Going Green

No I'm not talking about turning into Kermit the Frog. I'm talking about being more environmentally friendly. We've been thinking about it for awhile now and have started taking steps toward becoming a more green household.

All those Wal*Mart commercials have got me thinking about what I can do to help the environment. No I'm not going to be shopping more at Wally World which I know was their aim but it has got me taking steps to change the way we do things.

We have taken the obvious steps like buying an HE washer and an energy star compliant dryer. Plus I wash all my laundry in cold water. We swapped out all the old light bulbs with more energy efficient Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs. No I don't pay for electricity because I live in military housing but that still doesn't give me the right to waste energy. We recycle everything that we can including plastics which they don't pick up at the curb, we have to haul them to the recycling center. Is it a hassle? Yes, but it's better then throwing it away.

Now on to our next step which is replacing our current household cleaning products with more environmentally friendly products. We've decided to go with 7th Generations products. They have a wonderful selection of products and they are fairly easy to get a hold of. Our commissary on base carries some stuff. Plus Albertsons, Smiths, and Walgreens are suppose to carry their products.....I still need to check these stores. We got around 12 inches of snow so I'm trying not to go out as much as possible. When it snows here the stupid people come out. It's like they've forgotten how to drive in snow. But I digress....add in that Amazon carries 7th Generations products in bulk and it qualifies for Super Saver shipping.

So first up for us was to try is the laundry detergent. We buy liquid but they also make a powder. It hypo-allergenic and comes in Free and Clear or Eucalyptus Lavender. We got the Eucalyptus Lavender which doesn't seem to bother Bree's sensitive skin. I've been running some tests and so far it's done very well. It's gotten the dirt out of all of Kaity's clothes without having to pre-treat. Left the clothes with a light clean smell and the biggest bonus no static cling at all. I didn't use fabric softener and I didn't use dryer sheets and there was no static at all and the clothes were soft. For all you military families: This laundry detergent does not contain optical brighteners which means its safe to use on ABUs.

Since the laundry detergent was a hit we will be trying other products. Our household just wants to do their part. Shawn is all for this as much as me. I'll try not to flood the blog with tons of "Green" posts. Let me know if you're interested in hearing more about the products we try and I'd love to hear about any green tips you may have. Leave a comment or send me an email!

More knitting content tomorrow! I'm just about done with the first sock I started the other day.

The One Where.....

Trish actually has an FO to report. I finished my moms socks and I managed to get a very nice photo.

Isn't it amazing what happens when you brave the sunshine and take your photos outdoors. You can actually see the cables in the close up shot. I need to get a new table set for our porch/patio whatever you want to call it. The coolers will have to do for now. The good news is we are getting two more trees in our backyard some time between now and late May. Everyone in my housing area is getting 2-3 trees. They are staggering them around so that we will have a bit of privacy in our backyard. Right now it is so open and I hate it.

The Lang Jawoll yarn isn't too bad to work with. I didn't have any major problems with splitting. I think the yarn split maybe once or twice but that was from me not paying attention. It won't replace my favorite basic yarns like Trekking, Regia, Berroco Sox or Opal but it's a nice addition since it comes in a ton of different colors and is only $7 per 50 gram skein. The only thing I don't understand is the acrylic. Why put it in the yarn since it's such a small amount (7% acrylic). I'm not yarn snobbing here, I'm truly curious if there was a reason for it since it has nylon in it and the wool is superwash.

So far this year I've knit 9 pair of adult socks and 6 pair of baby/toddler/child socks. Not to bad considering it's only mid-April. I think I have another sock project ready to go involving some medium weight Socks that Rock, color Tidepool and this pattern. I'll start them this evening after the girls are in bed.

Here's what I bought from Woolgirl's Anniversary Sale.



Gypsy Girl Creations Sport weight: Color Spring Garden, Lobster Pot Socks pattern, and a pattern to make a cute hat/mitten set.

I bought some SWTC Twize from WEBS. I went with color 322 to make a dress for Bree. I have a pattern in mind but need to swatch to see if it will work. I picked up 4 skeins for a total of 484 yard. I shouldn't have any problems finding a pattern if the one I have in mind doesn't work. The box from WEBS and the skeins from Knit Picks have shipped. It looks like they are both going to be here some time next week. I also bought this yummy skein of yarn from Dog Lover's Yarn which is on it's way to me as I type. Will someone please go buy Raspberry Ice, Motherlode, and Butterscotch because they are tempting me.

I'll leave you all with a pic of Bree with her brand new baby doll.



Happy Knitting!

Some Spinning

There's time for a little spinning now that things are a little more normal around here....Shawn went back to work and the kids aren't sick anymore.

My Precious has been so neglected since I bought her. I messed up my knee, then I hurt my back, then spring break and Kaity being sick, then Shawn got sick....it's been one thing after another.

Yesterday I dusted her off and did a little spinning.

Not to bad for my second try. I'm spinning smaller amounts because I'm trying to figure it all out and get the hang of spinning.



I've taken a pic to show my first try and second try side by side. The first try at spinning is the green one. This go around looks a lot more like yarn then the first one which was way over twisted.

I do have a knitting FO.



I made a pair of leg warmers for Bree using some leftover Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted. They are more for Bree to play with then to keep her legs warm. She likes slipping them on her arms and legs and prancing around the house. Since she is too small for the dress up stuff to fit her I have to improvise.

I also bought a skein of sock yarn from Yarn4Socks.



It's Pagewood Farms Chugiak, color Mocha. It's a very yummy colorway.

I've managed to not cast on socks for myself and have completed a few more rows of my moms sock, worked a little on my TLE swap pals item, put another 2 rows on the Bee Field shawl and put several more inches on my Rogue. I'm like 14 rows from splitting for the front and back.

Tomorrow I should be getting my box from TLE. It's mostly stuff for my swap pal but I did order myself one of the travel mugs. I'm a sucker for coffee mugs. I also ordered a couple skeins of Knit Picks Comfy yarn to try. I have a few patterns in mind and I want to see how the yarn will work with them. I've been hearing good things about this yarn. I'm thinking about using it to make A Cardigan for Arwen for my sis. I want to make swatches and run them through the washer and dryer several times to see how they hold up.

As Promised

Here's the photos I promised of the Bee Field Shawl progress.

As you can see in the second picture I ran a lifeline this time. The malabrigo lace makes taking photos on the floor easier. It sticks to the carpet so there is no need for me to use pins to pull the WIP out so I can show off the pattern.

I cast on the second Braided Cable sock but since there is only a half inch done I didn't think it was photo worthy. I cast on another project but it's for my TLE Swap Pal so I won't be posting any other details. Once the box has been opened by my pal I will post.

I'm trying very hard not to cast on a pair of socks for myself. I'm waiting till I finish my moms Braided Cables before I start a pair for myself. Plus I really need to get going on Rogue again. I think that's what I'll work on tonight.

For the past few weeks I've been going back and forth on my decision to get another Mac or buy a PC when we get our rebate check in from the IRS. I've finally decided to get a shiny new iMac to replace Betsy the eMac. It was going to cost me more to get a PC because I would have needed to purchase a new copy of Quicken, Adobe Photoshop Elements and a full version of MS Office to replace what I have on the eMac. Plus I couldn't stand to lose my Mac Dashboard. Since the iMac comes with iPhoto and I already have a Quicken and Office there is no extra software needed. If I need to use a PC badly enough I can use Shawn and Kaity's computer.

It's almost bed time for the kiddos which means peace and quiet for me. I'm very much looking forward to some quiet.

Happy Knitting!

Drowing in Sock Yarn

Hello, my name is Trish and I'm addicted to sock yarn. There's enough yarn to knit 96 pair of adult size socks and there are 14 single skeins that were purchased to make socks for Kaity and Bree.



I'm sure that some of you think I'm crazy while others will completely understand me. I love my stash and in no way feel guilty about it. My family does not starve because of my stash. None of my stash has ever been purchased on a credit card. I'm lucky enough to have a monthly stash budget that I can use as I see fit. I also feel that I'm generous with my stash and am always willing to pass some on to a friend in need or to brighten someones day. If ever I need money my stash will be there to sell. I see it as an investment while others see it as hording.

There are so many fabulous indie dyers out there that I can't help but add to my stash. Of course I'm stashing faster then I'm knitting but I'm OK with that. There's enough yarn here I could bury Bree in it.

Now on to knitting. I haven't been doing much since my last post. My sinuses have been killing me to the point that my head hurt so badly yesterday that I crawled into bed at 8pm when the girls went to bed.

I finished the third panel to my Cable Comfort Throw.

I was about halfway through the third panel when I put it up so it didn't take long to finish it. I've started the fourth panel. There's still a fifth panel and all the seaming before it's completed.

I finished the dishcloth.

For the life of me I can not get this stupid blue to photograph correctly. I give up. Go to Lily's website to see the true color. The color is Swimming Pool and the pattern is Squidge Cloth. It's going to be my new "go to" dishcloth pattern.

I started a pair of fingerless mitts for my mom.

I'm using the 220 Fingerless Mitts (rav link) and Patons Decor. My fingers were discolored when I finished knitting so I need to do a color test before knitting the second mitt. I want to make sure these mitts aren't going to bleed all over everything.

I also finished the other baby sock and they will go out in the mail tomorrow to warm some baby tootsies. I'm just about through the Beehive section of my Bee Fields shawl. I'll take some pics when we have sunshine again.

I'll leave you all with a pic of Bree rockin' her cabled dress I made her. She loves it and the Cascade 220 Superwash is very durable!

This was taken awhile back at Kaity's b-day party. I'd post a pic from Kaity's b-day but all of them have other peoples kids in them and I will not post without permission.

Long Overdue

It's been almost a week since my last post. I think I need to try posting a little more often.

I was browsing through the Knit Picks Lovers forum on Ravelry and saw a post asking for test knitters. I thought about it for all of like 2 seconds and decided I like my knitting life way to much to give it up. Not that I would be picked there are plenty of other knitters who have way more experience then me. I have a feeling that being a test knitter for Knit Picks is a demanding job. I love my completely non-stressful sample knitting for Woolgirl. I've been having a lot of fun knitting up these samples.

I finished sock #1 of my moms cable socks.



This yarn color is rather tough to get a good photo of.

The cables show much better in person then they do in the photos.

Rogue is showing some progress.



I'm up to about 12 inches now.

Won't be too much longer before I'm splitting for the front and back.

I have a dishcloth on the needles.



This one is The Squidge Cloth pattern. I'm using Sugar 'n Cream. The color (swimming pool) is more blue but the flash keeps washing out the colors. The yarn is making a cool zig zag pattern.

I've been making baby socks for a friend.



The other green sock is on the needles right now and will be finished in no time at all. It takes me a little less then 2 hours to make one of these tiny things. Baby socks are addicting. From right to left: Wiggle Socks using Online Supersocke 100 Cotton, generic k2, p2 ribbed socks using Regia sock yarn, and Owen's Socks using Knit Picks Felici. I think after the green sock is done I will send them off to warm the tootsies of their recipient. I don't want to go overboard.

Did you all hear my squeal Saturday afternoon? I received a flier in the mail from WEBS and 4found out that the Cascade 220 is going to be on sale for both April and May.....Wooot! I'll be able to get some for Shawn's sweater and maybe some for me too. I was bummed when I thought I was going to miss out on the sale. Who can pass up Cascade 220 for $4.89 a skein???

Bree's test went well. She was a brave little girl and didn't fight at all. Course we also had three great techs helping and they were wonderful to Bree. It looks like she doesn't have acid reflux. The docs are going over all the x-rays and we'll be discussing things with our doc later this week or next.

Normal, Wonderful Normal

Ah, the wonderful sound of quiet. Kaity went back to school yesterday so all is quiet in the luvs2knit household. I'm trying very hard not to think about summer break which is fast approaching.

I finished the Reims Stockings the other day.



This was a fun pattern and I think I'll try it again in the near future. I took out one pattern repeat for a better fit to my foot and made the cuff a little shorter then written in the pattern.

I started a pair of socks for my mom.



I decided that since I have 16 pair of handknit socks that the next pair would be for my mom. I'm using Lang Jawoll Color and the Braided Cable with Garter Bead pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks. I used a Picot Cast on and though it took longer then a normal cast on I think it's worth it. Looking at the skein of Lang Jawoll Color you would never guess that there was going to be stripes.

I'm using color 82.0164 which is deep shades of red/maroon. I can't quite understand why they put the acrylic in their yarn, it's only 7% acrylic. With the superwash wool and the nylon I don't see the need for the acrylic but it's a nice sock yarn and not unpleasent to work with.

I did my Picot CO as follows:
*Cast On 4 sts using the Knitted CO, BO 2 sts, rep from * until you have enough stitches to start your sock, join in the round and happy knitting.

Bree has her upper GI appointment Friday morning. Shawn's taking the day off just in case it turns out to be a bad day for Bree. When I say bad day, I mean fussy, clingy, no nap, etc. I'm hoping it goes quickly and doesn't bother her too much.

I'm working on a new sample for Woolgirl but it will be quite some time before I can show it to you all.

I've been making slow but steady progress on my Bee Fields Shawl and Rouge sweater.