keep guessing

i have had fun reading your guesses. keep them coming. i will not confirm or deny any of the "secrets" except the one that i am preggers. that was cute, though.

i am still going to keep the prizes a secret too but will tell you that there is a skein of socks that rock, a ball of opal, and a ball of trekking. if i get more than 100 guesses, i may decide to add another prize.

i finally got a copy of cat bordhi's "new pathways for sock knitters." the sock construction is fascinating. i did knit the pattern she had in vogue last year. now to find the time to knit a few of her sample socks.

i am on clue 6 of my ms3. i made mistakes so spent time tinking back. i just made another mistake a couple of rows back but i think i am leaving that one in. the rows are getting a bit too long to tink back. and i am really bad with lifelines. i put them in, only to find that i made a mistake in that row. or i don't put one in often enough so when i do have a mistake, i would have to frog 2-3" of knitting. i am not sure if it is laziness or stupidity. anyways, i spend a lot of time tinking.

i am planning on going to stitches west next month...just to market. anyone else thinking of going?

let's play

... "guess my secret!!"

but first, let me share about my mystery stole 3 /swan lake. i have been very diligently knitting away; well, maybe not so diligently. i have been trying to decide whether to knit the shorter version or just follow the pattern. i am only 5'2" and don't want an overly large stole but then again don't want one that is too small. i finally decided to just follow the pattern; using beading banshee's version of clue 4 (which adds the border on the edge between the cat's paw and the wing). i am finally to the wing!!!!! and i messed up so i get to start the wing again. sigh!

enough already? you want to win something? well, my "cold-clouded" brain has cleared somewhat and i have come up with an idea for my blogiversary contest.

i have been teasing that i have a REALLY BIG secret that i cannot share yet. i thought it would be fun to see what you thought my secret was. leave me a comment. what do you think is my secret? or you can tell me one of your knittery secrets (it'll just be between you and me)! i will randomly draw three names to win one of three secret prizes (of the yarny sort). in fact, i will randomly draw the prize when i draw the names. everything is a "secret."

you know i love brownie points. so, brownie point entry if you post my contest on your blog. another brownie point entry if someone mentions that you sent them over.

here are the prizes:

(ok, imagine a photo of 3 tissue wrapped skein/balls of yarn labeled #1, #2, &#3)
(creative, huh?)

deadline for comments is monday, january 28th, 12 midnight pst. also leave me something (like a state or country) so i can distinguish you from someone else who might have the same first name.

of course, i won't be telling my secret until the time is right. if i did tell, i would have to "kill" you! now, let's have some fun!

eta: no, i am not pregnant ;o}. i was originally going to write that. my secret is knitting related.

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!!!!"