Socks and redecorating

I'm working on the March mystery socks for the SKA KAL, and I'm really enjoying how they're looking. The Sanguine Gryphon Eidos is really nice yarn, once I got over its high twist. The next clue comes out tomorrow, and I can hardly wait :)

I'm also working up a pattern for some lacy socks inspired by the Folklore and Fairytales RAL/KAL of The Hobbit. The colorway of the yarn is Smaug, and I'm really excited to start working on my pattern. The problem is that I need to find my third circular needles in US0...two circs are being used for the mystery socks. Sigh.

In other news, I reorganized my craft room. Once we took out the couch, I had a lot more space, but things still felt cluttered. I got a new desk (only $30!) and put it together this weekend - I love the open feeling of the room now. Lots of floor space for sewing or blocking, lots of wall space for pictures or nothing, and just a great feeling. I spent about an hour tonight working on my map of Beleriand, and it was so nice to be able to put it on the floor and work with my pastels without having to move a couch or trunk out of the way. This openness won't last however; we're going to put a futon in this room so it can be a guest room for when my family members are over at the holidays. I'm enjoying it while it lasts, though!

Well, my focaccia just came out of the oven, so I'd better look to it.

Let them wear socks, and let them eat cake

I'm trying yet another yellow cake recipe - dp loves boxed yellow cake with chocolate frosting, but I refuse to buy boxed cake mix. I've tried various butter and oil cakes, but nothing is quite right. Currently, I have Smitten Kitchen's yellow cake in the oven - most of her recipes are great, so I have high hopes for this one. I don't know what to do about the frosting though...dp didn't like the buttercream I made last time, though that might be a review of my skills rather than the recipe :)

I finished the Nibblers socks - hooray! Here they are in they're poorly lit glory:



and the detail shot:



I finished the second sock in about 5 1/2 days, so I'm only a little bit behind schedule. I'm currently working on the March mystery sock for the SKA sockdown on Ravelry. I'm happy to be knitting down the stash - though if I use up my sock yarn, I'll only have sweater weights left. It's likely though that I'll top up the sock yarn, if I could only get someone to take me to the yarn store!

I also finally got some cardigan pictures off the camera:

Side one:



Side two:



I love that it's reversible, and I love both sets of buttons. Now that my sister and my best friend are expecting, I think I may have to whip up a few more of these for them. So cute, and so quick. Though if either of them is having boys, I may not go with this cardi - it is a bit delicate looking.

I still have two half finished cardigans for myself sitting in my WIP pile, but I don't have the energy to work on them. I think I need a nice vacation, so I can concentrate on just relaxing, at which point I'll be able to work on the sweaters. I need to have either a certain state of mind, or a really hard deadline :)

Well, off to pick out a frosting recipe...

It's been a while

Two weeks? What the heck happened?

Things are completely insane at work with the holiday coming up and the large freezer defunct. I'm getting various freezer donations, but it's like tetris over here.

I was happy to see "Shrove Tuesday Recipes" when I opened up allrecipes.com today - the historian in me always gets a kick out of that kind of thing.

I still haven't finished even the first Nibblers sock. I haven't been doing much knitting lately, due to some issues, and I can really tell that my mood is bluer because of it.

I ended up making a baby blanket for my cousin's shower - just a flannel one, with little pictures of birds in blue, brown and pink. I love those colors together! DP was actually jealous of the blanket, and if he'd been a baby, he would have stolen it for himself :)

My sister finds out in two weeks the sexes of her twins. I'm pretty excited, because once I know the sexes, I can start on the projects. DP will probably be annoyed at the craftosity, but c'est la vie. I can't wait! My hope is for one girl and one boy (that's what I hoped for when my mom was pregnant with twins, but she ended up with my brothers - sigh!).

I'd really like to work up my forest of Brethil socks for Ravelry. They're pretty easy, and I think people might enjoy making them. At the very least, I'd like another pair for myself :) Why don't I seem to be able to just sit down and pattern write?

Back to it!

Bills stink

I got the bill for my bloodwork in January - $1200! My insurance actually did something to help me this time, so I only am responsible for $500 of it, but come on! I have another procedure next week, and it's going to cost almost $2000. I called my insurance company (since the last time I had something big, they covered 95 cents of it - literally!), but the person on the phone would not tell me how much of it they'd cover. She could only tell me it's a covered service. Bah!

In other news, I've been playing around with Calibre, and tried converting one of my patterns with it. Worked like a charm, except I forgot to make my charts into pictures, so they came up weird looking. This opens up a whole new world of things to put on my Kindle. I wonder if I need to hack pdfs in order to convert them...

I haven't had much time for knitting this week, so I just finished turning the heel on the first of DP's socks. I think I'm liking how they're turning out, but I'll need to knit further up the leg to be sure.

I got the new Interweave Knits yesterday; le sigh. Nothing in it really grabbed me and said "make me now!", which is kind of a bummer. I have the itch to make things, but I just don't know what.

Thank goodness for heavy sock yarn

I found two half balls of STR mediumweight, and I think I have enough to make a pair of socks for DP. I might just go with tube socks, using that ubiquitous spiraling rib pattern.

I'm still plugging away on the Nibblers socks; I'm finally to the gusset increases, so at least there's something interesting to do :)

A depressing discovery

I've found out the hard way that the only socks that don't develop holes in a few months are ones with nylon. Not even silk or bamboo work. Almost all of DP's newer socks have holes in them, because I've been making him nice soft socks with pure merino. I should have realized that they'd never last, but I let myself be fooled.

The good thing is that the socks I'm currently making for him are in a wool/nylon blend, so they should stand up to wear. The bad thing is that, like almost all his socks, they are 9 stitches and 12 rows to the inch, so they won't be done anytime soon. I have to get him hooked on STR I think, because the only holes those socks get are from severe injury - catching them on a nail, accidentally cutting them with a scissors. Blargh!

I might have to whip up a thicker pair for him in between other projects, just to take the edge off, you understand :)

The socks are done, long live the socks

I finished the mystery socks on January 31:



They are nice and warm, and in shoes don't look too bad :)

I started another pair on February 1 - Socks for His Nibs, made out of the bright orange yarn I mentioned before. I wanted to do the pattern because I want to get more comfortable with flap and gusset heels, especially toe up style. I'd like to get to the point where I don't need a pattern or need to look at a reference; basically, to be as comfortable with flap and gusset as I am with short row.

I decided on a little cardigan with the cashsoft, and finished it pretty quickly. I still don't have buttons for it though, since I'm not sure any of the buttons in my box really work with the oatmeal color of the yarn. It is very soft and snuggly though! Now I need to decide whether I want to go with socks or a blanket for the accompanying gift.