a little bit of sunshine

thank you for the get-well wishes. i am feeling better but still have the desire to go to bed early and sleep late. this is one humdinger of a virus. the first few days, i didn't even want to knit! now you know how bad it is.

as i mentioned before, i ran out of yarn when knitting the original "zen garden" sock. i asked my buddy, barbara (president of my fan club of 2 LOL), if she would send me her left-overs from her kit as i needed a few more yards to lengthen my foot just a bit. she is a speedy knitter and emailed last week that she was sending the yarn . well, i received an envelope that was slightly too big for a couple of yards of yarn.

look at what she sent me! it's a skein of seacoast handpainted yarn from her home state of new hampshire. it's so spring-like! it cheered me up and made me feel better instantly! she also tucked in a bar of handmade soap from whisper hill soaps. and she also sent her left-over yarn so i can finish up my pair of "zen garden" for ME to wear. thank you, barbara!

i did manage to finish my first pair of socks for 2008. these are for my brother's birthday last year. yeah, i'm slow. i had almost finished one "crosswalkers" so had him try the sock on when we got together for the holidays. the sock was not going to work. he had a hard time pulling the sock on. and the toe on the instep side was too long and on the sole side was too short. that sock went to live in the frog pond before i took a picture of it.

my own design for ribbed anklet
opal - unknown colorway (from an abo kit a couple of years ago)

72 sts/us 1.5 needles (2.5mm)
gauge: 9 sts/ inch
identical twins (my brother is very conservative.
i am just hoping he will wear these stripey colors. i wasn't going to try fraternal.)

blogiversary contest coming up. check back. i'm still thinking.

ps. i have a really big secret which i will be able to share with you soon. i am about ready to burst!

first blogiversary

today is my first blogiversary! i was hoping to post about a wonderful contest to win some fibery goodness but i have been down sick with the worst cold or flu. i have been basically sleeping for the past 4 days. luckily for me, my manager, who tends to get easily confoosed with our schedule, happened to show up this saturday morning the same time i showed up for work. only one of us works the weekend and it was my weekend. he worked for me. (i must have looked pretty bad; since i was ok the day before).

so, happy blogiversary to me!!!!!!!!!!! check back in a few days after my brain starts functioning again so i can have a fun contest! i haven' even been knitting. now THAT is sick!

stay healthy, my cyber-friends.

it's "teatime"

"teatime"

my design for theknitter's sotm club december kit

meilenweit #1334 & #1335
gauge: 8.5 sts/inch in stockinette
needles: us 1.5 (2.5mm) and us 2 (2.75 mm)

the hardest part of trying to design a mosaic stitch sock for a sock club is trying to complete a pair using just two balls of yarn. the second hardest part is finding two colors that work for the design. i started this sock over a year and a half ago with a purplish variegated yarn and black yarn as my prototype.

remember "raspberry lemonade"? well, those were the original colors judy and i had picked for this sock but the colors blended too much. yes, i had a lot of fun designing a new sock at the last minute.

"raspberry lemonade"

to make things harder on myself, i had to tweak the original pattern some more after judy sent me the new colors. here are the two socks side by side:

original design on the left/final design on the right

although i am partial to bold contrast for mosaic knits, i like the subtle colors we finally ended up using. it gives the sock a more "grown-up" feel to it, don't cha think?

happy new year!

where has the month gone? i tried blogging about a week ago but blogger was being bad so i gave up.

i did manage to finish 3 1/2 pairs of socks this month. this was the cutest pair.

"horcrux" for my niece
she loved them

panda wool "ultramarine"
us size 1.5 (2.5mm) needles
modifications: longer ribbing for cuff, shorter leg after "horcrux", eop heel, plain stockinette foot, and a six point star toe.

i made a vanilla pair (elann puzzle) for my bil; and a textured pair (opal) for my manager. the 1/2 was a "crosswalker" for my brother. i had him try on the one sock at christmas and promptly frogged it. the sock was too tight and the toe was definitely wonky. i am using my own design for the yarn. one sock done, mate just cast on.

my one year blogiversary is next month. check back for a contest!

have a safe and happy new year!

"zen garden"

most of the members of theknitter.com's luxury sock club have received their november kit so i can now share the sock with you.

may i present....

"zen garden"

claudia's hand paints in "zen garden"
colorway custom dyed for theknitter.com (silver, teal, & lavender)
us size 1.5 needles (2.5 mm)
gauge: 8.5 sts/inch in stockinette

here is a close-up of the stitch

i already had a pattern in mind when judy mentioned that she wanted to start a luxury sock club. i said, "pick me! pick me! i wanna play!" it was fun to help select the colors for the yarn. i really love how the pattern and colors compliment each other. this is my favorite kind of pattern - cables, lace, and a lovely yarn. what more can one ask for? i did run out of yarn byjusthismuch so ended up with a slightly too short sock. not to worry though. i adjusted the pattern so the clubbers should be ok. and i have made arrangements to get justalittlebitmore yarn so i can redo the foot to fit ME! ME!! ME!!! yes, i want this sock for me! i still have the mate to knit.

i can't wait to see what judy has in store for next year. "PICK ME! PICK ME!!!!"

busy month

well, it's been a busy month here in the bellybutton. but i don't seem to have much to show you...yet. i got the yarn for theknitter's november luxury sock club kit around the time i went missing. it wasn't judy's fault that the yarn was late. i already had a design in mind for the yarn and everything came together very well. the colors and design compliment each other perfectly (if i do say so myself). judy and i selected some colors and let the indie dyer do her thing. it was kind of scary because the dyer does not do a prototype colorway so what you see is what you get. i also made the leg on my sample a bit too long so i ran out of yarn byjustthismuch (so my sock does not quite fit me). not to worry. the pattern has taken my shortage into account. the kits are arriving now so i should be able to post a picture next week.

i also designed theknitter's december sotm club kit. i hope that you don't get "bellybutton" overload this month! i designed the sock last year but judy and i couldn't find colors that worked. i had the pattern written up so i should have been able to just knit the sock for the photo but no! i had to tweak the pattern some more which then entailed a major rewrite. i added a larger size so that required more head-scratching, math, and more rewrite. i finally got that pattern off to judy for test knitting last week. can't show you this one.

then, i did a rewrite for blue moon fiber arts. nope, can't show you that one either.

here is one i can show you. it's a unisex design written in 4 sizes for crystal palace yarns. i sent it to susan a couple of weeks ago. it's hard to see the pattern stitch in the dark yarn but it's there. i was undecided about naming the pattern. i thought that the stitch looked like hershey kisses so was leaning towards "panda kisses" but susan wanted something hawaiian. well, hershey kisses and volcanoes look a lot alike to me! (besides, what kinda guy is going to appreciate wearing a pair of "panda kisses"?!) so, may i present....

"kilauea"

panda wool "nightshades" now with more yardage! (186 yds/50 gm)
us size 1.5 (2.5mm) needles
gauge: 8.5 sts/inch

i swatched it up in a lighter color so you can see the stitch better. it has enough going not to be a boring knit but not so much as to distract from the yarn. i will let you know when the pattern is available.

and i have a secret but i can't tell yet. my lips are sealed. oh, i am so excited!!!!!!!!

i hope that all of you here in the us of a had a wonderful thanksgiving holiday!

wayback machine

kitkatknit is having a "wayback machine" contest.

i didn't have a blog a year ago but i do believe that i was working on a pair of regia socks for my co-worker/manager. it was a surprise so i was just guessing as to size. i kitchenered the toes but left a length of yarn in case i needed to lengthen the socks. i put a BIG note that he was to return the socks so i could "finish" them; ie weave in the ends if they fit OR shorten/lengthen them if need be.

well, i didn't hear anything from him. i finally asked him about the socks. "oh, they fit but i didn't know what to do with the ends so ... i cut them OFF!" DUH!!!! READ THE NOTE!!!! sometimes, he scares me.