Cashmere Sock Yarn SAM Prize and Felted Bags

*This post was originally written on Tuesday, but I couldn't upload the pictures. I finally was able to create a new post with the pictures and copy and paste the text in. I opened a Flickr account, so now I just have to figure out how to use it!

I whipped up this turquoise buttonhole bag last night. I've had the yarn to make it for quite awhile and finally got around to making it. I ran it through the wash this morning, so there's an after picture of it drying atop my cooler. We spent the afternoon at Nanny's today, and I whipped this one up as well. These are so fast to make. Both are made with Briggs & Little Atlantic. The turquoise one turned out the best.

Look what arrived in the mail today! Here's my prize from the Sock-A-Month finale! Cashmere sock yarn from HipKnits. It's sooooooo soft. I don't know what I'm going to make with it. Any suggestions? There's 500m according to the label. I don't know if I want to make socks with it or a scarf. For now I'll just ogle it.

I took my Broadripple sock with me to the camper on the weekend. I am shaping the gusset on the second sock. I think tonight I'll either work on that or the wool sweater for the store. The yarn has been ordered for the sweater I need to knit for a customer for a Christmas gift. That should be here next week. I hope to get that finished by the end of October at the latest. I think I've decided to keep the little yellow sweater from the last post for my Dulaan 2007 donations. I've got a bag full of leftover yarn for mittens, and I've got some leftover merino from socks to make some child-sized socks as well.

Check out the stockings at Sock Pr0n! WOW! Check out the cool t-shirt she ordered, too.

I've got a couple of new links on the sidebar, too. One is for The Sweet Sheep, a *Canadian!* yarn retailer!! She has Cherry Tree Hill! I haven't ordered yet, but I set up my account and am just waiting for a little moolah to get me some! Also I joined Knittin' Mittens, a new KAL run by Shelley, a fellow Sock-A-Monther. I know I have mittens to knit for the kids, Dulaan, and Christmas gifts, so why not have fun and join a KAL for it?! Feel free to fly some suggestions my way for the cashmere sock yarn!

This is kinda neat. The other day one of the guys at work was looking to see how our store Googles, and he came across this blog. There is a post about our store! And she went to Nova Knitter's fave yarn shop! There's also a neat one about our lighthouse at Fort Point! (Everyone at the store says she must have been talking to me cuz I'm the only one with a blog. I have no recollection, though. Don't think the owner even knew what a blog was!)

Happy knitting!

Stay Tuned

I have a post all made, waiting to add pictures. Blogger won't upload them. Methinks me may have to open a Flickr account. This is ridiculous. I will try to post later today or tomorrow. Have to get ready for work now.

Happy knitting!

FOs

Got a couple of FOs to show you. First off is this yellow sweater size 2. I got the yarn for $2 from the store. It's a discontinued color of Patons Canadiana. Quick knit based on this pattern but obviously just knitting it plain. I started this on August 22 and finished sewing it up tonight. Still not sure what I am going to do with it. I am either taking it to the store to sell, or it's going in the Dulaan pile for 2007.
Next is the Littlest One's sweater that I started back in the spring. It's too big, but he modelled it anyways. Daddy thinks it's girly looking. It's hard to tell from the pictures, but the sleeves and collar are moss stitch. The top of the front panels and the back are moss stitch as well with stocking stitch on the bottom from the armpits down. (That was a good guide for sewing in the sleeves!) There's a cable up both front panels with a "twisted" cable on either side of it, right next to the buttonbands. The buttons are rather large, but this yarn is quite floopy, and the buttonholes and buttonband were big. They are easy for him to do up himself, and they stay buttoned at least! I hate it when the buttons are too small and won't stay buttoned up. To be honest I didn't like working with this yarn. I don't know if it was just a bad batch or if it's normal, but I found it super splitty and too loose-wound. I washed this sweater and laid it flat to dry (instructions were to not put it in the dryer). It had a lot of fuzzies on it, and I picked off a pile, but every time I look there's more. I only paid $.99 US on eBay for the yarn, so I can't complain about the price. (Regular retail is like $12CDN/ball!) Let's just say I'd not go out of my way to get this yarn again, but if I came across a deal like the last time I wouldn't pass it up.


Off to the camper tomorrow. I will take my Broadripple socks to finish. They've been on the backburner since working on these two projects. I also started another adult sweater for the store out of some Briggs and Little Regal in natural white. I have about 8" done on the front and so far have mixed feelings about it. I think it will be alright, I just have a really critical eye. I think some of it is because it's 2 ply, but it was the yarn that fit the gauge best. Also I have an inconsistent tension that is noticeable in stocking stitch. (Thus why I much prefer stuff that's patterned.) This one has mostly double moss stitch, but there's five cables with 5-stitch stocking stitch panels between them. That's what's causing my pickiness, but I think once it's blocked it will be alright.

Happy knitting!

Mystery Sock KAL Revised

I have decided to change pattern I am going to make for the Mystery Sock KAL. I have been sort of avoiding the blog because a lot of people are done already, and I haven't started. I was scrolling through sort of fast and noticed a pair of not-so-good looking socks. They were the Obstacle socks, and the person who knit that one was not continuing with the second one and decided to change her pattern, too. I think I will do Aran Braid socks, which seems to be a pretty popular choice. I find most of the socks on the Knit List to be made with worsted weight yarn, and I want to use regular sock yarn.

I have the Littlest Monkey Man's sweater almost done. I originally planned on making it a hoodie, but I won't have enough yarn. All I need to do now is finish knitting the collar and put the buttons on. It's a little big on him, and the sleeves need to be rolled up, but it's cute.

We went camping last weekend. We finally ran out of propane. The tanks were filled last year when we bought the camper in June. The only things that really run off of it is the hot water heater and the stove. There's a furnace, too, but we only ran that a few times. We've also been leaving the hot water heater pilot light on because it's quite hard to light. I think when we take the camper to be winterized this year I will get them to change the hot water heater to electric. It costs $250, and I wouldn't have to worry about no hot water again. (I had to use the electic kettle to heat water to do the dishes.) We also bought a big bag of peanuts in the shell to feed the squirrels and chipmunks. I'll have to take the camera next time. All day long the squirrel went through the cycle of coming to get a peanut and go hide it. The chipmunk went under our deck and pocked his little head up through one of the holes in it. (There's a few boards that need replacing.) They were quite entertaining. The boys also found a toad that kept them quite entertained after it peed on my hands.

A few weeks ago we got some work done to our leaky chimney. We really can't afford to have it rebricked (got a quote on that before - expensive!), so we got it "painted" with an acrylic/rubbery compound. On a good chimney it has a 20 or 25 year guarantee. On ours they figured it should last 5-6 years, long enough for us to have the money to get it done properly. Here's before, in the process, and after. It looks kinda pinky, but it dried to a brick red. They put three coats on (normal is two), and in addition to using a roller they also have like an air compressor that blows the paint stuff into all the little nooks and crannies. Knock-on-wood so far it hasn't leaked. We haven't had any major rainfalls, but it's looking good! If it does happen to leak they will come back and put a clear acrylic spray over it, but he said he only ever had to do that once or twice.

Lastly, here's some pictures I took at the wedding the other weekend. I've never taken wedding pictures before, so I was quite nervous. They turned out really well. I took over a hundred digital pictures and 5 rolls of 24 exp 35mm film. They picked their pictures up on Sunday and were quite pleased. They bought me a really nice fancy candle with berry ring as a thank you. It smells really good.

Bunch of drunken karaoke.

Happy knitting!

Fat Cat in a Laundry Basket, a Pan, and a Car Seat

Wow - it actually let me upload three pictures this time! This is it for my pictures for the contest.

(No - I don't normally let the cats sit in my pots and pans. This is a frying pan I don't use!)

Happy knitting!

Fat Cat in a Stroller 2

This is another picture of a picture! I knit that baby blanket, too. You can't really tell, but it's feather and fan pattern. I still have it. It's white with greenish-blue flecks.

Happy knitting!

Fat Cat in a Stroller 1

This was taken almost seven years ago - when I was pregnant with the Oldest Monkey Man, and we lived in our other house. This isn't the greatest pic - I don't have a scanner and just took a picture of it.

Blogger only lets me upload one picture per post at the moment, thus all the little posts.

Happy knitting!

Fat Cat in a Drawer

Fat Cat in a Drawer. Very similar to Hippos in a Sock Drawer. This was taken several months back when the Littlest Monkey Man got into his dresser and left it open. Instant call for one of the Furballs to go sleep there! For some reason Blogger will only let me upload this one picture at the moment! I may be back with more later.

Happy knitting!

Broadripple Part 1

Here are the pictures of the Broadripple socks I started. Blogger crapped out on me and wouldn't upload them the last time I tried to post them. I am using hand-dyed merino purchased on eBay awhile back. I find it shows the eyelets a lot more clearly than the cotton yarn listed in the pattern. (Cascade Yarns Fixation 98.3% cotton, 1.7% elastic)

Other than this there's not much to tell. I did finish one sock and just started the other one today. The next thing I start may be my socks for the Mystery Sock KAL. I think I've decided on Obstacle Socks. I have some Lorna's Laces in Rainbow, but since I can't see what the sock looks like I don't really know if it will suite the pattern. Maybe it should be a more solid color. I don't know. I have a bit more time before I need to make a firm decision anyways. I also have some LL in Gold Hill. Those colors are more subtle and may be better. Maybe I'll use that instead. I think I originally had Dublin Bay Socks picked for the Rainbow yarn. The only problem I see with this KAL is that you aren't supposed to know what the socks look like that you are knitting, thus the mystery. However, the deadline is November sometime, and a lot of people are done already. I have been avoiding the blog as of late because I haven't started mine, and someone else may post a picture of what I'm planning on making. Thus my dilemma. I'd really like to peruse the blog, but I don't want to spoil the mystery either. I guess they will be my next socks so I can get them done and read the blog! I think it would have been best if people post the picture of their socks but not say what pattern they used.

Anyhoo, supper is almost done, so I will leave you with a picture of one of my flowers. I don't know what it's called - it's about 6' tall, and I guess it can get up to 8' tall. Whatever it is, it's pretty!

Happy knitting!

I Won Something!!!

I won something!!! I am one of the lucky winners in the Sock-A-Month-Knitalong, hosted by Chrissy at Knittin' Mom. I won some Hip Knits cashmere sock yarn!!! (Go to this archive and scroll down to the entry Pictures, Pictures, Pictures! from June 12. I think it's one of those middle skeins.) Congratulations to all of the other winners as well!

Now I will have to think about what to make with this lovely yarn! (I'll just think about it for now - I'll have to wait to make a more firm decision once I get it in my hands!)

Nothing else much to report knit-wise. One of hubby's step-brothers got married Saturday, so we went to that. I took their pictures -- 5 rolls of 35mm 24exp film and over 100 digital! I will try to print their films at work today. I have some Photoshopping to do to some of the digitals. Some are a little dark, some are a little light, and some are a little pink. It rained during the ceremony, but luckily it stopped so we could do outdoor pictures.

Happy knitting!

rpms

rpms by Aija Goto

started July 26 (?)

finished August 9

Socks That Rock mediumweight

color Seal Rock

metal size 2.5mm dpns

largest size (I've got wide feet!)

I followed the pattern to a T, all except maybe the toe. I never read toe instructions and just do my regular toe. The pattern called for circs, but I didn't have any, so I modified it to fit 4 dpns. I really liked the pattern, and the mediumweight yarn knit up quickly. It was my first time using Socks That Rock, and I really liked it. I also bought some lightweight in Fred Flintstone, but I haven't decided what to make with that yet. I think I could have gotten away with the smaller size cuz they do stretch, but I went with the larger because of my wide feet. I had a little ball left over. Now that the weather is a little cooler here I may get to wear some socks in the evenings at least! Here's a close-up of the heels.

This is a picture of my hand-knit socks that are actually mine so far! Look how those Hederas stick out! The ones on the far left were knit for me by my Sockapalooza pal. I've knit the rest. There are rpms, Hederas, Pomatomus, Yukon Leaves, plain rib, plain stockinette.

I started another pair of socks for me, too. (Of course I have a picture, but Blogger won't let me upload it. Guess I hit the limit for the day.) I'm knitting Broadripple with some hand-dyed merino I bought on eBay awhile back. These are going quite fast as well because they use 3.25mm needles. They seem to have a lot of stretch, too. My yarn overs look "bigger" than the ones in the socks in the pattern picture. The pattern calls for cotton yarn with a bit of elastic, and I'm using merino. Guess that would make the difference. It doesn't matter to me. I still like them. It's a simple two row repeat.

Happy knitting!

Rain

I have no knitting progress to show, so I will distract you all with this beach picture. I did start my second rpm, but I want to wait to show pics of them when they are both completed. I must say I really do like the pattern, and it's my first use of Socks That Rock. I really like the yarn a lot, and the medium weight makes a nice pair of cushy socks! They will be great when the weather cools off.

Speaking of, the other day was our only really, really bad day this week. Today it's pouring rain and probably only in the low 20s Celsius. It's a nice break, especially from all the humidity.

I think I have an adult aran sweater to knit. There's a lady who's called me a few times asking about having one knit for someone for Christmas. At least I have lots of time. I'm slow at adult-sized clothing. I have a pattern picked out that I hope she likes. I've knit it child-sized for my oldest. I work tomorrow, and she's supposed to be coming in to see me and confirm what she wants. I hope so. I'll have to start it really soon! Also, we have to order the yarn she wants used as we don't have enough.

So far for the Stones concert confirmed opening acts are Sloan, Kanye West, and Alice Cooper. I heard that there were a couple of "local" bands playing as well, but I haven't seen that confirmed anywhere yet. I haven't seen Alice in 17 years! I went to see him at the Metro Centre when I was 17. Great White opened for him, and it was a really good show. If you click on the "Seating Plan" in this link you'll see where my three seats are - Gold Circle East Section C.

Pop on over to congrat Dipsy on her anniversary! Also, Vibegrrl got a promotion! Unfortunately it means she had to retire from her other job. This is a neat idea, too. Dave already got PIFed!

Happy knitting!

Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot!

Too hot here today. It was well over 30Celsius today, but there was a humidex warning, and it felt more like the high 40s. It was our hottest day this summer, and apparently we were the hottest spot in Nova Scotia. I just checked one of the local radio station sites, and we're reading 29 right now, they're at 24. (They're 1/2 hour drive from here.) I was half surprised that it got that hot today since we had one of the most severe thunderstorms I can ever remember last night. It was terrible. Our power went out at 3am and didn't come back on for a little over four hours. That's the longest we've ever had an outage in the five years we've lived in this house. Then at 4:30am the storm was at its worst. Hubby was supposed to go to work at that time, but I wouldn't let him. It was just like being in a disco with a strobe light going constantly. The chain lightning just did not stop, and where there were no street lights on it was blinding! I don't mind thunderstorms usually, but that was on the ridiculous side. Figured he'd get hit by lightning hooking up to the trailer at the paper mill. It's right on the water and very open.

Hope to have some FO pics in the next few days, depending on the heat. Tomorrow it's supposed to be a little cooler but still hot. I will have my first rpm finished tonight, just doing the toe now. I see the new Magknits is up, but there isn't really anything there that catches my eye. The flower corsage is cute if I had a little girl.

Happy knitting!