A Little of This a Little of That

Three more pairs half way there.



























Perchance to Knit Socks pair 35 of 52













Amazing Gryffindor Bag

Vaccination Successful

The Earthlink Protection team finally found the proper vaccination for the virus my laptop contracted a few weeks ago - ABOUT TIME!!!!! I can now access Ravelry again and I am not getting those stupid blank screens with a status of DONE.

I finished a third sock. One sock completed the Perchance to Knit pair, the other two are the first Jubilee and Seacoast socks in the pairs, I will cast on the second socks tomorrow. I am going to spend the rest of the day on my Gryffindor bag and the Regia Self Striping socks.

I had lots of Lace KAL charts to print out yesterday. Two of my KALs publish the current hints on the same day, and another KAL started. Yay! I went ahead and enlarged and color coded the first clue for the 2008 Mystery Shawl. The Secret of The Stole ii is giving out some great prizes that I am missing out on because I am behind on hints. That's okay, what would I do with more yarn anyway?!? I cannot wait to get back to these projects though.

I have snapped some photos of my bag, I need to take some shots of my sock progress. I will post those tomorrow. I am flirting with the idea of doing my taxes tomorrow. We'll see. First I need to get through the Passport renewal paperwork with/for my Mom. I am taking her on a cruise to the Panama Canal in October. It's always something - cutting into my knitting time, and my Netflix just came . . . :~}

Mental Health Day

I stayed home from work and took a mental health, golf and knitting day. Nothing better than having golf on the TV while listening to an audiobook and knitting. I finished two more socks and the first pattern repeat of my Gryffindor bag. It is storming and our vanpool was not running today. I like the rain, when I am inside looking out. I don't mind taking BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit), I have been commuting on BART since 1975. But rain and BART combined?? Not so much!!! I need to stop torturing myself reading my Lace Knit Alongs Yahoo dispatches. Everyone is knitting right along and I have sworn off lace until the socklettes have all been done. I found the Baby Socks and Bed Socks patterns I have been looking for in my pattern stash/collection. They are both quicker knits than the full sized socks I am currently knitting. I will be using left over yarns from the previous pairs I have knit. That should pump up my numbers considerably. I am desperate to get back to my lace knitting. Socks are practical and almost instant gratification, I have on a pair right now keeping my toes nice and toasty. But lace knitting is BEAUTIFUL and AWE inspiring. Every time I finish a hint/clue in one of the mystery shawl/stole KALs I am just amazed that I have produced something so lovely. It is a completely different feeling than just completing a UFO.

Ravelry is still not accessible through my Earthlink Protection Center Firewalls. I have to turn off the firewalls to login then I can turn the firewalls back on. I have contracted two deadly viruses since this problem started. I will stick to accessing Ravelry at work, which means Ravelry free weekends!!! That should go a long way towards getting some knits off the needles. I won an E-Bay auction for 20 audiobooks, there were two or three in the set that I really wanted and some new authors I have never read. I have a couple I am giving away. But I ended up paying less than two dollars per book. So I will have lots to listen to as I knit through my Ravelry-less weekends.

Computer network problems abound. Have you noticed? It seems like everyone I have talked to has either gone into a store or bank lately and THE COMPUTERS WERE DOWN. A virus made it through our massive firewall protection at work Wednesday. What goes on??? I love conspiracy theories, as a matter of fact it was one of my favorite movies. The Bay Area is also having too many unexplained power surges and outages. I tell ya, there is more to this than meets the eye.

Knit Simple is one of my favorite magazines. I have knit 2 shrugs, and 2 sweaters from them since I started my subscription. The current Spring/Summer 2008 is the best one yet. There are simple tunics and short sleeved tops that are flattering on anyone. The sizes range from XS-3x. Somebody out there is listening. Most knitters, especially experienced knitters probably won't like the patterns because they are either stockinette or reverse stockinette with patterning only on sleeves or edgings. That is what I LOVE about the patterns. I like the knit stitch, I like the purl stitch. Sweaters in my size take a lot of stitches per row, if I never have to do another 100+ stitch row in the MOSS stitch it will not be too soon. I am a multi-tasker, I don't like only being able to do one thing at a time. I want to be able to knit a sweater AND watch a movie or TV program at the same time. These patterns are exactly what I want. Funny too, this was the last issue in my subscription. I had decided not to renew any of my Knitting or Crocheting magazines because I don't have time to read them. BUT , they made a lier out of me with this issue. I want more of this. They have convinced me to keep subscribing.

Well I am approaching the toe decreases of another sock, got to go get my knit on.

Sock-a-licious

WIPs as of Feb 18, 2008 making lots of headway in my sock knitting. I am trying to get to 42 pairs by month-end. Thank goodness for 3-day weekends.

Progress and Such

I finished a pair of socks last night and cast on another one. I have pulled two more mystery bags.

1. Seacoast Handpainted Yarns Panda
Colorway Surf
Merino, Bamboo, Nylon

18. Interlacement Tiny Toes
Colorway 203 Blue Green Purple
Superwash Merino

Tomorrow I will grade the Slytherin's Arithmancy Trivia Challenges and award one skein of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock to the lucky winner.

I really miss my lace projects. When I downloaded and printed the clue for Spring Shawl Surprice I really wanted to color code it and get started on it. I can see how pretty clue 4 of the Secret of the Stole ii is too, and mine is coming along so well. BUT I am the KAL police and I am the one enforcing MY rule to finish my 55PP KAL. I signed up my sock swap Gryffindor bag as my project for the 2008 EE KAL. I will have to squeeze that onto the sidebar projects list too.

I will need to do a major photo shoot this weekend. I have yarns that need to be added to my Ravelry stash, finished objects and WIPS to be posted. We are supposed to have clear windy weather - so the lighting should be good for pictures. My box of kit contents came from Knit Picks!! I bought every knitting accessory I could find for my Hogawart's Sock Kit Swap Pal. A knitting kit must have losts of gadgets. I will snap some shots of that haul too this weekend.

Ebony Elite KCAL 02/15/08 to 03/15/08

I have thrown myself into the 2008 Ebony Elite KCAL - does anybody see a (dangerous) pattern developing here??

I am making a tote bag for a swap I am in. I have again modified the Knitty.com maze hat pattern, to create my own pattern. I made up a sock pattern from this hat pattern for a swap last year. I love the slip stitch technique of creating the maze motif. Since I have to make this bag for the HSKS4 by April, I thought making it my EE project would motivate me to go ahead and get it done. Of course I will be using Gryffindor colors this time.

Back on Track

Whoo Hoo!! I finished a sock, cast on another sock, turned the heel on a third sock. I am back on track to finish the 52 Pair Plunge. I am going to get back to my lace and other projects when these socks are all done. I will be pulling two more mystery bags tonight and casting on those two pairs as well. Got to keep things rolling. The Perchance to Knit yarn I am working with has the most gorgeous colors in it, and it is a huge ball of yarn. I am going to have a ton left over. Great yardage, I probably could have made a Forest Canopy shawl with it.

Got Heel?

Hi my name is Bev and I am a Lace Addict. I joined another Mystery Lace KAL
:{ I can't seem to help myself!! I am addicted to lace knitting. It is probably good I did since I also got another 5 cones of Jaggerspun Zephyr lace yarn from Halcyon Yarns yesterday. Photos to follow.

The good news is, I actually turned the heel on one of my socks and will finish the sock tonight. Back in the saddle again. I was managing to keep current with my lace knitting, but I made a conscious decision to finish the 52 Pair Plunge Sock KAL first. I worked too hard on that KAL to not finish it. So I will set aside (and fall unsurmountably behind) in my lace knit alongs until I finish all 52 Pairs.

I got some luscious yarns from Cosmic Fibers. One hank lace and one hank sock yarn. Photos to follow.

Moving on.

Road Trip

It's the first Hogsmeade visit this weekend.

I need to stock up on some pepper-up potions.

I am meeting the other Slytherins for tea at Madame Puddifoot's tea shop.
Then I have to go to Honeydukes for some chocolate caramels and lemon drops.

What, it's February?

I don't know about you but I was just getting used to the fact that it is 2008 already and now it is February. WTF???

I received a VERY nice package from my Ebony Elite Scarf Swap Pal, CrimsonPurls. She made me a very soft Malabrigo Neckwarmer with a great wooden button. She bought me the Caribbean Colorway of gossamer yarn for one of the projects in my Ravelry queue. Can you say YUMMMY - DOVE Chocolate, can you say history? Yep it's all gone. There was an Emerald Green Lattern Moon bag too, and to pamper and take care of me Bee Bar Lotion. Thanks pal, you done good!!!!






I have taken pictures of my completed Hint 2 of the Secret Stole ii. I have printed Hint 3 and I have a guess of what might be. I am really enjoying this project, I guess that is why I am able to keep up with the clues.