Adventures in yarn craft

I finished the first of my b/f's socks and thankfully, I got started on the next one right away. I don't want to fall into the '2nd sock syndrome' by putting off the second one and never get back to it. I just got the toe done and I'm hoping to get the majority of the foot part done before shutting down for the night. The biggest project that I have yet to do is still dogging me... the MAM afghan for his Mom. I know that each strip won't take me long... each one takes a couple hours at the most and I really want to get the socks done first so I can go all out on the afghan. And I still have one more handwarmer for my g/f.... after that, I can go back to making my own socks... again. Too, I'm wondering if my b/f's Dad wants a pair of socks.... I haven't made him anything, mostly because I don't know what would be useful to him. Too, I'm thinking about going back to Color Studio and getting more of that Gems Opal in that beautiful lavender colo...

I will never consider myself a 'yarn snob' at all but I am discovering how nice natural fibers are, even in blends. I'm making my b/f a pair of socks from 100% merino wool and I really like how it's working up. They're just plain socks, not cables, no fancy stitch patterns but the way it looks is so... nice (although I misfigured the length of the foot and have to rip out the heel and redo it...). I just can't understand why some people automatically stick their noses up at all synthetic yarns. To me, that's a blessing to have yarn that I can use that can be washed and dried in a machine. Yeah, I know... they make super wash wools but still, synthetics have their place. Although I was sorely tempted to get some non super wash wool when I was at the yarn store, I reasoned that I'd probably forget to hand wash them and end up ruining socks from yarn that was over $20 a hank... not a good thing. So, I'll stick with yarn that can be washed in a machine.....

I'm officially addicted to toe up socks. I'm so pleased with the pair that I made that I have plans for more. In fact, in a round about way, my b/f asked me for socks for Christmas (through a mutual friend and she told me, guessing that he wanted them from me since I knit....). This takes me to my trip to the yarn store. I've never been to this particular one. I'm not good when it comes to going someplace for the first time so I was on the anxious side but I made it. It was Rivers Color Studio and I had a really positive experience there. Of course, I went looking for nice, reasonably priced sock yarn. I can't say that the prices were great (better on line) but too, the ladies that work there were friendly and helpful. I had hoped to find Wildfoote sock yarn but they had a variety of other sock yarns. I ended up getting Opal in white for the b/f since he had said that he would only wear white socks and some 'One Your Toes' sock yarn (DK weight). I've n...

It's nice to have a friend that you can talk to about most anything but even better when you're helping her learn how to knit!!! She already crochets so that made it easier to explain how to handle the yarn. Of course, I directed her to knittinghelp.com for the videos. I' m happy to say that she's catching on very fast. She only started a few days ago and she's already purling like a pro. Her stitches are so nice and even... I'm a little jealous but I'm thrilled that she's having such an easy time learning. I told her that when/if my b/f gets me the Harmony Interchangeable set that I would send her most of my circular needles since I won't be needing them. Believe me, I know how much money you can sink into circular needles!! Figuring that you can spend about $6 a piece on cheap ones and you need probably 6-8 pairs... that adds up in a hurry. I want to save her all that muss and fuss of looking for all that. Plus, I'll probably send her most of...

Yep, I caught it.... At the big yarn sale this week at Michael's, I got a ton of Sassy Stripes (Moda Dea) and I just finished up my first toe up sock early early this morning. It's not perfect... I know I made a lot of mistakes and it looks funny but it's my first real sock with a real heel!!! *happy dance* The toe on the second one looks different and I know what I did wrong (or right?) but I'm not going back and redoing it. I really want these done so I can wear them when I go to visit my best friend on Tuesday/Wednesday (depending on when I can actually get out of here...). I've started on the foot portion and hopefully, I'll have some uninterrupted knitting time tonight where I don't have to go out for anything other than a quick trip to Walmart to get a sleeping bag (long story...). I do have to say that I'm not thrilled with the 'non softness' of acrylic sock yarn. Now... I want the real deal to work with. My friend told me that he found a ...

I've come to discover that there are some patterns that I never get tired of making. One is the Handmade Hat that I posted about a few entries ago. I can't stop making these!! LOL I've made 3 so far and I've got 2 more on the needles. Another pattern that I'm learning to love is the Caribbean Scarf I'm using this to make an afghan for my best friend's Mom. I've always been a big fan of motif/strip patterns and even though this is a scarf pattern, it lends itself quite well to making an afghan. I know that there's an afghan with the same stitch pattern as the scarf... but I dread huge numbers of stitches on my needles and I wanted it to look a certain way so doing strips is working well for this. I'm using Simply Soft in most of the rose like shades they have (well, all that I could find in the stores...). I'm adding in sage and dark sage to make it look like a rose garden. I had to go out and buy size 11 needles because, for the life of me, I...