Socks, Easter, Birthdays, and General Insanity

The cashmere socks are done! Woo Hoo!!

Ain't they purty? It really was a race to the finish. The legs worked up quickly, and were really fun. Then came the pain. I knew my gauge with the green yarn would be a little smaller than the cashmere, but didn't realize just how much smaller it would be. See this heel flap? Can you guess how many rows?


72. Yes, 72 rows in eye of partridge to make a 2.5" heel flap. My jaw was dropping too. It kept going and going and going and going. I was ready to turn the heel by late Thursday night, right on schedule, but didn't get them done until sometime Monday. I picked up stitches for the gusset as usual, but realized that if I picked up one stitch per slipped stitch the gusset puckered like you wouldn't believe. So I ripped both socks back and picked up 3 stitches every 4 rows and it worked out alright. The feet were knitted in a blinding fury, and I finished the toes at work by about 5:15 on Wednesday, steam ironed them at work, picked up a cake, sped home, took a shower, wrapped the gifts, and sped to the recipient's house for a party.

He adores them, as he should. They fit perfectly, and he was given strict instructions on how to treat the socks with the respect they deserve, and he will be getting a lesson on how to properly wash them in room temperature water with scentless Soak. I wouldn't have made these socks if they wouldn't be appreciated, and I am pleased to say that they are loved.

I had to really push to get them done because life has gotten more crazy every day. Saturday night I went to a dinner party with some old friends, and ate grouse. It tasted like chicken. I just had a bite, because I normally don't eat chicken or game, but that's not something you get to try every day.

The rest of the week has been a blur - Easter Sunday with the family, including my aunt and uncle from Virginia and cousin SassyFrassy, then the birthday party for cashmere sock boy on Wednesday (including seeing The Gourds at Mercy Lounge!).

Thursday night was another great birthday party - for my big brother. Mom cooked a great meal, topped off with key lime pie and hummingbird cake. I got the award for the best card - it was one of those musical cards that played "Play That Funky Music". Big bro and the nephews rocked out and were shakin' their booties all night.


I think I'm still full from last night. Finally, tonight I'm doing nothing. And it's so nice! After such a dreary day, I picked up some Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in the color Happy Valley to brighten my spirits. I'm a sucker for that 10-minutes-before-closing-I'm-in-a-bad-mood impulse buy. That's the best and worst part of working in a yarn store. The discount is amazing, but I spend so much more money because the discount can justify anything.

Sugar, Yarn, and Wine

Whew! Yet again, December is doing a number on me. I really tried to have my Christmas / birthday knitting done in time so I could enjoy this wonderful month, but it hasn't worked out like I planned. Oh well. I'm still having a blast!

My favorite day of the year is Christmas Cookie Day. Bro, sis and I made cookies every year as children, and never stopped as adults because it's so much fun. We listen to the same A Very Special Christmas cd over and over, make the same psychedelic cracked-out cookies, and now we have 2 more cute little helpers.


Sis, sis-in-law and I cut out the cookies while bro puts together the colors. This year we had red, green, white, yellow, orange, burnt orange, brown, black, 3 shades of blue, spearmint, and a couple more that I can't quite describe. We make the usual Christmas shapes but don't stop there. There are numbers, elephants, rhinos, monkeys, fish, whales, aliens, hearts, guitars, cacti, pigs... you get the idea.


Note that there's wine in most pictures, because that makes it a little easier to deal with the little boys who have been pouring sugar sprinkles straight into their mouths. After an hour Buddha Bear was running in circles around the table screaming and Hoss was jumping up and down in the corner and then shaking his booty to the music.



These are the bleeding hearts courtesy of bro. The political beliefs in my family are all across the board, so we make fun of each other (and ourselves). I think the grey/green blob is some sort of camouflage camel.


And of course, most of the cookies have been eaten by now (I've got one left - saving it for breakfast in the morning).

I've been using the sugar high to knit even faster. Here's a goofy picture of yours truly in my unblocked new hat - Misti Alpaca Chunky. So pretty! It's now on my hat blocking thingy - a canister with an upside down bowl on top of it. It should be plenty cold this weekend so I'll put it to good use.


Everything is at least started, except the pajamas. Best Friend is getting an alpaca scarf - Cascade's Baby Alpaca Chunky - in her signature color. I got lazy on this one and am using a pattern from a fabulous gift book, One Skein. It's coming up quickly and is so darn soft!!!


My super cool totally awesome project is for mom. She has a big birthday coming up next week and asked me to design something based on a shawl thing we saw this fall. The original was not shaped, made in garter stitch out of cheap acrylic, and the shawl collar was a total joke. She picked out some Pastaza to match one of her favorite outfits and we took some measurements. The fronts and back worked up fine, but the shawl collar was more of a challenge. It's all done with short row shaping and took a few tries to get it right, but that part is done. Now all I have to do is pick up about 300 stitches for the border, weave in ends, and block.

But at the moment it looks like one of those sea creatures that only lives miles below the ocean's surface.


The knitting has taken over my life and I've completely forgotten about dishes, laundry, and general apartment tidiness, so I must clean now. Hopefully there will be more updates soon...

Happy Happy Happy Happy

Wow. In the past 2 days I have been completely overwhelmed - in the best way possible. As my Nanee would say, I am so incredibly blessed. I have the BEST friends and BEST family on the planet!

Thursday night I left work to go on a birthday date with a cute boy (my birthday's the 16th) and walked through his door to a big surprise party! Most of my friends are out of town this weekend, which really sucks because it's my birthday and I have a couple extra days off. So the boy organized a huge birthday party one day early with all of my closest friends and a huge, amazing dinner (they even got my mom to cook my favorite food). It was EXACTLY what I wanted. We ate and drank and danced all night - just perfect.

Friday I sat around and played with my birthday present to myself - a gorgeous skein of Alchemy Yarn's Silk Purse in the color "San Francisco Sky" - pictures later.

The next party was with the family. We ate another amazing meal, topped off with chocolate mousse cake. Yum. After dinner I had to step outside for a moment and when I came back in my family looked like this:


They were wearing just about everything I have made them in the last 8 years or so. They were all wearing hand knitted socks, belts, scarves, hats, nephew Hoss was wearing a poncho that I made his mom, everyone was wearing jewelry that I've made for mom and sis (even the guys), dad was in pajama pants - you get the idea. They wanted to thank me for all of the strange little things I do for them, and again, I was completely overwhelmed.

I even snagged a pic of Buddha Bear in his first birthday sweater.


The color is perfect - his blue eyes look electric next to that sweater.

I am so so so so so so so so so thankful for my wonderful friends who pulled off the best surprise ever! I am equally thankful for my family who have been so supportive of everything I do! I am so very blessed!

Road Trip Wrap Up

The road trip was actually fairly nice, and the wedding was incredible. My cousin looked so beautiful, her husband is so sweet and charming, and it was a great chance to catch up with my family.

Here's the best shot we got of the cousins

And some road trip pictures...

Dad lookin' cool in the front seat



Sis-in-law and I when bro hijacked the camera
(I was in the middle of making a goofy face and it didn't work out so well)



My brother acting like himself



Bro again, playing with the Rowan Felted Tweed (the color is celery)



My new sis-in-law wearing a beautiful Rowan tiara

As you can see, I didn't get much knitting done. The crazy family can be quite distracting, and I kept messing up the easy pattern. Being the youngest, I sat in the middle again, and there might have been some fights over cookies so the knitting was there for moral support. I did get some shots of bro-in-law driving, and of mom and sis in the way back, but they would hurt me if I posted them.

Congratulations to the bride and groom! I love you guys!

Scribbly

It's now officially birthday season. All of my friends and family (except my brother, 'cause he just has to be different) have a birthday between the end of August and the beginning of January. Now is the time of year that I stop knitting for myself and start saving money and stashing for my loved ones. So of course, I just cast on for another sweater for myself while I already have one in progress. (I'm falling in love with Rowan one stitch at a time).


Anyway, I 'm in the midst of a first attempt at scribble lace. It blew my mind when I first picked up Unexpected Knitting by Debbie New, and while having fun on knitty I ran across an easy scribble lace pattern. The mohair is Colinette, and it's paired with Cascade's Baby Alpaca Chunky - so soft! It's coming along great, except for the fact that I hate working with size 15 needles and I feel like my arms are flailing around when I knit. There is the aspect of rather instant gratification because it knits up so quickly, but working with mohair and a huge needle with a rather blunt tip really sucks. But still, it's pretty.



Tomorrow I am driving to Birmingham for my cousin's wedding with my family. Mom, Dad, sis, bro-in-law, bro, sis-in-law, and I are all piling into sis's SUV for the ride. Yeah, we're crazy. Just because a car seats 7, it doesn't mean that's a good idea. I'm already having flashbacks of being in the back seat of mom's oldsmobile wagon while my brother and sister try to hit each other and end up hitting me because I'm in the middle.

Naturally, the scribble lace won't work on this car trip because I don't want to elbow my siblings the whole drive, but I still need something to knit on. (can you tell that this is a lame justification of buying a bunch of yarn?) It's payday, so I bought several skeins of Rowan's Felted Tweed today for the Tangled Yoke Cardigan in the fall '07 issue of Interweave Knits. After mad swatching to figure out what needles to buy before the yarn store closed, I picked up some Addi Lace needles and came home to play with it before going out tonight. New projects make everything better - even long car rides in heels and a strapless dress - and if the siblings make me crazy, I'll just poke them with my knitting needles. If only I had learned to knit as a child...