sos!

...is for summer of socks 2007!

yes, i joined and here is the beginning of my first summer knitting sock. i am obsessed with knitting a sideways sock. i tried the opal yarn pattern in january and gave up on that one. now nona has designed another version, sidewinders: a perpensockular pattern, which she presents serially on her blog. so i am trying again. this is like my third attempt with this pattern. there is nothing wrong with the pattern. i, of course, am having a problem following directions...the first being to do a proper swatch for gauge. i think i might have a chance this time. wish me luck, otherwise this summer may be the "summer of no socks!"

sidewinders
opal yarn limited edition "butterfly"
2.75mm needles-NEW circulars (YES!)
gauge: 7.5 sts/inch and 10 rows/inch (hopefully! with fingers crossed)

anyone want to join me in knitting the sidewinders?!

and to answer rachel's question: "road to hana" is a sock i designed for theknitter's sotm club. i have a picture of it on my 3/20 blog entry if you want to take a look. judy usually has extra kits so you can contact her if you are interested. it's the march 2007 kit.

meet me at the fair

i really enjoy attending our county fair. i get to indulge myself with funnel cake, cotton candy, hawaiian shaved ice with ice cream, bubba's pulled pork sandwiches, etc. too yummy!

i also like the creative living exhibit with its quilts, hand knits, crochet, & art competition. i have been entering things in the county fair competition for over 10 years now. it is fun to see what others are making. i love looking at the quilts; probably because i do not quilt...yet...but am amazed at the beauty of the finished products.

this year, i entered 4 items. i received TWO best of shows! how EXCITING is THAT?!

"sideways baby sweater"

"lilacs"

my "road to hana" socks received a third and my baby surprise sweater (yes, i did finish it, thank you) received an honorable mention.

so who else plays at their county fair? i feel a contest coming......

meet "sophia" and "larry the llama"

this is "sophia," my new sock blocker key chain that i won in a blogiversary drawing over at violiknit. i named it after violiknit. unfortunately, she (the sock blocker not violiknit) is still nekked. i am hoping that she will be a well-dressed key chain one of these days. it's not like i don't have the materials to make her "too cute."



i won "larry the llama" here from a blogiversary contest at procrastiknitter. i also got this skein of opal elemente #1074. pretty, huh? one of these days, maybe "sophia" will be dressed with some "larry the llama" yarn. the usps is really unpredictable. can you believe that hope mailed this first class from ny on june 18th and i received it today? 2 days! now if they can figure out a way to get my bluemoon fiberarts order here from oregon using priority mail in less than 5 days! i can drive there and be back home faster than that!

thank you, sophia and hope for my prizes! it's so fun to receive mail.

mail call

thank you for commiserating with me. my new knitpicks needles arrived today. i got FOUR of the 2.25mm/32 inch circulars. now i can have many more socks on needles half done! seems the points may not be quite as sharp as the original batch. i sure hope so. i developed quite a hole in my left index finger from using the 2.5mm needles. i still have a nice callous there. pointy is good; too sharp is not.

i won a contest over at lady knitterly's a while back. her contest involved opera. i was very lucky since i have only been to two operas in my life. one was at the san francisco opera house and i do not even remember which one i saw. the only other one was at the open theater in verona, italy where i saw aida. one cannot visit verona without attending the opera. the main draw was the chocolate which i have never tried. she also included 3 skeins of knitpicks alpaca cloud in tidepool since i mentioned that i like knitting lace shawls. i may use this for a "creatures of the reef" shawl...the pattern was part of a wonderful and generous prize package from kerry (yes, the same person who sent me some sol joy).

meanwhile, i think i have finished my sample sock for theknitter's sotm club's august offering. i've frogged so many times that i think i have finished knitting at least 2 pairs of socks...and i have one sock to show for the effort. the yarn has held up quite well. now to write up the pattern.

i can't believe this!

this is my favorite bag for carrying around my sock projects. it is large enough for a notebook, yarn, needles, and my small notions bag. i can even slip a book in there. it is plenty big for what i need.

if you look closely on the left hand side of the bag, you can see a pointy thing sticking up. that is/was my favorite 2.25mm circular needle. it is a hiyahiya 2.25mm /32 inch circular and was a gift from a swap. i really liked this needle. the point was pointy enough without being too pointy and the join was nice. my needle now looks like this...


i cannot imagine how it managed to pop its little head out just enough to get caught on something on the screen door. as you can see, there is plenty of room in my bag. i am so sad.

i just finished ordering some of knitpicks' circulars in the new 2.25mm & 2.75mm/32" sizes. maybe i'll feel better when the new needles arrive. until then, i have reverted back to the inox express which does not have the best join in the world but hey, i can still knit. i'm bummed.

so how's your day going?

contest!

...at procrastiknitter! she is celebrating a first blogiversary and is giving away some nice stuffs. go on over and visit her blog to enter. if you would be so kind as to tell her that i sent you over, i can get brownie point entries. thanks! and good luck. doncha love contests?!!

i haven't sent her my choices yet. i am still thinking...

it's a sweater!

the sideways baby sweater is finished. and, yes, i wove in the ends AND cut them off too! that is something else i am bad about. sometimes, i will weave in the ends but will not clip off the remaining yarn. i don't know why. i just don't.

i think there is a problem with the pattern which says you can knit a 6 months size sweater AND a hat AND a pair of socks from one skein of opal yarn. i did start off with the 9 months size but thought better of it and switched to the smaller one thinking a matching pair of socks would be nice. i barely had enough yarn to finish this sweater. the collar is smaller than the pattern but i wanted a smaller collar anyway.

opal sideways baby sweater size 6 months

opal yarn mexico colorway#17
gauge 7 sts/inch; 3.0 mm needles
used every last inch of skein

here is a close-up of the collar. see the cute little buttons i found!? i assaulted several people in the fabric store because i couldn't decide which of 3 buttons looked the best. everyone picked these. i think they are perfect.

i am working on a couple of new socks. one is driving me nuts. i cannot find a pattern that works with the yarn. i have frogged at least 5 attempts...one sock knit all the way past the gusset decreases before i finally gave it up. yes, i am stubborn. the yarn is holding up well to frogging!