Bootie

Isn't that cute? These are Baby Booties Knit In the Portuguese Style which I found on Ravelry. They're cute and easy, knit on straights with a seam sewn up the back and down the sole of the bootie. Oh yeah..the seam. Now the not so cute part:





Horrible isn't it? Dr. Frankenstein did a better job on the monster. The beginning of the seam, down the back, I did the mattress stitch which worked out beautifully. Down the sole though, no such luck. It is what it is though. I'll probably tear out the seam and try to do it again. If not, I have Allyson to help me out. Thank goodness for all you knitting godmothers out there! Without you, we'd all be walking around with Frankenstein seams and worse.

It's Back!

I really liked the template Amoena made for me but I missed my old one. I thought I was sick of it but I guess I wasn't as sick of it as I thought! I may play around with it a bit but it looks like my big old pink yarn heart and cityscape are here to stay.

Buttons

I got these when The Point closed down a couple of years ago. Patrick had seen them in a tube and said "Oh look Mom! All these buttons for four dollars!" I had to explain to him that they were four dollars each. He was shocked! When The Point closed and everything was being sold at a discount, Alyssa the wonderful manager, put them aside for me knowing I'd scoop them all up which I did.

Now here's the dilemma. What the hell do I do with them?? I know the easy thing to do would be a fun sweater but my history with sweaters hasn't been that good. And if you don't believe that, you can ask my sister who's been waiting two years for me to finish the one I started for her. So that's not so easy. I'd really like to find something soon because Patrick's thirteen and I'm not sure how much longer he'll find these buttons cool.

I'm open to suggestions. In other words HELP!

Romance

Everyone has a different idea of what's considered romantic. Some think a dinner out with a great wine at an expensive restaurant is romantic. Others think a candlelit bubble bath and a rose petal strewn bed is romantic. Not me. After twenty three years of marriage I've had it all so the most romantic thing for me is what Glenn gave me for Valentine's Day this year.


Cold hard cash.


Now let me tell you why. I still have my box of Godiva truffles from Christmas that Glenn got me so he didn't want to get me chocolate. He did go up to Macy's to look around and see if there was anything else I might like to no avail. Flowers were a fleeting thought. So he really thought about what I would like and he figured out the best thing. He bought me a beautiful card telling me how much he loved me and how much I mean to him and he filled it with money so I could buy whatever my little yarny heart desired. I love that he knows me so well.

After a big kiss and hug to my thoughtful and generous husband, I made a bee line for the Blue Moon Fiber Arts website. I picked out two gorgeous yarns I've wanted for a while now. Here's Thraven:





It's described as "bluesy greens and greensy blues painted black. Victorian elegance and mystery envelopes her like a foggy evening along a distant shore."





Reds, from poppy to rust darkened with black. Midwife of change. She will walk with you up to that door and be your witness as you walk through it.


I've been looking for these in the destash group but have yet to see anyone willing to part with these gorgeous colorways. With Glenn's generous gift, and after him sternly telling me not to use the money on anyone but me, I decided to order one skein of each of these yarns.


When the person you love gives you something that makes you happy, in my opinion, that's romantic. And for me, cash to buy yarn will make my heart flutter every time.

Dazed Stairways

Here's one of the finished Hidden Stairways socks in BMFA Garden Daze:



Love it! More importantly, so does Patrick! He keeps kvetching for me to finish the second sock so he can wear them. Here's a close up of the pattern:




This pattern really works well for any sock yarn be it solid or variegated. It's cute and easy and named for something in Harry Potter. What more could a girl ask for?

Next two projects are lined up. I have some gorgeous Artyarns Ultramarino 4 I'm looking for a pattern for and the Sundara is going to be used to make Tadpoles. Yes, Tadpoles!

Hole

I was going out to City Bakery, for the second time today I have to add, to knit and have chili hot chocolate with Allyson and Patrick. Getting dressed I pulled on a pair of my Skyp socks only to find the following:





Can you see it? How bout now?





Now I know I'm new to sock knitting but don't holes usually develop at the heels or toes? This is on the top of the foot right at the instep. Now how the heck could that have happened? There's a piece of yarn on either side of the hole that makes it look as if the yarn just broke. Is this common? Al said she'd help me fix it so that's a good thing but I'm concerned about it happening again. I'm hoping it was just a freaky thing and it won't happen again. It's BMFA Socks that Rock yarn so I know it's a great quality product. I'm just going to make the assumption that this was a weak point in the yarn and it won't happen again. You do know what they say about assuming though don't you?

Garden Daze

I finished up a baby hat in a day or so and got the jones start a pair of socks. Patrick and I were watching tv when I went to my yarn closet to pick out yarn to start a pair of socks for myself. I told him that I was going to knit socks and he looked at me with a big grin on his face and asked "For me???" How could I refuse?

I told him to go pick out a skein of yarn but I already knew what he was going to choose. I watched him, smiling, as he walked over to the closet. He asked why I was smiling and I said "Because I know you so well that I can tell exactly what yarn you're going to choose." There are about thirty skeins of yarn in there but I knew he'd go right for the Socks That Rock Garden Daze.





He opened the door, his eyes went wide and his mouth went into an O shape then he asked which one he'd choose and I said the one right in front in all the lovely colors. He laughed, grabbed it and tossed it to me. I do know my boy.





He chose the Hidden Stairways pattern that I just made for Bean. It's a nice gansey knit and truly reminiscent of staircases.


Patrick is my biggest knitting fan. He always loves getting things I make no matter what it is and he's always got a standing order for something new. Maybe because he actually learned to knit he really appreciates all the hand knit goodies I make him and realizes how much work goes into them. Maybe one day I'll even make him a sweater! Yeah don't hold your breath. Pat's sweater is still in the closet two years after I started it.

Sherpani

You know I'm always singing the praises of the Destash group on Ravelry. We'll I'm tuning up to sing some more.





Someone was destashing this lovely bag for $10. Yes only $10. It's a Sherpani Flora Major which goes for about $60 new. This was barely, if at all, used and is in excellent condition. It's supposed to be a yoga bag and since knitting is my yoga, it's perfect! Lots of room, light weight and oodles of pockets. I've always carried so much stuff with me so I always have a big bag. When I had babies, I loved diaper bags because they were as big as the purses I usually carried. I've already got it stuffed with all my belongings and ready to go. I swear I could live out of this damn thing for a week.

Ravelry has a number of groups that sell things at discounted prices. I've mentioned the yarn destash group ad nauseum but there's a bag lovers group, a Namaste group, a used equipment group and several others. So if you're in the market for yarn, bags, spinning wheels, knitting needle sets or anything pertaining to knitting, crocheting or spinning please check out Ravelry first. You could be helping out a fellow knitter in need and get yourself a nice deal.

Sundara

I've been trying to curb my sock yarn purchases for a while now. What I've decided to do is just buy yarns that I haven't yet tried and really want to get my hands on so that narrows down the field quite a bit. Oh and I'll always buy Blue Moon Socks That Rock for a good price so that's the one exception to the rule. I've also been purchasing solely from the ISO/Destash Group on Ravelry. Less guilt that way.

I recently was lucky enough to buy some gorgeous Sundara sock yarn.



Isn't it lovely? And it's the most appropriately named yarn I've ever purchased. It's called Forever Spring. As you can see, it's mostly green with little highlights of yellow and blue. When I got this, I could immediately see this knit up in a leafy pattern or something gorgeous designed by Cookie A. I'll have to look through my Sock Innovation book, find a pattern I like and knit this up soon. The weather has been so bad here, this will be a little bit of early Spring for me.

In the past year or so I've manage to try out some great sock yarns that I've wanted to knit with. Lorna's Laces, Plucky Knitter, Three Irish Girls, Socks That Rock, Sundara, Wollmeise are the ones I can think of off hand. There are a few more I'm still on the hunt for like Sanguine Gryphon, Yarntini, Yarn Pirate and Great Adirondack. It seems that I keep finding more yarns I want to try! My sock yarn cupboard is full so I gotta get a bit more knitting done and a lot less purchasing.

I'm currently working on a pair of socks for my niece, Joyce, and then I'm going to knit a bunch of baby things since I know a few people who are pregnant and more who already have babies. I have yarn left over from the stuff I made for Joyce's baby and I hope to deplete that bit of stash. Baby hats are fun to make so I hope to zip through a dozen or so of them. Here's hoping!