A Little Gift

I had breakfast with my friend, Linda, yesterday and she gave me this for my birthday. I love it!!! Thank you Linda!

Of course, I immediately wound one hank and cast on for the first Socktoberfest 09 Through The Loops Mystery Sock. I like the pattern so far. And it's nice yarn and I love the colors.

A Generous Gift

Seven hanks of Lookout Farm Wool

(6 are pictured)

This was given to me by my friend's mom who knows that I knit. This was a very pleasant surprise! I've purchased Acer by Kirsten Kapur and hope to use this for that. The wool reminds me of Bartlett Yarns or Briggs & Little. And I really like the color.

Answers

I had a couple of "comments" questions and unfortunately don't have contact info for those who asked the questions so I'll answer here.

Kathy,
The Bernat name and yarn manufacturing was long gone before I ever started working in Uxbridge. So a trip to Uxbridge to buy Bernat would have been fruitless for you. I've never heard of Bernat Gloucester so I cannot even try to give you the name of anything comparable. Sorry.

Anonymous,
Zach's Thorpe is a size medium. The directions for the colorwork version are in size medium. The ties are simply braided using the two colors of Lamb's Pride Bulky.

FYI-I am always happy to answer questions but if you comment without leaving an email address or a blog I can comment on, you'll have to check back here for your answer.

I Got A Package

As soon as I hit the post button on my last entry, I went "shopping" at The Loopy Ewe. I have my very own Little Loopy who is, by the way, very cute and very soft. Since I'm a gadget ho, I bought a very neat Stitch Saver. It's a mini crochet hook on a ring. Ingenious. When I clicked on The Sanguine Gryphon Eidos Agathon, I just had to have it. The color is so not what I usually go for but for some reason it screamed "Buy Me". So I did. It's a rich orangy gold and I like it! And I've been wanting to try the new Berroco sock yarns. They came out with all their new sock yarns shortly after I quit the place of my former employment so I didn't get to see them in person. The Sox is nice. It's soft and I like the colors.

I wanted to post tomorrow for the beginning of Summer of Socks. But my grandfather passed away yesterday and I have family coming in from out of town and just plain family stuff to do. I might try to write an entry and post date it. I'm supposed to be able to do that now. Otherwise, I'll just have to document my SOS start sometime next week.

Twice in One Month

I had to take Peter to the train in Franklin yesterday. He's commuting to work in Boston this summer. I needed some thread to sew ribbon over the zipper I put in my Ribby Cardi. Where better to get thread than Franklin Mill Store. But I couldn't just buy thread. They have a bunch of pre-packaged fat quarters and yardage. This one jumped out at me. And I remembered that I had fallen short on yardage for the clutch so I picked up another skein of Lamb's Pride Bulky. It's not the same dye lot but at this point, I really can't be choosy. I can't see any difference.

I bought the Comfort to finish two projects I had started with the mondo bags of Comfort leftovers I got at my former place of employment-the pinwheel sweater and the Arabesque Throw. I knit another hexagon for the throw last night. I've been knitting them circularly eliminating the need to sew seams. And I also picked up stitches along the previous hexagon to eliminate sewing the hexagons together. The only thing I'll have to do is weave in ends. So far, so good.

Brrrrrr and lots of knitting

It's cold again and that's all I'm going to say about that!

I bought two hanks of Happy Feet from the Franklin Mill Store a couple weeks ago. The picture isn't very good. It's actually a lot nicer in person-orange and purple and pink.
Perfect Baby Booties made to match the Rowan Wool Cotton Homecoming Layette sweater for Meghan's teacher. The baby was born yesterday, Mother's Day. Awww!

Mary Jane Baby Booties by shescrafty.com found on Ravelry. These are just the cutest little things made, also, for Meghan's teacher.
"The Clutch You'll Never Give Up" from Oneskein by Leigh Radford is made using Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride in Sable.
I've come to the conclusion that I'll never find a pattern for a sweater or whatever for myself with only 10 skeins of this Noro Kureyon. Now I have 10 skeins to make a bunch of felted objects. The first is this accessory bag from Weekend Knitting. Instead of using scraps of wool on hand, I just used the Kureyon. The stripes and colors are pretty in my opinion. I made some changes to the pattern and will post them when the bag is complete.

My "Go With The Flow" socks are coming along nicely. The colors pooled a little more on the second sock but I think the lace pattern sort of breaks it up so it's not horrible.

Koolhaas

I've had this Malabrigo in my stash for probably 3 years. I purchased it at my former place of employment back when the distributor was just getting going around here. It didn't last long in that shop. Not because it isn't fantastic yarn. Every day that I worked I had to fondle the stuff. There was some sort of business drama involved-I don't even remember the details anymore. A good portion of the stock got sent back to the distributor. But I did buy this before it left. I've had a difficult time deciding what to do with it until now. I'm going to try Koolhaas which originally appeared in Interweave Knit Gifts, 2007 and is by Jared Flood. We'll see what happens.

It's Official

I am officially obsessed with buying sock yarn etc. from The Loopy Ewe.
Cherry Tree Hill-Water (Loopy Groupie Gift)
Loopy Legends-Sharon's Island Time
Dream In Color Smooshy-Some Summer Sky
Trekking XXL-#150
Loopy Tote with dangly "Sock yarns don't count as stash!"

So my stash is enhanced big time. Now what to knit with it! Hmmmmm..........

A Little Knitting and Yarn and GO PATRIOTS!

Right around Christmas time, I became a Loopy Groupie. I received this lovely Loopy tote and awesome Cherry Tree Hill Supersock and Loopy kisses (which were gone asap). It was so exciting!

Some Knitpicks Palette-I love this color. I am just drawn to it lately. My goal this year is to knit a lace shawl or stole. I've attempted them SO many times but get messed up with yarnovers and stitch counts and end up having to rip everything out because I can't fix it. It's frustrating. But I am determined to overcome this and actually knit a whole lace project start to finish. We shall see.

Ah, some actual knitting. My Araucania Ranco socks are coming right along. I've just got the foot to do and the toe decreases left on sock #2. The color is pretty and the fabric firm and comfy. And the colors are evenly distributed. I like the socks and the yarn.

This is Calorimetry from Knitty. I don't remember which issue. It's sooooo easy and quick. I have a bunch of single balls of yarn from my days at the shop and I hate to throw yarn away. This pattern is perfect for those singles.

I have one small project I need to finish and and a couple of other projects started. No pictures yet. Monday maybe?