With Wild Abandon...

Can't

stop

casting on.

One would think with Summer of Socks starting in 3 weeks I'd take a sock break... finish up any socks in progress... clean the slate and be ready. That was the plan. But... it's just not happening.

As for news... I have none. It's all starting to take so long I'm thinking I might not care the answer as long as this waiting period ends!

Sneak Peek

It's done! I need to block it and then we'll have a real shoot. These photos are just to tide you over. And yes, I alternated 4 skeins which means... I really did "stripes" and wove in a million ends. I don't mind really. I appreciate the evenness of the yarn.

No news yet... but my little sis graduated from high school last night! Congrats Kenz!

Waiting...

Don't you hate waiting... waiting, waiting... that's what I'm doing this week. Waiting to see if there will be a major life change, or if life will go on the same. It's a bit nerve wracking. Good for the knitting though as I can't seem to be still. I also can't seem to have a coherent thought pattern, so simple knitting has been the activity of choice.

Don't pass out or anything, but it's an actual WIP post on Wednesday. Should I be cleaning my house? Yes, but I don't wanna! I've been working this week mostly on my Wicked and the Lilac City socks. Both have a deadline of sorts. The KAL for the sweater is ending June 1 and the Lilacs are starting to bloom here in the Lilac City and I was really hoping to be able to have a flowery photo session with the socks.

As you can see, I finished the body of the sweater and have picked up the sleeves. I decided to do them on magic loop so I didn't have to take notes and repeat myself. The other perk of doing the ML instead of switching to DPN's is that I have no worries about a gauge change. Same needles. I think the longer I knit the more enamored of the magic loop I become.

Yesterday I finished up the first Lilac City sock and got the second off to a good start. The patterning is changing up quite a bit in the second sock so it should be interesting to see how it turns out. I used to think it was my fault when the pattern changed. Now I've come to realize, duh!, that it's in the nature of hand painted yarn. I'm not sure why it took me so long to figure that out. Sometimes I wonder how I function at all...

So, I continue to wait... more knitting will be done. But I really should run the vacuum at least...

Lace

Hey look, it's lace! I can knit lace. Veronik Avery's Lace Ribbon Scarf Bandwagon drove by and picked me up. Up until recently I haven't been tempted into this realm of knitting. I am far too practical. I want something I will wear. A big triangular lace shawl, is not going to get worn around here. A stole... same thing. But little scarves... I can see myself or family members wearing. Anne Hanson has been tempting me with her new "little nothings" line, but this one caught my eye because I could clearly SEE the pattern. I felt like I wouldn't get lost. It seemed like a really good place to start. Some Smooshy raised it's hand and volunteered and we got moving.

I've been working on my sweater a lot. It's down to the waist now. It's moving pretty quickly at this point. It's nice and soothing.

Sadly, I got some very bad news yesterday. I've been trying to think of a way to mention it without making this a horribly depressing post, but there just isn't any cute way around it. My 17 year old cousin died in a horrible accident on Mothers Day. My heart is breaking for my aunt who will never again enjoy that day. It breaks for my brothers who grew up with him as their neighbor and best friend. It breaks for the boy who saw it happen. It breaks for the whole town that is grieving. I once again feel so far from my family. I wish I could be there right this moment to help them through this. I may be going for the memorial, but we have to attend to some details and see if it's at all possible. Everything is just up in the air right now. If I disappear for a while you'll know I've gone to be with them. So sad. It seems so unfair.

Embossed Leaves

Pattern: Embossed Leaves, Favorite Socks
Yarn: Hazel Knits Artisian Sock, Chocolatier
Needles: 2.25mm, 2.5mm
Mod's: Many. Shortened cuff to save yarn, added a slipped stitch on the sides of the heel flap for my own knitting comfort, added repeats for length and used a regular toe for my rather square toes.

See, as promised, finished socks. My lily white skin comes in handy for modeling lace... ha ha. I am continuing to have a love affair with this yarn. I placed my first order at Woolgirl when I found out she'd stocked there. And rumor is soon to The Loopy Ewe too! This is all good news for me because when I buy direct from her I have to pay shipping and state sales tax. Boo! Hiss! I'd much rather just pay shipping. And I have a Loopy gift certificate that I'm saving up for when it stocks... I can't wait!

In more good news, I tried on the sweater again and I believe it fits. To convince myself fully I pulled out a really nice fitting sweater from the closet and made a comparison. It's right on. Yay! The KAL deadline is June 1. Guess I better get to work!

WIP Friday Edition

I know, the THING TO DO is the WIP Wednesday. I did take these pictures in time for that, but it just didn't happen. I'd act shocked, however, it's not shocking. I can pretend to be "all together" all I want, but honestly, I'm not. So lets not pretend.

First up... Wicked. It's at the point I can try it on. I did so at about 1am one night... this is not a good gauge of fit. So... I need to try on again in daylight... I'm a little scared it's on the bigish side. And I know that my swatches grew when I blocked them... so... little scared. We shall see.


And I started my next no brainer sock. It's cute and springy don't you think? The colorway is 'Lilac City'. The dyer is a local and our city is "The Lilac City". I should be able to get some sock pictures with the Lilacs when they bloom. Yum. I love Lilac's!


I DO have a picture of one Embossed Leaves sock done, however, now that I'm finally posting... the second only needs a toe so... you'll just have to wait for an FO post on those!

Good non-knitting news... Hub has been interviewing for a job up in Alaska this week and today we found out he's one of two finalists! It was so heartbreaking to leave that we decided we must try to move there. Our kids deserve to have some grandparents around for pete's sake yk?! Not to mention we could use a support system ourselves. I can't even remember the last time Hub and I went out on a date! It's so hard being here all on our own. We decided to try knowing it could take years or might not even happen. After all, it's a town of only 3000 people on an island. But... a great job just happened to be open that fits Hub's skill set and here we are... they're calling references today! My head is spinning. I'm trying not to let my heart get involved, but how could it not?! On one hand, I'm excited... on the other... freaking out! Our lives will totally be turned upside down on a moments notice. So fast... happening so fast... We shall see!

Hub, the amazing wonder spinner

My "girls" got me a drop spindle for my birthday. It's amazing the shopping they manage to do for being toddlers... ;)

So yesterday at the EW Knits Ravelry meet up Kim showed me how to get started. She's been dying for me to spin. She loves it and is definitely a spinning missionary. Everyone at the meet up said I was off to a fantastic start. They actually made me blush. So I felt pretty good about myself.

Then I came home... with a spindle and some fiber for Hub. He has talked about how he thinks it would be fun to spin ever since I started knitting. I took all my stuff out the the car went to climb in and just couldn't do it. I ran back in and picked up a spindle and some fiber for Hub. The girls were napping when I got home so I got to show him how right away. Here's his first yarn...

Hmm... not feeling quite as good about myself now. lol! I KNEW he'd be meticulous and just perfect. That's just his way. He's really wanted to do this for a while, so we'll see. I think he wants something to do while I sit and knit in the evenings. He says spinning looks very relaxing. I sure wouldn't mind!

I'm off to enjoy the sunshine. It really is spring now!