Socktastic

Heh. I finished sock #1.

It makes my heart flutter a little to see that perfect striping:

I'm still not LOVING toe up socks - but it is fun to see the structure of a sock come to life in the reverse way than what I'm used too! For those who are wondering, I did Judy's Magic cast on, and I'm using DPNs - not 2 circs.


I spilt up the instep onto one needle, and the heel is on two needles. I also decided to forgo the seam up the back - just not my style.


I will agree with some that think the p2 tog, yo patterning is a bit fiddly - but as Amanda pointed out - if you have read Victorian Lace today - they explain that is called 'faggoting' and is one of the foundation lace stitches. And I think it's really pretty.

Another decision I've come to? I'm sticking to socks for a while. I'm not sure - but I think I have enough socks yarn for over 30 pairs of socks... I bet more. I'm just not feeling any sweater knitting love lately - and why fight it? Socks it is.

Welcome to Cece's Sock Era.

You knew it was going to happen...

I got my STR SOTM package yesterday, went directly upstairs, wound up the ball, and cast on.

Silk! And the colorway!!!

But it's a toe up pattern - and I NEVER do toe up. But I'm just going to follow the directions, and hopefully all will work out.

Off to work. It's a cold rainy day here, and I have a cold. I would MUCH rather be staying in bed, sleeping late, and then knitting on my socks all day. Time to buy a lotto ticket.

Stuck on Socks

Work is super busy right now - so I just haven't had the brain power for anything more than knitting socks. I finished the Cece Sized pair of Bird of Paradise socks at sock camp.... but really wanted to wait to snap the final picture until I finished the little baby ones:
I know, you can't stand the cuteness. Of course, lining those up side by side with my socks has me wondering if any child of mine will actually fit into those tiny socks! Time will tell.

Details:
Bird Of Paradise Socks, Sundara SOTM club.
Started March 1st - Finished April 10th
Size 0 dpns

Comments - as usual, loved the yarn (this picture isn't doing the color justice) - and bright color came just at the right time. I was so ready for spring! The second sock took me a while to get going.... but I really wanted to get these finished before my next installment of the club arrives in the mail!

The nerd in me very pleased.

Oh so very pleased.

I finished my Bird of Paradise Socks... and wanted to see if I have enough yarn for a little pair of baby socks. Out comes my new Fuzion Xtrme XTR-500 - and I had the answer. YES!

Cool.

In other news, I signed up for the Knitter's Coffee Swap, and here are my swap questions:

1.Whole bean or ground? I prefer whole bean

2. Fully-loaded or decaf?Hi-test!

3. Regular or flavored? Flavored is OK, but like regular also

.4. How do you drink your coffee? Black.

5. Favorite coffee ever? Anything from Stumptown Roasters in Portland, OR. Yum. And Organic Lovebuzz (don't remember the brand name, sorry)

6. Are you fussy about your coffee or will any old bean do? Not too fussy. Gave up caffeine for about 2 years - so I'm just getting back into it all.

7. Favorite treats to have with your coffee? Dark Chocolate, honestly. But I'm on a pretty strict diet right now, so please don't send treats, they'll only tempt me.

8. Anything else about your coffee preferences? Nope!

9. Yarn/fiber you love? I'm a wool gal.

10. Yarn/fiber you hate? Can't really HATE any - but I don't often knit with 'fake fibers'

11. What's on your needles? I've got a cabled wrap, and 2 shawls. I'm waiting to throw on a pair of socks until I get my sock club yarn in the mail.

12. Favorite colors? Red, purple, Orange. No pastels at all.

13. Allergies? Nope.

14. Anything you really love, really don't like, or just need to get off your chest? I'm excited to do a swap - since I haven't done one in a long while!

All sorts of finished socks!

Well, I couldn't go to Sock Camp and not knit a pair of socks, could I!? I didn't just finish one pair of socks this month (the little toddler socks for Addy), not even only two (I finished up the second Bird of Paradise sock) - but THREE pairs! Let me talk first of the ones that have only made one (drunken) appearance on the blog.



When we were all rushing around the mini-shop that the BMFA gals set up for us, off to the side I saw a big pile of yarn in greenish colorway. I kind of ignored it as I ran around finding all those wonderful and bright mill ends. But, my buddy Laurie pulled me back over, and mentioned that this was the Lunasea colorway, and Cass had designed a sock pattern for us to knit on our whale watching cruise. As I am always one to follow direction (HA) I picked up a skein and the pattern for the Mystic Sea Socks.



And I fell in love. Here are the finished socks:

Details:

Pattern: The Mystic Sea, by Cass White

Yarn: STR Mediumweight, in Lunasea

Needles: Size 0

Started April 11th - finished April 18th

I have to admit, that this is totally not a skein of yarn that I would have bought if it wasn't for peer pressure! Grey and blue and green? Meh. Together? Combined with the pattern? Love it. I even think that the pattern fits the description beautifully: Along the Pacific Coast are vast kelp forests, teaming with life and beauty. This pattern here is homage to those wonderous places.

Plus - the socks got to see some fun things! The leg of the first sock was knit on the whale watching cruise:

We saw the heel in yesterday's post.....

And then, when I got back to my brother in law's house, my niece showed how my foot is about as big as her whole arm:

Yippee for new socks!

Shots of the finished Bird of Paradise socks will have to wait for another day.... I think I smell dinner burning....

Now I'm boring myself....

OK. Seems like everything that could be said about Camp already has (and better than I could do)... so I'll leave you with a few pictures that I bet others won't post.

First, we aren't really a 'drinking' house. It isn't that we don't have a glass of wine or beer every once in a while, but never to access. Every once in a while I like to tear it up. To do so while at a resort where I didn't have to drive anywhere seemed like a good idea (at the time). In addition, I was somewhat obsessed with knitting on my new socks (more on those in a later post).

I give you a picture of me knitting lace socks after three margaritas, a good portion of 2 bottles of wine, topped off with a beer:
Surprisingly.... the next day, I took a look at the sock - no mistakes! Lesson learned - possibly knitting while drunk is an OK thing!?

But then, it was time for the 'campfire' and someone handed the drunk girl a pointy metal stick, threw 4 marshmallows on it, and told me to go towards the (rather large) bonfire and roast them. Heh heh.

I was having a bit too much fun, and apparently trying to convince people to go swimming naked in the bay. Surprisingly, no one took me up on the offer.

Ok - onto the cute pictures. On last day, we had a contest to see what team could knit the fastest with one person holding each needle. It was pretty hard.... and my new friend Carla and I gave it the old college try - but there was another crazy team that did something like 26 rows in 10 minutes. I think we did maybe 11?

But we had fun.

Then, it was time to go back to Portland and meet up with Aaron again. I finished up some toddler socks for my niece - think she liked them?
As I was leaving to go Sock Camp - Addy saw me knitting a pair of socks, and asked - 'Aunt Cece, could you make ME a pair of socks?!'. Could you resist that face! Of course - they just fit her exactly. She'll grow out of them in weeks. Obviously she is now on my sock knitting rotation.

Let's start at the beginning....

Well - it was a great vacation! I can't just post about Sock Camp, since Aaron did come along for the ride....



We arrived on the West coast on Sunday, and spent Monday trolling around Portland. Um. Powell's rocks. Although I know everyone already knew that. Anyway - we are walking along, looking for a place to have lunch, and we see this yarn store! Yippee! Since I knew I was going to be breaking my Bustalong vow anyway - I took a little trip inside. This is me with the owner (and the yarn that insisted it come home with me):

The store was Knit Knot and I was a very good girl, and only bought what I would classify as 'tourist yarn' - a skein of superwash merino from Tanglewood Fiber Creations. The roving was hand-painted and then hand spun! I think this is my first skein of hand spun yarn. It has been mentioning to me that it would like to be a pair of mittens.

I must mention that if you are even in the Pearl District of Portland - make it a point to eat at Andina. FABULOUS food.

OK. But THEN - Laurie picked me up, and we arrived on Tuesday night at Camp. The first day began with a bit more sock yarn purchasing:

Um. I lost a little bit of control. And that isn't ALL of it, I just got tired of unpacking. But can I tell you the beauty of this - most of it is MILL ENDS!!! Same yarn, maybe a few knots.... or dying that wasn't up to Tina's specs - but beautiful to me!!

Our first class was 'Stitch and Gossip', where we made some squares, and then, Cookie and Nathania showed us how 4 people could knit on the same blanket at once (kind of like a quilting bee):

It was pretty funny - and the blankets are going to charity. We didn't get all that far along with ours - but it was fun to learn something new!

My afternoon class was with Cat Bordhi - damn that woman is smart! I don't even have any pictures, as I was listening to her tell us all her wonderful knitting ideas. I learned a fun new way to make toe up socks. But more on that later....

Because now I need to show off my chicken!

I was SO proud of this chicken BEFORE I got to camp. Then I arrived and saw all of the other insanely complicated chickens that people had made.... and it became apparent that mine was more like a puffer fish and less like a chicken. The Harlot even named mine the "Chicken of the Sea". Go here to see a bunch of chicken close ups.

Ok - more info tomorrow - I need to unpack still!

I know, I know.

Where are the pictures from my trip? And the stories!?!

Well, we got stuck with that crappy weather last night, and didn't get home until 1 AM. Tonight I will try and start my reporting on the wonderful week, but for now - go check it out. I'm famous. Not only is my chicken on the Harlot's blog (you have to scroll - mine looks a lot like a puffer fish) - but also me wearing my Marmalade!

Vacation Prep

Well, just getting a few loose ends tied up before we head out super early tomorrow for Portland, OR - and then the BMFA Sock Camp! Of course, some of the highest priorities when traveling is figuring which projects to bring. I've decided to start the 'Wrap Yourself in Nature' wrap from Inspired Cable Knits:

Love it. Love the cables, and the yarn (Baby Alpaca)! This is a great knit for those long boring hours on the plane.

I'm also bringing the other half of my Waterfall Scarf, my Figure 8 Shawl, Aaron's hat, and my second Bird of Paradise sock. That seems like enough variety - and if I run out of things to do - I can buy some BMFA yarn!!!

Posting may or may not happen next week - but I promise to take lots of pictures!

OH! Excitement!

Tricked you.


I haven't been blogging all that much because I'm knitting this:

Another Watch Cap for Aaron. But this time, a thinner yarn and on size 1 needles. It's brutal. And he wants it EXTRA long. So I've been plugging away at it. K1 P1 K1 P1. *sigh*

To break up the tedium, I started my own Waterfall scarf:

I was nervous that the grey Kogiu looked weird - but everyone seems to support the yarn choice... it does make the beads stick out more!

3 more work days until vacation!

Breathe in, Breathe out

Why is it, that when you are planning on going on vacation, the week leading up to that vacation always ends up being super stressful? I came in work this morning to a deep pile of $hit, and have been digging myself out ever since. Good times.

But, this weekend was great. Aaron finished ripping apart the porch, and we had a dumpster delivered. We spend Saturday morning loading up the dumpster, and it will be gone on Tuesday! Goodbye crap! Hello new room! And then, Aaron treated me to a pre-vacation afternoon. A 1 hour massage, a pedicure, dinner out, and we saw 300 (which I actually liked! Who knew!?!?).

So. I just need to survive 5 more days and then I get to enjoy some time in Portland with family, and then off to Camp Cockamamie!!!