown doily blanket should see some blog time next week, depending on the weather.

It's Currer by Norah Gaughan. I'm knitting it with Cotton Ease in Lake. Since that picture was taken I've finished the right front, so it's going really quickly so far. Using the yardage listed on the Berroco website, I would need 7 skeins of Cotton-Ease. That seems crazy to me though, so I only bought 5. So far, so good, as the back took less than 1 skein. I'm hoping to finish this top fairly quickly, to have to wear over dresses or tanks at night this summer.

In other news, I got a kitty! My parents brought down the kitty I got in 7th grade to live with me. I'm not going to be one of those bloggers who posts kitty pictures every day, but I can't resist one of the new kitty. Her name is Pepper and she's pretty tiny (9 lbs). She's been her a little over a week and seems pretty well adjusted now.

Pattern: Gretel by Ysolda
Yarn: Malabrigo - Sweet Grape. Purchased at the Imagiknit booth at Stitches West
Needles: US 5 for the ribbing, US 7 for the body of the hat, and US 6 DPNs to finish (couldn't find my size 7 dpns)
Start: March 3, 2008
Finish: March 8, 2008

I loved knitting this hat, and am finding it much more wearable than I expected. The pattern was well written and easy to follow. Two enthusiastic thumbs up!

Click to embiggen. As usual, I'm making a funny face.

It's Gretel by Ysolda. I'm making the medium level of slouch version, and have just about finished the first chart. So far it is knitting up into a soft and pretty hat. I might even finish it by this weekend!

Preview Night

First stop, Blue Moon.

Laci, in Pallas Athena. I think this is going to become Anne Hanson's Irtfa'a Faroese Lace Shawl

A Mill End of STR Heavyweight. This is a nice guy colorway, I think, with all the greys and browns. Maybe S.G. will get a pair of socks. They'll knit up quick, at least.

Next purchase was made from Brooks Farm

That's 5 hanks of Four Play (50/50 merino/silk), enough to make a DROPS sweater I've been eyeing. It's more turquoise in real life. My camera was having a really hard time with it.

And that's all the yarn I bought Thursday. I also picked up a Ravelry Tote, but I already spilled something on it, so it needs to run through the wash before I take pics. The rest of the evening was spent browsing and exploring.

Friday

Again we headed straight for Blue Moon, where I picked up some more Mill Ends, this time in Mediumweight.

The other purchase stop of the morning was at Tess's Designer Yarns. Everything there was beautiful and smooshy (and also, apparently, good smelling. S.G. sniffed all my yarn when I got home and this one was the winner)

Both are Super Sock & Baby. The yellow is for a gift, and the pink and grey will be socks for me.

After my class I made one last trip to the Market and spent the rest of my budget at the Imagiknit booth. Everyone there was super nice.

Dream in Color Smooshy in Ruby River. This was my second choice, after the color I'd eyed Thursday night (Goodluck Jade) got away.

Malabrigo in Sweet Grape. This is going to be a hat, and might be the first thing I knit up with my booty.

Shi Bui Sock. I was really drawn to this color.

And that's what I got at Stitches West. I'm so back next year.

In other news, now that I've finished some secret knitting that was weighing me down, I'm all about having a good time and knitting whatever I want. No goals for this month! I do want to blog more, and now that the sun is back, and the days are longer, I expect it will get easier for me to get back into the swing of things.

December

1. Finish Ariel's sweater and send it to her before Christmas. - Not done. Will finish after I finish #3 below.
2. Finish Felted Clogs I started for mom in time for Christmas. DONE and well received.
3. Finish the sample knitting I'm working on. - Not done. Getting close though.
4. Finish the Little Child's Socks. - Not done. Was resigned to laundromat knitting and will probably take 1-2 more trips.
5. Go over my WIP list from the beginning of the year and decide what to frog. DONE See very bottom of post.
6. Finish getting my stash up on Ravelry. - Half Done. I photographed and cataloged one of the two main drawers of yarn. I have some stash reduction for sale here, if anyone's interested.

JANUARY

1. Finish sample knitting.
2. Finish and send Ariel her sweater.
3. Finish Red Socks and start new socks.
4. Finish Orange Sweater.
5. Get last of stash up on Ravelry.

2007 WIPs

Sweaters

- Rogue, needs one front shoulder, hood, and finishing work. Ripping, yarn for sale.
- Self designed Luxury Tweed sweater, most of a sleeve done. Ripping, yarn being reclaimed.
- Trellis Baby Sweater, needs a 2nd sleeve and most of a collar. Ripped

Lace

Tina Shawl, about 2/3 through center square. Progress made, 1/2 through 2nd edging chart.

Socks

- Norwegian Stockings, heel and foot to go on 2nd sock. Ripped
- VK Embroidered Stockings, top of calf shaping on 1st sock. Ripped, yarn swapped.
- Unst Socks, past gusset on 2nd sock. Finished
- Cabled Mitten Socks, 1st sock complete. Ripped

Accessories

- Fetching Fingerless Mitts, 1 thumb to go (this is embarrassing). Finished
- Aneomi Mittens, started ribbing for 2nd mitten. Ripping
- Nordic Mittens, started thumb gusset for 2nd mitten. Ripping

Blankets/Afghans

- Lizard Ridge, 3 squares completed. Abandoned. I might try and turn the squares I finished into pillows.

It's an awful lot of ripping, but really, that's fine by me. I'll get a current WIP list up at some point this month to refer back to in 2009. No long and languishing projects for me!

On the left, the clogs I knit Dad for Christmas 2005. On the right, the pair for Mom this Christmas. She was very happy to get her own pair. I also got to see the extent of wear on Dad's and agree he needs a new pair soon, probably sooner than next Christmas.

My sister's sweater is still in progress, but hopefully I'll be mailing it to her soon. Christmas was pretty good this year.

Of course, as soon as I told Dad I was making these for Mom, he started angling for a new pair, as his are starting to get worn. Mom reports he wears them every day (including summer), so they're holding up pretty well. Maybe he'll get another pair for his birthday. I still need to make myself a pair, after all! (I have the yarn and everything, I just get sick of the size 13 needles.)

I've also been working on this:

It looks like just a big lump of nothing, but it's going to be a circular blanket for my couch. It's inspired by Brooklyn Tweed's Hemlock Circle blanket, I just picked a different vintage doily for my pattern. I'm probably about 2/3 done, but it's been set aside for a bit for Christmas and sample knitting. The yarn is Cascade Eco Wool, which is very nice, especially for the price.

Mainly I've just been enjoying knitting from my stash a bit. So far, so good, on the no new yarn until Stitches pledge. I have a couple things in the back of my head I want to pick up at Stitches, but they're purchase in person sorts of things, so I'll be content to wait until then.

Next time: Progress on Ariel's sweater. We have fronts! That will hopefully be blocked this week!

November

1. Knit the fronts of Ariel's sweater and start the sleeves. DONE
2. Finish chart 3 on Tina. - not done
3. Finish the Little Child's Socks and start a new pair of socks. - not done
4. Get halfway through my doily blanket (WIP pics coming soon). DONE and I took WIP pictures.
5. Finish the 2nd sleeve of the Orange Cardi. - not done.

December

1. Finish Ariel's sweater and send it to her before Christmas.
2. Finish Felted Clogs I started for mom in time for Christmas. I made dad a pair 2 years ago, and she's been asking for her own ever since.
3. Finish the sample knitting I'm working on.
4. Finish the Little Child's Socks.
5. Go over my WIP list from the beginning of the year and decide what to frog.
6. Finish getting my stash up on Ravelry.

I've been having trouble blogging here lately because I found out someone I want no contact with, and have told I want no contact with, has been lurking around. I thought about pulling the whole blog down, but that would have been over kill. I think the solution I've landed on is to stop posting about anything personal. I don't think I post much personal stuff, but it will likely be even less for a while.

On a happier note, I did take some pictures of the blanket and clogs in progress, so look for a post on that soon.

Last week at work Dis has a really cool new project bag. I just had to have one, so I ordered this on Friday. I had it by Monday, which is the fastest I've ever gotten anything from Canada (and might have been a fluke, I know Dis's took longer to arrive). It's awesome. The workmanship is superb. It now holds my sock in progress for toting down to lunch or to the break room.

Another shop I love is little bird designs. I totally covet that Owl Stubby Tote, the proportions are just what I like on a purse. She sometimes has really cute pincushions and stuff too.

If you're less of a bag person, and more of a sock yarn person, take a look at this sock yarn. The colors look amazing. This shop is fairly high on my must try list when I run out of solid/semi-solid sock yarn. Lagoon is particularly tempting.

I'm sure almost everyone has heard of AshleyG by now. I have her HELLO May print in my apartment and I love it.

And finally, a couple of blogs I've been enjoying as of late. Neither Hip Nor Funky, I found on Ravelry checking out other people's Apricot Jackets. Plenty of cute knits and great pictures. And Mustaa villaa, who knits absolutely beautiful socks and takes amazing pictures of them.

Hope you all enjoyed these links. Who are your favorite etsy sellers and blogs?

October

1. Finish Silke socks. DONE
2. Start SG's Chicago Bear themed socks. DONE
3. Knit the back of Ariel's Emerald Jacket. DONE
4. Pick Tina back up, and figure out some sort of chart solution. DONE
5. Finish 1 Scroll Lace sock. Not done - frogged. The gauge was just too tight for me to knit comfortably.

Pretty good progress!

November

1. Knit the fronts of Ariel's sweater and start the sleeves.
2. Finish chart 3 on Tina.
3. Finish the Little Child's Socks and start a new pair of socks.
4. Get halfway through my doily blanket (WIP pics coming soon).
5. Finish the 2nd sleeve of the Orange Cardi.

Completed back of my sister's sweater. Pattern is the Apricot Jacket from Rebecca. It only took a week to knit the back, so I have pretty high hopes of finishing in time for Christmas. I'm out of town all weekend (wedding) so most likely won't cast on for the fronts until Monday. The tubular cast on I'm using is sitting on the couch knitting, not traveling knitting.

Little Child's Sock from Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush. I love this sock. I'm much further along now, about 2/3 through the foot. I apologize for the quality of the photo, sunlight has been low. The yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock Solid in Bold Red. I think that's a misleading color name. It could be bolder. I like it, but I'd call it Strawberry Red. I think I'll finish the first one this weekend and be able to cast on for the second.

That's it for now. That's for the well wishes sent my way during the week. Also, if you feel like donating something, the Red Cross is your best bet.