It's Better to Give and Receive

I am pleased with what I came up with for my CompassionKnit finished object donation. I raided my Christmas Gift Stash and chose two hats, to add to the two hats I knit yesterday and today. With the cowl and mitts that is a total of six objects I will be able to give. The Luscious Silk yarn that I knit the cowl in apparently went in the yarn donation I gave Compassion Knit - I could not find it anywhere. I pulled out some Valley Yarn I knit a sweater out of. I had two balls left. It is still on the needles, but I only have 20 rows left. I knit the Noro hat last night.









Not really a reward or anything, but really good timing - my Signature needles and new Swift came.

32 inch circulars with 6 inch Stiletto tips, Red = US 7/4.5 mm; Green = US 6/4.0 mm; and Blue = US 5/3.75 mm

SF Ravelry Meet Up

Sunday is going to be so much fun. I have a couple of new online knitting friends to seek out. I hope we find each other!!! I also hope I nab one of the fabulous door prizes, not the one I contributed to though. Tonight I am going to do my usual Sunday chores, I will probably pull an all nighter - until my roomies tell me to go to bed and quit making so much noise. I want to try to make a couple of my 2 hour hats and key hole scarves tomorrow. Although I contributed a metric b*tt load of yarn, needles and other tools to CompassionKnit, I still want to make a few items too. They came up terribly short in finished items. I could actually part with the Noro fingerless mitts I just knit, I still have 10 or 15 skeins of that yarn. I also still have the STR Atomic #6 Cowl, I ended up not giving it as a Christmas gift.

Yep a plan is forming. I have enough Atomic #6 and Noro yarn to knit my quickie short row hats to go with the cowl and mitts. I feel better already, I will be able to give a couple of homeless teens a little warmth next winter. Or, next week, since another rain storm is due in on Monday.

For you shopaholics, and what real knitter isn't one, there are a couple of sweet treats available. The Signature Needle Arts circular needles are back in stock and The Sanguine Gryphon has yarn up pretty much constantly in every type now that she is in her new studio. Knit Picks is having another big book sale. Webs is having a big Anniversary Sale. Oh and Herrschners has some very interesting sock yarns now - they are offering 3 or 4 sock yarns with aloe or lanolin in them. I ordered the Red Heart, Heart and Sole 75 % wool 25 % nylon with aloe in Black, Navy and Ivory for the Norwegian Rose Sock KAL. Okay, I ordered some needles and Bugga too. But I did not buy any new books. I bought a couple of new patterns instead 8~}

Finished Objects

Austermann Step Socks
Noro Fingerless Mitts

Yarn - Of Course

Goodies from the Sanguine GryphonPrism Merino Mia - Mink
Skinny Bugga Oak Timberworm
Prism Merino Mia Tahoe
Lana Grossa Solo in Midnight
Eidos Nisii
Eidos Ion
Prism Saki Blue Lagoon
Skinny Bugga Oak Timberworm
Spud and Chloe Anemone
Spud and Chloe Snorkel
Bugga Bog Fritillary
Eidos Hipparchus
Bugga Nighcrawler (my absolute favorite bait for fishing)
Fiber Optic Ultramarine Batik
Vesper Pine
Vesper Sea Foam

New Tools

Sanguine Gryphon sample soap and Skinny Bugga.
New Hiya Hiya 16 inch cable needles, US sizes 1, 1.5 and 2 - to replace the Knit Picks 32 inch needles I am using on the socks. These are not socks for magic looping!!!
New Issue of St. Denis Magazine - I love just about every pattern.
Stitchdots, well labeled for parts of patterns and charts.
Scissor Sitter, heart motif (of course).

Works in Progress

Clapotis Number 3 in Interlacement Tiny Toes and Cherry Tree Hill
through section 2, I am adding 3 extra repeats because I have a lot of yarn.

Clue 1 of the Mystic Desire Shawl in BMFA Laci Haida

Using US Size 5 (3.75mm) Stiletto Signature straight needles.
The final piece of the VogueKnitting Wrap, the short triangle. Just started the 4th color.


The completed first part of the shawl, the long rectangle.
The toes of the Theseus & Minotaur socks in Bugga.
The toes of the Phoebus Apollo socks in Wollmeise Orange Campari.

Time Turner

Just not enough time in a day!!!! I swear, what was I thinking???? I am a little peeved with myself for starting two pairs of uber complicated socks when the Mystic Desire Shawl KAL was starting. Okay, I am over 50 and the B-12 is not working as well as one would hope. I FORGOT about the KAL starting yesterday. I cast on last night and I already know it will require ALL of my knitting time if I am to keep up with the clues. There are a mere 95 rows in clue one, and that does not include the 8 set-up rows and provisional cast on. I have a Harry Potter Time Turner, but it does not seem to work with knitting time. I must have the muggle version of the device - after all the Barnes and Noble I bought it in was not located in Diagon Alley. I digress...

I cast on the Mystic Desire in Blue Moon Fiber Arts Laci in the colorway Haida. It is the Raven collection Black overdyed in Blues. Lovely!! I started with Knit Pick Harmony needles, and struggled through the first 10 rows before bedtime. I changed to the Zephyr tips just before putting it away - because it is abundantly clear that the Harmony tips cannot handle the M2 stitches (k2tog, ktbl). I was reaching to turn off the lamp on the craft table when the needles in one of the Ravelry glasses caught my eye. It turns out my Signature Needles are 3.75 mm and they have stiletto tips [yeah, I had forgotten which size I bought, but I think we just covered that issue]. So I am going to use the Signature Needles and knit the small version of the shawl. Hopefully the whole piece will fit on the needle, without me having to go back to the circulars. We shall see.

I usually always knit the largest version of a shawl, but this one has nupps and all those darned tbl which are not my favorite things; a small shawl will have to do.

I Hate Toe Up

As much as I love my iPad is as much as I hate toe up socks. I cast on two pair of toe up socks yesterday. The Phoebus Apollo and the Theseus & The Minotaur socks. I abhor the toe up process. These are about the two most gorgeous pairs of socks I have ever seen so I have to force myself to knit them. I am knitting them both 2-at-a time. I only plan to go through the ordeal once. I used the Turkish cast on, which is faster than the figure 8 and there are no twisted stitches on one side.

The yarn is the only truly bright spot in the process right now, Bugga is as advertised - fantastic. The Wollmeise is - well - Wollmeise. Unbelievable colors in this Campari Orange skein. I have taken pictures and will post them eventually. Between knitting and the new toy - not much updating getting done here or on Ravelry.

I Heart my IPad

I took my iPad with me to do laundry. The first thing I did was watch Laura and Leslie on iTunes, then I went to their website and watched episode 8. It was great. I have some more setting up to do, Outlook and my Calendar. I set up iBooks with the link to the ISBN database, that's is very cool. It took a couple of hours to load all of my iTunes stuff, 507 objects. One of the things I love most - it was 96% charged right out of the box. All I had to do was set up my 3G account and start surfing. I love this thing so so much. It is about a 1/4 inch wider than I expected so it does not fit into the case I planned to use. I have ordered another one.

What a great idea, this is the perfect little web tool for me.

My Bad

I have been meaning to post for days. Just keep forgetting. I have been knitting like crazy.

I am almost finished knitting sock #2 of the Austermann Step.
I am on color number 3 of the short rectangle of the VK #28 Lace Wrap.
I cast on and frogged a Matter and Void Shawl and went back to the plain old Clapotis in Interlacements Tiny Toes and Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn. It is coming out gorgeous. I have knit through Section 2 on that.

Those are the three projects I am focusing on right now. I wound the yarn for the Sanguine Gryphon Minotaur sock and the yarn for the Mystic Desire KAL. I wound some other yarns up while I was in the stash box - 3 different Mystical Creations colorways, and they are beautiful. I have been chatting with some of you readers via e-mail so I have not completely lost touch with my knitting friends.

I am getting excited about the SF Ravelry Meetup on May 16th. I just ordered some cards and totes to identify myself. I had to create a new Palette PC logo, my old one is on an old computer and I just do not have the time to pull it up and email it or whatever to my current laptop. I had a desktop publishing company at one time and for the last two years I have not been doing any business so I did not transfer any of the company stuff to my new laptop.



The Wollmeise I sent off found its way to its new home. I still have 3 skeins I am willing to part with. I don't mind keeping them though.


My iPad is floating around San Francisco in a FEDEX truck somewhere - can you say "refresh tracking webpage" ? [it's almost like a Wollmeise update] It is supposed to be here by 3 pm. I have it set to e-mail me because Office Services is not always attentive with the mail rounds. We'll see.

I hope to post some of the photos I have been taking as I knit along on my projects. This weekend I have an Ultrasound appointment then I will be casting on two pairs of socks toe-up. I am not looking foward to either event. Cheers.

eta: oops I forgot, I finished one Noro fingerless mitt and the wrist of the second one.

WIP Fantastic

The Wrap
I have complete the long rectangle - 3 repeats of each color.
I have cast on the short rectangle - which will be 2 repeats of each color.





I am working down the foot of the Austermann Step sock. I am going to knit 20 more rows before I begin the toe.
This is the first of the felted clogs, it really does not look like anything. I think they are going to be great though.

Last, and quite possibly least, the Noro fingerless mitts. I am knitting them magic loop because I do not have another needle this size. Not enjoying them at all, but I really need them in my frigid office.

Long Time No Post

Wow it has been awhile since I posted. We have been having daily network issues at work, having to reboot 4 and 5 times per day. I have not wanted to have anything to do with a computer once I leave work. I have been having physical problems of the female variety all weekend and have gotten absolutely no sleep for three days.

On the brighter side, I have done some knitting. Although I did not transfer the pictures to the computer I have been taking occasional pictures of the projects I am working on. I have started the 8th and final color of the VogueKnitting #28 Lace Wrap. It is a great pattern. I am almost finished knitting the foot of the Austermann Step sock I am working on. This is a ball of yarn I bought from Webs in their discontinued sock yarn sale. The colors are not any I would have normally bought, but it is the faux fair isle patterning that I like.

The yarn for my felted clogs arrived but I was not up to casting them on. I also bought the club pattern, Phoebus Apollo Socks from the Loopy Ewe. Ugh, it's toe up - which y'all know I am not into. So what I did was rewind the yarn into two separate balls and I am going to cast them both on at the same time, so I only have to go through that madness one time. I am using Wollmeise 100% in Campari Orange. I am loving my clapotis, I think I will cast on another one in my other Zauberball, the teal green and black colorway.

I have put my colorwork sweaters (Henry VIII & Glenesk) into hibernation. I am just not into them right now. I have startitis. I want to cast on all of the projects in my project grab bag. I want to knit socks and shawls and some single color sweaters. I had to buy four more Sterlite Storage containers for my yarn collection, which is another reason I want to get some of the larger projects in my queue knit up, some of the single color sweaters in particular.

I need to get this yarn thing under control. I finally FINALLY finally received the priority shipping boxes from the post office Saturday. So at least a little Wollmeise will be going to a good home soon. I have some Socks That Rock I should probably put up for sale or trade too. Some of the sock club colorways are still sitting around in my stash from 2007 because they just were not my cup of tea. I also have some super fine cashmere from the Make One Lace club that needs a new home. I will have to meditate on that.

RANT re: Priority Snail Mail

What's up with the box printers??? I have been to the post office TWICE for small and medium sized Priority Mail flat rate boxes. Both times they had NONE. I ordered them online from USPS.com at last, I got a shipping confirmation e-mail on Wednesday - but still no boxes. What goes on???? Thank goodness what I am shipping is not urgent or on a deadline. But geez. I can understand the document sized flats being in demand, and they had plenty of those. However, those of us who want to ship a couple of hanks of yarn are totally out of luck. Something is wrong with this picture!!!