Secret Pals, Socks, and Shawls - oh my!

I'm behind on posting. Again.

My Secret Pal, though, is right on the ball. Dan brought the mail in with a quizzical expression on his face on Thursday afternoon, wondering who would send me a card. Well, there was a picture on the front that I quickly identified as knitting needles. Turns out my Secret Pal had sent me a cute little card to say "hi."

Isn't that great? How thoughtful! Thank you, Secret Pal. Put a smile on my face. I didn't send my Secret Pal a card (though I might next time - still thrilled about how great an idea that is), but I did send her first package out on Thursday. I hope she likes it!

I went out and got the yarn for my Sockapal-2-za socks today. What do you think?

I was going for something that said "fire" to me. This looks more like dying embers, but still fire-like, I think. I even have a pattern in mind. Stay tuned!

I also finished the sock-knitting bag. It's an original crocheted pattern, but I'm heavily indebted to Tasha. Sadly, because I chose to use black chenille, you can't see the crocheted cables on the strap. I used about three skeins of Lion Brand's Chenille Sensations.

It was designed so that I can bring my socks with me and knit on them while standing up. Sadly, none of the pictures I took of me actually carrying the bag and knitting turned out.

And there's been a great deal of shawl upheaval in the Palmer house lately. The Landscape Shawl, which I've been working on so painstakingly, is still not showing itself to be worth the Lorna's Laces it's being made of. And I just had to rip back about 10 rows, which is not making me love it any more. On the advice of friends, it's being given three days to sleep in my shawl workbasket before I decide whether or not to rescue the yarn for a more deserving project. Perhaps an Old Shale. Or perhaps the Shoalwater version. I don't get to decide until Tuesday. But I think the Landscape Shawl's days are numbered...

The mystery stole also met an inglorious fate this weekend. The needles were wrong. The yarn was wrong. My skill level, I suspect, was wrong. So that's on hold. I'm ordering some Shimmer from Knit Picks and smaller needles, and I'll try again someday. The beautiful grey yarn in being held, I suspect, for the Harlot's Snowdrop Shawl.

But, with all these shawl deaths, a new shawl must be born. I've started the Highland Triangle Shawl from Folk Shawls. Isn't she pretty?


It's just Wool-Ease, but I thought the colors were lovely. There's some purple and iridescent colors mixed in with that gorgeous blue. Since this year's fest garb will (hopefully) be green, blue, and purple, this will probably be something I wear out to Fest for the one cool day a year we have out there.

Bad Blogger

...no cookie!

Whew. I took a break from posting, but not knitting. I'm jobless this week, so I've managed to get a good bit done. Prepare for pictures...

First, the beginnerSAM sock. One down, one to go...

Look's pretty good so far. I made it to fit me even though it's a gift, because I have fairly average sized feet, and they should stretch to fit my aunt if she needs them to.

A few quickies...

Magnets, made on comission for an (ex)coworker.

(Hmmm...now you all know what I keep on top of my fridge)

A skirt for Lyn. The main part is a crepe-backed satin in a lovely plum that my camera completely failed to duplicate. Inset gores in black lace. Pattern is original.


And the mystery stole...
Others doing the mystery stole along - don't look if you don't want to see pictures!

 

Step One

Step Two



The little red line in the middle is my lifeline from step one. I'm going to leave them until I'm done. Knowing me...

Wow. I guess I should post more often.

Odds and Ends Assortment...

Note to self:
1)You do not like the west bank campus. This is why you don't go down there.
a)...particularly during lunch rush.
b)...when you're looking for a yarn store you've never seen.
c)...during the height of road construction season.
d)...and when the saleswoman at said yarn shop is rude.

Note to saleswoman at Depth of Field
1)It is not my problem if you hate your job.
2)Do not *sniff* at me when I ask for an inexpensive yarn.
3)Do not just wave your hand in the general direction of the entire right hand side of the store and think that this qualifies as helping me.
4)Do not stare at me when I come back to the counter with a different, more expensive yarn, like you're wondering if I can afford it.
5)When someone buys several hanks of laceweight merino, they should not have to ask for a bag. Twice.
6)Do not *sniff* at me when you have to get me a bag.

Yeah. That was an eventful trip. I console myself with the Kid Merino I bought for the MysteryStoleAlong. I also stopped at Jo-Anns to pick up some ugly orange acrylic for the magnets for my coworker (she's paying me, I cannot say anything about how distasteful I find the yarn), and some black kitchen cotton to play around with dishcloths. And - and this is the reason I went out in the first place - I got everything thing needed for my first package to my secret pal. Hope she likes it!

This is the last time I'll be augmenting my stash for awhile, though, since I've joined A Different Kind of Yarn Diet. It ties stash acquisition to weight loss. This - in theory - should help me lose the weight I need to, and control my yarn spending. We'll see. :)

Break for cuteness:

How Leia explains to Mom that Mom is spending too much time on the computer, and not enough time with her.

Okay, back to the knitting.
I made good progress on my beginningSAM sock.

It's turning out okay, but I've noticed the pattern is written...well, I think it's written badly, but that may just be me. The inset, for example, is the first attempt. It's cast on using the number of stitches called for in the pattern. And that's as far as I could stretch it. I couldn't even get it over my toes. So I cast on a few more stitches, and it seems to be working okay. The heel flap directions are also a bit confusing (ex. a 3-stitch pattern repeat worked over 20 stitches). But I've managed to puzzle it out so far. I'm knitting it using the Magic Loop method out of necessity, since I don't have any size 6 DPNs. So far it's okay, although I don't think this method will become my favorite. I have to admit, though, that avoiding ladders is much easier.

And, for once, non-sock knitting content. I made myself work on my Landscape Shawl last night. I finished 8 rows, and now I only have about 70 to go. *groan* See? This is what virtue looks like.


I should really work on the magnets tonight. And I will. Really. I'm just going to wind one ball of the merino and do a bit on the mystery stole first...

"Fun Fur is Murder"

So says needle_ninja. So do I. Poor, poor Cookie Monster...

And here's a thought...if it doesn't sell well, quit making it! I went into Jo-Ann's to buy needles, and there was wall after wall of Fun Fur in every conceivable color. Why?

I will admit to using Fun Fur to trim a few items, particularly for kids or other people that like glitz. But enough is enough!

(This opinion brought to you by the letter I. Just an opinion folks; don't take it too far.)

I said, NO YARN!

So, I stopped by Dan's work before I went to Jo-Ann's this morning. This was the conversation:

Me: Okay, I'm stopping at Jo-Ann's; then I'm going home and going to bed. (Third shift, remember? I'd just gotten off work.)
D: I thought you were going to wait for the sale next week? (One of my LYS's is having a really good sale.)
Me: Well, I am. I'm just going to pick up needles. No yarn.
D: *one eyebrow, skeptical look*
Me: No, really, no yarn!

This is what came home with me:


Does that look like yarn to you?
...
...
Nope, me neither. And that's what I'll tell him when he gets home.

AD Day gets me again...

*sigh* Every time I promise myself that I won't buy yarn, AD day on the yahoo groups I read comes up, and I find all the NON-yarn items I want to buy.

Today's wish list:

• Celtic bead stitch markers


• Fat Cat Blockers

It's official.

It's now officially a sock obsession. See, this is why I smoked, people. It kept me from forming other addictions.

Just signed up for "Sockapaltwoza." Looks like hella fun. Can't wait. 'Cept now I have to get the evil easter bunny socks off the needles soon.