Here Fishy Fishy

Even though this is named after a fish it reminds me of a beach. This is Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock yarn in Koi Koi. Isn't it gorgeous? As soon as I saw this yarn it reminded me of Al because she loves going to the Caribbean and going scuba diving. If I were a great friend, I'd have given it to her but since I'm only a good one, I kept it for myself. Haha! I crack me up. Actually I'm making socks for my sister, Annie so the yarn won't be mine for long.



I bought this last year at Rhinebeck and finally have gotten around to knitting it. I'm making the Lacy Mock Cable sock which I've knit before and it's absolutely gorgeous. I'm just finishing up the first sock so I should have a photo or two soon to share with you.
I've been on a sock knitting tear and have been buying most of my yarn on the Ravelry destash group. I really like buying there because I usually get a good price and I'm helping someone out who's in need of some quick cash.
This is the first Blue Moon socks I've knit and I have to say this may well have spoiled me for any other sock yarn. It's a dream to knit with and is soft enough to make a shawl or hat with. I've actually been trolling the Destash group, like a junkie in search of a fix, looking for more BMFA sock yarn for sale. I'll let you know how I do!
July 4th will be spent in Manhattan because I don't want to deal with holiday traffic to go upstate. Last week it took a friend of ours 5.5 hours to go what would normally take 1 hour because of construction. Umm...thanks but no thanks. We'll go to tar beach and grill some dogs. Maybe venture out to Coney Island to see the new Luna Park. Have a great holiday weekend!

Twitter Knitters

Any Twitter Knitters interested in a get together here in NYC? I'm trying to get a head count of people on Twitter, or any other local knitters, who'd like to get together for a sit and knit. I have a venue in mind but need to know how many people would like to go. You can either reply here in the comments or find me on Twitter and lemme know that you'd like to join us. I'm KnittingKnoobie on Twitter. Yeah I know...no great stretch of the imagination. Hope to hear from you!

Labor Socks

Finally I've finished the River Rapids socks! Seems like I've been working on them forever but it's only been a week or so. I think it's because they were the only ones I was working on. Here they are






Aren't they lovely? I think they're so nice I'm going to have to make myself a pair! I'm going to get them in the mail up to Joyce and hope they get to her before my darling goddaughter decides to make her debut.
I have something to admit. I have a few sock yarns I keep in mind when I peruse the Destash forum on Ravelry. I was so happy to get the Adorn sock yarn from Three Irish Girls. It really is a gorgeous yarn but, I hate to say, I didn't like working with it. It split a lot and wasn't as soft as I thought it was going to be. Live and learn, right?
Speaking of destashing...another great group is the book destash group on Ravelry. Last week I got a book I've been jonesing for:



Al brought this book over a few months ago and it was love at first site. I couldn't wait to get my hands on it but with a $30 price tag I figured I'd wait for someone to sell it on Ravelry. Last week I found it for, get this, $10! Including shipping! Hollah! I love this book so much I slept with it on my nightstand the first night I got it. It has some lovely history about sock knitting and some killer patterns I hope to be trying out soon.
This morning I cast on an easy lacy sock pattern I got from The Big Book of Socks for my sister, Annie. I'm using a gorgeous skein of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock colorway Koi Koi which is reminiscent of a beach with sand and surf colors. I can't wait till these are done. They're gonna be gorgeous! This is the first time I'm using BMFA yarn and I love it. It's soft and the colors are so vibrant. I can't wait to see my sister's face when I give these to her. She's gonna love them.

Goooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaal!

I couldn't resist the World Cup/Soccer title even though this post doesn't have a thing to do with either soccer or the World Cup.
I like having a goal when I'm knitting. When I first started knitting, my goal was to learn to make socks. I've made a few pair now and decided that I need a new goal. Looking through my newest sock book, The Big Book Of Socks, I came across the Nordic Style Adult Sock. Holy moly those are some gorgeous socks. Here's the problem though. I'm a little bit intimidated by a fair isle pattern. I figured I'd start at the beginning and get a book for beginning fair isle knitting. I took to my handy dandy Twitter tool and asked my Twitter knitters for book suggestions on fair isle. KnittingPurls suggested a book called Alice Starmore's Book of Fair Isle Knitting, saying that it's a good book for anyone beginning fair isle. So off to Amazon I went and I ordered it so it should be in the mail today. Yay! I'd love nothing more than to make Nordic mittens for my three guys for Christmas this year and a pair of socks for myself.
So that's my goal this year, or the latter part of this year. Fair isle knitting. I'll let you know how it goes. Oh and if you have any other suggestions for me to learn how to do this, I'd love feedback.

River Rapids

Here's the beginning of the River Rapids socks. I'm trying to get these made for Joyce to wear in the hospital when she gives birth. I remember my feet being cold when I gave birth to my boys so I thought this would be a nice gift. Yeah I can remember my feet being cold fifteen years ago but I couldn't tell you where my glasses are right now. Middle age is a cruel thing.
Isn't the yarn gorgeous? I really love it and, as good as this picture is, it's even more lovely in person. Yay Three Irish Girls!
This is also my first pattern I'm doing from a chart. The only reason I relented was because I kept getting lost on the pattern because of the way it showed up on my kindle. It was easier to read from the chart than the words. Maybe this will make it easier for me to read from charts from now on. There are a few patterns I've shied away from because of charts. More than a few patterns actually. Whole books. I'm gonna have to give Cookie A's book another lookie loo after I finish this pair of socks!
School's out soon but both boys are enrolled in summer programs for the month of July so I will have four extra weeks of peace and quiet. Yay me!
Hope you're all enjoying your spring knitting as much as I am!

Laugh or Cry?

One of the good things about going to an artistic high school (Music & Art, Class of 1981) is that creativity is nurtured & encouraged. I never matched my socks. That seems to have become my norm.





These are my Sunday Swing Socks. As you can see they look like they're from two different pair of socks but, alas, they're the same pair. I knew the foot would be different because the first one was a little snug so I consciously made the second one a bit bigger. I didn't know that I'd made two different lengths. Once again math has kicked my ass. I know that I should be able to count to three by now but apparently I'm finding even that a hard thing to do. I did two pattern repeats in one sock and three in another. Good thing I don't have OCD or I'd be ripping one of these down. I will be wearing them as is and they'll serve as a reminder to take notes on each and everything I knit.
I'm feeling a bit gun shy but have this absolutely gorgeous skein of Adorn sock yarn by Three Irish Girls that I decided to use to make my niece a pair of socks. I love that the pattern I found is called River Rapids Socks and the colorway is called Baltic Sea. Kismet!
In other news, I finished Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter It was a fun read and actually made me want to read more about Lincoln. I've been very into historical fiction lately and this was right in line with what I've been reading.

Out & About

Been a busy couple of weeks! Glenn had to have his iPod Touch replaced so we took a trip up to the Apple store on Fifth Avenue across from the Plaza Hotel. It's a really cool building as you can see in the photo.



I got to check out an iPad while there and guess what I looked up? I'm sure you're correct.



Knitting needles on eBay! It was fun checking it out but, even though I'm a gadget girl, I have no interest in getting one of these. I guess between my laptop, Kindle and iPod touch I have most, if not all, the bases covered.

Yesterday I met my sister, Annie, and we went to brunch at Petite Abeille. It's a delicious French/Belgian restaurant that is owned by a lovely couple. This was one of yesterday's specials:



Ok it was so nice, I'm gonna show you twice.



It's a waffle with blackberries, strawberries and kiwi topped with a mound of whipped cream. I didn't finish it and I was stuffed till dinner. Delish!

Not a lot of knitting going on I'm afraid. Still working on Sunday Swing Socks and started a Sockhead hat. Getting ready for Glenn to take four Regents. Yes FOUR. In one week. He's under a bit of stress but handling it better than I am. Patrick was accepted to the Higher Achievement Program at one of the private schools in our area so he'll be in school till August. So it's been an academically busy couple of weeks here.
I will have some finished knitting to show you soon. Promise.