Stash Enhancement

9 skeins of Socks That Rock light weight. Enough said ?!?!

Much Progress

I picked up the gusset on my STR Highway 30 sock last night and completed another 14 row repeat on my Columbine Peak sock. I still have to re-knit the repeat on my lace project though. I am not sure about the Lorna's Laces Blackwatch colorway I balled up. It is really beautiful, indigo blue with green highlights. I want to use it in a patterned sock, but it needs to be a simple one so I don't lose any of the stitching in the color changes. Chicken Knits, in the sock marathon group knitted a great pattern - There Be Dragons Here. That one might be good. Or I could go ahead and knit my Pomatamus Socks with this yarn instead of the KP Essentials.

24 Rips

Never try to knit lace while watching 24!!! I had to rip two repeats because of Jack and his sibling rivalry. I tell ya. . . but I made fine progress on both of my socks. I can play Jeopardy in my sleep :)

Ah Karabella

I have found the perfect project for my favorite Karabella Aurora 8 yarn in Aubergine, the Kenobi Jacket designed by Norah Gaughan featured on the cover of the Spring 2007 Knitscene magazine. I have also found a substitute tweed yarn for the Bookworm Vest designed by Cheryl Oberle, found in her book Folk Vests, Dale of Norway Sisik. I cast on a pair of plain socks in Socks That Rock Highway 30 - if anything knit in STR can be considered plain. Now that the memories socks are off my needles I am making some progress on my Columbine Peak Socks from Cat Bordhi's book, Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles.

I ripped the sleeves off of my Make Track Cardigan and cast on new ones with adjusted measurements. I have knit about five inches on both sleeves. Next weekend I should be attaching this pair of much smaller sleeves and be able to complete the neck and button bands. Then I can proudly wear this warm soft sweater.

Swatches and WIPs.

Brooklyn Tweed

Since I started blogging in Sept. '06 I have read every blog of every participant in the knit alongs I joined. Literally hundreds of pages. No one has come even close to the quality of work you see on the Brooklyn Tweed blog. I love clicking the finished projects. The photographs are coffee table book material.

Jared aka Brooklyn Tweed is hands down the most prolific knitter I have come across, in the hundreds of blog pages I have read. His work is awe inspiring. The drape of his Raspy denim sweater makes me want to rub his stomach. His shawls are unbelievably beautiful. When I first decided to try lace knitting I thought I would try non-lace weight yarn first - until I got the hang of things, and learned to read the stitches. He has been there, done that, and sold the rights to the movie!!! Jared uses dk or fingering weight yarns for his lace projects and they are stunning. The man has always got something gorgeous on his needles and is usually making these wonderful items for someone special in his life. He has a talented generous spirit and it shows in his work. Please click the link in the side bar and take a look at his blog. Scroll around a bit and take a nice leisurely cruise through his finished projects. The hats make you wish for cold weather. GORgeouso. Enjoy!!

Swifted and Balled

I completed my swifting and balling as planned. I did not get to my swatching for the Zimmermann Sweater. I did finish two socks and cast on a lace scarf from the book Victorian Lace Today. Casting on and getting through Chart A took most of the day yesterday. I love the feel of the silk yarn in the scarf. I am adding some more sock yarn to my Sockret Pals gift box. I also used my GET OUT OF JAIL FREE card from the 2007 Knit Your Stash KAL. I bought some lace weight yarn from Sarahs Yarns and Pure Knits. So that's it. I have bagged up my next six projects, excluding socks, and I am set to knit through my stash. I have pictures on my camera but I don't feel like plugging it in and messing around with cables tonight.

Lace Swift and Swatch Weekend

I will be finishing my Redwood and Yukon Memories socks tonight, that's .50 miles for the Lime and Violet 2007 Sock Yarn Marathon. This weekend is going to be a lace weekend. I have two Sticks and Strings Podcasts to listen to while I knit, and a new audiobook as well. I ordered some Zephyr lace weight yarn in indigo, which I am anxious to try. There is a toss up whether I will knit the Shawl in the Pam Allen Scarfs book or the Adamas Shawl in Zephyr. If I can talk myself into it, I will rip the sleeves off of my Make Tracks Cardigan and re-knit them with half the increases the pattern called for.

I will be swifting sock yarns and swatching merinos for my Zimmermann Aran Sweater and other EZ Almanac projects, when I am not working on my lace. I want to swift and wind two hanks of Lorna's Laces, 1 hank of Socks That Rock and one more hank of Knit Picks Shadow lace yarn this weekend. I can really only ball up one or two hanks at a time. My shoulder and wrists gets tired every 500 or 600 yards. So, I split up my swifting over the whole weekend. Swatching is mindless knitting though, so I will probably do those during the AFC and NFC playoff games and the Australian Open final rounds. But the lace knitting must be done during quiet time. Very quiet time. Baby Alpaca is not fun to tink.

Mileage to be Adjsuted

Okay, I should never have looked at the other Marathoner's stash flashes. I just ordered 6 hanks of Lorna's Laces from The Loopy Ewe and 6 balls of Regia Silk and one ball of Trekking XXL from Herrschners. Too late for an intervention, so I will just have to adjust my mileage. Oh well. I wasn't sure how to account for the STR club incoming skeins anyway, so I may just leave these out of the marathon mileage, and make myself wait until 2008 to actually knit them up - yeah right ;~}

To Be Socks in 2007

Sock Marathon 2007 Stash

That is 16,894 Yards or

9.60 Miles

* Socks That Rock

* Koigu

* Perchance to Knit

* Hill Country Yarns

* Fearless Fibers

* Knit Picks

* Bernat

* Regia

* Modo Dea

* Patons Kroy Socks

* Hot Socks

* Fortissima Socka

* Lorna's Laces

* Lisa Souza

To Be Sweaters, Vest & Wraps in 2007

Yarn Stash 2007

* Sweaters

* Vest

* Scarves

* Shawls

* Fingerless Gloves

To Be Lace in 2007

Lace Yarn Stash 2007

Many Thanks Bethanie

My Secret Pal 9 has revealed herself, the most wonderful Bethanie Frank (www.creativeone.blogspot.com). And she sent one more package of goodies that are really wonderful. A full 4 oz skein of Barlett's Wool in Plum Heather. A black satin bag holding the Clover Coil Knitting Needle Holders from my wish list. A Handmade Obsessions crocheted star. The sweetest little Ducky of Bath Soap Gel.

Thank you so much for everthing Beth.

2007

Ten days gone already, are we on fast forward or what? Of course I am 'cause I am over the magic age line of 30 when every year becomes a blur. Since I have only been blogging since September I had not considered what a great time management tool it can be. I can plan out my year here and when things start spinning out of control - as life always does - I can click ARCHIVE. Is that cool or what? I have only one plan to put into effect, which everything else will feed off of. I give credit to the Knit Your Stash 2007 idea. I am going to Shop At Home This Year. Yep. Every time I want a new book, I am going to shop the bookshelves of unread books in my house. Every time I find a smashing new item to crochet or knit I am going to shop my stash to find the right yarn. Every time I want to see a good movie I am going to pull the storage bins out from under the bed, dust them off, and check my collection. Okay, it's 10 days into the year and I know that leaves a whopping 355 days left to Shop At Home. Can I do it? Of Course I Can. Thanks to blogs, podcasts and wikipedia I have discovered a ton of free stuff on the web. If I don't have a book I am in the mood for - I can read some free fan fiction. If there is nothing good in the movie collection - I can watch free TV and catch up on shows I miss while I am knitting and sleeping. And well, hell, with my yarn stash I will NEVER run out of yarn for crochet and knitting projects. If I get bored I can always pull out my cross stitch and trame for a change of pace. Re-read magazines, unlike a good book or movie, I hardly ever remember what I read in a magazine article more than a year ago. Who knows, I may even get time to play some of these dozens of computer games I own, or memorize all of the clues and answers in Scene It Harry Potter version. That should fill the hours upon hours I usually spend shopping in JCPenneys, Coach, KnitPicks, Herrschners, Walmart, Amazon, EBay, Etsy, Fashion Bug, Speigels, ELuxury, Nordstroms, Webs, Overstock, Barnes and Noble.

Savings - when I shop at home the amount I would be paying those folks above will go into my Vacation Savings Bank Account.

Fringe benefit, after I read those unread books and watch those movies I can list them on Half.com for sale. That money goes directly into my checking account.

After I crochet and knit that stash up, I will have lots of merchandise for the Holiday Craft Fair ( I had many requests for my scarves and wraps but I had been selfishly knitting myself socks and a sweater and had nothing to sell). All proceeds from the craft fair will be happily spent on my 2008 yarn stash and CGOA/TKGA annual Conference.

Shopping, saving, crafting, reading, playing and being entertained. Why didn't I think of this last year!!!!

Lime and Violet Sock Yarn Marathon

Now this is right up my alley. The Lime and Violet Sock Marathon has you track your sock yarn stash and see how much of it you can knit up during the marathon. What's really cool about it is you don't have to knit just socks with your sock yarn. I joined the Socks That Rock Club but I will exclude that from my mileage, maybe save those kits as a reward for completing the marathon. Anyway, this marathon goes hand in hand with the Knit Your Stash 2007 knit along I joined. It's Kismet
:D

So here's the stash I am starting with. I will post yardage after I total it up.

My WIP is Whipping My A

I finally finished all pieces of my Valley Yarns Make Tracks Cardigan sweater in Berkshire Bulky Grey Wool-Alpaca, and seamed it up. All that was left was the collar and button band. All while I was knitting the sleeves I kept saying to myself that 13 was way too many increases for the upper portion of the sleeve and wondering why they had a 21 inch sleeve, I usually find 18 inch sleeves in my cardigan patterns. But silly me, blithely knitted along with the pattern. S**t with a capital S. As soon as I stuck my arm in the right sleeve I knew my instincts had been correct, and the pattern ridiculously wrong. The sleeves were totally out of proportion with the rest of the sweater. Now I have to UNSEAM and RIP OUT both sleeves and reknit them. I don't mind the reknitting, but I truly hate the UNSEAMING. Another HINT I should have paid attention to - the model on the pattern photo is hiding the sleeves. That is alwasy a tip off, what was I thinking?!?!?!?!

I finished my Sockret Pal's first sock and cast on sock number two last night. I am still working on the Grey and Camouflage second socks. Gotta get these things off my needles, they are starting to bug me. I am enjoying my lace knitting, it's so different. It is soft and beautiful. I know they are going to take months to make, but I love watching them develop.

SP9 Yarnny Goodness

My Secret 9 Pal sent me some great Knit Picks Telemark peruvian wool yarn in Snow Leapord. Doesn't that just scream to be knit up into a nice scarf or wrap? Also in the package was a Heart Pin that is quilted and buttoned from Petals by Jodie etsy.com site. Really nice, I am going to sport this on my project bag. And, there was a postcard from Knitters Anonymous.com - hey, who leaked that I need a yarn intervention??? Oh, maybe she just looked at my blog archives and peeped some of my stash :D

Zimmermannia

I am joining the Zimmermania Group, I am going to knit through Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitter's Almanac: Projects for Each Month of the Year. The first project is an aran sweater. I am going to use my favorite yarn KARABELLA in the bulky weight. Love love love this yarn.

Paperwork

I have all of my files for 2006 summarized and ready to do my taxes. All I need is my W-2. It took me over 6 hours yesterday to update categories and designate taxable and non-taxable expenses. I need to send my last invoice out to my client CTC for 2006 with their 2007 contract. I received a card from my friend TM. She moved to Colorado. What's up with the moving? Three of my friends made major moves. ABH from London to Arizona, PR from Las Vegas to Florida and now TM from Texas to Colorado. Major changes for folks last year. I paid my 2nd installment of my property taxes and registration for the car for 2006-2007. UGLY. But I kindly rewarded myself with See's Candies, Nuts and Chews of course!!! I still have some Godiva and Assorted chocolates to regift. The SNB Calendar return worked out superbly - calendars are now half priced so I got a Sudoku A Day calendar and a papaerback book for the returned item. Good deal eh?! I am saving my Cadbury Carmel (the real deal not the nasty Hershey's Carmello version) stash for later.

Sweater Status

Finally, both the left and front sides of the Valley Yarns Make Track Cardigan is done. I am half way up one of the sleeves. The second sleeve, button band and collar are all that's left after this. I am going to get to work on my second Memories Yukon and Redwood Forest socks this week. I am casting them on today. I hope my Sockret Pal likes the Redwood Forest socksI am knitting her, the self striping/pooling pattern came out really nice.

Vogue Knitting Winter 2006-2007 came Saturday, nothing in it that I would want to knit. They need to remember us plus sized ladies.

It is time for the Socks That Rock 2007 Club registration. I have not gotten an e-mail yet. I will check the website a little later. There will go the last of my 2006 bonus.