Final Post of 2006

Ah the last post of the year. It's hard to believe that the year is almost done. For me 2006 was a year full of ups and downs...smooth roads and bumpy. Some of them roads were pretty washboard like. But the ups and downs finally level out and the roads get smooth again. I think the biggest thing for me in 2006 was the birth of my youngest daughter Bree. Hopefully 2007 will be a little more smoother. Hope everyone has a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

Socktopia

Socktopia kicked off today, but I don't think I'm going to be able to work on a themed sock this month. I was hoping to get done with my socks before it kicked off but it just didn't work out that way. I'm going to be starting a pair for my sis as soon as I get done with my socks. The good news is that I can still enter them in the potluck drawing. I'm going to do something for Feb though. I love sock knitting....just wished I had more time.

My Stash Splurge

I thought I would type a little about the yarns picked up today as I sit here in the peace and quiet, enjoying my chicken salad. Kaity and Shawn are watching Over the Hedge and Bree is sleeping the sleep only babies seem to be able to do.

I picked up some Sugar N' Cream for my dishcloth KAL. Some of these are colors I can't get easily at my local Wal-Mart and I'd hate to have to drive 60 miles for a few $1.70 skeins of yarn.

I also have a lovely skein of Opal sock yarn that I snagged off of eBay for the lovely price of $9.99. I should see that here in the next week or so. Can't beat that price. There is only one place in my area that carries Opal sock yarns that I know of and they charge $19 for the regular sock yarn and $24.50 for the 6-ply so it's cheaper for me to buy through eBay most of the time even when you figure in the shipping. I still want to go in and check it out because the owner said she carries a wide variety of Opal colors and I want to see what other types of yarn she has.

I picked up 2 different skeins of Online sock yarn for myself and my sis bought one for me to make her a pair of socks. That lovely green pull skein was a lovely hank of Cherry Tree Hill in beautiful greens and blues. I can't wait to make a pair out of that. The pretty earth tone yarn on the far right is Austermann Step yarn for a pair of socks for my Mom. I can't wait to knit with this yarn. Everyone says it leaves your hands feeling nice. I picked up a skein of the Lion Brand Magic stripes in the purples and blues....it was on sale so I figure What The Hay I'll give it a try. Couldn't leave Craft Warehouse with just a few skeins of Sugar N' Cream. I also got a little tin that has a lotion bar in it. You just take the bar, rub it in your hands, and then put it back in the tin. It has lanolin, bees wax and a few other things. It's call The Bee Bar and you can buy it online through their site. It feels kinda heavy and greasy when you put it on but within a minute or two in warms up and sinks into the skin. My hands feel great. I've definitely added their site to my favs.

I've found my favorite place to drool, pet, and buy yarn. I finally made it down to Meridian to check out The Yarn Shoppe. Let me just say "Oh Me, Oh My". The owner has done such a wonderful job. Everything is set up so beautifully and they carry lots of different types of sock yarn. The ladies I met today were so nice and friendly. Plus to top it all off they have a buyers incentive program. YIPPY, Squeal, Squeal, Giggle Giggle!!! As to Knit Wits, well as my Mama always told me "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all", and we'll leave it at that....LOL.

I'm not sure if my sis completely understands the obsession but she went with the flow and checked out the yarn and oohhed over the soft ones, the pretty colors, etc. Plus she found some sock yarn that she likes and bought some for me to make her a pair. I'm not sure I could get her to convert to knitting, she likes her video games too much...lol. So I think it will still be just my mom and I knitting in the family. Although I think I'm going to teach Kaity how to knit. I've got some size 10 Bamboo needles that she can use to learn on. She's been showing an interest in learning....wants to do what Mommy is doing. I'm sure I'll post on that when I start that one....should be fun....lol.

And I'm Off

I off for an excited fun filled day in Boise....WooHoo. More will be posted this evening after the kids are sound asleep in bed. I'm curious to see how well Bree does without me here....She doesn't like bottles but she's also old enough to eat baby cereal and seems to love it.

Busy Weekend

With Costco shopping now outta the way, I can go shopping for myself. A day out minus the kids will be nice. Somewhere in this busy weekend I still need to manage a quick trip to the commissary to pick up little odds and ends. So much to do, so little time to get it done. I did manage to get the gusset decrease and a bit of the foot done on the way up to and back from Costco. I have about 4 inches left in the foot before I can start the toe decrease and get the sock on my foot with it's mate.

I'll definitely be posting about my shopping trip some time tomorrow evening.

Finished Snowflake

I finished the snowflake tonight. The pics I took of it are before it was blocked so it the points at the end aren't there, they're folded in. Plus I managed to work on my socks for a little bit. I finished the heel flap, heel turn and got the picked up the gusset stitches. If all goes well I'll get the gusset decreases and a good chunk of the foot done tomorrow.

When these socks are done I'm going to be starting on my Sock KALs and get some socks made for Bree. I've already got the yarn and pattern for my SocknitterSAM KAL. I'm also part of Socktopia 2007, which is suppose to kick off 31 Dec. and 6 Socks KAL.

We have to head up to Costco's for our monthly shopping but can't take off till Shawn gets off work. He has to go in for a few hours tomorrow. It was only suppose to be for 1 hour but somehow it's managed to turn into 4 hours. Hopefully that's all it ends up being. I'm not going to count on it though.

Snowflake

I decided to take a break from sock knitting tonight and instead worked on the Snowflake pattern from Berroco I thought it was pretty and wanted to give it a try. Of course I don't have any white yarn so my snowflake is orange....lol and to top it all off the center of the snowflake may end up being a different color because I don't think I have enough orange to finish up....lol. Oh well, it doesn't matter since this was just an experiment to see how the pattern turned out. I have noticed a few minor errors in the pattern but nothing that most knitters wouldn't be able to pick up on as they were knitting. I'm a fairly new knitter and I caught them. I'll take a pic of it after I get it done. If I like it I may make more. My mom had the idea of maybe putting them together to make a throw or something. I think that would be pretty.

Update On Second Sock

Here it is in all it's glory. I've got about 8 of the 26 rows worked on the heel flap. It's a slip 1, knit 1 heel. Tomorrow I'll finish off the heel flap and the turn and probably get the gusset decrease done. If all goes well I should be done with them before the end of the weekend. It helps that Shawn's off this week so he's here to help out around the house and with the kids so I get a break to knit a little more during the day.

Second Sock

Between an hour or so of knitting last night, a bit of knitting this morning and a row off and on today I've managed to get 4.5 inches of my 6.5 in leg length on sock number two that I'm knitting for myself. As much as I want to start another sock for Kaity or Bree, I decided to wait till I got my sock done. I'll post a pic of my progress latter tonight when I get done knitting for the night. I can't believe how much progress I've made on sock #2. Won't be too much longer before I'm wearing my new socks.

I might be heading for my shopping trip this weekend. My sis and I haven't completely decided yet but I know I need to get out of the house. I'm so looking forward to it. Plus Shawn told me to get a ball winder for myself. He said he doesn't mind being my swift, so I'll go with the ball winder for now....lol. One of these days I'll shell out the money for a swift but the winder is on the top of my priority list right now.

I don't mind winding by hand but my wrists start to kill me about halfway through a 50 gm ball of sock yarn. I have carpal tunnel and arthritis so my joints don't care for that motion for long times. Funny thing is that the knitting doesn't seem to bother either the carpal tunnel or the arthritis....Thank Goodness. There's no way I'm giving up knitting.

Christmas In Idaho

Christmas here went great. Kaity loved all her gifts and Bree was pretty much indifferent to everything except a set of teether toy keys....lol. She was partial to the wrapping paper and did help rip the wrapping paper off her presents. She did a lot more then I expected for only being 21 weeks old.

Santa "my parents" brought me a set of the Knit Pick Options needles....talk about being happy, happy, happy. I've been diggin' and drooling over those needles since my mom got her set while she was up here. I can't wait till I get started on the baby blanket for expected baby "peanut"....don't know if it's a boy or girl yet. Either way I'm still an Auntie....lol. Guess I'll be starting a sweater for Kaity soon.....gotta break in my new needles. **Giggling like a school girl again**....I seem to be doing that a lot here lately.

Kaity gave me a cute set of snowman earrings and a pretty silver heart ring with a pink stone in the center. I'd post a pic but the only pics I have of them are with me in my PJ's and I have to draw the line at posting pics of me in my PJ's....lol. We gave her money so that she could buy Shawn and I gifts through her Secret Santa fund raiser at school. She picked everything out on her own in secret without Shawn and I knowing what they were. She's very proud of the gifts she picked out and Shawn and I love them to death.

Mountain Of Wrapping

This is our Mountain of Wrapping after everyone was done opening their gifts. We decided that we must have a picture of this.

One Fine Lookin' Sock

I finally finished sock number one. Now all I need to do is get the second sock done. I couldn't stop myself from trying it on. That is one comfy sock. I can't believe how much more comfy knitted socks are. I can never get commercial socks to fit me right. They are either to long or to short in the foot. I have a feeling I'm going to love knitted socks so much I'm not going to want anything else....lol.

Kaity's Gingerbread House

Isn't this the most lovely looking Gingerbread House you ever saw. Kaity and I decorated her Gingerbread House this afternoon. We'll be leaving it out so that Santa can see it. She wants to show it off to Santa. So it will sit out on the entertainment center with Santa's cookies. Of course me being the bragging mom that I am I have to show it off to everyone....lol.

I'd say she did a pretty good job seeing as she's only 5 years old. I have to admit that I did help her spread the frosting on....lol.

Finished Socks and Afghan

The socks were finished up the other day and the afghan was finished last night. I was doing a serious happy dance when I got that afghan finished...lol. I've got a baby blanket to get started on here after the first of the year. I'm going to be an Auntie....Yippy!!! Someone new to knit for...Lol.

I've figured out what I need to do to get a more seamless join in the two different colors of yarn when I'm making socks. I've got some other colors left over from the afghan so I'm going to try it again soon.

Super Goodie Box From Sue

I got Sue's Goodie Box in for helping her out with her blog. Oh boy was it a packed box. She set me lots and lots of different sock yarns and 2 sets of Rosewood DPN's in Size US 0 & 1. The sizes I needed so I could start making socks for Bree. Well you can guess what I'll be starting tonight...Lol.

I was completely surprised when I got the box. I was sitting there speechless with a huge grin on my face as I unpacked the box. It was definitely a wonderful surprise. I've never had this much sock yarn before. You'll have to picture a 28 year old mother of two squealing and giggling like a little school girl.

Sue....Thank You so much for the wonderful sock yarns and needles. They are very much appreciated and will definitely be put to good use.

Silly Me

I'm such a dork. Upon farther inspection I realized that the 2 skeins of Fortissima Socka Colori sock yarn that I got off of eBay are indeed the same color. I made the assumption....shouldnt' do that...that they were different colors because the skeins look completely different. Upon inspection of the ball band I noticed that the skeins have the same color number and dye lot number. Now I'm thinkin' to myself, "Well Crap, How Can That Be". So being the smart person I am I decided to look into the center part of the skein and sho nuf there's the matching colors....Lol. Well at least I don't have to think very hard on how I'm going to use the yarn now. I'll just makes me a pair of socks out of it.

I'm itchin' to dye my Knit Picks yarn. Shawn picked up a ton of Kool-Aid for me so maybe tomorrow I will dye it. I've decided on Tropical Punch so that it will give me a nice bright red. I'm going for something flashy. Shoot I might get some more yarn from Knit Picks and dye some in Lemon-Lime....it comes out this vivid green. I'm going for a solid color because I want the pattern to show up well. I'm now thinking about using a cable pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks. I also want to try the Moc Croc pattern from Knit Picks....ooohh how to choose...lol. Maybe I'll try my hand at painting the yarn at a later time....Kaity can help me and we'll make the yarn into socks for her.

A few more weeks and I'm off to the Big City....if you can call Boise that.....to go shopping. Just me and my little sister....Yippy!!! LYS here I come. I've decided to go to Knitwits after emailing with the owner. She said that she keeps her shop well stocked with sock yarns so that's a super bonus for me. I guess it's safe to assume that I am now addicted to sock knitting. It's not cheaper then my old smoking habit, but it's definitely a lot more healthier plus I have something to show for it. I've made it 5 months smoke free so far and doing good....WooHoo!!!

I finally finished the crochet zig-zag afghan for Kaity and her two color socks. I'll post the pics later. I need to get them downloaded off the camera and I don't feel like doing that right now...lol.

Internet Problems Again

We thought the internet problems were resolved yesterday but shortly after I got done with all my posts, we started to have problems again. At least I got my blogging and email fix....lol. We spent a good amount of time on the phone with the cable company who said it was our lines and that they wouldn't be able to get out here till Tues (26 Dec) to fix it.....aaaahhh can't go that long without internet. Someone from the local office came out and guess what, it wasn't our lines, it was the cruddy modem they gave us. We hooked up our own Motorola Surboard and you know what.....internet works like a charm. Needless to say we will be arguing more for the cable company to take the $3 fee off so I can use my Surfboard. They've been telling us that they can't remove the $3 lease fee for the modem. Well let me tell you, they WILL be removing the fee because I'm using my modem. The modem is like 4 years old and is still working great....Go Motorola....lol.

Kaity's Snowman

Shawn got off work early today so the two of them were able to head out and make their snowman. Unfortunately the snow was powdery so they were able to get the snowman very big. I thought the snowman came out cute. Hopefully we will get some more snow so Kaity can try for a bigger snowman.

My View This Morning

This is what I saw this morning when I stepped out onto my back porch....snow everywhere. It was kinda nice. Kaity did get her wish for enough snow to make a snowman.

More Yarn for My Stash

I got the Lorna's Lace yarn for Kaity's new socks and the yarn I won off of eBay. I love the colors. The Fortissima Socka Colori are only 50gm balls but I'm thinkin' that I can do the cuff, heel, and toe in a different color and still be able to make socks for myself either that or see if I can't find another ball in the two colors I have. Doesn't matter though, I'll figure out some use for it....lol.

Internet, Sweet Internet

My internet went down yesterday afternoon and it didn't come back up this evening till about 8pm. I was actually going into withdrawal symptoms....kinda like when I quit smoking.....LOL. I was running around hollering "Internet, Me Need Internet"....lol. Ok so maybe I wasn't running around hollering but I did check the computer every so often in hopes that the internet was up and running again. I was starting to have email and blogging withdrawals. : ) But the good news is I got a good amount of knitting done. I couldn't blog so my blogging time was spent knitting. Maybe being without the internet wasn't so bad after all.

Snowing Today/Yarn Delivery

Yippy!!! We're finally getting more snow. I know I'm crazy for being happy about snow, but hey my shopping is done for Christmas and I don't have to go out in it...lol. Besides, it isn't a large amount of snow anyways. I don't think we've had more then a few inches at a time here. You're lucky if you get enough for a snowman....which is what Kaity is hoping for. : )

I got my yarns in today....Yippy....so much yarn and only 2 hands to knit with...lol. I'm going to have to start the Lorna's Lace Rainbow socks for Kaity. The yarn is just calling to me. It's even prettier in person. I'll be posting some pics of my new goodies later this evening.

Books, Books, Books

Yippy....I got my books in early. I wasn't expecting them till Thurs and Fri so when both orders came in today I was super happy. Thank you survey sites for providing me with the opportunity to earn gift certificates....lol.

Now all I'm waiting on is my to orders of sock yarn and a Sock Monkey pattern. I search the internet high and low for a Sock Monkey pattern that I could knit and all I could find was how to make Sock Monkeys from socks....didn't want that. I was stoked when I found a lady on eBay who was selling her pattern....YIPPY!!!! I'm going to try to make my oldest a Sock Monkey out of her most favorite color, Pink. How thrilled she'll be. I'm hoping that I can keep it a surprise and make it a b-day present.

After the first of the year I'm going to be busy. I've got a baby blanket I need to get started, my oldest child's b-day is coming up so I'm going to need to get started on the Sock Monkey, and I'm thinking about starting sweaters for both my girls over the summer so they'll be done by winter.

Kaity's Two Color Sock

Ok, here it is. Kaity's new sock. I decided that I wanted to try to make a sock that had a different color used for the cuff, heel, and toe. Well here it is in all it's glory. Not to bad if I say so myself, though I'm sure that there are things I could do better. I'm looking up new techniques and such, give me time and I'll figure out some way to perfect it....lol. To tell the truth, all that really matters is that Kaity loves it and of course she does. She pestered me for like 5 minutes while she waited for me to get the ends weaved in. She just couldn't wait to try it on....lol.

Breanna's Afghan from Grandma

Here's the afghan that my mom made for my youngest, Breanna. Isn't it pretty, I just got it in the other day. It's a feathers and fan with a cable. This has become Bree's new tummy time blankie. She seems to really like it but hey how can you tell with a 5 month old infant....lol. I know I love it.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Things here are crazy. Who's house isn't crazy right now? I'd love to know so I can come over for some peace and quiet. : )

I managed to get quite a bit farther on Kaity's Afghan. All I have to do now is throw on about 8 more rows of pink in the zig-zag pattern and then put the edging on and I'm done...still several more hours of work. I think I'll manage to get the rows done tomorrow afternoon while Kaity is at school, provided Breanna lays down for her nap....easier said then done some days. : ) The drawback to kickin' butt on the afghan is that I think I'm going to need to run to Wally World to pick up another skein of pink so I can put on the edging. I do believe I'm going to run out. I really don't want to drive 10 miles to get a skein of yarn, specially since Wal-Mart is kinda crazy right now. *sigh* Guess I will have to be brave so that I can finish the afghan that Kaity's has been waiting so patiently for.

I've still got about 2 inches to go before I start the toe decreases on the 1st of my sock. I haven't worked on the sport weight sock for Kaity in awhile. I'm sure I'll be picking it up again soon.

I did start another worsted weight sock for Kaity with the leftovers from her zig-zag afghan. I'm using the green for the cuff band, heel and toe and the orange for the leg and foot. This is the first time I've used two colors for a sock so we'll see how that goes. I started it more as a practice thing but I'm using Kaity's foot size for the pattern. If it works up good then I'll make the second sock for her and she'll have another pair of socks to love. The kid does love her hand knitted socks. : )

Kaitlyn's Crochet Blankie

Here's my only crochet project going on right now. It's taken me forever to get this far. I still need to put a few more rows of orange, put the green rows in, put a section of pink rows, and then go around the two sides to finish it up. If it sounds like a lot of work then you are on the right track....lol.

I can't remember if I started this afghan before I had my youngest. If I started it before then I've been working on this afghan for more then 5 months. I'm using Caron Brights. This yarn is so soft. The reason it's taking so long to work up is because the rows are single crochet so it takes more rows to make the afghan the right size. Can't you tell my oldest has a thing for bright colors....lol. The only thing that shocked all of us is that she didn't want the whole blanket done in Pink.

My Socks

This is what I've got done on my sock thus far. I haven't worked on it today but I'm sure I will later on this evening. I had grocery shopping to do so no knitting today. : )

I think the socks are working up quite nicely. I've got the gusset decreases done and now all I need to do is work on the foot length. Unfortunately I have a size 9 foot so I have to go like 6 inches on the foot from where I picked up all the stitches before I start my toe decreases. It's one of those times when I wished my footsies were just a tad bit smaller.

Another good note is I scored 12 skeins of sock yarn on eBay for like $20. I got 10 skeins of Knit Picks Parade and Simple Stripe and 2 skeins of Schoeller Stahl Fortissima. I can't wait till I get that in the mail....Yippy!!! If all goes well I might see that by Saturday. I'm also waiting on some Lorna's Lace Sport yarn in Rainbow colorway. I bought a skein to make up a pair of socks for Kaity. The colors are so bright and pretty. She picked it out for herself and of course she can't wait for Mommy to make her another pair.

Lookie, Lookie @ My WIP Sidebar

Hot damn!!! I finally got the sidebar to work. Come to find out the html is different in bloggers beta version, which is the one that I am using since I just sign up this month. I got the updated code from jacquie who posted it out on the following message board: http://bloggersparadise.forumhum.com/viewtopic.php?t=22

I changed the WIP's to mine and woohoo I now have a working Works in Progress sidebar. I've been wracking my brain over why I couldn't get it to work when there were others on blogger that had it working. Now all I have to do is customize it with my own fav colors and it'll be perfect.

Needless to say this experience brought back flashbacks of my Java and C++ programming classes...I passed them with B's but don't ask me how I did it when I can remember a damn thing.

I'll post more on my sock later if I get a chance. I have to grocery shop, finish the laundry, tidy the house up, etc, etc, etc. Seems the work is never done. : )

Finally....Socks for Me!!!

I've finally got a pair of socks started for me. After the incident with frogging the whole sock from the other ones I started, I had decided to wait a few before I started a new pair. I decided to let the other yarn sit and decided to go with the Knit Picks Simple Stripes yarn that I got in the other day. So far it seems to be a pretty good yarn to work with....doesn't split really bad or anything like that. I'm going with a basic sock pattern on size US 2 needles with a 2 inch cuff in 2x2 ribbing and then switching to stockinette for the rest of the cuff. My next set of socks will probably be the Mock Croc pattern from Knit Picks website done in my Kool-Aid dyed sock yarn.....Yippy!!!! I can't wait to give that one a try. I also have some books coming in from Amazon.com and Overstock.com.....thank you survey sites. It took me quite a few months of taking surveys and reading emails but I ended up with a total of $55 dollars in gift cards....WooHoo. It was enough to get 4 books. I'll definitely be posting about my books when they come in.

Knitting Needle Case

Look at me, I'm a blogging fool today. This is the third post for the day.

Here is my knitting needles home. This case will hold both straight and double point. I've got both types of needles in my case. I bought this case from a lady who sells them out at eBay. I think I paid about $20 for the case including shipping. I've priced them on other sites so $20 is a pretty good deal. As I get more needles I will need more organization but for now this works perfect for me.

So far this case works because I've only got two sets of double point needles. I've got one set of 8" in sizes US 1 - 10.5 and then I have a set of 6" in sizes US 2 - 5. The 8" needles work great for me when I'm working on socks for myself or my oldest but they definitely don't work for infant socks. I've been looking at some 5" needles from Brittnay Birch and the metal double points from Knit Picks. I've heard that Brittnay will replace a snapped needle with new ones if you contact them. That's definitely appealing to me since I've already snapped on needle....mostly due to my stupidity...lol.

Another Sock for Kaity

Here we go again. Another sock for Kaity. I had to tear out the sock I made for myself because it was to big....talk about frustrating. So I don't have anything OTN for myself. I will rectify that situation this evening or tomorrow. So I decided to start another sock for Kaity. I'm using Red Heart Baby Soft which is a light weight yarn. I picked it up at my local Wal-Mart out of the clearance bin. I thought it was pretty and figured I'd find something to knit it into. If all else failed I could use it for stuff for Kaity's army of baby dolls...lol.

Last Nights Mindless Knitting

Last night I took a break from knitting socks for a little while to work on a dish cloth. It took me about 2 hours, give or take a few minutes, to complete the dishcloth. It's made using the pattern Grandma's Favorite Dishcloth or as others call it, Idiots Dishcloth. Needless to say it is a very easy pattern that doesn't really require a lot of thought when you are knitting it. Can't hurt to make some dishcloths to throw to the side so that I have them to give out or give as gifts. Who couldn't use a dishcloth in their kitchen?

My Knit Picks Order

WooHoo...my Knit Picks order came in earlier then I thought. I wasn't expecting it till closer to Saturday so this was a nice surprise. I got some of the Bare yarn to try my hand at Kool-Aid dying. I think I'll dye it all one color and then use the Moc Crock pattern from Knit Picks. Now I just need to figure out what color I want it to be. The stripe yarn is Tropics. I really wanted to get some Crayon for my daughter but they had already sold out before I could get my order put in. I'll post more on my Kool-Aid yarn experience when I get around to dying it.

Finally Done

I finally got a chance to finish Kaitlyn's socks. She's about as happy as can be to have her new socks on her feet. She hasn't taken them off and she'll probably have them on all day long. I thought they turned out pretty nice. Worsted weight socks turn out so quickly. It doesn't seem to take any time at all to get a pair made. I made them out of Caron yarn. Its called embroidery print. The colors run through the yarn weird. They go through all the colors and then it completely reverses all the colors, which is why the colors look the way they do. It was rare for the colors to match up as you go around so you don't get many big splotches of color.

Well Breanna finally cut one of the teeth that's been bothering her but I think there is another one coming up right next to the one that popped through yesterday. The poor baby has been really fussy because of the pain and hasn't been able to sleep very well, which of course means I don't sleep very well....lol.

No Progress & Dead Tired

I haven't manage to knit a darn thing today. My little one woke me up at 3 am again and has been fussy pretty much all day long so I just didn't find the time to knit. Hopefully I'll be able to get her to bed early and have some quiet time tonight...here's hoping.

I've been trying to get a work in progress tracker loaded but I just can't wrap my tired mind around that right now. It brings back nightmares from my Java and C++ programming classes. I never really did 100% understand those classes.....talk about weeks of headaches.

My Sock Yarn Stash

This is what I have in my sock yarn stash. I've got other yarns left over from scarves, afghans and such that I've been using to make sweaters, socks, bibs, and other little stuff for my daughter legion of baby dolls, she's got 8 or so ranging from normal baby size to little mini ones. It's great to see all the little baby dolls properly clothed...lol.

I can't wait to get more. I need to find some more sock yarns that my daughter would like. Which would entail a trip to my local yarn shops some time after the first of the year....woohoo. I can't wait.

Another Pair of Socks for Kaitlyn

I started another pair of socks for Kaitlyn (my oldest). I'm going with Caron worsted weight yarn in these really bright colors. I'm working them on a US 6 size needle and am using a basic sock pattern. What I have done so far (see pic) took me about 4 hours last night. Right now I'm working on the toe decrease. About another 45 minutes give or take and I should have this one done and can cast on for the second sock. Needless to say, Kaitlyn is super excited about having another pair of socks. If you can't tell she loves bright colors and Pink. Which is shocking that she hasn't picked out some pink yarn for a pair of socks yet....lol. I'm sure that will be coming soon.

My Two Little Ladies

These are two of the most important people in my life, besides my hubby. We put pictures in our Christmas cards every year. I almost forgot what it was like to try to get an infants picture. My youngest is only 4 1/2 months old so picture taking is a real challenge. It took us forever to get this photo taken, but woohoo we finally got it. The little one with the bib on is the culprit for my early morning wake up calls. For some reason she's decided to wake up in the middle of the night. I think it may be a combination of teething and a growth spurt. Needless to say I can't wait to get back to sleeping through the night.

Knitting Like Crazy

Well I didn't get much in the way of knitting done today. I had a lot of running around to do but I'm sure I will get some quiet time tonight after the kids are in bed. I did get quite a bit done on my sock last night. I'm down to the toe decrease and then all I need to do is graft it and get started on the second one. The rest of this sock is going to go quickly. It's getting started on the other one....the ribbing takes a little longer but I like the look of it.

I do think I'm going to start another sock for my oldest daughter. Her socks work up so quickly. She has a 6 in foot so the cast on is small and the sock works up so quickly. I can only imagine how fast a set of baby socks will work up, which is why I can't wait to get some shorter needles on order. I would love to knit some socks that will stay on my little ones foot. Most commercial bought socks fall off her feet. Carters makes socks that stay on but they are a small fortune for a few pairs of socks. I have plenty of sock yarn left overs that would make cute socks for her little feet.

Kaitlyn's Second Pair of Socks

Here's the second set of socks that I made for my daughter. These seem to be her most favorite, mostly because of the color. I'd have to say I love the color too and wouldn't mind making a set for myself with this yarn. I made these socks using a basic sock pattern and Regia Ringel on a US size 3 needle. I just love bright yarn and can't wait till I have some more money saved up so I can go check out the sock yarns at my local yarn shops. I have one that carries Opal yarns and another one that carries a variety of other brands. I've got my eye on some Lorna's Lace for the next set of socks for me. There are so many colors I'm not sure what to choose. I've got a few skeins of Knit Picks sock yarn coming in for myself. They are having a sale on their self patterning sock yarns. Unfortunately the ones on sale are almost all gone. I'm wondering if they won't be bring in something different after the first of the year. They have such nice yarn at great prices.

Kaitlyn's First Pair of Socks

Here's a picture of the first set of socks I ever made. I made them for my 5 year old daughter who just loves it when Mommy makes her stuff. I made the socks out of Red Heart Econo Baby Yarn on a US size 6 set of DPN's. It's just a basic sock pattern; no thrills but she loves them to death. I need to make her some more....she's going to have these worn out soon.

Start of a Crazy Day

My little one waking me up at 5:30 am was a wonderful way to start off my day. I have to say I would have much more preferred to sleep in till about 7-8 am but I guess beggars can't be choosy...much better then the 3:30 am wake call for yesterday morning. 3:30 am is definitely too early, plus there never seems to be anything on TV to watch. I normally like to have some background noise. I couldn't even find anything on one of the movie channels....go figure. Why again is it that I'm paying $12 for those channels? I settled for one of the XM radio channels on DirecTV....Country of course. If all goes well I may get a little nap, WooHoo....Something to look forward too. : )

On a brighter note I was able to get some more knitting done. I worked on my sock, one shown up above. I'm working on the foot right now. Oh how I wished I had a smaller foot, I would be closer to being done. But, *sigh*, I was cursed with a big foot. Of course I think I would walk a little funny with a size 5 foot being the fact that I'm 5' 8" tall.

I haven't managed to get another sock started for my oldest daughter yet. She's wanting a new set of socks made for her by Mommy. She's 5 years old and loves to show off her socks to her friends at school. Plus she gets to show off her new sweaters that her Grandma makes for her. Some of her friends are wanting to know if her Mommy and Grandma can make them some socks and sweaters. I guess they don't have any knitters in their family. My mom is the sweater maker and I'm the sock maker. One of these days I'll try to make a sweater....maybe, if I ever find the time for it.

I want to make a pair of socks for my youngest (she's only 4 1/2 months old) but I need to get me some shorter DPN's in size 0 & 1. The shortest I have in those sizes are 8" long....way to long for me to attempt a set of infant socks...I already tried. I've been tossing around the thought of trying out the Knit Picks DPN's but I've never tried metal needles for socks so I'm not sure how well that would work out. I have bamboo DPN's for my sock making and love them.

Guess it can't hurt to try out the Knit Picks DPN's. My mom has their Options set where you can swap out the needles and cables. She got them while visiting up here and I got to try them out. They are absolutely wonderful. I can't wait till I have some extra money to plop down on a set.

My First Blog Post

I have to admit that I'm new to this. I've never really read blogs and this is the first time I've ever created one....thus a new experience on the net for me....WooHoo! I just wanted a place to show off my knitting, rant when things are crazy and a place to escape to when I need too. Which seems to be all the time for me anymore. Two kids and living in the middle of nowhere will do that to you...lol. Seems to me I'm always running around like a chicken with it head cut off *sigh*.

As soon as I find some time, I will be adding more about my knitting. Projects, pictures, etc. I'm pretty new to knitting but have fallen in love with it. I love to make socks. I've already made a few for my oldest daughter and I'm working on a pair for myself.

Labels: Blog Updates