Friday, July 25, 2008

I blame it all on Ravelry...

I've been kind of absent lately and I blame it all on Ravelry. It's just too easy to upload projects and yarn directly to Ravelry instead of posting here....but I'm going to try to get better. I have a lot to blog about, just need the patience to do it.

I've been up to a few things since I last blogged....the yummiest was a knitting retreat in Greer, Arizona with my knitting grrrls. We stayed in a beautiful cabin up in the mountains. The weather was absolutely gorgeous with rain and thunder and the highs in the 60's during the day. I know to some this sounds absolutely dreadful, but it's no picnic living in Phoenix in the summertime, so rain and cool weather are what we want. It also makes for delish knitting weather. We spent our time cooking yummy meals, knitting, spinning, talking, sharing, watching movies and bonding. I love my knitting group so much and it was great to spend a weekend away with them. Next time, we did decide to stay a little closer to home and to extend our stay. The 4 hour drive and only 1 full day wasn't quite enough...but it was fun, just the same. You can see my whole Flickr set of photos from the trip here.


Greer Knitting Retreat Mosaic

While we were there, Gherkin and I decided to cast on for our first sweater...The February Lady Sweater. We chose the same yarn, got our gauge down pat before leaving home and were ready to cast on when we got there. All was well until my row gauge and hers were really different and my buttonholes were spaced 1.5 inches apart when the pattern stated that they were to be 2.5 inches apart...um....what to do. When I got home I finished the raglan increases and tried it on...the size I picked is perfect but I'm still not sure if I should rip and redo spacing the buttonholes at 2 inches or if I should keep going and see how it looks. Right now I'm ignoring her...she lives in the bottom of my knitting bag. But she is pretty....


For my mindless knitting in Greer, I chose to cast on for another pair of socks for myself in Yarn Chef Minestrone sock yarn. HEAVEN. This is the softest, most buttery, delicious sock yarn EVER and the striping...the glorious striping. Take a gander at my first finished sock.



I'm calling these bad boys my Rice Dream Puddle socks. The colorway name is Ice Cream Puddle, but, you know, I'm dairy-free IRL so I had to mix it up a bit. I'm anxious to cast on for the second one, but first, I promised The Mister a pair of socks too...so I cast on for The Gentleman's Fancy Sock in Railway Stitch from Knitting Vintage Socks. I'm using the yarn he picked for the pattern which is Dream in Color Smooshy in Cocoa Kiss. I think he chose well.



Be back soon...I promise...with more sock results as well as a yummy cookie recipe and a Ravelympics project. Have a super weekend.





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Posted by Wannabe @ 5:30 PM :: (9) comments

Monday, July 7, 2008

Close but no cigar...

Last year, my knitting goal was to understand the anatomy of a sock and to be really comfortable knitting them. To find out what yarns I liked to knit them with, what needles I preferred and to figure out what heel and toe fit my foot the best. I succeeded and became obsessed with knitting socks. The love affair is still constant and beautiful, but I decided that I wanted to knit them with more consistency and that I was ready to take on some more advanced sock patterns.

I joined the Sock A Month KAL 5 which started this past January. The goal was to knit and post a pair a month...I did great....until the last pair. I finished a day late. At first, I was upset about it...feeling like I didn't meet the goal I set out to make, but then shortly realized that...well, that's not what knitting's all about. For me, it's my stress reliever, my social outlet and my little piece of heaven. I got over it and looked back at all the beautiful socks I knit over the past 6 months and was again, ever grateful that I'm a knitter. The people I've met, the things I've done, the skill I've gained, the peace it brings...it's not about the ultimate goal, but the ultimate feeling of joy that it brings into my life.

January

February

March

April

May

June


My June socks, finished July 2, are Hedgerows by Jane Cochran. I used Sundara Sock in Candied Chrome and size 1 Knit Picks Nickel Plated DPNs. This sock yarn was a DREAM to knit with!

So there it is....6 month's worth of socks. Socks I'm happy with. Socks I learned a lot about knitting from. I knit my first pair of lace socks during the past 6 months. I also used several new sock yarns that I'd never knit with before like Yarntini, Vesper, sKNITches, Dream in Color Smooshy and Sundara. I think that's a lot to be satisfied with.

I decided not to join the next 6 months of the KAL because I'm going to start on another knitting goal...one that's kind of well....FREAKED ME OUT....I'm going to knit my first sweater.

My sweet friend, Gherkin and I are going to knit Pamela Wynne's February Lady Sweater out of Cascade 220 on our knitting retreat to Greer this coming weekend. I did my swatch the other night and got gauge spot on!



I'm excited. A little nervous. And eagerly anticipating what this next goal will bring to my knitting....I have a sneaky suspicion it will be, stress relief, socialization with dear friends and my little piece of heaven.

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Posted by Wannabe @ 12:43 PM :: (12) comments

musac love

XM Station 818 - Flight 26

podcast love

reading

The Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer

viewing

Fringe, Mad Men, Man vs. Wild

eating

Vegan Yummy

drinking

Coffee with soy milk

exercising

Every moment of my day is exercise..hello, I chase after a 4 year old!

knitting

Clapotis, Donyales Socks, Highly Regarded Mitts, Berry Hill Mitts, Philadelphia Eagles Broadripples

doin' this

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spoil me handmade

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