I made a post on my knitting blog with some yarn I'm trying to get rid of. The sad thing is I still have a bunch of other stuff I have no plans for. This is all I could bear to part with at the moment. http://goodknits.com/blog/2009/08/14/a-little-de-stashing/

I won a blog contest a while back. I received my prize, yesterday! I couldn't be happier. everything is so pretty!


Today is my little sister's 17th birthday. holy moly! 17! I thought to myself, yesterday, "crap, I don't have a gift." but then I remembered I had knit this slouchy hat for her a few months ago. thanks, placenta brain.


lastly, in yarny news, I learned to cable without a cable needle!! huzzah! I'm currently working on something that has tons of little cables in it and after fumbling with my DPN twice, I decided I must learn to do without the needle. it was easy peasy, thanks to Grumperina's tutorial found here.


I hope to have this finished by the end of the weekend, but of course, that probably won't happen.

i have TWO 8oz (~465 yd) balls of yummy virgin wool that is just screaming to be dyed and knit with! does anyone want anything?

sweaters?
soakers?
longies?
shorties?
hats?
booties?


prices depend on the product size.
a sweater would be ~$40 for a chest ~20" in size (about 12 months, i believe? nathan has a 22-23" chest at 2yrs) but would be more if you wanted it to be a cardigan.
longies would start around $25 for newb size and then go up to $35 for toddler.
soakers start at $20 for newb and then go to $30 for toddler.

you can give me your child's exact measurements for an accurate fit. or i could look up sizes based on age. i can dye them pretty much any color you desire. i could use kool-aid or more "professional" acidic dyes.

the original pattern can be found here- http://magknits.com/Sept05/patterns/jaywalker.htm

my modifications were really quite simple.

I CO 44 and after ribbing for half an inch (I probably should have gone to 1in) I started the pattern, changing the length of the zig-zags to only 3 inches [inc, k3, dd, k3, inc]. after another inch of knitting, I started the heel. I knit the heel flap until 10 slipped stitches were on the sides, then I turned it and did the gussets. after that, it was pretty much smooth sailing until the sock was the right size for Nathan's foot. i decreased the toe to 16 stitches, then kitchenered those together.

he's currently running around in them downstairs. he showed them off to both my mom and my sister (who he's running around with). he's also successfully named all the colors in his new socks.



p.s. I'm sure they look familiar! what else could have been more awesome to use leftover yarn for?

yesterday, we went to the circus with J's dad. well, sort of.

friday, I started the 2nd sock--finished the ribbing and one pattern repeat before dinner. later on, while we watched "Night at the Museum," I finished the leg and the heel, to the gussets. on saturday, we had a 45-minute drive to meet Jason's dad for lunch. i knit the whole way and during the wait for jason's dad. I finished about half of the foot.

we went to the circus and nathan nearly had a heart attack. clowns. clowns everywhere! we didn't really want to just leave, so we stayed a little while, despite nathan begging to go home. right before it started, we HAD to leave. he was crying with tears streaming down his face by this time.

we decided to go to J's mom's house for the evening, so another long drive yielded me finishing the rest of the foot. I finished the toe while J's mom was playing with Nathan outside.

so goes the story of the second mother's day sock.

we're thinking of getting her a pair of Crocs. currently, she gardens in flip-flops, so we think they'll be much appreciated! this week will be filled with me making cards for both our moms.


(btw, I'm going to be making my mom this shawl, but I need to get the yarn first. it might take a while. she knows she's getting a shawl eventually. ;)

this is Monkey 1 of 2 for J's mom. I'm so happy with them! I almost gave up at the heel because the lace pattern is 11 rows long and I couldn't quite get it memorized. then, what do ya know, I suddenly memorized it for the foot. it's destiny. I hopehopehope she likes them and doesn't think the colors are "too much" or something.

these were made with the last batch of yarn I dyed. I am constantly amazed at what you can do yourself instead of paying nearly 4 times as much for someone else to do. I dyed the yarn (yarn was $5.99 at knitpicks and kool-aid was like a buck) and made the blocker with a wire-hanger that probably cost like 10 cents compared to $20+.

the news is depressing me, so here is some knitty distraction.

using the "Quill Lace Socks" pattern found in the current issue of knitty (knitty.com), I started this one a few days ago. I, obviously, made the leg part shorter. i'm really excited to finish this one and start the other.


I love the eye of partdige heel. it looks so awesome.

( +3 ) as you can see, it fits! HA! i thought I was cursed. I have started and frogged socks 3 times! 4 is my lucky number, once again.

merino and baby alpaca + silk = mmmmmmmm!



Swallowtail Shawl, here I come!



I forgot to add I absolutely LOVE great deals. the 3 skeins to the left were under $3 each and the one on the right was under $6. all from http://knitpicks.com they're going to make some awesome Mother's Day gifts!