Marching into Sock Month Three

It's that time again, to talk about my new sock project for March! I am thrilled that I have already got two pairs of socks of my own and am looking forward to a third pair very soon. I have ambitious sock goals for this month. In addition to the pair outlined below, I need to finish my Dad's birthday socks (they were supposed to be Christmas socks, but I got a bad case of SSS [second sock syndrome]) plus I am taking a class on how to do two socks at a time on a circular needle. I'm very excited about this idea because it means no more SSS for me!

March Self-Imposed Sock & Book Challenge:

The Socks: I can't wait for Spring. One of my very favourite times of year, I love the return of the warmth and all the green. Even though this winter has not been too bad I am dreaming of longer days if sunshine, picnics, long walks and planting my balcony garden.

So with that in mind, I have chosen these socks: Tadpoles by Jenna Swanson. This free pattern on Ravelry features a lace pattern on the front of the leg and toe. These will be my first pair of lace socks and I am looking forward to wearing them this spring.

Photo from Ravelry page, see above for link.

The Yarn: For these socks I have chosen to use up a skein of Knit Picks Stroll Tonal in the Springtime colourway that has been in my stash for a while. I love the light green colour and it will show the pattern nicely. I love Knit Picks products for their affordability and their sock yarn comes in so many colours and varieties that it is never hard to find a great yarn for a project. I forgot to get a picture of the skein before I wound it, but here is an idea of the colourway.

The books: Well, I am still working on that pile of books for my class. And of course by working on I mean I look at them from time to time and feel slightly guilty about not reading them, but I will have to get cracking soon. I have however rediscovered LibriVox, an amazing website that allows you to download free audiobooks of books that are in the public domain read by volunteers. I am almost finished Alice's Adventures in Wonderland which was my knitting companion this weekend. Next up is a book that actually resides in my school pile, Jane Eyre.

My progress: I will confess that I started these socks a bit early this month as I knew I had loft sock goals and wasn't quite ready to dive into the monstrosity yarn that is my Dad's second sock - imagine neon orange and black tiger stripes, yikes! This means that I have completed one sock. I love the pattern and can't wait to block this sock to make the lace pattern really shine.

Happy Sock Knitting, 

msi. 

Photo Recap Week 2

You may recall that I have decided to follow along with the prompts suggested by FatMomSlim to take one inspired photo each day. Below are the results from my second week's efforts, including the start of the March prompts.

Sunday, February 26 -Night

Bedtime knitting

Monday, February 27 - Something You Ate

My Cupcakery cupcake matched my pin cushion!

Tuesday, February 28 - Money

All that was left in my wallet on Monday. 

Wednesday, February 29 - Something You're Listening To

Asa on the iPod

Thursday, March 1 - Up

Friday, March 2 - Fruit

Saturday, March 3 - Your Neighbourhood

I may have got a bit behind this week and did not post the pictures on instagram on time. But I managed them in the end. I am also using a new app called TtV Photo Studio that I would highly recommend if you love the vintage look to photos.

msi.

Happy Leap Day!

I know that technically it should be WIP Wednesday, but since it is the last day of February it's only appropriate that I show off and review for you my February Love Socks!

The pattern: This was my first time doing stripes and I loved it. i found that the colour changes made it more interesting to do the stocking leg and heel. I also enjoyed the combination intarsia/stranded colourwork on the heel and love the cute hearts. I have actually taken my shoes off multiple times to show relative strangers my heels. Awkward...

 I am glad that I ended up doing them the opposite colours for a pair of "fraternal" socks. All and all the pattern was very good, although I did have a bit of trouble with the heel, I think the numbers may have been slightly off in the pattern. The pattern is available for free on Ravelry and it is by Devon Clement.

The yarn: We all know that I love Tanis Fiber Arts and the Purple Label is extra yummy with the addition of cashmere (used the Sand colourway here). The red is leftover Fleece Artist 2/6 Merino that I had leftover from the guy's Valentine's heart. I loved this yarn also (it was my first time working with it) and the tones to the red are really beautiful.

The stack of books: Is still a stack of books. Actually, now that all of my students have finished choosing their books it has gotten a bit taller. Sigh...

And just because it is WIP Wednesday here is a sneak peak of my Mom's birthday present in progress.

Happy Leap Day!

msi

Back from a Hexi Hiatus

After taking a few weeks off, I'm back to hexipuffing this week. I used an assortment of mini skeins and scraps to create these 10 puffs.

I've been really drawn to these cheerful colours this week. I think its because I am dreaming of spring.

Yarns Used This Week:

Koigu KPPPM
Dream in Colour Smooshy
Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Select
Regia World Ball Color
Kama Suutra Hand dyed Sock  

msi.

Weekly Photography Recap

Hello blogosphere friends,

This Monday I wanted to share with you a new project I am embarking on. Since I want to start getting back into photography, plus I am loving all these fun photo apps for the itouch I have decided to take part in a photo365 challenge. I will be following along with the prompts suggested by FatMomSlim to take one inspired photo each day. Below are the results from my first week's efforts. Enjoy! 

Sunday, February 19 - Something I Hate To Do

Lola got into something, and really needed a bath. This was only her second bath ever and she did not enjoy the experience.



Monday, February 20 - Handwriting

For Family Day, the guy and I went for a nice walk along Queen W. I snapped this shot of graffiti in one of the alleyways.



Tuesday February 21 - A Favourite Photo of Myself

This photo is from Chicago, but I edited it with ColourSplash.


Wednesday, February 22 - Where I Work

My MacBook.



Thursday, February 23 - My Shoes

My shoes and showing off my brand new February Socks, just off the needles!



Friday, February 24 - Inside my Bathroom Cabinet

My sparkly jewelry boxes collected from one of my favourite stores that used to be on Front St. Sadly, now closed.



Saturday, February 25 - Green

Beads from our Queen W. trip waiting to be turned into something for spring.

msi.

FO Friday - Belated Valentine's Love

This weeks FO's were Valentines!

I gave the guy my knitted heart...

This great pattern for a anatomical heart by Kristin Ledgett is available for free in the Winter 2008 issue of Knitty. I knit it out of a yummy Canadian yarn, Fleece Artist Merino 2/6 in the Brick and Rudy Red colourways. The guy was super sweet and bought me a cute stuffed snowy owl for my collection of all things owlie and a gorgeous opalescent necklace. We spent part of last weekend in Niagara Falls with friends and had a lovely get-away. It was a nice break from the chaos that has been our lives lately. Also, free of work and responsibilities it led to some silliness - during which time I apparently thought I was Ms. Pacman.

My other FO this week is a Rebecca Danger monster that I made for a swap on Ravelry. The theme of the swap was Valentines and St. Patrick's day so I made my swap partner this sweet Bea the Basement monster and outfitted her with some festive costumes. The guy made the adorable heart tiara and the necklace with his wire wrapping skills. Bea has made it to her new home and my swap partner seemed to be very pleased with her. This also marks the first time I have sewn a monster tutu! That's a weird sentence I never thought I would say :P

Hope you all had a great week,

msi.

FO Friday: Conquering Bliss

Well, I've done it. I've managed to complete my first Debbie Bliss pattern. Who knew that such a cute little cardigan could make a girl so confused? Excuse the bad picture but at one point it looked like this...

 How that turned into this I'm still not sure...

Despite my inability to understand the pattern and my dislike for seaming, its done and I love it. The guy thinks this colour looks like bubble gum, so this is now the Bubblegum Cardigan (it's actually Dream in Color Classy in the colourway Cool Fire). The button was a vintage mother-of-pearl shell that I found in the button collection. Today, Bubblegum going to a brand new, wee baby that was born last week. I hope it keeps her warm this winter.


msi.

Early Spring Puffs

Last week, Wiarton Willie, the groundhog, predicted an early spring. This is not hard to imagine given the lovely spring weather we have had the last few weeks. It just so happened that I recently bought a group of Springtime Blossoms mini-skeins from Exchanging Fire on etsy.

So this past week in anticipation of spring I turned this...

Into this!

8 lovely puffs. I love the colours this week!

Than just for fun i dumped out all of my puffs completed so far and laid them out together. It was great to see that all the colours look nice together, but at the same time they covered such a small piece of real estate. Oh well, I will just keep puffing away!

Yarns Used This Week:

      JL Salvia in Spring

Knit Picks Stroll Multi in Atmosphere

Koigu PM on Baby Pink

Lamington Lass Luxury Silk Sock in Victorian Vamp

Lovestick SW 75/25 in Sweet Tweet

The Knitting Nimrod Collective Hand Dyed Sock Yarn in Spring Beauty

Universal Pace in Fawn – sent to TOK Card Pals February Swappee

Plymouth Sockotta in 07 Florida

Great Adirondack Yarn Co. Merino Fingering (100% Merino) in Sage

msi. 

Love is on the Heel

It's time to introduce you to the February Sock I have chosen for the self-imposed sock challenge this year! 

February Self-Imposed Sock and Book(?) Challenge 


The Socks:  In honour of Valentines Day I am making LoveSocks by Devon Clement, free pattern on Ravelry. These socks have a simple stripe pattern with a combination fair isle and intarsia heart on the heel!

Photo from Ravelry page, see link above.

The Yarn (the stringy variety, not the story): I will be using leftovers of two great yarns. Tanis Fiber Arts Purple Label in Sand and Fleece Artist Merino 2/6 in Ruby Red. 

I love Tanis's yarns and the purple label is extra special with cashmere. Seen here in the Sand colourway. I had a bunch leftover from a pair of fingerless mitts I made for a friend for Christmas. It is amazing how far a skein of this will go!

This is leftover from a secret Valentines Project that I will reveal next week,  Fleece Artist Merino 2/6 in Ruby Red. Available for purchase from the amazing online yarn shop The Loopy Ewe. 

The Books: Despite my success with my January socks, the reading didn't go so well. I'm still trying to find time to read Abe Lincoln: Vampire Hunter - good book, but so little free time in which I am not knitting! On top of this I assigned a book review for the class I am teaching about aging and disability so I have this lovely stack of novels to get through in the next few months. I also need to find my copy of Tuesday's With Morrie as several students have chosen this book. So the reading for pure pleasure part of the challenge is on hiatus, but I'm sure to enjoy some or all of the books in this looming stack. 

My Progress: As you can see in the previous photo I have already managed to make one sock. This is a really easy pattern (very much appreciated after last month's cables), so I have been able to zip through it quickly. I love the yarn combination and heart on the heel is so sweet. My colourwork skills are nothing to write home about, but I want to get more practice so this was a neat way to combine fair isle and intarsia on the heel flap. 

Close-up of the inside of the heel showing intarsia technique at the top of the heart and the switch to intarsia for the body of the heart. 

All that I have left to decide is if I want to do my second sock in the alternate colour pattern (like in the pattern above) or if I want them to match. I kind of like the idea of matching them. What do you think?


msi. 

Fiery Puffs

This week I met my minimum requirement of 7 puffs. I had so much fun with the colour theme last week I dug around in my stash and found scraps of yellows, oranges and reds for this weeks fiery puff collection! Some more minis came in the mail yesterday so next week expect another collection of minis turned into puffs!

Yarns Used This Week:

ONline Supersocke Butterfly Colour in 1154
Knit Picks Stroll Tonal
Fleece Artist Merino 2/6
Tanis Fiber Arts Blue Label (leftovers from My Vampire Boyfriend Socks!)
Mary Maxim Bamboo Soft Stripes

msi

Done in the nick of time...

I finished my My Vampire Boyfriend socks last night, just a few days ahead of schedule! I am super impressed that I managed to finish these on time and that I didn't give into second sock syndrome. So what did I think about my first month of my self-imposed sock challenge?

The pattern: A really enjoyable pattern by Kate Atherley. By the end of the first sock I had the pattern down. My chart was always near by, but the second sock went much faster and I managed to knit it in a little more than a week. It was a great pattern that you need to pay attention to and it challenged me (in a good way) the whole way along. I love the addition of the "bitemark" cable along the sides and the modified heart for the heel and toe. This pattern is available for free in the Fall 2009 issue of Knitty.

The yarn: This was a wonderful skein of Tanis Fiber Arts Blue Label in a one-of-a-kind colourway. I love Tanis's yarn and it feels great to finally have a pair of socks in it! The socks are soft and sturdy and the colour variations are beautiful.

The book: As you may recall, I am also reading Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter as my book challenge for this month. I am not quite done, but it has been a great book so far. Between the three jobs and the sock knitting I have been a busy bee this month.

I'll be back with the February sock of choice soon.

Happy Knitting!

msi

Back on the Hexi Track...

After my complete failure last week to complete a single puff, I doubled my efforts this week and managed to turn this....

Into this...

The shipment of mini-skeins definitely did its thing and inspired me to make 13 gorgeous puffs in wintery blues and whites. Glad to be on the right track again! Also, I loved trying a bunch of yarns that I had never tried before. My favourites were the Wollmeise, Bare Sheep Company and JL Vinca. I will definitely be seeking them out for future knitted socks.


Yarns Used This Week:

ONline Supersocke Butterfly Colour in 1154
JL Vinca in 806
 Koigu KPPPM in Snowdrift

            Bare Sheep Company Merino Nylon Sock in Dumbledore  

      Lazy Perry Ranch Sock in Turquoise

      Woolmeise 100% in Karnblume  

      Dream in Color Smooshy in Lunar Zazzle

      Lion Brand Sock Ease in 100 Marshmallow
 Patons Kroy Sock in Blazing Blue
Regia World Ball Color in Argentine
All Things Heather Sock in Turquoise
Araucania Ranco in Sky Blue

      Happy Knitting, 

      msi

Baby Blanket Indecisiveness

I'm in a quandary. I have friends who recently found out they are expecting. My mind is already in overdrive for all of the things I will knit for this wee one. I love knitting for babies: booties, hats, sweaters, mitts, toys, you name it. I have some time before the little one is expected to arrive, but the largest investment of time and resources will have to go into a blanket. I want this blanket to be something that the little one will grow up with so I need something classic, soft, hardwearing and beautiful. I have been scouring Ravelry and Pinterest for some time trying to decide on the perfect first project for baby.

I absolutely love this...

Hansel Blanket From The Shetland Trader (link)

But I also adore this...

Baby Chalice Blanket from Lykkefanten (link)

And this...

Zig and Zag Sock Yarn Pram Baby Blanket by Debbie Orr (link)

And then there is this...

Forever Baby Blanket from Purl Soho (link)

Sigh... and this is just the tip of the iceberg. Does anyone out there have any advice for a knitter in need of a perfect baby blanket?

msi.

Belated FO Friday

Time for another finished object Friday (well Sunday, but who's counting?)! Despite the total neglect of the "me" projects over the past week (socks, cardi, puffs) I have been knitting for my next favourite group: babies! There is nothing more satisfying that making something warm and wooly for a wee one. Last weekend I made this sweet hat for a friend's baby. The I Heart Cables pattern is in the winter issue of Petite Purls, an excellent, free online knitting magazine specializing in patterns for small humans.

One of the best things about this hat was that I got to use the pom pom maker that Kevin made me for Christmas for the first time. It is so much easier than any other tool I have made or bought before. I plan on making another pair of the Frodo booties to go with this great heat.

'til next time,

msi

Let's Not Talk About It...

So its time for a Hexi check in, but I sadly have zero puffs to show this week. I found out last Monday that I would be teaching a new class starting Wednesday nights so I have been completely swamped with trying to get caught up with that. In fact this blog post is a brief break from writing a lecture about gerontological theories. Woot!

What did arrive in the mail today was this...

12 mini skeins of yummy sock yarns that I bought on etsy from LadyDanio for puffs. Hopefully this will inspire me to double my efforts to have lots of puffs for next week.

msi.