sheep in the city

Wee Tiny Sock

Look at what I knit yesterday, it's a teeny tiny wee sock! Can you stand the cuteness?! I know I can't. I signed up to be a part of a sock exchange called the Wee Tiny Sock Swap. I knit this one and mailed it off today and I'll receive a sock in the mail from someone by weeks end. Kind of fun, right? My friends Kim, Kelly, and Sam all participated too. (go check out their versions! So cute!) The best part is that I was able to use some of the Red Rocks Fiber Works leftovers in the Sheep in the City colorway!

And just for fun...here's a shot of the inside!

Specifics:

Yarn: Red Rocks Fiber Works Aspen Sock
Colorway: Sheep in the City
Needles: US 0 DPN's
Pattern: Wee Tiny Sock Swap.
Knit for....well then it wouldn't be a secret, now would it?! I'll be sure to report who I made them for when she/he receives the package!

Where does the time go?

How has it been more than a week since I last posted? Where does the time go? I've been knitting lots, teaching classes, hanging out with a bed-ridden friend, and generally running around like a chicken with my head cut off. You know...just normal stuff. I have about 3 more inches to go on my Juliet sweater. I'm not sure why this silly thing isn't done yet. The rows are just really really long and whenever I sit down to knit on it, I knit a row and am so sick of it that I put it away. Oh well, it's going to be finished one of these days. The other projects that I've been feverishly working on are Manon and the Dream in Color shrug. Both are holding my interest which is always a good thing.

These are some more cute needles that I picked up recently. They are made by the clever people at Serendipity Needles. Can you stand the cuteness? It's little bird nests that have teeny-tiny eggs in them! So Springy! Have a great weekend everyone!

Random goodness to share!

I have to show you the latest additions to my growing collection of gnome related stuff. First, the knitting needles. I could have just died when I opened up that package. Oh, the cuteness! These needles were given as part of a swap that I was in on Ravelry. They are from Janet, who knows me well I guess, and she bought them from Tami on Etsy. Love these needles!

Next we have a little zippered pouch that Kelly gave me last week because she knows about my obsession with this gnome fabric. I had to get my hands on some of it. Love. It. Thanks Kelly! It was made by Sew Serious.

It hasn't been ALL casting on over here, I have pulled out a few older projects to work on. Like Alice's Super Girly Striped Sweater. It's still going to be huge on her, so I'm almost glad that she hasn't had a chance to wear it yet. It will fit her perfectly as a sweater/jacket in the Fall. Little brother Liam sure oohed and awwed when I pulled it out of the knitting bag yesterday. He is just too cute for words. Have I mentioned that everytime he sees a bag of mine he points to it and says, "Knitting". He won't say Gram (which is what the kids call my Mom) but he will say yarn and knitting! He has his priorities right in my book. He knows that the cuter he is and the more interested in my knitting he is, the more handknits he'll get! Smart kid!

**speaking of casting on...it's not just me, 3 of my close friends, Kelly, Kim, and Michelle have all been biten by the bug too! Go read about what they are up too!**

Oops.

I finished up the first peplum piece of Manon last night. I love how this project comes together...it's so interesting! I have the utmost respect for Norah Gaughan, she is what I call a knitting genius! Seriously, she just sees knitting everywhere. If you don't have the book Knitting Nature, please, go out and buy it, or at least check it out from your local library. Anyway, after finishing the first triangle, I went on to the next step. I cast on X number of stitches, then picked up along the edge of the triangle, and then cast on some more stitches. I even knit a row or 2 or 10. Then I noticed something on Ravelry. Errata. Uh-oh. I totally should have been looking for this before I started! It could be worse I guess, I only have to rip out the few rows I had knit and the 150+ stitches that I had cast on. Note to self though, check to see if the pattern has any corrections next time! The book that this pattern comes out of, Norah Gaughan, Vol.1, has quite a few corrections. (I do have an early edition of this book though...so if you have a newer one, you might not have to worry about it) Here is a link to the corrections in case you are wanting them.

It has been a while since I've posted a kid pic, so here's a picture of little Amelia. She's already getting so big at just 7 weeks! My sister is bringing her to the office now, so I get a chance to see/hold her often. Whitney was calling this her "Stacey" outfit because it's pink, has a sheep on it, she has on her "sheep in the city" colored socks that Kim made her, and the little leather Robeez shoes that I bought her. Too cute!!

I've got a fever...

...and the only cure is more projects! It must be something in the air or the weather changing, but I want to cast on a new project about every 20 minutes or so. Last night, I got home, cooked dinner, my Mom came over to eat with my roommate and I. We chit chatted, watched some quality TV together. (Ummmm...Days of Our Lives. Is anyone else sick of John Black and his weird personality change/memory loss?!) All was normal until about 10:00pm when I started chatting online with Kelly. At one point I ran upstairs and grabbed 4 different balls of yarn and the 4 patterns that went along with them and brought them back down to play with. I ended up casting on for 2 of them and then re-casting on, on different needles, a project that I had started on Tuesday night. What is up with that. It was like a I had to cast on for something new right then. You wanna know what I'm working on? Okay...I'll show ya.

The first one, that I knit the most on, is Manon, from the Norah Gaughan Collection Vol. 1. I've had this Berroco Pure Merino Heather in my stash since the book came out, always with this project in mind. Let me tell you, it is so fun to work on! Lots of interesting textures and patterns. If a knitting project keeps you up late into the night and doesn't make you sleepy...you know that it's a keeper. I had to force myself to stop knitting on it and go to bed at ohhh, around 2:30am. What?! That's just crazy! Usually after about 11:30 I put all knitting away and just veg and watch tv or read a book, not last night though.

The other projects that I cast on were the Dream in Color Shrug (here on Ravelry) using a bright chartreuse green skein of Dream in Color Classy called "Spring Tickle" and the One Button Cardigan (here on Ravelry) using Mirasol Cotanani. The One Button Cardigan is going to be a knitalong of sorts, at the Tuesday night knitting group/help night at Colorful Yarns. About 3 or 4 of us decided to knit this sweater, so it just sort of became a knitalong! I only got through the cast on last night though because I had to cast on 319 stitches! It's knit all in one piece up to the arm holes, which I like doing, but it makes for a bear of a cast on. This is the one that I had to cast on for twice because I didn't like the needle size that I was using. So....there you have it...my temporary insanity of last night is over and all I have to show for it is more projects on the needles. It could be worse.

*Some of you have asked about the Juliet sweater. No, I haven't abandoned it. It's just taking a little longer to get to the length that I want it to be. I'm having to knit more lace repeats than I had originally planned, which is fine, but time consuming. I'm close
though*

Gluttony

I joined the "7 Deadly S(p)ins" fiber club a few months ago and I just received my first shipment on Saturday! The first sin that is represented is Gluttony...and what better theme for a knitter than "Socks"?! You all know how knitters are with their stash of sock yarns, right? What knitter doesn't tend to go a little overboard buying sock yarn! I find it so easy to justify buying sock yarn when I visit different yarn shops or when I find it online. It's little, usually only needs one skein, it's a portable project, etc. You get the point. The sad part is that I really haven't knit that many socks! But that is all going to change very soon. I couldn't be more thrilled with what they sent. Included in the kit were some cute double pointed needle protectors shaped like socks, the pattern and enough yarn to make a funky pair of brightly colored socks, a pen, some jelly belly's (which aren't pictured because I already ate mine!!), a sock blocker key chain and a tiny skein of yarn to knit a sock for the blocker! Of course, now I can hardly wait to see what they come up with next, but I'll have to wait until May to find out!

Bird in Hand

I have been knitting...I just haven't had the time to blog. I'm hoping things will slow down soon. Just wanted to stop in and say "Hi" to everyone...I promise that there will be more later. The mittens pictured above are the Bird in Hand mittens from Kate Gilbert. I'm loving knitting fair isle again! I'm knitting mine with Cascade 220 and lace addi turbo's in a US 3.

*By the way...yes these are for me, but right now I'm knitting them along with a class that I'm teaching at Colorful Yarns.

Special Swap package

This round of Special Swap the theme was all about pampering yourself and going to the Spa. I was paired up with Elizabeth and boy did she spoil me! First of all, I got a call from my roommate yesterday telling me that a huge package had arrived. That meant that I made a beeline for home right after work. I was simply overwhelmed when I opened it. Wow, it was just filled to the brim with fun stuff! There were lots of Aveda products (how did she know that I secretly love Aveda?), loofa's galore, chocolate, candles, lotions, and the best of all?! Yarn! Two skeins of Shi Bui sock yarn and two skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in the Vera colorway. Thank you you SO much Elizabeth, you really know how to pamper a girl! (Click here to see a picture of the basket closer up and with descriptions)

Knitting and stuff.

Last night I cast on for A Better Bucket Hat using the very first skein of Malabrigo that I ever bought. I got it at Jessica Knits in Arizona about 2 years ago or so. I just love the color, Cognac. I'm really excited to knit this up and wear it! The last bucket hat I made didn't turn out so well, so I have high hopes that this one will be better. (by the way: the cupcake bag is from Piddleloop and the stitchmarker is from Amyville) Also on the knitting front, I'm one repeat away from finishing the Juliet sweater. I'm thinking that I'll be able to model it and take pictures of it this weekend. Yay!

I hinted that I had picked up a few items in recent weeks, and boy have I! Colorful Yarns just got in a new line of bags called Atenti bags. I love the dots, I love the colors, I love everything about it...especially the fact that I can fit LOTS of knitting into that bag! They also got in some of the Switch Interchangeable needles. It has every size Bamboo needle tip from a 5 to a 15. All the cords get stored in a pocket in the back. I'm thinking that these needles are just going to live in my knitting bag as a "just in case I need them" back-up. You can see a whole lot more pictures of the needles, including the joins and what the cords look like over on my Flickr page.

My mom got me this sheep skin little rug at IKEA when she was down in Arizona last week. Look who has claimed it as his very own.

He spent about 10 minutes "pawing" it to make it softer. (go figure, he's silly) Then the next time I walked through the room, this is what I see.

Awwww...my heart melts!

Watch out...the swifts are flyin' round here!

I can't talk long...I'm under a deadline to get all this yarn re-skeined for my friend Mary-Kay! I'll be back tomorrow with some fun stuff that I've picked up in the last week...and maybe even a finished Juliet! I'm SOOOOOO close to being done I can taste it!