Drunken Monkey Knits

Knitting 101

2011-11-17T16:08:00.002-05:00

Please please please watch this video. It's really all you ever needed to know.

Thanks for sharing, Barbara!

MacGyver Missed His Calling

2011-06-13T20:18:00.005-04:00

MacGyver made his first appearance on my blog in October, 2005. I really think he missed out on an entire genre of action/problem-solving-with-household-items by never learning to knit. I really wish I had documented all of the things I've fixed, altered, defused, stirred, eaten, and poked with knitting needles and other assorted knitting notions since I first started to knit in 2002. Nevertheless, tonight's feat will not go unpublished.

Let this post also serve as an open letter to the idiots in my apartment building. First, DO NOT put Canadian coins into the washing machine slots. Second, if you DO happen to mistakenly put Canadian coins into the washing machine slots, please call someone to fix it so that the next person who comes along will be able to clean clothes, too. Third, thanks for the other quarters.

Please note the bent red US0 dpn, the offending "quarter", and the ever-helpful attempt by a previous genius to keep this problem from happening in the first place. Don't worry, the red US0 dpn was bent before its MacGyver-ish accomplishment tonight. I bent it while making Shorty... SHARK!!'s little brother.

Shorty was made with Cascade Heritage sock yarn and size 0 double pointed needles. I heart him. Both Shorty and SHARK!! live with my mom. She says they get along fabulously with the octo-kids.

SHARK!!

2011-05-11T21:34:00.000-04:00

So here I am enjoying my last free Wednesday for a while*, and wondering what I could show you that you would possibly have any interest in, but that won't ruin any birthday surprises later this year, and wondering in the meantime how in the world four weeks go by so fast with no posts... and I remembered. I have a shark.

His name is SHARK!!
I made him out of Cotton Ease.
I used size US4 double pointed needles (I think).
His teeth are pointy, but not so pointy that you can't toss him a fishy snack every now and then. And, he likes to cuddle.
I used this pattern: Natty Knits Shark
Here's the Ravelry link: Shark

Did I tell you his name is SHARK!! ?

And he has pointy teeth.

I also have a dilemma.
At first I thought that my awesome cowboy nephew might need a stuffed shark.
And then my awesome story-writing momma mentioned she might need a stuffed shark to enhance her octopus stories.
And then I finished SHARK!! and thought that I might need to keep him for my very own.
And then I decided that I wanted to make an army of tiny, sock-yarn sharks.
And then I bought some yarn for my shark army,
and then I didn't make any.
Sigh. What to do, what to do.

Regardless, SHARK!! goes very well with my BRAND NEW MESSENGER BAG for SCHOOL!!!

My AWESOME, MOST-FAVORITEST sister-in-law got this bag for me. I think it fits very well with my current underwater life motif.

*Registration for classes for the TAP MBA program is next Wednesday, May 18. On Wednesday, May 25, I start classes toward my MBA. I should be done in the spring of 2013, a gazillion Wednesdays from now. :) I can't wait to carry my books in my new bag!!

And As If That Weren't Enough...

2011-04-08T18:21:00.007-04:00

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, if you had talked to me any time between last September and last Christmas, you probably heard about the octopi. That is, if you aren't my mom. At one point in November or December, a few of us went to lunch with a vendor for my day job, and I opened my big mouth about the gang of stunt octopi I was knitting for Christmas. The vendor jumped on it, wondering all about them, how big they are, and how much one would cost. I knew I was in trouble, but he wanted one for his girlfriend's birthday, which wasn't until the end of January, so at least I had some additional time.

This one presented an additional challenge, though... he specified not only the colors, but also that he wanted the head/mantle part to look like a yin yang.

I was somehow strangely excited to get started. The pattern calls for the head/mantle part to be knit in the round, so I looked up techniques for knitting intarsia (blocks of color) in the round. I even tried a couple of the techniques, but I couldn't get any of them to work on that small of a scale in a quick enough amount of time to satisfy my "hafta-be-perfect-the-first-time" mentality. So I ripped them all and knitted that part back and forth, adding an extra stitch on the ends to be able to seam him up. Once he was seamed, you couldn't even tell he'd been knit back and forth. (Thank you, drunken monkey, for learning how to seam for reals.)

He also wanted the bottom of the tentacles to be a mixture of colors, and my stash generously supplied some matching Cascade Quatro to fit the bill.

I had fun making a different colored octopus with a challenging design feature. The vendor wasn't nearly as excited or impressed as I'd hoped he'd be, but that's why I won't typically knit for cash. I knit for fun. I hope his girlfriend is taking good care of her octopus. He's a cutie.

I have two more octopi in progress in my projects bin. I have dreams of an entire fingering-weight-octopus army. But that's a lot of tentacles. And there are sweet babies in Washington that need some sweaters this year... :)

How Many Tentacles Is That?

2011-04-07T18:33:00.013-04:00

So, did you know I knit my mom seven octopi for Christmas?

No, of course you didn't. (Well, if you talked to me any time between last summer and last Christmas, you probably did, except, for the sake of the blog, let's just assume that you didn't, okay? Great.)

Do you remember Oliver "Ollie" Octopolis? You probably do, but you might not remember that his name is Ollie, because I think he got his name after he made his appearance on my blog. Anyway, this is Ollie.

Ollie lives at my mom's house. She had seen one of his cousins at Great Yarns in Everett, WA, when we visited for Thanksgiving in 2009. So, I searched my stash (I know... were you sitting? Sorry.) and found some Cascade 220 in good complementary colors and got started. The pattern for Ollie is found in Amigurumi Knits by Hansi Singh. The pattern is not difficult, just a little tedious and a mite fiddly, but I love tedious and fiddly, so I loved the pattern. I made a couple sock-yarn-sized Octos, too, and if you clicked the link up there for the blog post about Ollie, you met Celia and Cedric the cephalopods, too.

Anywho, last summer my mom said something about how she really wanted to write a book about Ollie. (My mom writes awesome kids' books. Click the Knit Knack links on the side of my blog if you are unfamiliar with her previous inspiration.) When my mom writes books about her knitted toys, she puts them in various locations in various positions and takes various pictures of them, which she then uses to illustrate her various stories.

So when she went to write a story about Ollie, she ran into a snag. See, Ollie's tentacles have pipe cleaners in them, so you can arrange and pose and rearrange and re-pose Ollie's tentacles to your heart's content. However, Mom was (and still is) SO pleased with Ollie's current state of tentacular enlightenment, that she didn't (and still doesn't) want to arrange OR rearrange his tentacles. She proposed the idea for a STUNT octopus, a second octopus identical to Ollie, whose legs she could twist and pose to make him climb things and hold things and otherwise fill in for Ollie.

At first I thought she was crazy. ANOTHER octopus? Did she know how many tentacles those things had?

And then I kept thinking about it. And I thought about it long enough that *I* became the crazy one.

Because really... what's the fun in knitting one identical octopus, when you could knit a whole bunch of octopi that are *almost* identical? Really.

So between September and December of last year I knitted seven stunt octopi for Ollie. That way, Mom could hold auditions, or use various stunt doubles for various types of stunts, since all of them have different backgrounds, experiences, and disciplines. Would you like to meet them? Of course you would.

(On a side note, you need to know that each of the stunt octopi came with their own head shots and resumes. They all have the same objective: To become the stunt double for Ollie Octopolis in his popular children’s book series.)

Jeff “Jeff” Molluskwi
Jeff performed as a stunt double in the following movies:
- Anemone of the State (1998)
- Bridge on the River Octopus (1957)
- Eight Legged Freaks (2002)
- Tentacles of Fire (1989)
and lists the following interests and awards:
- Won “Best Work With a Submarine” at the 1998 Taurus World Stunt Awards for Anemone of the State
- Specializes in underwater fight scenes
- Enjoys gardening in his free time

Tommy Tutone
(Tommy was born from two different dye lots of the teal yarn. Half of his tentacles are slightly darker than the other half. It's not really noticeable in the pictures, but Tommy prides himself on his tonal qualities.)
Tommy has performed stunts in the following movies:
- My Fair Cephalopod (1964)
- Tentacles on the Roof (1971)
- Meet Me in my Mantle (1995)
- Eight Brides for Eight Brothers (1954)
- Octlohoma (1955)
and lists the following interests and awards:
- Won “I Didn’t Even Know They Needed Stunt Doubles in Musicals: Lifetime Achievement Award” at the 1995 Taurus World Stunt Awards
- Graduated with PhD in Musical Theatre from Shanghai Ocean University, 1954
- Taught tap dance classes with Fred Astaire

Josiah “Lenny” Reiff
Lenny has performed as a stunt double in the following movies:
- Running With Scissors (2002)
- You’re the One Eye Love (2000)
- One Fine Eye (1996)
and has made appearances in the following television programs:
- Miami Ink (2005-2008)
- 8 is Enough (1977-1981)
- Arms of Love (1992-1993)

Eileen Cephalopodopolous
Eileen is the only female stunt octopus, and has been the Bond Girl stunt double in a tentacle-ful of James Bond movies, including:
- Octopus of Solace (2008)
- The World is Not a Cephalopod (1999)
- GoldTentacle (1964)
- Doctor Octopus (1962)
- The Spy Who Inked Me (1977)
- For Your Arms Only (1981)
She also made a guest appearance in the recent television docu-drama, Octomom: Me and My 200,000 Kids.

Bruce McKraken
(The idea for Bruce's inside out legs was an inspiration from one of my very good friends at sock club - Hi Melinda! - who made her own octopus and inadvertently sewed the legs together inside out. Brilliant!)
Bruce has performed as a stunt double in the following movies:
- The Little Mermaid (1989)
- Arachnophobia (1990)
- A Mollusk Among Us (1992)
- The Deep End of the Ocean (1999)
- The Flying Octopus (2004)
- Eight Below (2006)
- Tickle Fight (2007)
and lists the following awards and achievements:
- Received “Best Underwater Pyrotechnic Stunt Award” at the World Stunt Awards, 2001
- Started the first underwater Ham Radar Station, O80CT, to guide stray submarines home

Simon Simone
Simon has performed stunts in the following movies:
- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
- Jaws
- Ocean’s Seven
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Creature from the Blue Lagoon
and has earned his PhD in Underwater Theater.

T8tum "T8" Octum
(Tate, oh, sorry... T8 is actually the same colors as the other octopi, but he had his picture taken at a different studio and the lighting was not exactly the same. When you think of T8, imagine a strapping high school lad, his future laid out before him like the red carpet at the Oscars, and... well... T8 doesn't have a resume. He just has a mohawk and a dream.) The following is T8's submission:

Dude so like I never been in any movies but I look totally like this dude so I could totally be his stunt double. So I totally sk8board all the time cuz figure sk8ters are LAME!! And I almost gradu8ted in 2008 but I dropped out so I could go to the sk8board CHAMPIONSHIPS in fort Lauderdale and I was totally AWESOME!!! So you should totally let me be this dude’s stunt double cuz I ROCK and stuff.

Right. Well.

The octopi are getting along fabulously at my mom's house. (I really wish I'd taken video of her opening them and reading the resumes at Christmas. Each was a surprise, since I'd hidden most of them in the cupboards around her living room. Hysterical.)

Ollie is happy to have so many friends, and each stunt octopus has found his or her place in the household. The world is waiting with baited breath for Ollie (and his stunt septuples') adventures!!

ETA: Props to my good friends Randy and Kimmie Marksberry for their help and inspiration for many of the movie names and ideas listed above! Brilliant!

Oh, Deer...

2010-11-18T14:41:00.002-05:00

Looks like somebody in the Sharpie advertising department has never gotten handknit socks for Christmas. Sad.

Bebe

2010-11-12T18:11:00.006-05:00

I have lots to catch up on.
You'll get one thing at a time.
Don't complain, it means more posts.

My bro-bro and sis-in-law have a new addition to their family. She was born in July and the adoption process is trudging along the train tracks toward full Higgins-hood for the little one. She's so precious and I can't wait to meet her in a couple weeks. Here she is:

In proper Annie Grook style, I knitted her a welcome shrug. It's this one, knitted with Hobby Lobby's I Love This Cotton yarn, with a lettuce-inspired ruffle on the edges instead of the ribbing in the pattern.

Looks cozy.

Thanks, Mo & Mom, for the pictures. :)

Bliss

2010-11-04T13:05:00.002-04:00

New apartment (with heat).
New couch (add blanket & cat).
New sock pattern (plus tasty yarn).
Time to sit down and knit (bliss).

Welcome back.

Highlight

2010-06-01T20:35:00.005-04:00

For the last four years, I've traveled with friends to Wooster over Memorial Day weekend for the Great Lakes Sheep & Fiber Festival. This year was no different. There were alpacas and bunnies and more sheep than you could possibly count. I got some sock yarn and some more sock yarn and a sock book and a pretty good deal on some pretty blue linen yarn. We didn't get to dye yarn on Monday because it rained all morning and we opted to stay in and relax instead.

BUT!

The COMPLETE HIGHLIGHT of the WHOLE WEEKEND was the AMAZING GRADUATION PARTY I attended on Sunday night!!!!!!!

First of all, here is one of my FAVORITE FAMILIES in the WHOLE UNIVERSE:

(l to r: Tracey, Cydney, Brian & Garret)

Last year, Garret carefully arranged his graduation party for Memorial Day weekend, just so that I could attend! How thoughtful! This year, Cydney did the same. What a family! Tracey and I are already trying to figure out how we can get together again next Memorial Day...

Here I am with the happy graduate... She promised that someday when I grow up I can be as cute as she is.

And here I am with the proud Momma... one of my bestest friends in the whole universe. Congratulations, Tracey... I LOVE YOU!!!

Triple Threat

2010-04-16T13:50:00.006-04:00

This is Ollie. He's from Amigurumi Knits by Hansi Singh. He's made with Cascade 220 and size 2 dpns. I made him for my mom after she saw an octopus at Great Yarns in Everett, WA, last Thanksgiving.

This is Cedric. He's made from the same pattern, only with sock yarn leftovers and size 0 dpns. I made him after I made Ollie, because I saw a ton of sock yarn octopi on Ravelry and fell completely in love.

This is Celia. She's made from the same pattern, also with sock yarn leftovers and size 0 dpns. I made her after I made Cedric, because making octopi with sock yarn leftovers might now be my favorite thing to do.

Celia and Cedric are sweet on each other. Awwww.
I wanna hold your hand, hand, hand, hand, hand, hand, hand, hand...

Celia now lives with Wendy, and Cedric lives with me.

I already have more sock yarn leftovers picked out to make another one...

and some worsted weight yarn picked out to hold three strands together to make a Giant Octopus!!! Beware!!

Finished!

2010-02-19T21:48:00.004-05:00

Sometimes it's not about win or lose. Sometimes it's important just to finish the race.

I didn't officially participate in the Knitting Olympics this year, but I did make an unofficial goal of finishing two separate projects.

One of the projects is my Mystery Socks, both knit at the same time (sort of), started January 1 and finished February 18. I've done better, but that's not too shabby.

Pattern: Jan/Feb Mystery socks from the Solid Socks group on Ravelry.

Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Semi-solids, Color: Jade

Needles: Kollage square DPNs, US1.5 (2.5mm)

The other project I finished has been staring evilly at me from the table next to my TV chair since last November. It was sleeveless when I took it to Washington with me over Thanksgiving. By the time I got back to Ohio, it had one sleeve finished, and the stitches for the second sleeve picked up. The week before the new year, the second sleeve was half finished. (Then the mystery sock pattern appeared on Jan. 1, and my focus went elsewhere.) This past Monday, when I was sent home from work early due to the severity of the White Death, I thought to myself, "How ridiculous is it that this project isn't finished yet???" I flipped on the Olympics, and, inspired by the endurance and tenacity of the athletes, I finished...

Calvin's Birthday Sweater!!!!!!!

Pattern: Sherwood from Knitty, Fall 2006

Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton Ease, 50% Cotton, 50% Acrylic

Needles: circulars and DPNs, US7

Size: 6-8 (30" chest)

Sure, his birthday was last November. But this is the FIFTEENTH sweater I've knitted for nieces and nephew, and this is the first time I've been late. And if you're gonna be late, you might as well be REALLY late. Besides, it's still the right season, and it will still fit him (I think), and it should still fit him next winter, too (I hope). And, I've already found the perfect pattern for his 5th birthday, and I need to get started on it very soon.

Plus, it's not about whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game. And, uh... finishing. Yeah. Finishing.

Three Pair*

2010-02-10T23:02:00.000-05:00

I've taught a few Fibertrends Felted Clogs classes at the store this winter, and in order to garner interest in the pattern and the class, I made a store sample last fall. I originally had no interest in a pair for myself, so I made the sample pair to fit Karen, the store manager. However, when they were finished, Joy, the store owner, claimed them for herself, felted one, and left the other unfelted to show the difference in the store.

But then I actually had to teach the class, and I generally like to work on the same project that my students are working on, so I decided to make myself a pair. I didn't want to buy more yarn, though, so I scoured my spare bedroom for leftover Cascade 220 and came up with a big bag full. So I made a pair for me.

Hmm. A bit big. Perhaps I should felt them.

Much better. Super toasty. They stay on my feet surprisingly well, too.

So, I figured I was done knitting felted clogs. Two pair is enough, right? Then I happened to draw Karen's name (the aforementioned store manager) for the store's Christmas gift exchange. What to get her.... what to get her... oh yes! She got robbed of some felted clogs! So I picked out some new colors and got to knittin'.

Pre-felting:

And post-felting, an action shot of the third pair of clogs showing off their practicality and keeping Karen's feet toasty in the yarn store:

There you have it. Proof not only that I can finish complete PAIRS of things for knitting projects, but that I can complete MULTIPLE complete PAIRS of things for knitting projects. But three is enough. At least for this year.

*This post brought to you by the song "Air Force Ones" by Nelly, chorus lyrics re-written here to fit the theme of the post, and hopefully make Brenda giggle:

I said give me three pairs
(cause) I need three pairs
So I can get to stomping in my felted clogs
(Knitters) stomping in our felted clogs

Mystery Medicine*

2010-01-14T23:30:00.000-05:00

*Or, The Cure For Second Sock Syndrome

The "knitalong" is a concept that's been around for a long time. The basic concept is that a bunch of people knit the same project at the same time and talk about it, share problems, successes, frustrations, and provide motivation and inspiration to keep going if needed. People have been hosting knitalongs on the internet for quite a while, too, and now that Ravelry is around, it's way easier to find groups of people knitting the same pattern at the same time and sharing their thoughts and ideas about it.

The "mystery project" is another concept that's been hanging around for a bit. The idea here is that somebody designs a pattern for a particular kind of project (a shawl, a scarf, a sock...), and only releases part of the pattern at a time, so that the crafter doesn't know what the finished project is going to look like, and can only go as fast as the designer wishes for them to go.

I've never done an official knitalong OR mystery project before. But 2010 is a new year, and I signed up for both at the same time.

There's a group on Ravelry called "Solid Socks" for people who like knitting socks out of solid or semi-solid colored yarns. They host a mystery sock knitalong every two months. The made-of-awesome part of the current mystery sock knitalong is that the pattern was designed by Lisa, a lady in my sock club here in Cincinnati. How cool is that? I actually saw her knitting the sock last fall when she started coming to sock club, and asked her about it then. And now at least a half dozen women in my sock club are following along with the pattern and doing the same project, along with however many people across the world who are following along in the Ravelry group.

The first clue of the pattern came out on January 1, 2010, and I cast on that day. As of 11:00 tonight, just one short hour before clue 3 is available, I finished clue two for BOTH OF MY SOCKS. That's right people, this mystery thing has inspired me to do both socks at the same time. When I finish, I'm going to have a PAIR of socks done. Behold:

Two cuffs completely completed. I'm either going to have to knit only mystery socks from now on, or cut up my sock patterns and mail them to myself a piece at a time.

Admittedly, I'm also quite motivated by the fact that I will see designer-Lisa at sock club on Saturday and I'm trying to impress her. :)

(The color is better in the other picture, but this one shows off the stitch pattern better, I think.)

Only half an hour till clue 3 comes out!!

No Sitting

2010-01-07T17:25:00.003-05:00

Found on www.passiveaggressivenotes.com.

Cute Kids, Cont.

2009-12-10T20:22:00.001-05:00

The birthday girl liked her sweater.

And Calvin liked his crocodable.

Oh, did I mention Hallie REALLY liked her sweater? Mmm. Tasty.

I'm Posting Already

2009-12-07T23:50:00.003-05:00

I have no idea what happened to November, honest.

I've been knitting a lot (it seems), but a lot of it is gifts. And we already know what that means.

But very recently, my FAB sister-in-law gave me a TON of photos, many of which I will share with you in the days to come. Today? My favorite picture. The one I've been waiting for. The one that brought a couple little tiny tears to my eyes.

This is why I knit.

P.S.

2009-10-18T14:17:00.000-04:00

KnitPicks has released the Santa hat pattern I wrote up for them along with all the other Sheldon costumes. It's a free pattern. If you have a tiny head that needs a Santa hat this Christmas, go get your knit on!

KnitPicks suggests fingering weight for this hat... when I did Knit Knack's hat almost 3 years ago, I used a bulky weight yarn (and fewer stitches, obviously...) which gave it an oversized look that I really liked. Go nuts. Gimme a shout if you make one... I want to see who you put it on!

Actober Occomplishments

2009-10-16T21:14:00.006-04:00

We're barely halfway through my favorite month of the year, and already I think it's been the most eventful half-month I've had in a long time.

My birthday was October 3, the same day as sock club's Socktober to Dye For.

19 industrious ladies plus my mom, aunt, Dani, Lise, Tobie and myself had a fantastic day mixing dyes, painting yarn, and trying not to be blown over by the wind. It was a gorgeous day for dyeing.

There were so many beautiful autumn colors painted into yarns that day. I had to be very diligent not to steal ~~all~~ any of them. Seriously. So much fun.

Then on October 8, my sand volleyball team (Sandy Pants) played in the fall tournament. It was cold and wet (but it had fortunately stopped raining) and our toes froze in the sand, but we won two straight games to win the whole tournament! Booyah! It was ridiculously fun, and I can't wait for April so we can start all over again.

October 10th was the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Walk for Kids, and I walked with my friends Scott & Joy for their daughter's memorial Find A Voice Fund. Our team raised over $9,500 toward purchasing a device to allow a child without a voice to be able to communicate with his loved ones. We walked three miles around Coney Island with thousands of other Cincinnatians trying to raise money for various causes. It was a great day and I was happy to be a part of such a great cause.

Then on October 11, I bent over, and all my activity ceased. I've spent the last week flat on my back with sciatic issues that I haven't dealt with for eight years or more. Five days later I'm feeling well enough to sit in a chair and do laundry and actually knit (!), and I'm planning on going to sock club in the morning. I'm not back to 100% yet, but I'm doing much better. The body sure knows how to get a girl to slow down!

Hope your October has been exciting as well, and hopefully less painful. Cheers!

Happy Birthday, Hallie!

2009-10-06T21:31:00.002-04:00

My littlest niece Hallie turns one year old today!

To celebrate, of course she gets her first birthday sweater! This is the Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmerman, knitted in Creatively Dyed Yarn's worsted weight merino, color Paisley. I LOVE the colors in this yarn, and the way it knits up all squinchy. This is the second EZ sweater I've knit for Hallie... I wonder how many other great Zimmerman patterns I'll try out for her!

I wish you could squeeze it. So squinchy!

The sibling gifts were handmade this time, too. Remember Maggie's b-day sweater? Here's the miniature version for her new American Girl Doll, Kit.

(This Kit borrowed from Wendy's daughter for trying-on and a photo shoot. Yes, Wendy, I did it all by myself!!!)

Mom had the perfect buttons in her button box and let me use them. Woo hoo!

This past summer when the west coast Higgins family came to Ohio, Calvin found a tree root growing above the surface out by the playhouse in Mom's backyard, and told me he'd found a CROCODABLE!!! So I figured he needed a croco-dable of his very own to play with.

Pattern is Hannah Kaminsky's Baby Alligator free amigurumi pattern. I used odds and ends of Cascade 220 from my stash! He turned out adora-dable!

Lots of love to all the Higgins kids... and their parents, too! Hope you have a happy first birthday, Hallie!

That Time Of Year

2009-10-01T20:41:00.005-04:00

So, it's that time of year again. The blog is four years old. The yarn store where I work and teach classes (Yarns & Fabrications... check out the new blog!) is four years old. Sock club is four years old. And I will be four years old on Saturday. No, wait, sorry, I'm a little bit older than that. But it's a good time of year. I love October. The weather is perfect, the scenery is beautiful, and a lot of my favorite things happen around this time.

A couple weeks ago was the Wool Gathering in Yellow Springs. I got to help set up for the show and work with Wendy on Sunday. We had a blast meeting all sorts of wonderful, creative, new friends, and seeing a bunch of great people we knew. Wendy took a bunch of fantastic pictures which you can see on her blog.

I was a particular fan of this goat. He wanted to tell us something, but couldn't stop chewing long enough to spit it out.

I may have stumbled into some sock yarn, but there's no photographic evidence. Let the record show I was very well behaved at this year's Wool Gathering. (Yarn is from Knitted To A T by Tonia Graves, 400 yards, merino/nylon blend, colorway is Chocolate Covered Cherry... yum.)

Looking forward, things are just as awesome.

This Saturday we're having a SOCKTOBER TO DYE FOR!!! (James Bond would be so proud.) Last April, sock club had a Sockstravaganza where everybody got to dye skeins and flats of sock yarn, and we're doing it again this Saturday! We've got 50 skeins, 10 flats, 20 sock clubbers, one mom, one aunt, two store supervisors, one assistant, and one birthday girl. It's going to be one crazy day! I can't wait to show you pictures next week.

Hiatus Filler

2009-09-10T21:14:00.001-04:00

So, I know you're all wondering, now that Burn Notice is celebrating the hiatus of its split season, and isn't coming back with new episodes until January, what in the world is Brooke doing on Thursday nights? What is sustaining her? How is she getting through this difficult, Jeffrey-Donovan-less time?

Well, before you get too worked up about it, there's a ~~rerun~~ summer finale recap on even so now as we speak. Er, as I type. And there's always Hulu or the USA Network website. Deep breaths, my pretties.

Also, you'll be pleased to know that Burn Notice has been approved for a fourth season. You know you want to dance a little. Go ahead... I'll wait. (Screen shot shamelessly stolen from the USA Network site.)

So, back to the original question. I have been invited to join a sand volleyball team that plays on Thursday nights. This session started three weeks ago. We won our game the first night, lost last week, and won again tonight! Woo hoo! Our team is called Sandy Pants and is made up mostly of people I work with or used to work with. It is super super fun and I'm so glad they asked me to join them.

7 Worthwhile Reasons

2009-08-26T19:08:00.000-04:00

Reason 1: She chose the yarn.

Reason 2: She chose the pattern.
Reason 3: She let me choose the buttons.
Reason 4: She didn't think I'd get it done on time.

Reason 5: I DID get it done on time.

Reason 6: It turned out "just like" she wanted.

Reason 7: My sweet and happy niece just turned 7 years old!!!

-----

Pattern: Drive Thru by Wendy Bernard
Yarn: Plymouth Galway, 100% pure wool, color #127, #1, #19, and #136
Needles: US8, 29" long Crystal Palace bamboo circular
Started: July 9, 2009
Finished: August 17, 2009
Yarn and pattern purchased at Studio Knit in Medina, Ohio.

Happy Birthday, Maggie! I love you!

-----

Thanks to my sis-in-law Morgan for the pictures of the seven-year-old stunner. You can see more birthday pics here, and even a birthday video here. Wow!!

Sock Update

2009-07-29T22:57:00.000-04:00

We interrupt this vacation blog with a little sock knitting content. Vacation viewers, please come back soon.

The local Socks Without Partners (SWP) support group bade farewell to a dear member not long ago. Mockery sock #1 ran off (understandably, and on more than one level) with Mockery sock #2, to a happy wooly footy life together.

1.

The SWP board of trustees wished the pair well, but not before accepting new member Outside In sock #1.

2.

Monkey sock #1 and Cables & Corrugations sock #1 are eager to join upon completion.

3.

4.

-----

1. Mockery Socks, Conjoined Creations Flat Feet yarn, US#2 dpns. For me. Great pattern + great yarn + much fun = socks I love.

2. Outside In, Creatively Dyed Yarns, US#2 dpns. Bought this yarn at this year's Great Lakes Fiber Fest and could not wait to cast on. Perfect pattern showed up on Knitty mere days later. Coincidence? I think not. For me. MUST take pictures of heel-in-progress on second sock. You will pee a little.

3. Monkey Socks, Misti Alpaca "Birds In Paradise", US#2 dpns. I think I like the pattern/yarn combination. Not for me. Not totally sold yet, but I DO like the picot edge.

4. Cables & Corrugations, Malabrigo Merino Sock, Kollage Yarns square US#2 dpns. LOVE the square needles -- gift from sock clubber Melinda. LOVE the yarn -- bought at Great Yarns in Everett WA. LOVE the pattern -- now that I got past the five inches of stockinette at the beginning of the toe. For me (adapted to 72sts). Too bad the Cat Bordhi knitalong only has one more session.

Mackinac Island Vacation

2009-07-16T21:24:00.000-04:00

My mom and I spent the majority of last week (really? it was only just last week?!?) in Michigan, driving to, spending a couple days on, and returning from Mackinac Island. (It's pronounced Mackinaw, btw.) I find it important to tell you now that I fell in love with the Mackinac Bridge, however, since I took 764,285 photos of it, drove over it, and became more and more fascinated and enamored with it, it will get its own post. You lucky dogs.

Knit Knack and Knitasha's wedding was a definite highlight, and the rest of the week was filled with great new experiences, relaxing, and mom/daughter bonding time.

We had to stop in Mackinac City first (Honest! That's where we caught the ferry!) and go to Cynthia's Fine Yarn & Gifts. It had been recommended by one of my yarn shop's patrons, and a fine recommendation it was, indeed. Cynthia's is filled with beautiful yarns, inventive samples, a rainbow of gifts, and surprises in every corner. Cynthia herself is super friendly and knowledgeable, and even sent me a personal email after I got back home. I'm happy to pass on the recommendation to anyone who might find themselves in the area.

One of my favorite parts of the trip was the ferry ride. We took Shepler's Ferry out of Mackinac City as part of our resort package. They take care of your car and deliver your luggage and provide a chilly, scenic, and extremely invigorating voyage to the island.

Here's a view of the island from our ferry. Wouldn't it be fun to live in one of those houses along that hill? If anyone is made of money and wants to buy me one, I promise to invite you to stay anytime you want to!

Here's the view from our resort entrance. We stayed at Mission Point Resort, and it was pretty nice. It felt a lot like being at camp! The place was huge and featured long, meandering hallways, three different restaurants, a pool and two spas, its own gift shop, a mini golf course, gorgeous gardens with a variety of brightly colored flowers, and lots more.

One of my favorite parts of the resort was the HUGE lawn right next to Lake Huron. Mom and I spent some quality relaxation time in a couple of those adirondack chairs. There were kites flying, kids and dogs chasing seagulls, people drinking wine, and lots of folks just soaking up the sun. The building in this photo is the main building of our resort.

There's a state highway that travels the perimeter of the island. Since there are no automobiles on the island, lots of people rent bikes (I've never seen so many tandem bicycles in one place!) or walk around the island. There's a bike path just off the highway that travels between the front lawn pictured above and the lake. I walked down to see what I could see, and now you get to see it, too.

An alternative to biking or hiking is riding in a horse-drawn carriage! You can rent your own or find a driver to take you where you need to go. This is our favorite driver, who took us from downtown to the resort and back a few different times. And that's Doc and Dolly, the horses! I can't remember which is which; maybe Mom will know.

Another favorite of the trip was the carriage tour of the island. The majority of the almost four-square-mile island is a state park, and we got to see a lot of it thanks to the carriage tour! Our driver for the middle part of the tour was Dave, and he told us a lot about the history and sights of the island, along with a handful of REALLY bad jokes. These were our horses, Dylan, Blaze and Jimmy. Blaze is in the middle, with Dylan (the slacker) on his left, and Jimmy on the right.

On the tour, we stopped to see Arch Rock, which was really cool, but difficult to get a full picture of. I suppose I could have backed up and gotten a gazillion other tourists in the picture, but it's kind of more fun to pretend I was the only one there. Except for, you know, the tiny people up in the corner.

The horses on the last part of the tour got to go to the pony playground, and we got to watch the new team get hitched up. Those guys are super efficient. With all the carriages on the island, I can't even imagine how many times a day they get to do this.

Here we are on the way back to town after our tour. It's so peaceful! We learned some important basics while on the tour, too. There are between 400 and 500 horses on the island during the peak tourist season. We saw a guy collecting road apples, and wondered how many such workers are on the island. We also learned that there are folks who power wash the streets every night. Every night!

Knit Knack and Knitasha enjoyed their time on the island, too. It wasn't all wedding preparations! Mom and I did a little shopping downtown while the turtles rented bikes and explored the island. How fun!

The last night we were on the island was a little chilly, which left the pool and spas empty, just for us! We found a shortcut from our room which took us down this little hill straight to the pool. Too bad we couldn't bring one of the spas home with us as a souvenir.

Thank you, Mom, for buying your own birthday getaway (and, uh, destination wedding...) and for inviting me along. I had such a wonderful, beautiful, peaceful, relaxing time. I can't wait to go back for the Lilac Festival in a couple years!

Destination Wedding

2009-07-14T19:13:00.000-04:00

In celebration of my mom's birthday yesterday,

Knitasha
and
Knit Knack
joyfully announce
their marriage
which took place
July 9, 2009
On Mackinac Island

Officiated by the Right Reverend Chip
Witnessed by Best Man Meekins
Witnessed by Maid of Honor Floxie

In lieu of gifts, the bride and groom ask that you leave your congratulations in the comments. The newlyweds celebrated their honeymoon on Mackinac Island and will continue to live with Drunken Monkey's mom in Ohio.

(More Mackinac vacation photos in coming posts.)

Weekending in Wyoming

2009-07-03T18:20:00.000-04:00

(click any of the pictures for bigger, clearer wyoming goodness)

At the end of May, I got an invitation from my friend Brenda to come to Wyoming. The new Transformers movie was coming out (we went to see the first one in Michigan two years ago), and she needed me to fly out there so I could go see it with her. She offered to pay half my travel. How could I resist?

I found a ticket for $168, packed my bags, then unpacked them because it was going to be another month before I left. But last weekend, I repacked them and flew from Columbus to Salt Lake City (picture is outside the plane window just before landing in SLC) where I was met in the airport by my favorite Brenda in the whole world! She had her folder o' plans in her bag and we were off!

First stop: Star of India restaurant, featuring chicken tikka masala on the lunch buffet, and an excellent green monkey god on the wall.

We walked downtown a little, and Brenda pointed out the Mormon Temple, which is cleverly disguised as City Hall, since it says "City Hall" right there on the side of the building. Clever.

We went to Zim's (a craft store right out of an old lady's basement circa 1950), a yarn store called Blazing Needles that had an excellent patio garden off the back, and a quilting/knitting shop where everything had adamant "DO NOT TOUCH!" signs, which made it difficult for us to enjoy ourselves besides sneakily touching all of the off-limits items. The Bohemian Yarn Shop was closed by the time we found it, since "33rd Street", "3300 Street", and "33" all mean the same thing to SLCers.

It came time for us to drive the two and a half hours to Green River, Wyoming, and we set off. I took a gazillion pictures on the drive, because the scenery was outrageous, and considerably more mountain-y than Southwestern Ohio is.

The view off of Brenda's back porch ain't bad, either. She says it's the ugliest part of Wyoming, but if that's true, the ugliest part of Wyoming is still pretty beautiful.

Brenda's husband James took us to Arctic Circle for lunch. We had penguin poppers, broiled baby seal steaks, polar bear potato cakes, and iceberg shakes for dessert. (Attention PETA: this is a joke. Arctic Circle is comparable to Dairy Queen.)

Then James and his Toyota Tundra accepted the challenge to take us up to see the GR on the side of one of the hills surrounding the town of Green River. Pay special attention to the tower on the right with the gigantic arrow pointing at it.

That's the same tower on the right in this picture, with me standing next to it. Oh yeah. King of the world, baby. Or... something.

It was so awesome to hang out with Brenda... and see Green River from above.

After the trek up and down the hill, we went prairie dog hunting! James usually shoots them with guns, but we only shot them with the camera. They're cute little buggers, but they're pests; scrambling all over the place, ruining the landscaping, spreading diseases, and selling drugs outside the Tasty Freeze.

Then we went to see Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. SPLOSIONS! And more SPLOSIONS! And robots! And SPLOSIONS!

The next day we went out and played on James' ATV. There are some trails really close to their house down by the river, and it was SO MUCH FUN!!! Here's James and Katherine (their 2.5 year old) ready to go for the first ride.

Here I come!

There was an eagle living in a nest on top of a pole near the ATV trails. She let us get pretty close on the ATV, but not without getting a little irritated.

I took this photo from the top of one of the hills. If you squint, you can see the truck in the distance, where everyone was waiting.

After the ATV rides, James took me to the shooting range, which is just across the river from where we had been riding.

I'd never even touched a real gun, let alone shot one before going to Wyoming. I told James and Brenda that I'd be coming back to Ohio as a real woman! James set up little bright orange clay pigeons on the ground for me to shoot. The first gun I tried was his 22 long rifle. The first time I aimed and shot, I hit one of the clay pigeons. Some of the other pigeons took more tries, but it was really fun! James was a good teacher, showing me how to load the rifle and release any bad shells.

I also got to try shooting the pistol. (James says now I can keep up with Michael Westen and the other characters on Burn Notice!!) I can't remember what size it was, but it was a lot harder to aim than the rifle, although I also hit a pigeon on my first shot with the pistol. I learned how to load and change out the magazines, how to cock the pistol, and how best to aim. And, that no matter how cool it looks, it's less efficient to hold a pistol sideways when shooting it.

Then it was time to say goodbye. I got hugs and kisses from Katherine...

Took pictures of the Welcome to Green River sign (admittedly, taking pictures of the "welcome" sign on the way home seems somewhat out of logical order)...

And headed back to SLC. We found our hotel (did you know there are two different Redwood Roads in Salt Lake City? And if you get on the wrong one, you won't be able to find your hotel?), had dinner at Dee's Restaurant (best. dinner. ever.), and my plane left early the next morning.

Thanks to James, Brenda, Katherine and Sally (the dog!) for a WONDERFUL weekend full of excellent experiences and good times. Is it too soon to come back next weekend??? I love you!!

A Week in Woo

2009-06-30T23:54:00.004-04:00

A photodocumentary featuring a few of my favorite pictures from June 13-19, 2009.*

Tea Parties

Cute Kids Wearing Stuff I Made
Mom made the dresses; I made the shrugs.
A wool sweater vest in Ohio in June. Really? Hopefully it will still fit this fall.

Knitting
I got to teach Maggie how to knit! I also got to teach Bethany, the recent high school graduate that came along with Sean & Morgan to help with the kids. She learned SO fast and couldn't get enough.
Maggie also picked it up pretty quickly. I hope she likes it enough to stick with it!
Hallie hasn't learned quite yet, but she sure seemed to like the sock yarn that Morgan picked out.

Miscellaneous

*Pictures in this post were taken by both my mom and myself.

Keep Being Awesome

2009-06-24T18:52:00.000-04:00

I have lots of pictures to share from last week when I was at my mom's house with my brother's family, but today I have to show you what may be the best thing I've ever found on the internets. Please click on the picture to make it bigger, so you can read what the ads say. Found at passiveaggressivenotes.com.

Happy Birthday To My Brother!

2009-06-04T19:03:00.000-04:00

Today is my brother's birthday. Happy Birthday, Sean!

When we were little, one of our aunts would always send me a little gift for Sean's birthday, and send him a little gift on my birthday. This year, the tradition continues, because I am definitely getting a GREAT present for my big bro's big day.

That's right. Burn Notice is back. I'll be sure to keep you updated.
Thank you, USA Network.

Dyed in the Yard

2009-05-31T20:34:00.000-04:00

Two years ago at the Great Lakes Sheep & Fiber Festival, Kimmie and I found bags of wool yarn for a very cheap price: 3 pounds for 5 dollars. We bought four such bags, planning to dye the yarn that summer.

Two years later, yarn still un-dyed, we had the first annual Sockstravaganza at the yarn shop, dyeing a ton of sock yarn and having a great time. A week after the Sockstravaganza, Dani and I worked at a fiber show in Troy, Ohio, and each of us bought seven different acid dyes, hoping again to dye those bags full of yarn this summer.

Last Sunday night and all day Monday, we finally got our opportunity! My mom graciously allowed us to use her backyard and kitchen to experiment with the dyes and see what we could come up with.

Dani wound a bunch of attached smaller balls to dye them in gradual colors.

After rinsing.

Drying.

Winding back into a mega-skein. This turned out awesomely. She's going to make a big felted knitting bag with it. I can't wait to see how it knits up.

Kimmie did something similar, winding small balls and dyeing them in graduated rainbow colors. She took some great pictures of the yarn she dyed and put them on her blog.

Pretties!

These are most of the ones that I dyed. No special little balls or giant skeins for me.

This one is destined to become a felted bowl. I love how saturated the blue is on this skein. It was fascinating to see the wide range of shades you could get from the same dye.

These will become a new pair of fuzzy feet!

I'll likely use these two together for something. They go together really well, and the brown even has red spots all through it. Could be chicken pox, or I didn't stir the dye completely. Both skeins are larger skeins... any suggestions?

Lastly and my favorite from the day: watermelon yarn! It was completely unintentional; I used leftover greens and leftover red/orange and left just the slightest bit of white in between. I'd never be able to duplicate it, but I love it. I almost don't want to knit with it, but I can't wait to see how it looks when it's knitted. No ideas for this one either.

Thanks Kimmie, Dani, Mom, and Aunt Karyl Lynn for great fun! I can't wait for the next dyeing party.

Great Lakes Sheep & Fiber, 2009

2009-05-30T22:16:00.001-04:00

Last weekend, Kimmie, Dani, and I made the annual trek to Wooster for the Great Lakes Fiber Show, 2009. We went to the show on Sunday the 24th with my mom and aunt.

I only took one picture at the show, of a mommy alpaca and her baby, only one day old. Aww.

I stole this picture from Kimmie's website. Looks like I finally found some knitting needles that are the proper scale! Okay, ha ha, my aunt had sent me a newspaper article about knitting needles the size of baseball bats, so when I found their booth at the festival, I had to try them out. The expression on my face is very amusing to me.

Let's see... I bought some yarn, didn't I?

My favorite purchase of the day was this sock yarn from Creatively Dyed Yarn.

I also got this worsted weight, also from Creatively Dyed Yarn. I'm planning on making a baby sweater with it, but I don't know what baby sweater, and I don't know for which baby.

Lastly, I got 1120 yards of sock yarn for $16.50! Yowsers! I'm going to split it up, probably into two 440 yard skeins and a 240 yard skein. I can't wait to dye it.

And my aunt bought me a pair of size 50 double pointed needles from the Bagsmith booth. Forget size twos. Now I'll be getting my socks done in no time. Okay, that's a joke. These are for some mega i-cords, or for this scarf.

The highlight of the weekend though, was dyeing yarn in my mom's backyard. See next post for more details! For a preview, you can check out Kimmie's post on the subject.

Go-To Baby Sweater

2009-05-21T19:50:00.000-04:00

Before last night, I'd made 12:

One for Emily's baby
Two for Tricia's twins
One for a store sample
One for UK for Cassie's grandbaby
One for Notre Dame for Sue's grandson
One for Julie's baby
One for Erin's baby
One for Calvin
One Coke-y swoosh for Lanea
One with lots of stripes for Luke
One with lace for Katherine

As of 2:30am today, we bring the total count to 13:

I love the matching ribbon that I found.

And... the obligatory booties.

This one is for Monica at work, who is due at the end of June. We won't find out until then if the sweater is for Alexis or for Carson. I'm sure either way it will look adorable.

Pattern, as always, is the Classic Cashmere Sweater from Simple Knits for Cherished Babies by Erika Knight. Yarn is Reynolds Cottontail, a blend of cotton and microfiber. I used a size 6 circular needle. I bought the yarn a week ago. Score one for procrastination.

Anniversaries

2009-05-18T22:13:00.000-04:00

an⋅ni⋅ver⋅sa⋅ry
[an-uh-vur-suh-ree] noun
1. the yearly recurrence of the date of a past event
2. the celebration or commemoration of such a date.

I don't blog too much about the goings-on in my non-knitting life, but tomorrow marks a special occasion: I've been working full time at my day job for a year. They celebrate by putting a sign on the front door, and I've often wondered how other people feel when they see their signs, especially those who have been with the company longer than I've been alive. So how did I feel when I saw the sign on my way out tonight? Proud, happy, relieved that they didn't forget... I've technically been there for a year and a half, but the first six months were through a temp agency. While this isn't the longest I've ever stayed at one job, this "celebration" does bring with it some important points:

* This job has less to do with my degree than any other job I've had. (And by "less to do" I actually mean "absolutely nothing to do...")
* In the past 18 months I have had responsibilities in 9 different departments: shipping, receiving, purchasing, accounting, customer service, reception, technical/programming, parts & inventory control, and special projects.
* I've survived three separate layoffs, 32-hour work weeks, and the current "3 weeks on, 1 week (unpaid) off" economic strategy.

Every day brings a new adventure (or at least different parts to cycle count), and there were at least a couple of times while I was laid off last week that I actually wished I was back at work. Here's to next year's "2 year" sign.

-----

Back in January, I passed my 7 year knitting anniversary. I love telling my learning-to-knit story, mostly because it involves many of my favorite people, including my Wyoming BFF Brenda, my friend Dion, and my continuing knitting inspirations, Maggie, Calvin, and Hallie.

Also, this month I've had my truck for three years. Woo! (It's a 2002 Ford Explorer Sport Trac. I heart it.)

Also, last month marked three years since my dad passed away. It's been a while since I've blogged a memory, so it seems about due. My dad hated nicknames. His name was Dennis, and when he was in school he would get in fist fights if anyone called him "Denny". He named his son "Sean" and his daughter "Brooke" in order to avoid the name-shortening nicknames. He despised the fact that my mom called me Brookie. Well, the name-shortening has mostly been avoided, Dad. Pretty much nobody calls me "Bro". Or "Broo". Or, uh, "Br". But the name-lengthening nicknames? Rampant, Dad, rampant. You'd be so disappointed. Recent examples include:

Brookie
Brookester
Brookeski
Brookelyn
Shorty

In fact, I'm pretty sure I get nicknamed more often than I'm called by my given name. Fortunately, though, I have a different take on nicknames than my dad did. I love them. I take them as terms of endearment from friends and family who care enough to go that extra syllable to show they care.

Security Blanket

2009-04-26T00:16:00.000-04:00

So, since I didn't have any other projects on the needles, a few nights ago I picked up a new sock yarn and a pattern I've been eyeing for a while, and cast on a new sock. I've been carrying this particular flat feet yarn around for a few weeks like a security blanket, wanting to knit it but knowing I shouldn't (because I was lying about the not-having-any-other-projects-on-the-needles thing). Anyway, since I cast on this sock, I've had perfect project monogamosity, and in fact have been rather OCD about it. So, I finished it today while working at a fiber festival in Troy, OH. It was quite convenient to fling the flat over my shoulder and walk around while knitting the sock, and lots of people were intrigued by the unraveling-to-knit idea. Fun fun.

Then Dani made me cast on the second one. Since this is technically the seventh single sock (without a partner, and no, I have no guilt about this) I have going right now, it seems a shame to ruin the record by actually making the second sock. I guess we'll see.

Yarn: Flat Feet by Conjoined Creations, springy sock club version.
Needles: Size 2 dpns, of course.
Pattern: Mockery Socks, by Katie Grady (ravelry link - free download)

Sockstrava-licious!

2009-04-20T14:49:00.000-04:00

What would you do with a perfect sunny Spring day, a dozen sock knitters, piles of food, and a bunch of natural-colored sock yarn?

Why, you'd have a Spring Sockstravaganza, that's what!

Here's the final result of our dyeing:

And here are some of my favorite progress pictures:

Everybody got a door prize...

We had a great, successful sock yarn swap...

We even got some sock knitting done!

PHEW! Big fun.
Thanks to Tobie & Wendy for helping to set up and for keeping the store running while we were trying to take over.
Thanks to Dani for agreeing to be my assistant for the day and for jumping at every beck and call.
Thanks to Lisa for her generous donation of supplies and time helping me learn the process. We missed you!!!
And thanks to all the ladies who joined us for the day: Cheryl, Sherry, Terri, Kathy, Cathy, Laurey, Leslie, Dominique, Karen, Michelle, and Melinda... You guys made my day! I can't wait to do it again.

OH! P.S... here are the two lovlies that I dyed on Saturday. I can't wait to use them!

Return of the WIPs*

2009-04-09T20:32:00.000-04:00

*works in progress

So, I've kind of gotten to the point where I mostly wait until I finish a project before I post about it, and it seems that it has been therapeutic in the past to post about my WIPs, so that I could get reassurance that I'm not the only one who has all of these crazy things going on at the same time. So without further ado, I present my most recent WIPs.

Boysenberry thingie for the youngest niece. It's for her birthday, which isn't until October, but clearly it made sense to start it ASAP.

Something blue and sort of stripy for the nephew.

Something mauvey-lipsticky colored for the oldest niece. This one is technically an FO, but it still needs a button, so I'm counting it as a WIP.

Unstretched burgundy alpaca crochet lace scarf. I started it just to see if I could do it, and I can, so it doesn't hold much priority anymore. But it's pretty, and fun, and I just need to make myself work on it.

1x1 rib scarf with Sedona (wool/silk blend). What? Two scarves in a row? I don't know... I love the yarn, and it's a perfect mindless project. We can picks it up when we wants to knit but don't wants to thinks.

Blue & white Tychus hat, made for a store School Spirit event. Not due till June 1. Done on April 8. BOO YAH! (Okay, so this isn't technically a WIP, but it was while I was knitting it.)

Cables & Corrugations sock from Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters, knit with Malabrigo sock yarn and square knitting needles (which I HEART). I've been leading a knitalong for this book at the store once a month since January. No, this isn't the extent of my progress. See next WIP.

Cedar Dancing Socks from Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters. I'm knitting this one from Fleece Artist yarn, and it's kind of big, and I think it's time to start increasing, and I'm not feeling it anymore. This is the one I started for the knitalong.

More socks? What? Don't mind if I do!

Cookie A's Twisted Flower socks in Claudia's Handpainted Limeade. The last time we saw this sock was last August. I tried it on. It fit, but it stretches out ALL the way and looks awful. So I put it in time-out for a while, but we recently got some of Cookie's individual patterns at the store, and I want to use this one as a sample, so I got it out again and renewed my love for this pattern. I'm thinking about auctioning off the pair if I ever get them both done.

New socks? We got 'em! Top: another Marlene in Rio de la Plata yarn. Hopefully for me. Middle: Brigit #2 in Berroco's Comfort Sock. (The first one is done. Seriously, this is a second sock.) Bottom: Hedera, maybe? It's Deborah Norville yarn that I got at Hobby Lobby. It's pretty and soft and I haven't gotten very far.

Look! It's a finished object (FO) and a WIP all at the same time! I finished my first Twisted Pretzel sock (what is it with my obsession with patterns with the word 'twisted' in the title? nevermind. don't answer that.), and I've been hesitating starting the second one because I was trying to decide if I should make it exactly the same (starting with blue and ending with blue) or switch it up (starting with yellow and ending with yellow). But my wise friend Kimmie told me that I need to make it exactly the same (blue --> blue) because otherwise I would make myself crazy. She's right. But I still haven't started the second sock yet.

There may be another couple of socks and/or amigurumis and/or baby sweaters that I'm thinking about and may have potentially started. Oh, and I'll be starting Christmas stocking store samples soon, too.

So why is it that I still have trouble deciding what to knit some nights?**

**Too many choices. I know, I know.

Harold

2009-04-03T22:10:00.004-04:00

hello my name is harold i am a hedgehog
i don't have legs but i do have this flower
i like you very much will you be my friend?
i will always bring you a smile and a flower
because i like you - you are nice
okay have a nice day goodbye!

Squeaker

2009-03-31T20:40:00.001-04:00

Having just realized that I've only posted once this month (Bad monkey!), I thought I'd squeak one in at the last minute, to save the three and a half readers I might (might!!!) have left. (Hi, y'all!)

Another successful trip to Mad Potter, where I stole color ideas from Lisa and polka dots from Wendy, resulted in a new plate. Everybody needs a new plate, right?

That's a dark chocolate brown plate with some white, tan, brown, and various shades of blue polka dots, in case your monitor doesn't want to show you the right colors (and in case my monitor/camera isn't being honest with me). I heart it.

-----

Something I'm really looking forward to in April is the Spring Sockstravaganza happening at the yarn store with my sock clubbers on the 18th. We're having a day-long event where we're going to dye sock yarn, swap sock yarn, give away scads of door prizes, potluck our lunch, and knit socks to our hearts' content. I can't wait.

In preparation, my friend Lisa, the professional-yarn-and-roving-and-wool-dyer, gave me a brief and informative lesson on dying yarn, so that I'll have a tiny clue what I'm talking about on the 18th. Here's my result:

That's a dark teal with a bright orange, in case you're wondering how I could possibly want to put those two colors together. (This, I explained, is why I wear jeans or khaki pants with solid colored shirts. Tough to mess that up.) I'm actually really excited about winding up this yarn and knitting something with it. Any good suggestions? It's about 200 yards of worsted weight yarn. And its, uh... teal and orange. Thoughts?

So, These Things Have All Been Finished For A While Now...

2009-03-18T19:32:00.002-04:00

But, you know how it is. The people you make stuff for are the same people that read your blog, and you don't want to ruin the surprise (although sometimes you ruin the surprise anyway but they really don't mind). So I've had a couple things done for a little while and everybody that they were meant for has seen them, so now you get to see them, too. What a bargain for you.

In February I got to go paint pottery at a cool place in Mason called Mad Potter (teehee, almost as good as Kiln Time, where I used to go when I lived in Dayton), with my BFFs Wendy and Tobie. I almost never go with a plan in mind, and when I found the cutest tea pot, I knew I needed to paint it for my favorite tea partiers.

My mom and her oldest granddaughter, Maggie, absolutely LOVE to have tea parties (and they have the tea sets to prove it). I'm sure that very soon, it will take little convincing to incorporate baby Hallie into the tea party extravaganzas. So, it's not for lack of tea pots that I painted this one, but it was because I thought they might need a tea pot that reminds them of their royalty (and also that Annie Grook loves them VERY much).

This is the other side. This side is to remind them, that, um, the tea pot is for, umm, you know, tea. Or apple juice. Or water. Or margaritas. Okay, not for margaritas. And yes, Wendy, I painted it all by myself.

We have another Mad Potter outing planned for this coming Friday. I can't wait!

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This next project goes to show that word really does get around. My mom is a teacher, and the librarian at her school will have a brand new grand-niece this summer. And, uh, she wanted to know if I would knit something for her. (Now, this isn't a "My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who saw Ferris pass out at 31 Flavors last night." type thing... I was a librarian's aide for this librarian when I was in high school, and she is pretty much the coolest librarian ever.)

Anyway, here's a Baby Shrug from Debbie Bliss (free pattern, super fun, highly recommended), made from I Love This Cotton, purchased at Hobby Lobby. Size 8 needles made for a quick knit, especially when making the smallest (3-6 months) size. I couldn't not make it in pink, but I also have a green/white variegated yarn that I want to try, just to see how it works up.

I had this idea in my head for this really cute, creative picture of the shrug hanging on the clothesline (this is not that picture), but the dogs that live next door to my mom were outside and barking their heads off, and I was trying to make sure Mocha (Mom's puppy) didn't harrass the other dogs or run out of the yard, and this was the only clothesline picture I could manage. So do me a favor: close your eyes and imagine super cute, super creative picture of super cute pink baby shrug on super cute clothesline. Awww!

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Last, but certainly not least, and probably my new favorite sock pattern of all time, I would like to present my March Socks! (They were supposed to be my February socks, but I didn't finish them until March, and even at that, I actually should have finished them last November, but I definitely didn't do that, in fact I didn't even start them until after November sometime, and I'm trying not to stress out about it, because they're done, and the recipient finally has them, according to my delivery confirmation from the USPS.)

Oh how I love these socks. The pattern is #03 Marlene, found in the Fall/Winter '08 issue of Knit.1 magazine, and designed by my favorite sock designer, Cookie A. The yarn is Merino Mia, purchased at Great Yarns in Everett, WA, color Mocha. I used my perfect sock knitting needles, size 2 double points. I am proud of my monogomosity with this pair of socks; I didn't knit much on any other socks between when I started and finished this pair, other than one sock I knitted at the store for the Cat Bordhi knitalong.

These socks winged (wung?) their way back to Washington this week to my SIL Morgan, who was meant to have them last November for her birthday, but who totally understands the reasons behind late gifts, and who, fortunately, will not outgrow things I knit for her before I can finish them, even if they are four months late. Thanks, Morgan. Happy belated! I love you!

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p.s. I challenge you all to use the word monogomosity in everyday conversation.

Heart Slacker

2009-02-25T17:56:00.000-05:00

Sorry, readers. I made an attempt, but I guess my HEART just wasn't in it. Plus, we've already determined (twice) that I'm not a good rule-follower. That doubly applies when we're talking about rules I've made up for myself, apparently.

Have you ever noticed how as soon as you publicly declare that you're not overly fond of a certain month, the birthdays just start coming out of the woodwork? That happened to me last week, and I do HEART the following people very much:

Feb 17: My BFF Wendy's birthday. She and her sisters recently started an awesome blog to share all of their crafty and creative endeavors. It's a great read if you get a chance. She posted about our trip to Mad Potter last Friday; it was my first paint-your-own-pottery night in years and years. I can't wait to go back again next month, now that I remember how much I HEART paint-your-own-pottery places. I'll post pictures of my item soon!

Feb 18: My coworker Jane's birthday. She doesn't read this blog, but she and I got our forklift licenses at the same time, and I totally love working with her. The poor girl was sick on her big day, so we had to leave all her Payday bars and candy in her desk.

Feb 19: My friend and debate partnerJoy's birthday. I've known Joy since September 1994 (that can't possibly be almost 15 years, can it?), when we took an honor's class in college together. From hot chocolate parties, an Easter road trip to New York City including a great white-out blizzard experience, and debate tournaments to eating sushi, knitting socks, and chatting on Facebook, Joy has been a great friend and is someone I really look up to.

Feb 20: My friend and former coworker Kara's birthday. Kara and I were training specialists together for what seems like a very short time, and I'm really glad that we are still in touch. She's part of the green club (which will hopefully reconvene soon, with the addition of Chris), and she also wants me to teach her to knit, so that she can learn how to make socks! I'm very much looking forward to that, and it's on me to come up with a day, so I'd better do that soon.

-----

In other news, we had a baby shower today for a girl at work who is due on April 2. She's the one who made my awesome turtle cake for my birthday, so I knew I needed to do something special for her. I had some Blue Sky organic cotton in the stash (in the stash!!), and decided to improvise a sweater for the baby. She's having a boy, so the navy and green were perfect. So, without further ado, the improvised baby sweater:

It's a knit 3, purl 1 rib pattern, and the stripes are such that the next color you want is always where you want it to be when you want it to be there. (Two rows navy, one row white, two rows green, one row white, and so on.)

It's approximately 6-9 months size, so hopefully it will fit him next winter.

My monkey wanted to try it on. Hopefully it will be cuter on the baby. :) I'm not completely satisfied with how it turned out, but it is cute. And... it did get the biggest "Awwwwwwwww"s at the shower today.

Now I'm going to have to bust my butt to get my February socks done in... uh... 3 days.

I HEART This Quick List

2009-02-11T20:08:00.001-05:00

February 6
I HEART Monk and Psych.

February 7
I HEART sock club, and all my sock club members, and knitting socks, and being at my yarn store, and sock yarn, and sock needles, and sock patterns. I know this surprises all of you, dear readers, but you'll get over it.

February 8
I HEART great, creepy books being made into great, creepy movies. If you haven't seen (or read!) Coraline, I highly recommend it.

February 9
I HEART the recently-formed Green Club, which consists of Kimmie, Kara, Leslie and myself going to Noodles & Company for lunch the last two Mondays. (I also HEART Kimmie, Kara, and Leslie.)

February 10
I HEART 5:00 pm. Moreso on days like today than usual.

February 11
I HEART taking off my work boots when I get home. This HEART is very much related to yesterday's HEART.

... And On ...

2009-02-05T20:32:00.001-05:00

February 4
I HEART hand knitted foot cozies.

I've been loving this particular pair of Fuzzy Feet for a smidge over three years, and it's starting to show.

I think I might need to start knitting another pair for backup.

It's a good thing I have hand knitted foot cozy big toe protection underneath.

I HEART double power hand knitted foot cozies!

February 5
It's Thursday, and even though I know you know this already, I HEART Burn Notice.

On MacGyver, I used to get very jealous of any girl that MacGyver was seeing or, heaven forbid, kissing. It was ridiculous that he would allow those girls to hang on him like that. Seriously. But it's different with Fiona. She's competition, yes, but she likes to blow things up. There's nothing wrong with that.

And Brenda, you're absolutely right about Sam. Your love for Bruce Campbell rubbed off onto me ("Name's Ash. Housewares." "Gimme some sugar, baby.") and I love the role he plays in this show. He's perfect.

Ah. I HEART Thursdays.

My HEART Will Go On

2009-02-03T21:03:00.001-05:00

I don't like February. I've discovered this over the past couple of years... it's very difficult for me to get anything done in February. It's hard for me to be inspired, it's hard for me to be excited, it's hard for me to be in a good mood... it's even hard for me to pronounce February! Seriously. Say it a few times in a row and listen to how ridiculous it sounds. Stupid February.

NO! Not this year! Happy February! I'm taking February back.

I've decided I'm going to find at least one thing to be super happy about every day this February. And since it is American Heart Month after all... everything I pick will be something that I HEART!

So, without further ado...

February 1
I HEART knitting patterns that inspire me to cast on and knit them right away! This heart pattern (are you sensing a theme?) was one of the Knitty surprises this winter, and it made me so happy when I saw it that I had to cast on the very day it became available. It uses sock yarn and itty bitty needles, and I had two perfect yarns in my stash. The variegated red is Fleece Artist, and the solid is Louet Gems. Don't tell her, but I'm giving this one to my friend Joyer, because I HEART her, too!

February 2
I HEART my mom.

After my post about my 25 random things, she tried to post a comment with 25 comments on my 25 random things, but it wouldn't let the comment publish, so she printed them out and sent them to me. I totally HEART this list, and I have her permission to post it here.

1. You've never followed the rules.
2. You write the rules.
3. In kindergarten, you refused to make a project because your brother had already made one two years earlier.
4. I was not furious about the ballet class; I was extremely embarrassed.
5. There was no controlling you.
6. You were SO CUTE in your tutu!
7. The ballet instructor was NOT a nice person.
8. I still have to hide the band-aids from you.
9. Wasn't your detective agency's first job to find the band-aids?
10. Remember looking through the corn in the garden to find clues?
11. You were at G'ma and G'pa Mowery's house at breakfast when you asked for the "gravy." My mom and dad thought you were hysterically funny!
12. "Gravy" is an awesome knick-name!
13. Dad insisted you take marching band. I was distraught because you were so... hysterical... but NOT funny!
14. Which car's engine died because you "forgot" to check the oil?
15. A T-rex is allowed to stomp on the grass but is too tough to get injured. I am doubting the hyper-extension...
16. "You and I both know you rolled through that stop sign."
17. Great job list -- you are so versatile!
18. The un-engagement -- you totally lucked out on that one!
19. Dad loved the ocean-in-a-bottle you brought back from LA.
20. You are an incredible knitter! (Thanks, Brenda!)
21. All of your knitting fans adore their socks.
22. How long is the waiting list of people who want more socks?
23. Your sweater is doggone outrageous-gorgeous!!!
24. Excuse me... costumes for turtles? Are you trying to pull the wool over our eyes? BAAA-humbug!!!
25. LOVE THE PRIZE!!!

(My mom is SO adorable! I HEART HER!!!)

February 3
I HEART my sister-in-law!

I am SO proud of her. She is learning how to knit socks! I sent her some sock yarn and some needles and a beginning pattern, and she's braving it with the help of her mom. I don't know how she does everything she does and still has time for learning how to knit socks and post pictures of her adorable children and everything else she does! I don't tell her often enough how much I love and appreciate her. I HEART you, Morgan!

(Plus, the other night when we were talking online, she gave me my most favoritest title ever. She called me a Knitting Ninja Master Pirate Queen! Yeah!)

Random 25 Things

2009-01-29T19:23:00.000-05:00

So there's this thing going around on Facebook where you're supposed to write 25 random things about yourself and then tag 25 people to write random things about themselves and tag 25 other people... and so on. It's kind of like a pyramid scheme of randomness. I wrote my list but didn't tag anyone, because I am the type of person who laughs in the face of rules.

HA HA HA!!!

Okay, well, maybe I only laugh in the face of rules for memes that don't really make any difference to real life. Yeah, uh... that's it.

So here's my list of 25 random things that I just know you'll be thrilled to read. But YOU get a special prize at the end, unlike my Facebook buddies. You just have to ~~read~~ ~~skim~~ scroll to the end of this post for your prize. Enjoy!

1. My first recorded career choice (in kindergarten) was School Bus Driver.

2. When I was five, I took a week-long ballet class. After the first or second day, I decided I didn't like the teacher, so I spent the rest of the week sitting on the piano bench. This was very infuriating to my mother, who had spent good money for me to take the class. This story involves a bit about Nestle Crunch Bars, which I will share with you at a later date.

3. When I was a kid, my mom had to hide the band-aids because if I had access to them, I would use them even if I didn't have a reason. As an adult, I have cultivated a band-aid collection featuring nearly two dozen different kinds, including 101 Dalmatians, two different Jurassic Park movies, the 1996 Olympic games, crayon-shaped bandaids, pirates, Spiderman, and The Cat in the Hat, to name a few. My most recent addition to the collection are bandaids with little ambulances all over them. My favorites are the ones that come in the metal boxes. I like to use the ambulance band-aids whenever it's necessary to call the Waaaaaaah-mbulance. Yes, I pulled out the entire collection in order to report this accurately. This random fact has officially gotten out of control.

4. My brother and I had our own detective agency when we were kids. Mom would hide things and then give us clues leading to other clues which led to other clues which finally led us to the things she hid. The first thing we found for her was her hairbrush.

5. Someone gave my brother the nickname "Higgy Baby". I tried to become "Higgy Baby, Jr." but it never really caught on.

6. My mom and dad nicknamed me Gravy. One time when we were having breakfast for dinner, I asked for someone to pass the gravy instead of the syrup. Seriously, "Gravy" is not more catchy than "Higgy Baby, Jr."

7. The two things I miss the most from high school are marching band and youth group. I fought tooth and nail during 8th grade to get out of having to be in marching band. I'm glad my parents didn't give in on that one.

8. Six months after getting my driver's license, I totalled my dad's 1980 Chevy Luv Truck when I crashed into an Amish wagon. In my defense, it was dark outside, the wagon had no lights or reflectors, and it was stopped half-on and half-off of a country road because it had been clipped by another car a short while earlier. Amazingly, no one was injured.

9. When I was a junior and senior in high school, I worked in the children's department of the public library. It was my responsibility to take care of Dewey, the hamster. One Dewey died on my watch, after biting me while I was trying to clean out his cage. I don't think the biting and the dying are related.

10. I graduated from high school as one of ten valedictorians.

11. One of the things I miss most from college is being on the debate team. My first partner and I won first place in a novice tournament our first year. One of the most challenging things I've ever done is participate in Lincoln-Douglass style debate, where you are given the topic of the debate about an hour before the debate actually starts.

12. My very first car was a two-door, stick-shift Chevy Cavalier with a leaky moon roof. It was a hand-me-down from my brother for my sophomore year of college. Since then I've driven a Buick LeSabre(toothed-tiger), a Ford Tempo, a Saturn SL, and my current ride, a 2002 Ford Explorer Sport Trac, which I love.

13. It was during college (and because of the movie Home For The Holidays) that I discovered my inner Tyrannosaurus Rex. I was so dedicated to my inner dino that I hyper-extended my knee while stomping in the grass on the way to dinner one night.

14. I've been pulled over 8 times. For a while I had a trend going where on the odd times I'd only get a warning, and the even times I'd get a ticket. But then the 8th time I got pulled over, I got another warning. The ninth time? I'm gonna pay. The last time I got a ticket was eight and a half years ago. That's not too shabby.

15. I've had five different teaching jobs after college including a Christian school, an inner-city charter school, GED classes, Sylvan Learning Center, and training adults for the Girl Scouts.

16. I've had an number of non-teaching-related jobs since college, too, including writing online training (okay, that one is sort of teaching-related), admin for United Way, clerking and teaching knitting classes at a local yarn store (okay, okay... there's the "teaching" thing again), and my current job as a Parts & Inventory Control Assistant at a machine shop.

17. I was engaged for a little over five years. It, uh, didn't work out.

18. Two of my favorite vacations ever were with my friend Brenda. The first was when we house-sat for my brother & sister-in-law in their apartment in Los Angeles for a couple weeks. The second was when we went on a three day cruise to the Bahamas and got to spend time in Orlando, too.

19. The same Brenda taught me how to knit over her birthday weekend in January of 2002, when I started knitting a scarf for a co-worker. Shortly after, I found out I was going to be an aunt for the first time, and that was all the inspiration I needed to continue.

20. My niece Maggie (6 years old) has received a birthday sweater every year plus a 3-month sweater. My nephew Calvin (recently turned 3) has received a birthday sweater every year plus a newborn sweater. My new niece Hallie received a birth day sweater, and has many more birthday sweaters to look forward to. When Maggie turned five, she got to pick out the yarn and pattern for her birthday sweater. She gets to do that every year now, and Calvin, Hallie, and any other nieces and nephews I have will get to do the same thing once they turn five.

21. I knitted the sweater I'm wearing in my profile picture [on Facebook]. It took me ten months, but I had lots of other projects I worked on during that time, too. I think my favorite thing to knit is socks. However, I often have problems finishing the second one because by that time, I'm ready to move on to something new.

22. I am a published knitting designer. I've designed a hat, a baby sweater, and a set of costumes for a stuffed turtle.

23. I still work part time and teach at the knitting store. I run a sock club on Saturday mornings with a consistent attendance of a dozen or more participants. I am very proud to have been with the store since before they opened in the fall of 2005.

24. I can't decide if this is a list of 25 random things about me, or if it's a list of accomplishments, or if it's an annotated bullet list of my life. I thought it was going to be hard to come up with 25 whole things, and now I'm going to worry that I missed some really important ones. I need to stop over thinking things.

25. My most recent big accomplishment was earning my forklift operator's license at work during the first week of this year.

Ready for your prize? Here it is:

Ssssssssssssssssssssssssso?

2009-01-27T17:27:00.001-05:00

Ssssssssssssssssssssssssssnow.

Sssssssssssssssssssssssssspace heater.

Ssssssssssssssssssssssssssnacks.

Ssssssssssssssssssssssssssocks.*

Ssssssssssssssssssssssssssnake!

It's shaping up to be a ssssssssssssssssssssssssweet evening!

*More deets on the sock later... the second one is started. Don't worry, I'll keep you updated.

An Open Letter

2009-01-22T19:48:00.000-05:00

Dear Richard Dean Anderson,

I was a mere handful of days shy of nine years old when MacGyver first aired on September 29, 1985. I can still remember sitting in the old gym at Shreve Elementary School with Diana Sparr during an indoor recess (it must have been raining hard that day!), discussing the relative merits of the show, and how creative and inventive you were to be able to solve so many of the world's problems with items you might find in a desk drawer or pocketbook.

I have been a die-hard fan ever since. When Brenda and I moved into the house in Southgate in 2002, and she had all those seasons' worth of Stargate SG-1, my love for you was renewed as those DVDs were our go-to entertainment for many a knit-filled evening and weekend. Your leadership, strength and wit keep me watching the syndicated episodes on the Sci-Fi channel even to this day.

One of my very first blog posts was a tribute to you, and how you might have used knitting needles and accoutrements to solve even more social and world issues during MacGyver, if only your producer had had the vision.

I have told many a friend and family member about my great admiration for you and your work, and how I have been convinced for a very long time (23 years? Has it really been that long?) that some day you would come for me and take me away with you to live happily ever after. Sure, I have had a few little crushes here and there, but they never distracted me from my certain future with you.

I have been patient. I know the long wait will be worth it. But I feel I need to tell you something before it is too late.

You might want to hurry. You have competition.

Sincerely,
Brooke T. Higgins

*****

Burn Notice
All new episodes start tonight, January 22, at 10pm (EST) on USA Network.

Thank you, USA Network...

Baa-dorable

2009-01-21T18:44:00.000-05:00

I'm posting this story because I think these pictures are absolutely adorable and I want to be able to find them always. Someone on Ravelry posted about a real live Shaun the Sheep, and I had to have a look. You can click here to read the whole story, but I'll paraphrase for the click-o-phobic among us.

Apparently this little sheep named Jack Frost was born on January 1 and abandoned by his mom. Because of the sub-zero temperatures, the farm where he lives had to find a way to keep him extra warm, so they found a knitted sweater for him to wear! Apparently he's a friendly little guy, and he's been growing so fast they're worried he might outgrow his sweater before the weather warms up.

Too cute!

January Socks

2009-01-14T23:08:00.000-05:00

Crosshatch Lace Socks from More Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch

Yarn: Claudia's Handpainted, Cabin Fever colorway
Needles: US 2 dpns
Toe up (figure 8 cast on) with heel flap

For: Me! Who doesn't love new socks? I can't wait to wear them to sock club on Saturday. The second picture is the closest to actual colors. (Anybody else in Ohio miss taking pictures in actual sunlight?) This colorway vanished from the shelves quicker than a ninja on speed, so I'm really glad I snagged some before it was all gone. I chose a toe-up pattern to make sure I'd have enough yarn to finish, since Claudia's, while absolutely beautiful and soft and one of my favorite sock yarns of all time, doesn't have as much yardage as some other sock yarns. I think these turned out great.

I just wish somebody would tell me where my other sock blocker is. Hrmph.

Have you seen the new Cookie A. pattern in Knit.1 magazine? *swoon* I might have started it already. But no linky linky. They're a gift for someone who reads this blog, and if she wants to know what the pattern looks like, she's gonna have to do the research herself. Hehe. I'll post pictures when they're done, though. I might even find the other sock blocker by then.

Happy New Yarn!

2009-01-12T21:14:00.001-05:00

Christmas Flat Feet
Gift from: Morgan (birthday gift)
400 yards, 80% Superwash Merino, 20% Nylon
Purchased from: Great Yarns, Everett, WA

Malabrigo Sock, Cote D'Azure
Gift from: Morgan (birthday gift)
440 yards, Pure Superwash Merino
Purchased from: Great Yarns

Noro Silk Garden Sock, Color S252
Gift from: Lisa
300m, 40% Wool, 25% Silk, 25% Nylon, 10% Kid Mohair

Opal Sock, Dumbledore
Gift from: Karen
425m, 75% Superwash Wool, 25% Polyamid

Malabrigo Sock, Boticelli Red
Gift from: Mom
440 yards, Pure Superwash Merino
Purchased from: Great Yarns

Merino Mia, Mocha
Gift from: Mom
190 yards per skein, 100% Merino Wool
Purchased from: Great Yarns

Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine, Pea Soup Mix and Oceanic Mix
Gift from: Mom
433 yards each, 50% Peruvian Wool, 20% Super Fine Alpaca, 30% Nylon
Purchased from: Calla Lily Yarns, Wooster, OH

Misti Alpaca, Taos
Gift from: Mom
437 yards, 50% Alpaca, 30% Merino Wool, 10% Silk, 10% Nylon
Purchased from: Calla Lily Yarns

Lana Grossa Cool Wool, Color 438
Gift from: Aunt Karyl Lynn
160m, 100% Extrafine Merino Wool (7 balls)
Purchased from: Sew Krazy, Wooster, OH

Shibui Sock, Orchid
Gift from: Mom (for socks for a certain niece of mine)
191 yards, 100% Superwash Merino (one skein)
Purchased from: Sew Krazy

Merino Mia, Yosemie
Gift from: Mom (for socks for a certain nephew of mine)
190 yards, 100% Merino Wool
Purchased from: Sew Krazy

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Whew! Thanks to all the birthday Santas and Christmas Santas who made this post possible. Fortunately, about 4,137 yards of the above 5,362 yards of yarn are sock weight, because I was just about out of sock yarn. WOO HOO!!!

Christmas Angel

2008-12-29T22:24:00.000-05:00

Four years ago (three years ago? No, I think it was four...) we had crazazy snow and ice storms the week preceding Christmas. By the time I was ready to head Northeast to my parents' house, the kindly snowplows that cleaned my apartment building's parking lot had carefully piled snow, topped with ice, topped with more snow, right behind everyone's cars. My Saturn SL could only dream of getting over that mountain.

We had a "digging out" party in the parking lot one afternoon, where at least a half dozen tenants were in the parking lot at the same time. I didn't have my own snow shovel, so I asked a number of people if they would let me borrow theirs when they were finished. In true Christmas spirit, no one would commit to shovel-lending, although one kind neighbor did drive me to Meijer, where a frantic search led to zero snow shovels and a very frustrated Brooke.

I had called my parents a couple of times to let them know about my plight, only to find that they were stranded in a different way... they'd been without power for about a day.* (Fortunately this was before digital phones, so their phone worked just fine even though they were without power.) They encouraged me to keep trying to get my car out of the parking lot, and I scoured my apartment looking for innovative snow removal equipment.

Found: one aluminum softball bat.

Picture this: Drunken Monkey outside, aluminum softball bat in hand, kneeling over the pile of snow and ice behind her car, beating valiantly at said pile and brushing tiny clumps of snow and ice to the side. Four years later (three years?), it's kind of funny to think about. Then, it was a desperate attempt to get the heck out of dodge.

So I'm beating and brushing, whacking and wiping, smacking and smoothing, and thinking just how ridiculous I must look, when an old beat-up sedan drove through the parking lot and parked near the dumpster. A middle-aged man with long hair tied back with a bandana and wearing a Harley Davidson jacket got out, along with a junior-high-ish-aged boy. He came over to me and asked me if I needed a push. I could have kissed him. With his help (and the slight indentation I had made in the snow/ice pile with my softball bat), the car made it over the hump and I drove it over to a section of parking lot that had been completely cleared. I quickly packed my stuff and boogied out of here as quickly as possible.

I've lived here ever since and have never seen that guy again. I call him my Harley's Christmas Angel.

-----

This year, however, brought a completely different kind of angel. I drove Northeast again this year to spend Christmas with Mom and Aunt Karyl Lynn. We had a few great and lazy days, with all sorts of good food and silly puppies and two seasons of Psych on DVD. However, the night before Christmas I noticed that something was missing from the nativity scene in front of Mom's tree. Where was the angel?

Ah.. there she is. Knitasha got an angel outfit for Christmas this year, and I'd say she pulls it off pretty well. What do you think?

Aunt Karyl Lynn and I took her to Calla Lily Yarn & Gifts on Friday to show Donna, but she was out of town. So we looked around and might have picked up a thing or two. (I'll post about Christmas yarn in the next couple days, promise.)

-----

Last year I had another experience with a Christmas angel. I held open the door at Panera for a man on a very rainy day a few days before Christmas. He got in line in front of me on the sandwich side. It was one of those days where you spend the whole time in line thinking you probably should have gotten in the other line because it's moving faster, but as soon as you think you might step over there, three more groups of people get in that other line and you end up staying where you are, but you wish you'd made the move just a moment sooner.

Anyway, this guy in front of me picked up a handful of gift cards as he got up to the register, and I couldn't help thinking, "You have got to be kidding me... this is going to take for. ev. er." All I was going to do was get a drink and play on my laptop for a little bit. And this guy was going to waste a good... what, two minutes of my oh-so-valuable time? So I'm being a rotten jerk inside my head, and he turns around and hands me one of the gift cards he just bought, and thanks me once again for holding the door open for him.

I picked my jaw up off the floor, mentally smacked myself, and gave him a big hug. He told me to have a blessed Christmas, and he went about his merry way. Talk about a Christmas-spirit attitude adjustment.

Have you ever met a Christmas angel? I'd love to hear about it in the comments.

-----

*All together, my parents were without power for more than 80 hours that Christmas. All my dad got for Christmas that year was a stack of DVDs about two feet tall. And really, there's only so much reading you can do from the back of a DVD case before you have to put it down. We spent much of Christmas day squeezing the foot of one of Mom's presents... a stuffed dog who sang "Singing in the Rain" while tapping his toes and swinging his umbrella back and forth.

Regardless, it was MUCH nicer spending Christmas with them and cooking hamburgers on the wood stove than it would have been spending Christmas alone in my apartment. Memories!!

Caution

2008-12-11T21:31:00.014-05:00

My recently-turned-three-year-old nephew Calvin is awesome. He loves trains and cars and trucks and books and guns and Monkey George and any game you can play with a dodo (ball). He talks up a storm and chases his big sister and finds ways to keep his baby sister from screaming. It was so incredible to see him over Thanksgiving, since the last time Mom and I had seen him was a year and a half ago... half of his lifetime! He's (obviously) SO different now and it was a blast to get to know him again.

These all seem fairly common characteristics of a three-year-old boy, but something you might not know about Calvin is that he has a bit of... spirit. I'm fairly certain that everyone who has ever met him has been witness to that stubborn, fire-y streak, so I thought it only fair that his third birthday sweater be a warning to all.

And if that's not enough (you know some people have trouble heeding vague warning signs...), the back reads:

And Calvin loved it. He wore it a lot while we were there, and I hope he's still enjoying it. It's his "chicken" sweater. He calls lots of things "chicken", and that's a lot easier (and let's face it, more fun) than saying "construction". Here he is on Sunday morning rocking his sister's carseat so she'd stay happy right before we headed to church:

(Please note that Hallie is still wearing her February baby sweater and Saartje's booties. The west-coast Higgins's seem to be an often happily be-knitted family.)

Calvin's sweater is the Knitting Pure & Simple top-down raglan for kids, and I designed the colorwork after seeing a caution tape scarf in CRAFT magazine a while back. I used Berroco Comfort Worsted yarn and size 9 needles. I refuse to admit that it took me until 12:30am the night before our flight left to finish it.

-----

Maggie and Calvin both got new socks a few weeks before Thanksgiving, too (so much for Valentine's socks).

Maggie's are the Handsome Devil pattern, using two different balls of Cascade fixation. I had seen someone else do these colors on the Six Sox Knitalong, and had to try it myself, only Maggie-sized.

Calvin's are Charlie's Dragon Socks from Cat Bordhi's New Directions for Sock Knitters book. First of all, let me tell you how much I love this book. I LOVE this book! I can't wait to experiment with more of the patterns and sock chickens. Umm, sock constructions. It's so much fun! And you can completely customize your socks for anyone with the super helpful charts.

Why dragon socks? Because you can unbutton and unfurl the dragon tails and let them fly out behind you as you scamper about your business, that's why. I used Opal Handpainted yarn double-stranded for the main color, and a reddish brown Trekking yarn for the tail spikes.

Heehee. :)

My nephew's feet amuse me.

P.S. If you aren't yet convinced that I am completely smitten with my nephew, please note that these are all the tails I had to weave in times TWO dragon tails. Love love love...

Why It's Always Worth It To Knit For Babies, Take 2*

2008-11-04T18:00:00.006-05:00

As promised, my new niece Hallie wore her new Elizabeth Zimmerman February Baby Sweater and Saartje's booties (pdf) home from the hospital.

I think she liked it. (Please note: I am not showing you the pictures of her wearing the sweater and screaming. I'm fairly sure she was screaming about something other than the sweater, but just to be safe, I'm not going to show those to you.)

And, just because I'm sure you'll love this picture as much as I do, here's some adorable baby bottom.

*If you are wondering why this post is Take 2, click here for Take 1.

Big Fun Times

2008-10-07T19:51:00.008-04:00

Since we last spoke, an incredible amount of amazingness has occurred.

Thing one: BLOGIVERSARY.
That's right, the Drunken Monkey is officially three years old. Who would have guessed the madness would have lasted this long. Sure, the Monkey writes less these days, but she's still knitting (and even crocheting!!!) like mad and attempting to entertain the masses. Thanks for still reading! I heart ALL my readers. (Even Knitsie. Remember Knitsie?)

Thing two: BIRTHDAY.
That's right, as of last friday (October 3) the Drunken Monkey is officially 32 years old. That's right. 32 and proud of it. None of this 29-and-holding stuff. 32. That's the brink of birthday-candle-bankruptcy and frightening the smoke alarms. But I still love my birthday, and I think it's because I'm spoiled rotten.

Friday morning I walked into work to scads and scads of posters covering the walls proclaiming that it was my birthday. My cubicle was decked out in streamers, balloons, more posters, and flowers.

Then came the cake. Everyone at work knows about Knit Knack and Knitasha, and their only conclusion was that I MUST have a turtle cake for my birthday. So Amy hired her cousin (who also works there, just in a different department) to bake a turtle cake.

Honestly, this cake deserves its own blog post. His eyes and the decorations around the edge of his shell are Apple Jacks. The shapes on the back of his shell? Fruit Rollups. But not just any Fruit Rollups. These are Fruit Rollups with Batman tattoos on them. Oh yes.

Needless to say, I felt loved. Then about 30 minutes after we'd eaten turtle cake (which was about 30 minutes after we'd scarfed down donuts), we heard an unexpected visitor walking down the hallway saying, "I'm looking for someone who's having a birthday!" It was my MOM!!! I had no idea she was coming, but she had asked for a personal day (six weeks before!) and drove three hours Friday morning to come find me at work and surprise me for my birthday.

(Are you starting to see how I'm spoiled rotten?)

Not only that, but she came armed with ANOTHER cake and a bunch of presents, including a new book about how Knit Knack and Knitasha met at a PICNIC, of all things. I gave her the grand tour, she hugged nearly everyone in the building, and we got to leave early (which had been pre-planned by me... I mean, if you have to work on your birthday, you should at least be able to leave early, right?).

The rest of the weekend was a birthday whirlwind with dinner with Dani and her mom, baking sock cookies, going to sock club (where I was again ridiculously spoiled... I have NO idea where they found out it was my birthday!!! I certainly didn't tell them two weeks before to make sure they were properly prepared...), hanging out with Dani at a craft fair, and dinner with Kimmie and Chris and Leslie on Sunday. Phew!

Monday night I got to have dinner with Wendy and hang out for a bit at Barnes & Noble where a gift card from Tobie and Wendy bought me the Yarn Harlot's new book and a book on how to turn old socks into stuffed animals. Much too cute.

Thanks to everyone for making my birthday a blast!

But I'm not done.

Thing three: BABY!
Monday, October 6, at 1:23am, I became an aunt for the third time! Hallie Rae joined the west coast Higgins family, and we're all VERY excited.

Thanks to my brother and his handy iPhone for the pictures. You can see more here. Mom and I get to go visit at Thanksgiving.

-----

As you can see, it's been a crazy busy fun weekend. I do have to give a shout out to Miss Katherine, who shares my birthday, and for whom I was unable to finish a birthday sweater in time. But I'm still working on it, and fortunately she's just turned two and might not care TOO much that I'm late. LOVE!

Wool Gathering '08

2008-09-26T18:54:00.005-04:00

The most important thing about this year's Wool Gathering was the change to the welcome sign.

Here's the picture from two years ago:

And here's the picture from this year:

I feel so much better. Don't you?

Kimmie and I trekked to Yellow Springs last Sunday to enjoy another Wool Gathering. Everything was pretty much the same, and we loved every bit of it. The yarn, the roving, the knitters, the spinners, the sheeps, the ducks, the ice cream... What more could you pack into one day?

You'd be proud of me. I only bought one skein of sock yarn. Yes, that's right. One skein. And you can ask Kimmie and Wendy, it was a fight to the finish. I had my heart set on yarn from Knitting Knotions all afternoon, but finally succumbed to the allure of more Casbah from Handmaiden. I also got a monkey stitch marker and a couple sheepy Christmas ornaments. I'll show you pictures later. I also took video this time of the duck-herding sheep dog, but I'm not able to upload it at the moment.

Things to look forward to!
Here at Drunken Monkey Knits!
Things!
To look forward to!

:)

Six Birthday Sweaters

2008-09-16T18:22:00.007-04:00

Last year, before turning the significant five years old, Maggie got to choose the pattern and yarn for her birthday sweater. This year, I had the opportunity to take her to a yarn store to pick out her yarn, but I knew we needed to pick out the pattern first. I had about seven different patterns that I couldn't narrow down. I showed them to Mom, who said that was way too many patterns to offer. I asked her which ones I should take out, and she couldn't decide, so I showed all seven to Maggie. After briefly showing and explaining each pattern, Maggie chose her pattern with no hesitation. "The cable one." I asked her if there was a reason for her choice, and she told me her Gigi (her grandma in Washington) had a cable sweater, and she wanted one like that.

The pattern is Down Under from The Yarn Girls' Guide to Knits for Older Kids.

Then it was off to Calla Lily Yarn & Gifts in Wooster, where, aided by the lovely Donna...

We promptly found every pink yarn in the building. We narrowed the selection by the important washability factor, and ended up with Cascade Cotton Club (a cotton & acrylic blend, very squooshy) as the main yarn, and Cascade Pearls for accents around the hem and cuffs.

I think it turned out pretty well.

My sister-in-law told me that when presents were about to be opened, Maggie shook each one because she wanted to open her sweater first! I'm so excited that she enjoys picking out her patterns and yarns, because that means she's invested in the process and can be proud of her decisions. There aren't any pictures of her wearing it yet (it's still too warm out for sweaters, of course!), but I hear it fits well with room for growing, which is definitely good news.

Happy Birthday, Maggie.. can't wait to see you at Thanksgiving!

Monster Made Me Do It

2008-09-03T00:12:00.002-04:00

Secrets Revealed

2008-08-07T21:02:00.003-04:00

While some of you have become privy to my secret Spring adventures, some of you have been waiting on pins and noodles since early June when I told you my May blog hiatus had been for silent and secretive purposes. Well, now those secrets can be revealed and we can all celebrate.

Knit Picks is now selling kits to make Sheldon and his "career" shells, designed by yours truly.

Now, you too can make a pirate outfit, beach bum outfit, policeman outfit, cowboy outfit, and Superman outfit for your own snappily-dressed turtle.

A lot of blood, sweat, and tears went into these patterns. I did this sport-weight set plus a worsted-weight set that I think will be offered later on. The original designer of the Sheldon pattern, Ruth Homrighaus, designed a completely different set that will come out in another couple months.

Whew!

Here are a few of the pictures I took before sending Sheldon and his outfits off to the gang at Knit Picks.

And here's Knit Knack trying on the cowboy outfit before it was sent.

You can buy your set here. There's a knitalong on the Knit Picks website, and they even have a fan page on Facebook. I hope you enjoy Sheldon and get inspired to knit some costumes of your own!

(Props to my good friend Lisa who test knit the pirate and Superman costumes seen above.)

-----

Phew. I'm glad I could finally get that off my chest.

Now I'm going to go pack, because tomorrow I'm driving to Michigan to see BRENDA!!! If last year was any indication, it's going to be a blast. I'll be back next week with pictures and a play-by-play. Have a great weekend!

What's Up?

2008-08-01T20:41:00.000-04:00

I started a new sock.

Pattern: Francie
Yarn: Comfort Sock, grey
Needles: US 2 dpns

It's a good thing I started it. I didn't have any socks to knit otherwise. Honest. I didn't already have six separate and stylishly stubborn single-sock-syndrome samples suffering shamefully in several stages of startitis. See?

1. Pattern: Hedera; Yarn: Panda Silk; Needles: US 1, two circulars

2. Pattern: Show Off Stranded Socks (pdf); Yarn: Socks That Rock, Red Rock Canyon; Needles: US 2 dpns

3. Pattern: Twisted Flower; Yarn: Claudia's Hand Painted, Limeade; Needles: US 2 dpns

4. Pattern: Mini Pretzel Twists; Yarn: Twisted Fiber Art, Arial; Needles: US 2 magic loop

5: Pattern: Handsome Devil; Yarn: Cascade Fixation; Needles: US 3 dpns

6: Pattern: Brigit; Yarn: Comfort Sock, red; Needles: US 2 dpns

Phew. I'd hate to be without a sock on the needles. Welcome, Francie sock.

-----

Yeah. So, I also added buttons to my February baby sweater and made one bootie.

I feel so honored! This sweater set is for my not-yet-born niece who is due in October, and my sister-in-law has already asked if she could use this sweater as the baby's coming-home outfit! I completely love that idea and am so happy to oblige. Better get that other bootie done.

And lastly, meet Parker:

Pattern: Baby Penguin from Amigurumi World
Yarn: Cotton Rich in black and yellow, mercerized cotton in light blue, and some leftover angora in white for the belly spot.
Hook: 3.5mm

I heart you, Parker Penguin.

Elephant Jokes

2008-07-23T18:46:00.000-04:00

Q: Why did the Elephant stand on the marshmallow?
A: So she wouldn't fall in the hot chocolate.

Q: Why is an elephant big, grey, and wrinkly?
A: Because, if it was small, white and smooth it would be an Aspirin.

Q: What is grey and not there.
A: No elephants.

Q: What do you call two elephants on a bicycle?
A: Optimistic!

Q: Why do elephants have trunks?
A: Because they would look silly with glove compartments.

Q: What is beautiful, gray and wears glass slippers?
A: Cinderelephant.

Pattern: Girl Elephant from Amigurumi World: Seriously Cute Crochet
Yarn: Berroco Comfort Worsted
Hook: 3.5mm

Her name, according to my BFF Wendy, is Stella.
Her name, according to my Aunt Karyl Lynn, is Elsie.

Barely even born and already has an identity crisis. Regardless, she's another store sample for my class this fall.

Introducing Knitasha

2008-07-21T18:19:00.002-04:00

Last year for my mom's birthday, Knit Knack got a beach bum outfit.

This year for my mom's birthday, Knit Knack got a girlfriend.

Meet Knitasha. Pattern, of course, is Sheldon by Ruth Homrighaus. Needles: Size US2 dpns. Yarn: Reynolds Top Seed Cotton.

Before heading to Wooster, Knitasha spent a little time at work with me so that I could write a book for my mom about my job.

All of my concerns about whether or not Knit Knack and Knitasha would get along together were unwarranted. They took to each other like two old friends, and were nearly inseparable all weekend.

The two love-turtles also received a picnic quilt and picnic basket with the appropriate accoutrement for hours of outdoor enjoyment. (I must admit I'm particularly looking forward to the picnic adventure story!)

Looks like these two are already sharing plenty of turtley secrets.

Knitasha also came with a sun hat for picnics, in case her eyelashes aren't enough to keep out the sun. Along with the sun hat comes a pattern for you to make your very own sun hat (or Easter bonnet) for your turtle.

Easter Bonnet

Use the same needles and type of yarn that you used for your turtle. You want the same gauge. I used mercerized cotton and size 2 DPNs. I didn’t measure how much yardage it took, but it’s way less than 50 yards.

Using the long tail method, cast on 75 stitches, and divide so you have 25 stitches on each of three double pointed needles. Leave a 12 inch tail. Join to work in the round. Your tail marks the beginning of your round, or you can place a marker.

Rows 1-3: knit
Row 4: *k2tog, k3, repeat from * to end (60 sts)
Row 5: knit
Row 6: *k2tog, k2, repeat from * to end (45 sts)
Row 7: knit
Row 8: *k2tog, k1, repeat from * to end (30 sts)
Row 9-10: knit
Row 11: *k2, yo, k2tog, k1, repeat from *to end
Row 12: knit
Row 13: *k4, k2tog, k3, repeat from * to last stitch, knit together with first stitch of next round (24 sts)
Row 14-17: knit
Row 18: *k2tog, k1, repeat from * to end (16 sts)
Row 19: knit
Row 20: *k2tog, repeat from * to end (8 sts)

Break yarn and pull through all 8 stitches. Pull tight to close hole and weave yarn in on stockinette side.

Turn your hat inside out! The reverse stockinette is the right side.

Cut a piece of ribbon about 18” long, and weave through every other hole made from the yarn over and let the ends hang. Trim as you like.

Put your cast on tail on a yarn needle. Pass the needle under just one side of each of the cast on stitches as shown. Go all the way around the brim. This will help to flatten out the brim a bit. It still won’t be perfectly flat, but it will be better than it would be otherwise.

Enjoy!

Oh, Amigurumi!

2008-07-15T18:35:00.000-04:00

Oh, Amigurumi!

The cute, it overwhelms.

My tormented heart cries out:

THIS

IS

CROCHET!

I can pretend no longer.

I love you,

Amigurumi.

I cannot quit you.

I must admit:

Crochet

is

Okay.

Your adorability

Is worth the hook.

OH! Amigurumi!

-----

Meet Bandit.

Pattern: "Puppy" from Amigurumi World: Seriously Cute Crochet
Yarn: Cascade Sierra
Hook: 3.5mm
Made for: Store sample. I'm so far gone I'm going to teach an amigurumi class this fall.

Vacation

2008-06-27T19:27:00.000-04:00

One of the things I did during my blog hiatus was get hired on full time at the company where I've been working since November. It took six months, but my first official day was May 19. As a result, I now have benefits and honest-to-goodness vacation days. So I took a few days off earlier this week to spend time in Wooster with my favorite mom and favorite five-and-three-quarters-years-old niece, who's actually five-and-five-sixths-years-old now, but you try telling her that. :)

It's amazing what a little R&R will do for your knitting. Look at all this stuff I got done.

The first Brigit sock is finally done. It's sort of embarrassing how long it has taken to finish just the first sock, especially since I'd hoped to have these done a couple months ago. However, it's encouraging to have the first one completely finished. And gifted hand-knit socks are still gifted hand-knit socks, even if they're late, right? I'm using the Brigit sock pattern by Monkey Toes, Berroco's Comfort Sock yarn, and size 2 double pointed needles.

I FINALLY started my Brea Bag, which I've been waiting to do for more than six months. I've had the yarn for a while. It's Berroco's Ultra Alpaca, double stranded, on a size 9 circular needle. This first piece worked up so fast, and was really fun to do. I think this will be one of my favorite projects ever, and I have the most perfect fabric to line it with. This may actually be a knitted bag that I carry!

I finished the February Baby Sweater on Two Needles, by Elizabeth Zimmerman. I love this pattern and everything about this sweater. I used a size 3 circular needle and Handmaiden Casbah Sock yarn, so it's merino, cashmere, and nylon, and it's superwash. It's definitely a newborn size, so my new niece won't be able to wear it forever, but I'm still rather excited about it. All I need to do now is find the perfect buttons and make some complementary booties. (Saartje's, anyone?)

Maggie got to see the finished sweater this past week, and Tuesday night she was talking to her Mama on the phone. At one point she held the phone about six inches from her mouth and looked at me and stage-whispered, "Can I tell Mama about the baby sweater?" Since I was across the room, it was obvious Mama already knew about the sweater, so I laughed and nodded. It was very cute.

Lastly, to break up the deep red/purple monotony, I cast on my Twisted Flower socks by Cookie A. I'm using size 2 needles and Claudia's Handpainted sock yarn in Limeade! The pattern is heavily charted, which keeps me on my toes and is quite enjoyable. I'm already really enjoying this pattern in this yarn.

Amazon: What Is It?

2008-06-18T18:23:00.001-04:00

Is it a river?

Is it a ginormous online bookseller?

Is it a mid-size Volvo produced between 1956 and 1970?

Is it the largest rainforest in the whole entire world that is totally in danger of losing its biodiversity due to the massive deforestation taking place and the vegetative carbon release that could accelerate global warming and totally wipe out all the baby polar bears?

Yes. It is all those things. But it is also an adorable female warrior!

So cute! (She looks just like me!)

But don't let the cuteness fool you. She broke this brick so hard the other half disintegrated. Let's see Chuck Norris do THAT!

She climbed this tree with no arms and still kept her spear in her loincloth. Impressive moves, this one.

Pattern is Amazon from Creepy Cute Crochet, by Christen Haden. I used the recommended Lion Brand Cotton Ease and a 3.50mm hook. She has button eyes and a Fimo clay spear. (How fun is it to make a wee spear for a tiny, adorable, yet ferocious Amazon warrior? SO fun.)

Anybody else wonder what (or who) she's storing in that pit?

Calla Lily Yarn & Gifts

2008-06-16T22:31:00.000-04:00

After a long Sunday before Memorial Day at the Great Lakes Sheep & Fiber Festival, Knit Knack expressed an interest in visiting the new yarn shop in Wooster, OH, Calla Lily Yarn & Gifts. We'd been given coupons at the festival and were invited to stop by, so how could we resist?

Knit Knack explored some of the calla lily decor while Dani and I perused the yarn selections and Mom talked with some of the ladies in the shop.

We were all especially impressed with a baby blanket that Donna, the store owner, was making with some of her shop's yarns.

It was difficult to resist all the gorgeous colors of Berroco's Comfort DK, and for only $3 a ball, Knit Knack even had to ask if the price was a typo. It wasn't.

So we had to look at some more. Knit Knack tried to blend in so we'd leave him there, but it didn't work.

We saw plenty of great gifts in the store, too: baskets, soaps, cards, teas, chocolate, handbags, and more. Lots of nice things to see and to bring non-knitters into the shop, as well. What do you do with a non-knitter who walks into a knitting shop? Well, teach him or her to knit, of course!

Hey! Wow, you have to keep an eye on that turtle... he can convince anyone that it's time for a photo shoot!

I can't speak for the amount of Comfort DK that Dani purchased, but I walked out of there with just this one skein of Tofutsies sock yarn. I'll definitely be back again, though. (Can anyone say "Sunday hours"?)

If you're ever in Wooster, Ohio, and you have a little time to spare, I highly recommend that you stop by Calla Lily Yarn & Gifts. It's a beautiful and charming little shop on the square, with a lot of beautiful yarns, interesting gifts, and nice people. Knit Knack and I give it four thumbs up!

TNNA 2008

2008-06-10T22:22:00.010-04:00

Highlights from TNNA 2008

The People

The stalking continues. One of the first people I saw Saturday morning at TNNA was the Yarn Harlot. We chatted a bit and she introduced me to Franklin, whom I'd previously stalked only on the interwebs. I also met Carol, my newest stalkee, who even added me as a friend on Ravelry so I can do my job even better.

We also saw my three-time TNNA stalkee Amy (from Knitty) and Jillian (KnittySpin!). (From left to right: Jillian, Wendy, Amy, me)

We also got to see Micheline from Louet. I'm glad we stopped by because this is her last TNNA. She's retiring! Click here for our BFF pick from last year. Micheline is absolutely wonderful and very knowledgeable, and we will definitely miss her in any future trips to TNNA. (Back from left: Lori, Bethany, me, Wendy. Micheline is in the front.)

The Books

I brought home another stack of books this year and here are a few of my favorites:

More Big Girl Knits
I've been looking forward to the arrival of this book ever since the first one came out two years ago. I love the fact that this book continues to give tips on how best to fit your own body and find the style that is right for you. There are some beautiful sweaters, tanks, socks, and even shawls in this book, and it's by Amy and Jillian from Knitty!

Knitting New Mittens & Gloves
This book is incredibly beautiful and full of new creative mitten and glove patterns. I'd looked through this book many times already and was really excited to meet the author and take this book home.

Knit So Fine
I'd only heard about this book last week, and I was really looking forward to reading through it. Bonus: One of the authors of this book is my new favorite stalkee, Carol! There are a lot of great patterns in here for people who are tired of everything being knit out of chunky yarn on size 15 needles.

Closely Knit
This book is so cozy; it feels like coming inside after shoveling the snow and snuggling up in front of a fireplace with a cup of hot chocolate and your favorite movie. There are ideas for everyone in your family and gorgeous projects to suit a multitude of tastes. I can't wait to try some of these patterns.

The Stuff

You might not know it, but one of my favorite things about going to TNNA is helping to find new goodies to carry in the store. I'm pretty excited about some of the things that will be arriving this year.

Hiya Hiya Knitting Needles
I have to say that before this past weekend, I'd never heard of these needles. But some of the samples at their booth attracted me, and the ladies let me try a couple sets. They have tubular steel needles that are slick and smooth like Addis, but weigh absolutely nothing. Put a set of their double pointed needles in the palm of your hand and it feels like you're holding only air.

Even more exciting, though, are their 9" circular needles. 9 inches! The shortest circular needles I'd seen before were 12" and unbearable to use. Hiya Hiya had a 9" needle in a sock sample and let me try it. It took just a moment to get used to, and then it worked like a charm. I think a lot of my sock club members are going to get a real kick out of them. And they come in the tubular steel AND bamboo versions. I can't wait to get my hands on a set or two of my own.

Flat Feet by Conjoined Creations
Using a knitting machine, knit up two squares of natural-colored sock yarn, joined by a piece of waste yarn. Splash some purty dye on it, and you've got yourself the new concept of Flat Feet by Conjoined Creations. You knit your socks right from the square of knitted material.

Our store will soon carry this innovative new product, and we will also be one of 50 exclusive stores to belong to the Flat Feet Sock-a-Month Club. We'll be receiving unique colorways once every month or so for sock club, and I'm looking forward to thinking of fun new ways to share this yarn with the members.

Claudia's Handpainted
Last year was the first time we had Claudia's Handpainted yarn in the store, and both the sock yarn and the silk lace were big hits! We ordered a bunch of new colors (and a couple old favorites!) of sock yarn for this year.

-----

I know I promised this post would be about the new yarn store in Wooster, but that will be my next post. To relate the two, I did see Donna (the Wooster shop owner) at TNNA as we were heading out on Sunday. See? It all fits.

I'm Back

2008-06-03T21:55:00.003-04:00

Thanks for being so patient. Pretty soon I'll be able to tell you what I did over my summer* vacation**. But until then...

Memorial Day Weekend 2008 brought with it the same joys as Memorial Day Weekends 2006 and 2007. The Great Lakes Sheep and Fiber Festival was in Wooster again, and this year my friend Dani and I went up to spend the weekend with my mom and some fiber frivolity.

Knit Knack got a few of his closest friends (L-R: Curly, Meekins, and Chip -- Chip's from Canada, eh!) together to join us for the fun.

The boys got in a little trouble with a wool carder... Chip's always sticking his nose where it doesn't belong. Fortunately he was saved without too much wool lost, and we all continued wandering.

Mom and Dani made friends with a tiny gray bunny. Only $95! We almost took him home with us, but, as the common saying goes,
"Accidently winning a sheep at auction changes everything." Um, this statement transfers seamlessly to accidently buying a tiny gray bunny at a fiber festival. Trust me on this.

Knit Knack made a bunch more friends (and Mom came home with a bunch more sheep, enough for a whole flock! And I thought she collected turtles!), we found Lisa, our friend from Cincinnati, and we perused the crazy amounts of yarn and fiber at the Wayne County fairgrounds.

This next bit is a shocker, so you may want to sit down, if you're not already.

Everything I bought? Sock yarn. I know. But I warned you.

Sock yarn the first: Knitting Notions Classic Merino Supersock in Green Apple. I have been heart-ing this yarn at every GLS&FF and Wool Gathering I've been to, but somehow I always manage to find her booth after I've spent all my money elsewhere. This time I had money left, but the challenge was choosing just one color. I can't wait to find the perfect pattern for this yarn.

Sock yarn the second: Trekking Pro Natura in a strained-mango-apricot-puree shade. I'm not sure why this one jumped out at me like it did, but it did, and I like it.

Sock yarn the third: Fleece Artist Handmaiden (rock the) Casbah Sock. This stuff is 80% merino, 10% cashmere, and 10% nylon. And it's superwash! Supersweet! As you can see, this luscious, gorgeous, to-dye-for yarn is not meant for socks. It's meant for Elizabeth Zimmerman's baby sweater on two needles. (That's a ravelry link.) I am loving this pattern and hoping that knitting on size 3 needles is going to make a big enough sweater for a brand new baby girl. I've been wanting to try this pattern for a while, but didn't have a new baby girl to knit for. But, now I do.

To be honest, my mom wasn't the only one who went home with more sheep. The difference is, all my mom's new sheep have names. Mine don't. Any ideas?

In my next post, I'll tell you about the new yarn shop (new yarn shop!!!) in Wooster. New yarn shop! New yarn shop! Okay, I'm better now.

*May
**blog hiatus

Banjo Dad

2008-04-28T21:52:00.001-04:00

Last week I told you about the one song my dad always played on the piano. It's called "Jesus is Coming Soon" by R. E. Winsett and sung by the Oak Ridge Boys. Mom sent me the sheet music today, and also sent this great picture of my dad playing the banjo.

Click here to hear the song.

If you click on the above link you will be prompted to save the file or open it in the default Media Player on your PC. Choose to open it instead of saving it and the Media Player will download and play the file while buffering it. The file will not be saved to your PC.

7 Random Things...

2008-04-24T21:39:00.004-04:00

...about my walk tonight.

My good friend Chris from The Boiled Peanut tagged me for a 7 random things meme, and since I enjoy making up my own rules to things, I've decided to make my 7 random things about the walk I took tonight. See, I promised a friend that I would walk 5 miles this Saturday for the MS Walk, and so I've been "training" for the past few weeks so that I don't die from walking 5 miles. That would be SO embarrassing.

Tonight I took my camera along so that you could enjoy the springy fresh Ohio weather right along with me.

Random Thing #1
Lilacs are my favorite flowers. Absotively posolutely my favorite thing about spring is the blooming lilacs. I stopped to smell most of the ones I saw tonight, and I even snagged some from the last bush I passed to put on top of my piano.

Random Thing #2
You're going to have to trust me on this one. I didn't get a picture because the people across the street were taking out the trash when I wanted to get the picture. But I saw a statue of a dog sitting in a birdbath. It was priceless. I'll try to get a picture next time.

Random Thing #3
I found broken robin eggs. Robin eggs are the prettiest shade of blue. This reminds me of a story. I was about four years old.
My brother, two bolder, more daring years older than I took a whole robin egg and smashed it on his Dukes of Hazzard shirt while I was standing right in front of him. I thought for sure he'd killed the baby birdie and ran sobbing into the house. Hmm. It was either his Dukes of Hazzard shirt or it was a blue shirt with a sparkly horse on the front. I can't remember.

Random Thing #4
This one is something else you'll have to take my word for. I am prejudiced toward people who cut their lawns on the diagonal. I think it looks much better than a typical straight back and forth cut. I think it's my brother's fault that I like diagonal yard-mowning. I also love the smell of wild onions in the air after a yard is freshly mown. Anybody else have that where they live?

Random Thing #5
Bunny statues are scary. For example:
This dude WILL steal your tulip. And probably your wallet. And don't even think about hiding those Easter eggs. Give them directly to this guy and no one will get hurt.

This bad boy will throw your butt out of the bar if you start a fight. Is this not the baddest, buffest, bodacious-est bunny you ever saw? Next time I'll get a picture from the back, but the folks who live in the house he guards were home, and it was a stealthy photo shoot as it was. I will admit it is a little frightening to walk by this guy, and I would not dare to do it in the dark.

Random Thing #6
I love this tree. A lot.

Random Thing #7
Do you get the feeling that I'm not the only one who has walked this path?

In the theme of making up my own rules, I'm not going to tag anybody. But if you want to make up your own 7 random rules, you go right ahead.

Valentine's Socks

2008-04-22T22:26:00.002-04:00

Okay, I know it's oh-so-close to the end of April, and it's not the time to be thinking about Valentine's Day, but I want to share with you a story. A sweet story. A sweet, darling, guilt-ridden story.

My niece and nephew are very cute. Evidence?

(This is an old picture... from 2006, in fact. But they are still very cute. Trust me. And look at those feet. Those are some fine-lookin' Valentine's socks.)

My niece and nephew have gotten Valentine's socks each year (Calvin's 2007 brown socks are in this photo), and the hand-knit-sock-wearing behavior is strongly encouraged by their mom (my sister-in-law Morgan), who, herself, loves to partake in said behavior (Mo's pink b-day Pomatomi in this photo).

This year, however, I had incredible difficulty getting motivated to knit... well... to finish Valentine's socks. I started them, but I'll save myself the embarrassment of showing them here. So, needless to say, they didn't get Valentine's socks this year. You would have seen them by now if they had. I felt bad about this, but thought it would probably be okay.

Then, I talked to Morgan. My niece Maggie is apparently quite the little chatterer, and they had a little conversation that went something like this:

Maggie (putting on socks while chatting about how socks don't have to go on the left or right foot, they can go on either...): "mama, when's valentines?"

Morgan: "what?"

Maggie: "when's valentines?"

Morgan: "valentines day, maggie? when is valentines day?"

Maggie: "yes"

Morgan (trying to decide if she has a mental disorder that causes such a strange question): "two months ago, sweetheart"

Maggie: (quiet for a while)

Maggie: "i bet annie grook is working very hard on my socks then. it's okay that i don't have them yet. i can't wait to get them!"

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Oh my. So, they haven't forgotten. However, Morgan and I talked about how maybe it would be better if, instead of Valentine's socks, they got autumn socks, because then they could wear their socks all throughout the cold winter months, and how that would be nice, because then if the cold weather got depressing, they could put on their nice wooly socks and be happy and warm and remember how much their Annie Grook (Auntie Brooke) loves them. It seems to work well for Morgan, who gets birthday socks in November, so maybe we'll try that this year.

How well we knew thee, Valentine's socks.

Another Kind of Legacy

2008-04-17T23:02:00.007-04:00

My dad's mom played the piano. She was amazing. She played for her church, she played for community groups, she played ragtime like it was going out of style. She could knock out "The Entertainer" like nobody's business. My dad knew one song on the piano, but he played a pretty mean banjo on occasion. He also had a tenor sax that he had lovingly restored a couple years before he passed away, which is currently being used at my mom's church, and belongs to me whenever I decide I need it.

My dad also passed along to me his mom's piano. My brother and I both had to take lessons when we were kids. I don't remember how many times Mrs. Payton made me cry during a lesson, but I do remember the kid-sized lawn chair she would bring out for me to sit in during my brother's recitals. After Mrs. Payton there was Bounce, a strangely-named, fun, yet short-lived piano teacher. Then Mrs. Copenhaver, then one more kinda creepy lady during my freshman year of high school who wasn't my teacher for very long. I continued to play throughout high school, but due to busy schedules, I stopped taking formal lessons.

In the summer of 2001, the piano officially became mine. I moved into an apartment big enough to keep it, and I've had it with me ever since. It's my official inheritance from my dad. He told me so. I'll admit, it's a bit of a bane... movers want three arms and a leg to move it from place to place, and don't EVEN ask them to take it upstairs. It has to be tuned; it takes up a lot of room. My cats think it's just one more place to sleep, and at times it can be a collector of everyday flotsam and jetsum when the other flat surfaces in here are all filled up.

I don't play it very often, and when I do, there are about a dozen songs that I pull out and play over and over again. "Canon in D", Bach's "Prelude No. 1", "Hallelujah", "Piano Man", "American Folk Hymn (There is a Balm in Gilead)", "Spinning Song", and so on. I've tried to learn a new song here and there, but I just don't practice often enough to make a new song sound good. But I do enjoy playing. It reminds me of sitting in Dad's office in the living room of our house while he worked and I practiced.

My plan was to make and upload a little video for you so you can hear the one song my dad played on the piano almost every time he walked by it. However, I can't find the sheet music for it. Mom can probably help me locate it, so as soon as I can find it, I'll share it with you.

My dad is remembered for a lot of different things... his love of sports, his drafting skills, his strange company name ("13"), the perpetual purple camouflage bucket hats sporting any number of decorative pins. But music is a part of his legacy, too, and I have a great big reminder right in the middle of my living room. Thanks, Dad. I miss you.

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Blogger won't let me upload pictures, so I'll put those in later. In the meantime, you can go here to read my brother's post for the day, or here for last year's memories.

Edited to add: YAY! Pictures will finally post. Here are a couple I really like.

Captain Knack Sparrow: An Update

2008-04-10T22:33:00.002-04:00

Remember this guy?

Last December I created a poll to determine which Knit Knack outfit was the fan favorite. The Captain Knack Sparrow shell was a clear winner with 31 out of 82 (37.8%) votes. Since then, the Captain has had some additional adventures I thought you might like to hear about.

First, did I ever tell you that after I send the shells to my mom, she writes stories about Knit Knack's adventures in his new outfits? So far, he has 16 different outfits, and I have 11 books. It's a trip.

One of the most recent books was The Adventures of Knit Knack: Captain Knack Sparrow in Pirates of the Vermillion. My mom has a collection of other stuffed and toy turtles that she dresses up to join Knit Knack on his adventures. They're quite the motley crew. For this particular book, though,

Mom built a pirate ship for the turtles. That's right. The Swift Purl. Shown here in dry dock on the back patio.

Here's Captain Knack at the helm.

There's even a figurehead named Myrtle. (She's a mertle, which is a cross between a mermaid and a turtle.)

(This is the part where you start talking about how we have too much time on our hands. And then comes the part where I tell you this is some of the best mother-daughter bonding ever.)

My mom's a teacher. She has high schoolers (bless her!) and she has told them all about Knit Knack. She even took him to school last fall to take pictures for his back to school book, and got most of her students and a lot of other teachers involved in the project. So it's no surprise that she took Pirates of the Vermillion to school to read to her students once it was finished. A few weeks later, one of her freshman students brought her a present. A drawing. Of Captain Knack Sparrow. The artist, Bre, gave me permission to show you her pencil drawing. (click for big)

Captured him perfectly, don't you think?

Lexington, For the Third Time

2008-04-08T01:51:00.000-04:00

Since we all know it's all about me...

Saturday night I thanked the Yarn Harlot for taking time out of her busy tour schedule each year to come to Lexington to see me. She seemed happy to do it, and we discussed the possibility of a "Drunk & Angry" tour next year. Sounds like a good time. Talk about inexplicable knitter behavior...

Anyway, Saturday was fantastic. I twisted Kimmie's arm to get her out of helping with yard work, and we trekked to Lexington to spend the gift certificate I won last year at Magpie Yarn and visit the Yarn Harlot on her tour stop at Joseph Beth Booksellers. Magpie Yarn had sock yarn on sale for 20% off in honor of the Yarn Harlot's visit. Who could pass that up? I'd been trying to spend the $50 gift certificate for a year now, and I wasted very little time in doing so.

I got two skeins of Noro Silk Garden, colorway 245. I picked this up solely for the colors, and I have no idea what I'm going to do with it. It is astoundingly beautiful, and I may have to keep it as souvenir viewing yarn, and find a fancy display case for it on a wall of fame. Or not.

I also got two skeins of Crystal Palace Panda Silk. It's shiny, and oh so very soft. I was kind of thinking about Hedera for this yarn, but it might be too variegated. I'll keep thinking.

Lastly, I found some sock yarn from Rio de la Plata that is unlike any other sock yarn I've ever seen. To get the full effect of the colors, I'm sure this will have to be a plainer than plain pair of socks, but I'm really interested to see how this particular color pattern works up.

We left Magpie Yarn to head toward the bookstore where the event would take place, and, thanks to Yahoo Maps, got quite lost. However, my internal GPS kicked in and, at our lowest, most desperate point, we miraculously found ourselves on Nicholasville Road, right where we needed to be. And we were even going the right direction! We were a couple hours early, though, and we needed sustenance. We drove around a bit and decided on a suspicious-looking place that we knew would provide us with a memorable experience:

Sir Pizza! Who could go wrong with Sir Pizza?

Kimmie was particularly impressed with the idea of the Ding-A-Ling telephone for speedier service, although we never actually got to use it. I am eagerly anticipating Kimmie's full review of the restaurant on her blog. She was rather thorough in her documentation.

We finished our pizzas and headed back to the bookstore to grab good seats and wait for the Yarn Harlot's arrival. Kimmie went to browse the stacks and I made some lovely new friends (Hi Barb & Yvonne!!!) and got to share my Knit Knack pictures with some new folks.

The Yarn Harlot was brilliant and funny, just like we all knew she would be. If you get a chance, and you've never gone to see her, I highly recommend it. She's warm and funny and inviting, and you will walk away with renewed confidence in your knitterly abilities and a big smile on your face.

Here's a little behind-the-scenes photo of the photo of me that can be found on yarnharlot.ca. A picture of the picture-taking, if you will. It was great to earn the stalker moniker one more time and even better to have a few minutes to renew and continue a friendship. Good times, y'all.

Barb and Yvonne thoughtfully guided us back to the interstate and wished us well on our way home. Yet another knitterly show of generosity. That's something else that I've enjoyed about these excursions to see the Yarn Harlot or attend fiber festivals or anything else yarn and knitting related... there are a lot of great people to meet that I wouldn't get to know otherwise. Thanks to everyone who made it such a great Saturday for Kimmie and myself and so many others.

Duck Duck Goose

2008-04-03T18:09:00.006-04:00

Actually, it's Goose, Goose, Cat.

Here's the outside of my apartment building. That's my window in the middle there. Looks like I have guests!

Thankfully Chaka was in the window to greet them. This is what I saw when I got home a couple nights ago.

Chaka played staring contest with (I'm assuming) the male goose almost the whole time I was taking pictures.

They've since moved into the corner between the wall and the steps to build a nest. Who knew Airhead wrappers make for good egg insulation? I snapped this picture at lunch time today when neither bird was in sight. I'm well aware that Canadian Geese are cranky creatures and will attack with very little provocation. I tried to call my landlord to get them to call animal control, but apparently the new management isn't any better than the old, because I haven't gotten a call back. This is potentially a really bad place for a nest, because people are in and out of the door to the building tons of times a day. However, the nest-sitter has always been rather subdued when I walk past, and I don't get too close. And it ought to be good entertainment for Carrot and Chaka just outside the living room window, as long as I keep it closed.

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In other news, there's been knitting. (Isn't that always the way?) It involves the box of yarn I showed you the other day and a super secret design project. So I can't show you anything yet, and that's the only thing I'm really working on these days. Well, actually...

I did start a new sock at the last sock club. It's Berroco Sox yarn, the Dublin Bay pattern, and size 2 needles.

But that's about it.

Happy Easter, Take 2

2008-03-23T17:42:00.007-04:00

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Last fall I was at Hobby Lobby and I found this insanely bright yellow sparkly fun fur in the clearance bin. I knew immediately what I'd do with it. I took it up to the counter and the cashier said, "Isn't that beautiful!" And I replied, "I know, isn't it hideous?" I tried to explain what it was for, but some people just don't understand that even turtles need Easter outfits.

Happy Easter, everyone. :)

LOLyarn

2008-03-17T17:36:00.003-04:00

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p.s. Happy St. Patrick's Day! Go here for last year's Knit Knack pics.

Good for the Sole

2008-03-10T19:35:00.000-04:00

A rescheduled trip to Magpie Yarn in Lexington had to be recancelled due to the 12 to 85 inches of snow dumped all over Ohio on Friday and Saturday. When I really thought about it, it wasn't so much the lack of yarn-buying that I was disappointed about, but the lack of hanging-out-with-friends time. I spent a small amount of time feeling sorry for myself, and then decided to make something of my forced weekend inside.

So,

I finished my Monkey socks. Cherry Tree Hill Supersock, "brights" colorway (an extreme understatement), US2 dpns. Really honestly, this is a fun, easily-memorized pattern. It only took me forever to finish the pair because it is not in my nature to finish pairs of socks. I must search the depths of my sole in order to complete a pair. Really honestly.

I also made one sheep bootie. (From 50 Baby Bootees to Knit.) I found the pieces very quick to knit, and the construction of the top of the bootee is intriguing. However, I absolutely despised knitting the sole of the bootee to the top. I did it about three different times and I'm still not completely sold. Oh well, it's done. The yarn is Knit One Crochet Too Cotonade, bought at Mass Ave a few weekends ago. Needles were double points, size 7s and size 3s. And, is it me, or does this look more like a Snoopy bootee than a sheep bootie?

I also finished the first UK bootee (from Simple Knits for Cherished Babies*). There is nothing totally faboo about this bootee beyond the fact that it is finished. I will have to do a little sole-searching, but hopefully I'll be able to finish its mate by this weekend. Butterfly Mercerized Cotton (blue), Tahki Cotton Classic (white), US size 5 dpns.

*For unlimited mild amusement, tell your friends it's the Cherished Knits for Simple Babies book. Teehee!