another contest!

no, not mine. head on over to ridiculous obsession. she is celebrating a blogiversary and a birthday by giving away fiber-y goodness. go wish her some happiness. of course, if you win (and i don't), you have to send your winnings to me! it's only fair.

sos (silly ol' swatches): well, i have decided on a pattern for the design contest for "summer of socks." i "swatch" by knitting the sock and so far, i have tried 3 different yarns for this pattern. yes, big "swatches"! i think i have finally settled on wollmeise in am kalten polar (which i received in a swap). it is truly wonderful yarn. the colors are swirling very nicely and i am getting great stitch definition! ya-HOOO!!! i may need to get me more of this stuff!

and to holly: i used regia #5047 (papagei) for my original "betsy" swatch. i liked what the pattern did to the colors but thought it was kinda BRIGHT! i still plan on knitting this one again in more sedate stripes. let me know if you do finish a pair with papagei. i would be interested in seeing it!

we have a winner

once again, i used my low tech bottle and dumped everyone's name in; did the hokey-pokey; shook the thing around; drew out a name; and that's what it's all about! (my version of the random number generator would be to im my son and ask him to pick a number between 1 and ....)


congratulations, amyp! email me at ajmcfong at yahoo dot com with your snail mail addy and i will get your tofutsies out to you. i have several colors in my yarn collection so let me know if you have a color preference and i will see what i can find.

i will have another pattern available from swtc soon. let me introduce you to...

"serenity"
tofutsies #793

i love contests! knitting sutra is giving away some wollmeise and a cute little bag perfect for carrying a sock knitting project. tell her i sent you so i can get brownie point entries. that skein of wollmeise looks VERY nice!

and kathy wants postcards...send her one (or more) and she will enter you into a drawing for some koigu! pick me! pick me!

celebration time!

look at what arrived in the mail the other day...

it's the 2008 knitting pattern a day calendar

and look at june 6th (7th, & 8th!

IT'S ME!!!

so, don't you think it's time for a celebration contest?! tell me the one knitting related thing you hate to do. i hate finishing...seams, ends, etc. leave me a comment and i will randomly pick a winner for a skein of "TOFUTSIES" probably on monday.

as for "sos", i have finished one peony in tofutsies #733 but haven't started on the mate yet. i am knitting it with a gauge of 10 sts/inch (instead of 8.5sts/inch per the pattern) and really like the fabric much better. of course, i am using a size 0 to knit the sock! the mate is going to have to wait since i have been lured away by the siren call of some socks that rock...i have two new designs for blue moon fiber arts! gotta go knit!

mystery stole 3

i joined mystery stole 3 in its early stages but had not started because i procrastinated over getting the beads and i wanted beads. i already had some black zephyr in stash. lucky for me there is a bead store in the bellybutton so i managed to wander down there yesterday to buy some shiny black beads. i liked the metallic jewel-tone beads so bought a package of them too but had a hard time fitting my size 12 crochet hook through the holes. for some reason, the beads & holes are a bit smaller than the black beads. so the black beads win! i figure knitting will be hard enough without having to fight with the beads too.

mystery stole 3 - clue 1
jaggerspun zephyr in black with black #8 beads
us 4 vintage all plastic circular

the only other mystery thing that i have ever finished was the mystery shawl 2...one of my first ventures into lace shawls. i learned to knit from a chart. pretty spiffy. lace is still a wonder to me.

now to put in a lifeline...i am not THAT fool-hardy yet!

sos

...is for "start (an)other sock"!

i have knit 3 pairs of "peony" in one yarn or another and do not have a pair to my name. can you believe it?

peony is a sock i designed for swtc many years ago. my first "published" pattern. it began life knit with "bella" which was considered fingering wt but being single ply knitted up much thicker. i don't think this version was ever released.

next, i rewrote the pattern for their dk merino, "optimum". i really liked this yarn. it was soooo soft. the pattern stitch showed up very nicely in the solid colors.

now, the sock has been reworked once again, this time in a real sock weight yarn, "tofutsies". i think the pattern is already available but don't quote me on that.

i have decided that i need a pair of "peonies" for ME! i am using "tofutsies" #733 and my new knitpicks size 1 (2.25mm) circulars. i actually like the "tofutsies" knit on a smaller gauge than i used for the pattern so am knitting the large size which is working out to a medium with the smaller gauge. i think i like this...
the problem with designing things is that quite often, you have to give your final product to the company that is purchasing your design. all that knitting with nothing to show for it, so to speak. so i have decided that i will use the "summer of socks" to reknit those patterns for which i have no socks. it'll be fun. two of the pairs are for blue moon fiberarts -one in str lt weight and the other in "seduction" (i love that yarn!).

and to nancy g: thank you for the hint to knit the larger sidewinders with a smaller gauge. i will probably try that if i ever venture into the world of sideways socks again. i saw your socks and they are cute. maybe some day. who knows, i may try again before the summer is over! (someone shoot me!)

sos!

...for "stupid ol' sock"

i am 3/4 of the way done with knitting the first sidewinder. i am not loving it. there is nothing wrong with the pattern. i am loving the uniqueness of the construction. even the kitchenering at the end does not scare me.

why, look at the cute little pocket for the toes.

i just don't like the yarn i picked. the sock would probably be cuter with a variegated yarn with short color repeats. the broad stripes are doing nothing for me or the yarn. i am also not happy with the fabric either. 7.5 sts/inch when i routinely use 8.5-9.5 sts/inch just doesn't work. so if i were to try knitting this pattern again, i would probably use a heavier weight yarn or attempt to redo the math for a smaller gauge.

say good bye to "sidewinders'! i will give up my obsession with sideways knit socks for now. this one is going to visit the frog pond. so i am back at "zero" for summer of socks, sigh.

happy 4th of july

...a day early.

meet "betsy" - my design for theknitter's sotm club kit for june.

"betsy"
regia nation (lost the color #)
2.5mm needles/gauge 8.5 sts/inch
and yes, i adjusted the yarn to make identical socks!
i was going to go back and redo the toes to have a narrower stripe of blue too but got lazy.

just thought i would show you my sample "swatch" for "betsy." colorful, huh?! i might redo this sock with some yarn with narrow stripes. the "waves" are kinda nice.

be safe!

eta: found the ball band. the color is regia nation color #5396