SS09 Mini Socks: Progress Report

I am making good progress on knitting mini sample socks for The Crafts Meow, a vendor at the upcoming, now world known, and much anticipated, Sock Summit 2009.

I am using my wee tiny sock pattern on size 2s and trying a size 1 with more stitches on to get a large enough mini sock to make nice samples the can be seen and touched in her booth.

The needles I am using in these pictures are Harmony woods from Knit Picks in a size 1, 4-inch length. They are interesting to knit with, you have to keep your hands on them because they are so lightweight that if one slips away they are difficult to find. You may also want to sandpaper the ends of the occasionally.

The size 2s that I use are Bryspun double points that will be accepted on the plane. Unfortunately they do not make them in any smaller sizes and the ones I really like (Kollage square DPNS in 5-inch length) are metal and I don't dare test the TSA folks at security with those. So they will go in the checked bag and I will use the others for the plane.


She has lovely yarn both in feel and in colors. I am enjoying knitting with it and can hardly wait to see what new dye lots she brings to the show.

I hope you all have lots of color and softness in your lives!

Weekend Update: In Other Knitting News

The final kid cardi is done and will be on its way to Germany soon for the oldest niece's birthday. Mom did the majority of the knitting and I finished it. It is now back with mom for button placement and sleeve seaming. I think it was a wonderful collaborative effort.

I am not sure what is next on our knit for others knitalong list but I am sure we will come up with something.

I hope you are having fabulous fun with your projects!

Felted Clogs: The Saga Continues

We attended the second part of the felted clog class and learned how to pick up the cuff for the three needle bind off and how to attach the second sole and finish the bottom of the clogs.

I have one finished ready for felting and the other one almost to the cuff. I am setting up the second one so I can show Mom how to do the finish work this weekend when they are here for 4th of July festivities.

I thought I was being very smart and fast getting the second ready early and, believe it or not, ran out of purple within 4 rows of finished with that color. So now the clog is parked for the week until I can get to the LYS to pick up more yarn.

Note: if you are knitting these clogs from this pattern in anything larger than an women's size medium, you will need two skeins each of sole and foot color.

Blogging OTR

This morning, after my visit to the Farmer's Market, I took the Mini to Agia Sophia's in Old Colorado for coffee and a breakfast bite. After last week's failed attempt to connect with the wireless at Starbuck's I had called Dell Support to have them look at my connection settings to be sure I had all the right stuff enabled to connect while on the road (OTR).

I was assured that I did after he clicked one more thing. And, I guess it worked. Here I am, sipping good coffee and eating a cream cheese panini (yummy!)

I hope everyone is having a successful weekend!

Summer is Here: Farmer's Market Shopping

This is my favorite thing to do early on Saturday mornings in the summer. The smell of roasting chilis and fresh basil is the best aroma I can think of.

I like to go the one in Old Colorado at Bancroft Park around 7:30 a.m. It is not too crowded and everyone is chatting and comparing growing notes with each other.

Today I scored fresh, Colorado-grown cherries for Dad, fresh basil and squashes for me. I wanted Peaches and Cream corn but it is not out yet. Hopefully by next weekend someone will have some. I plan to do fresh marinara for this week's suppers and a squash medley.

This week there were several flower and herb vendors there. The flowers from Dawn's Creations were spectactular. She has orchids like I have never seen.

Then, on my way to the coffee shop to do this post OTR (on the road), I found something better than "Snakes on the Plane", I found "snakes in the yard". Old Colorado has some hidden treasures to be sure.

I hope everyone is discovering beauty and joy today!

PS. I am not a fan of snakes so have not seen the movie "Snakes on a Plane."

24-Hour Eviction Notice for the Ducks

It's quackers! My ducks are being forced to move for 24 hours.

Hopefully by this time tomorrow evening they will have be restored to their happy home in the bathroom with new linoleum and a freshly caulked bathtub.

Since they have to move for a while they got a bath and a sort through. All the flashing and quacking was quite entertaining while they waited on the counter drying.

And some decided that they had to show off their stuff by doing what pirate ducks do. They partied in the duck pond and caught a shark to show off to Pedro. He just thought it was a giant water bowl.

Have a great Friday!

SS09 Mini Socks: From This

Today in the mail I received a package of sock yarn from The Craft's Meow, one of the Sock Summit 2009 vendors.

I will be knitting mini sock samples for her booth between now and August. The yarn is yummy and it will be fun to see how they knit up for display. The plan is to make them big enough to be seen in the booth and touchable so folks know how fabulous this yarn feels.

She sent me a variety of fun colors in mini skeins and I think I will be able to do a couple of them with different color heels and toes for the fun, value-added look.

So, from this picture of "sock parts" to a finished product, I will update the progress once I get some knit up.

You should go over to her Etsy shop and see the wonderful colors she creates. After I visited there again I realized that she has named all her yarn colors after ice cream flavors. How fun is that?! I can hardly wait to them live at the "Big Show." :-)

I hope everyone is planning a great weekend!

Simply Sunday

Just some pretty pictures to sooth the soul. Enjoy!

And a Very Happy Father's Day to all you dads!

The Flight of the Felted Clog

Today was the first day of our mother/daughter felted clogs class. We went to Green Valley Weavers and Knitters for this one.

The instructor advised us on how much and which yarn to buy. We had purchased the pattern previously so had that on hand.

Mom picked a grey and forest combo and I, as you can see, chose my signature color to be paired with chocolate.

I was happy that I got through six rows by the end of the class. (Mom has since frogged hers several times while trying to break the code to knit row 1 and come out with the correct number of stitches.)

I managed to get the top of the foot done and am at the point where I have to decide if I am putting on a teal cuff or doing it in the chocolate.

I have to say that there must be a better way to read Row 1 to make it easier to get through it. I am working on that now and have the idea that a check list approach so you can check off each section as you do it might be the answer.

I hope everyone has an adventuresome project to work on!

PS. I assume you are wondering about the "flight" reference. Well, mom has threatened to throw hers across the room at least once, and mine did fly right after I got it home and discovered I had an error. :-)

Another Wee Tiny Sock Has Arrived

Yesterday I received a package from my wee tiny sock swap partner in New Hampshire. The package also contained a cool keychain, and postcards of the state map and a beautiful picture of a moose.

One sock design is her signature "pencil" and the other is the Wee Tiny Elf sock. Both are beautiful.

This swap partner is one that I will have the pleasure of meeting in person at the Sock Summit in a mere 49 days. I am very excited.

Thank you so much, Kermit.

Begin the Baby Surprise Jacket

I decided that I had some wonderful leftover yarn from my FLS and I wanted to try a pattern that everyone I know has knit or talked about knitting, the BSJ, Baby Surprise Jacket.

I had borrowed the DVD where Meg Swansen, Elizabeth Zimmermann(the designer)'s daughter, shows a step-by-step knitalong of the sweater. I have the pattern, however, the directions are sketchy at best. I was told to "just trust" and do exactly what the pattern says.

So, I cast on and started following the pattern. Then I went to Ravelry to read the forums on the BSJ looking for help. And I found it, in the form of YouTube videos done by City Knitting's Lorilee. I was pleased to discover that I was on the right track.

So far I am to the last 4 double decreases before I start a new section. I hope everyone has a fun project going on.

Estes Park Wool Festival

Saturday dawned with a break in the monsoonal flow so I headed out to Estes Park Wool Festival. I stopped in Denver to pick up CatWithCats and she directed me out the scenic back way to Boulder.

Everyone was out taking advantage of the fair weather on their bicycles and with the their kayaks strapped to the top of their cars on the way to the Outdoor Sport event in Lyons.

We found animals everywhere at the Estes Park Fairgrounds. These little guys looked almost content to be photoed. They are Paco Vicunas and have wonderful fleece for yarn. There were several displays of hand knit items made from their fleece. So lovely for lace items.

And other animals being judged on how beautiful they were, then getting a long awaited "haircut". Some look so funny when they are shorn.

We shopped the vendors' barn and found people that we knew from other knitting events and knitters. We found Plain and Fancy Yarns from Texas, where Cat showed off her finished Taos Shawl that she had bought her yarn and pattern from them in Taos last October. It is lovely, check out her blog for the pictures.

We found the sheep artist, Conni Togel. She is amazing and you must go to her website here and check out her sense of humor, color and style.

We also found yak folks from Bijou Basin Ranch and think a field trip to their place in a possible thing to do this summer, as well as the cashmere goat folks from Guffey, Colorado. Their yarn has specks of shiny stuff in that gives it that little somepun, somepun.

After touring all the vendors we headed out to find lunch in downtown Estes. Then we went to the only yarn shop in Estes Park.

I finally had the opportunity to get into The Stitchin' Den in downtown Estes Park. We were greeted by the owner's two Westies. They lay at the door and greet everyone that comes in. The shop is on four levels. It has a little bit of everything for fiberholics and needleworkers alike. I especially liked the tree outside that was decorated with socks. What a great way to advertise a knitting shop.

All in all it was a wonderful day. We headed home just as the sky started getting darker and the rumbling was becoming more insistent. Ah, the weather in Colorado, wait one minute and it will change. I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Let the Jubilation Begin: FLS is Done

Note: Pedro is planning on sleeping because he is worn out from the celebration dance and ready for momma's lap to be free again.


My first February Lady Sweater is done!

In the several-things-I-learned category:
1). Make the first one out of a yarn that you will wear with your jeans, however, did not spend a life savings on. This way I am not overly concerned that it turned out a size too big or has a few mistakes, er, unplanned design elements in it.


2). Count and recount when you are making up your own sleeve ending. I knit the sleeves to be elbow length by using 5 repeats of the lace pattern, three rows of knit (equalling stockinette when done in the round) and garter stitch for seven ridges with a Galina bind off. All this worked until I convinced myself that I had done six ridges of garter on the first sleeve and held that notion until the second sleeve was off the needles and I was happlily weaving in the ends. Oops... Oh well, I will know better next time.


3). Use a stitch marker for each lace repeat so you cannot get lost. This gull wing lace pattern is done over a 7-stitch repeat and the marker keeps you on track in case you make a mistake you only have to tink back a short way to correct it.

4). This particular pattern grows while you knit it in more ways than one. Take your chest measurement and determine what size that equals then go down one size. I think it is because of the garter stitch and the lace that makes it grow wider. That is even after a concentrated gauge swatch to determine needle size.

I really enjoyed this knit and plan to make another one soon, already have the yarn in my stash.

I hope everyone is finding wonderful projects to work on!

FLS Update: On the Way to Finished

For the last two months my February Lady Sweater has languished in a mini tub next to my knitting chair, waiting for me to finish samples for the shop and my ventures with wee tiny socks.

Since I finished the Knit One Below Scarf and delivered it to the shop as a sample I realized that I should look at all my UFOs and make a list to get them on track to finish.

So I pulled out my FLS and reviewed where I was, actually tried it on to see how much longer I wanted to make it and, to my delight, I was one lace pattern repeat away from the garter stitch border at the bottom. Yippee!

And after knitting for so long on the body I think the sleeves will be a breeze.

My goal for this week is to finish at least the bottom and one sleeve. Then next week I will finish the other sleeve and get it ready to wear.

I hope everyone is making progress on their goals!

Thong Socks

I found the pattern "Flippant" on Ravelry one day and thought they were a darling idea. I wear thong flip flops as house shoes during the warmer weather and love them. So I decided to try a pair of these out of Cascade Fixation.

I cast them on today while I was waiting for my student at the shop today. I made really good progress on them, following the patterns version for size, as the picture shows and they are being guarded by my wee devil duck dpn holders.

The pattern got lots of giggles from the shop staff. And somehow a question came up about a "whole" sock to which I answered that I will be attending the Sock Summit which encouraged full out guffawing.

I did finish the first Flippant however it is too big for my foot and I found out they will not fit inside my thong because it will be too tight. So that project has gone by the wayside.

I hope everyone is finding fun projects to keep them busy!

Note: scenic shot is from the driveway of the shop in Woodland Park looking at Pikes Peak.

K1b Scarf: Finished and Delivered

My first Knit One Below project, the scarf, is finished and now on display at Nuts and Bolts in Woodland Park. I finished it with one end fringed and the other just focused on the double loop cast on.


I love this technique! My next project will be the Reversible Vest. I can hardly wait to get started.

I will be teaching this technique at the shop in September.

June: Days to Celebrate

To start off the month we are celebrating National Bubba Day on June 2nd. Followed by Cheese Day on June 4th. What is your favorite cheese?

Then we are enjoying Doughnut Day on June 6th. If you look up doughnut shops online you will find many to choose from. Who knew how popular they were?

Then we can wish a big 75th birthday to Donald Duck on June 9th. He looks really good for his age. On June 12th we can celebrate the day baseball was invented back in 1839. Maybe the Rockies would have played better back in those days...

Magic Day is also celebrated on June 12th so maybe we just need a magic wand to get our local team back on their winning streak.

On June 14th we celebrate Flag Day. Wave them high and proudly and say thank you to any military personnel you might see that day. They need to hear it from us!

June 20th is the day you should get out your skateboards and show us your moves. I remember riding mine everyday after school down the hills in our neighborhood and coming home for grandma to patch me up from yet another skill. I was never good at it but I sure enjoyed myself.

On June 21st let's go out and celebrate all those fathers out there. Your dad needs to hear how much you love and appreciate him.

After that we can celebrate UFO Day on June 24th. It is the date of the first documented sighting, however I do not know what year that was.

And to wrap up the month on June 25th I thought it might be fun to celebrate Leon Day. Leon is Noel spelled backwards and signifies that it is only six months until Christmas. Now, now - before you throw the rotten tomatoes at me, I did not make this up. I just shared it. :-)


Whatever you choose to celebrate in June, I hope you do it with gusto and abandonment! Life is meant to be fun, exhilarating and full of momentous experiences. Enjoy!

Note: according to hoops&yoyo June is also "Accordion Awareness Month".