and a yarny new year

angora, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

DH spoilt me this year with yarn. I only got to open (most) of my presents last night from him, as we were off visiting family all over the place and decided to keep our own Christmas for ourselves.

Above is Plymouth Yarn Angora, 4 skeins of black and 5 of baby blue.

He also got me a whole bunch of everyone's fave, mmmmmalabrigo:



10 skeins of silky merino in "purple mystery" and...



5 of "dill".

I made myself a sweater in Malabrigo Silky Merino years ago and it is still going strong, so I know that this could make at least 2 sweaters (I used 6 for the first sweater and I have 15 now... even with full length sleeves I should be able to get 2 sweaters worth out of it). I'm thinking one of just the purple and maybe another with green as the main colour and stripes or something of the remaining purple for the 2nd? Or perhaps something completely different... we shall see, shan't we?

I hope everyone else had a wondering holiday, and don't forget, you can still take advantage of my holiday deal until midnight EST tonight!!

Little thing the third

what is that?, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

is really little.

Ok, fine, we can look at it a little closer...



It's an ewok! Ok, fine, we can get closer still...


An Ewok on Hoth. Or in Canada. Either way.

Early on in our relationship, DH saw this when I was perusing things on ravelry and really really wanted it. I saved it in my queue, where it had sat ever since. What can I say? I love him, but really cannot crochet.

I didn't have time to do anything major for anyone this Christmas, so I went thru my queue and saw this guy sitting there, forlorn. I decided to bite the bullet and give it a shot.

I'm sorry to say that this project reinforced my hatred of crochet. I probably should have used a bigger hook with the woolarina, and the dolly was too splitty for crochet. And I hold on too tight. And in the round my crocheting often ends up inside out, somehow… probably because I sometimes end up throwing the yarn as opposed to holding it in my left hand. Old habits die hard.

Mods: improvised the hood in garter stitch (aka KNITTING) because I couldn’t understand the crochet directions and I think it was way easier my way. That’s what I’m going to tell myself, anyway. I’m not thrilled with my embroidery skills, either, but I think his face turned out ok.

Raveled here.

Speaking of small things, I found a close-up picture of the duck boots on my dad's camera, for those of you who want to see more of them (although who could pass up the cute baby pic for this?!):



And, to make a long post even longer, don't forget to take advantage of my holiday deal, explained here.

Little Thing[s] the Second

Ducky booties, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

The only real knitted present this year was for my new niece. It was her first Christmas, so of course she was rather spoiled. She's too young to remember, though, so we'll make sure it doesn't go to her head... too much, anyway.

Some of you may have guessed from my earlier post that these were duck socks. They were a little fiddly, with the strange cast on and the applied i-cord, but the end result is well worth it. I'm sorry I don't have a better FO picture, but the cute baby makes up for it, no?

Mine raveled here.

A holiday gift from me to you!

suéter profundo, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

From now until the end of the year I am offering a special gift just for you, oh faithful readers!

You may choose one of my pay-for patterns on ravelry, for free, including the above jacket. Just check out my pattern page and use the coupon code "holidayknit" when checking out (no quotation marks necessary).

Happy knitting! And happy holidays too!

what a difference an i-cord makes

I-cord vs not, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

secret detail shot... it's all you're getting [be]for[e] Christmas

The [thing] on the right is finished, and has some beautiful applied i-cord detail. It took an hour just for the middle one (there are 3), so you'd better be ooohing and aaaahing over it!

The [thing] on the left is still in progress and does not have any applied i-cord on it. Yet. See the valley sort of in the middle (right where it first touches thing-on-the-right)? That's where the middle applied i-cord will go.

If you know what these are, best not to shout it out in the comments, there could be recipients (or in this case recipients' mothers) lurking.

little thing the first

Elfin hat, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

Yesterday I posted that I was going to try and get a few things done before Christmas .... and then cast on this!

Pattern is: Elfin, yarn is Manos Maxima, needles are US 6s. Took less than a couple of hours!

A friend who recently had a baby asked if I could knit a hat for her new little girl, and of course I would! I hope that it fits and keeps her adorable little head warm all winter!

sweater progress

wwfy front, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

Not much to say, but the sweater for my Will Work For Yarn Swap is coming along. A couple of sleeves and a collar and we'll be set to send it back to its proper owner!

Christmas knitting really didn't happen this year, which I'm sad about, but between the WWFY swaps and teaching for my first semester post-PhD, I got a little busier than expected. That said, there are a few small things I'm hoping to crank out before next week, and will update if/when they're done.

wednesdays are for

shiraz skein 1, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

what I've been up to.

Not much, honestly, but I did manage to get through one skein of cascade 220 (of 7) for the shiraz sweater I've been working on for someone in the WWFY group.

Hoping to crank this out along with Christmas presents (only a few this year) before the big day.

NaKniSweMo 2012

NaKniSweMo 2012, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

Done! With plenty of time to spare. I haven't done the math yet, but I cannot imagine that fingering weight on size 3 needles with extra stripes and increases added could not add up to 50,000 stitches!

It needs a good blocking... if you look closely at the above picture you can see the collar curling down a bit... or in this next one, the hem has flipped back up, in spite of repeated attempts to tame it:



In any case, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I kind of wish that the neck were a little tighter... but I'm pretty sure it's much better than my first attempt. I made a lot of mods, most of which were explained in a previous post.

The only thing that has changed since then was the addition of sleeves. Instead of binding off at the sleeve divide, as per the pattern, I put the stitches on holders. To achieve the sleeves I made, I finished up the last row of the grey stripe, added a blue stripe, grey stripe and another blue stripe, as per the pattern chart. I finished them off with a cuff done in the same way as I did the bottom hem.

Just in case you missed the info last time:
Pattern is: Elfe
Yarn is: Claudia Hand Paints fingering in Deep Blue (approx. 2.5 skeins) and Neighborhood Fiber Co Studio Sock in Grey (almost a full skein... there are a few bits left, but not enough to do anything with).
Needles: US 3
Raveled: here.

Swap Package Received!

Swap package, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

Shockingly, my swap package only took a week to head across the atlantic and into the arms of it's new sock-loving owner. You've already seen it in bits and pieces, but above is the full package. Socks, of course, (pattern is by the seine river) yarn from Longmeadow Farm, soap, also from longmeadow farm, spinning fiber from purple moose felting (this was my "reward" for the WWFY socks... I knew that I wanted to get my swappee some spinning goodies and couldn't decide what I wanted for myself so picked this out for her instead), and an ornament made from my oh Christmas Tree pattern.

I'll be honest, she took much better pictures, so hop on over to her blog (in Spanish) to check them out!

Espero que te guste el paquete, vayque!

it FITS! [insert maniacal laughter here]

NaKniSweMo 2012, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

Considering I was pretty much flying blind on this one (see: crazy amount of mods, listed below), I cannot believe it turned out as well as it did. I'm a little concerned about the rolling neck/hemlines but I'm hoping that a good solid blocking will sort that out.

Here's the next big dilema: the sleeves. I put the stitches on holders as opposed to binding them off because I wanted to make them longer. However, the added stripes to the body has left me with very little (approx 7 grams) of the grey left. It's more than enough to finish off the stripes at the tops of the sleeves (each needs one more round to match the stripe on the sweater) but I don't know that I'll get another full stripe (I'd need enough for 5 rounds on each sleeve) out of it.

I do, however, still have 32g of the blue left. So, I could finish the grey stripes off at the tops of the sleeves and then add as much blue as I possibly can to get a longer sleeve. Or just do the requisite number of rows for the next blue stripe (10, I believe) and then bind off/create a cuff like the neck/hemline.

Thoughts on the sleeve dilema would be much appreciated.

As for the pattern/mods/etc:
Pattern: Elfe
Yarn: Blue is Claudia Handpaints Fingering (so far 2.25~ skeins); Grey is Neighborhood Fiber Co Studio Sock (all but 7g of one skein)
Needles: US 3
Mods: - much smaller needles
- adding an extra purl round to the neckline
- jogless colour-joins
- using L colour pattern, but M cast-on and increases.
- knitting 9 rows (as per L instructions) before separating sleeves
- 23 rounds after sleeve separation (before waist shaping)
- waist shaping as per L instructions
- bottom hem: add extra knit row, BO purl-wise with colour B
- did not bind off sleeves, on holders to add length later

My version is raveled here complete with these mods.

sneak peak

Christmas Tree for a Swapee, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

You've seen the socks, and here's a small idea of what my swapee will find when they open their package... but this is it! At least, until it arrives...

Pattern: Oh Christmas Tree
Yarn: Handspun by Gekko
Needles: US 6
Time to make: less than 2 hours, including stuffing and sewing-up.

WWFY socks

WWFY socks, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

I completed the Will Work For Yarn socks, and early at that! I was really gunning to cast on for NaKniSweMo, but I knew if I did that first these would never see the light of day! They're still slightly damp, but I'm hoping they'll be dry enough to pack up and ship off this morning to their happy new home!

Pattern: Hermione's everyday socks
Yarn: Angora Yarns' Cotton Rayon in Magenta
Needles: US 0 dpns (had to go out and buy 'em... I didn't have any that small!!)

Raveled here with better lit pics.

rock me like a hurricane....

hurricane hat, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

too soon?

We did not get the hurricane (at least not yet) in any way as strongly as some of my friends down the eastern seaboard did... but I decided to knit up a (very quick) hurricane hat to send off to the lovelyarns' 500 hat project. I would have finished it yesterday (aka the day I started it) but I was falling asleep while casting off, so I decided to just finish it up this morning. (The picture, by the way, is in my on-campus office... hence the halo of florescent light surrounding my head.)

Pattern: none. If you care to know: Cast-on 4 stitches. BEFORE joining in the round, increase to 8 by knitting f&b into each stitch. Join in the round, knit 1 row. Continue increasing 2 sts per dpn (assuming you have 4 dpns with sts on them and 1 to knit with) until you have 48 sts. Knit until you [almost] run out of yarn. Bind-off using EZ's sewn bind-off.
Yarn: Berroco Sundae, less than one skein (I had used about 2 yards of it to finish off a previous hat)
Needles: US 13 dpns

Instantaneous gratification, indeed!

a (very) small detour

cubba hat, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

Although I in the midst of all kinds of deadlines, both knitting and academic, I couldn't resist casting on when I found out my niece is currently without a hat that fits. It took less than 2 days, so I think I can justify it.

This is the cubba hat from Wooly Wormhead. I used most of a skein of mirasol tupa and size 4 needles. No real mods to speak of, although I think I made the body of the hat slightly longer than called for.

No offense to dr. honeydew, but I think this will look even cuter on my niece!!

talk about last minute gifts...

modified veylas, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

Nothing like sewing the buttons on the morning of.... (knitting has been done for a few days, but they desperately needed blocking, especially for the cuffs.)

For a friend's birthday... today. Good thing it's going to be 73 degrees out... something tells me she won't need these quite yet.

Pattern is veyla, heavily modified.
Yarn is longmeadow farm fingering weight in grape, less than 1 skein.
Needles: US3s
Mods: Many... for starters, the original pattern is for fingerless mitts, obviously I extended to full mittens. I also removed the leaf motif from beside the thumb. For the thumb increases I used m1r/m1l instead of yarnovers.
Buttons are from Bumbershoot Supplies on Etsy.

I tried to take a picture of them blocking so the cuffs would be more visible, but the lighting was so bad (we had so many storms this week) and my camera is dead so I'm relying on ipad pics... but here it is anyway in all it's un-glory:

will work for yarn...

wwfy take 2, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

In these tough economic times, a knitter's gotta do what a knitter's gotta do....

But seriously, I found the will work for yarn swap group on ravelry almost a year ago, and have checked in from time to time to see what it was all about... and finally a couple of weeks ago signed up for my first swap. And then a second. But more on that in a minute.

The premise is simple. Someone who can't/doesn't want to make a project posts about it in the group. So, for example, if you are a crocheter but really want a pair of knitted socks, then you would ask for someone to volunteer to do this for you. You (or me in this case) would then metaphorically raise your hand and reply to the post. The requester usually states the pattern and yarn to be used in the original request. You knit/crochet/sew/spin the project in question and send it on to the requester. They then send you payment-in-kind. So, depending on what yarn you use to make the project, the requester will send the maker an equivalent amount of yarn/fleece/sewing material of your choosing. Sometimes from their personal stash, sometimes something else you agree upon.

So: I'm knitting hermione socks out of angora yarn's cotton rayon for someone who is a) a crocheter and b) allergic to animal fibres. I have requested some spinning fibre in return.

And then, as the bug bit me, I couldn't resist signing up for a second one... (fortunately the group limits you to two swaps at a time!) so I just received this:



to make a sweater for someone who has been afflicted with carpal tunnel. In return she also sent along this:


(4 50g skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in "Blackwatch")

and this:



Knit Pick's Imagination in Mermaid Lagoon on the left; Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Pheasant on the right.

So far, so good, and hopefully my requesters will feel the same!

The Productivity-to-Busy Ratio

I know, from various conversations with colleagues as well as various articles on academic websites such as the chronicle, that many academics find that the busier they are, the more productive they are as well. I am not immune from this conundrum. If I have very little to do, I tend to stagnate. Instead of working on that article that needs to be revised for the 100th time, I'd rather sit on the couch and stare at the TV. BUT... if I also have to teach tomorrow and have a couple of knitting deadlines, somehow I'll be more motivated to do it all.

Hence the above... I'll be participating in NaKniSweMo (ravelry group link) as well as the NaSchoWriMo (also on ravelry as a group). For the Sweater Side, I'll be re-tackling my elfe sweater which has been frogged and major changes have been brewing in my head in order to make it work just so for me. I'm pretty sure I'll hit 50,000 stitches, especially if there is enough yarn left at the end to lengthen the sleeves beyond what is required of the original.

On the Scholarly Side, I'm going to tackle a brand-spankin' new article idea that's been brewing since a recent conference presentation brought up some new questions. I don't know if I'll write 50,000 words, but I'm going to count the fact that I'm going to have to read a whole bunch of new scholarship before I can get down to any actual writing of my own.

And then, of course, I'll be reading/prepping for the class I'm teaching, applying for jobs for next semester/year, and, of course, freaking out about Christmas-gift-knitting. November's going to be awesome, right?!

Too loose?

Too loose?, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

I started these socks yesterday but I'm already worried about them... The yarn was chosen by the recipient and because of an allergy to animal fibre, this is a cotton/rayon blend. It is thinner than what I would call a true fingering so on size 1 needles it looks very open:



My biggest concern is the bottom of the foot. With too open of a weave I can imagine it would not be the most comfortable to walk on. So I posed the following solutions to the recipient:

- rip back and try on smaller needles, possibly adding stitches to make up for lost space.
- change to smaller needles for bottom half of foot
- rip back and double up the yarn on size 1.5 or 2s

What would you do?

Socks, and a cautionary tale

Cautionary tale socks, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

Or: How Using Hiya Hiyas may have save my life.

OK, not my life, but definitely my foot. First, the socks:

Pattern is by the seine river a great, and very prone to striping properly, sock pattern. Since these are for my swap partner, I'm hoping they fit her as well as they fit me (our measurements are quite similar, so that made it easy).

Needles: US 1dpns (Hiya hiyas, the life-saving needle in question)

Mods: None, except that I finally listened to my instincts and used size 1s even though 1.5s were called for.

Now, my tale (although please stop if you're squeamish... I made the receptionist at the walk-in clinic squirm... which ought to come with a prize of some sort, I would think.)

I was knitting these this morning and put them down beside me on the couch. A few minutes later I heard my phone beep to signal a text message in the other room, so I jumped off the couch, knocking my project to the ground. When I put my foot down to push off, well, the needle was stuck in the carpet sticking straight up... and I'll spare you the rest. It was actually relatively harmless in the end, very little bleeding (absolutely none on my needles or project, but I promise my partner these will go through the wash before they're sent off, just to be safe) and I ended up "updating" my tetanus shot, since it was time to do so in any case.* Anywho... next time you knock a project over, pick it up before you launch yourself off the couch, you know, just to be safe.

*I brought my project with me to the drs office a) so I could show them the needles in question and b) so I had something to work on while I waited... I think I freaked everyone out a little by continuing to work on the project that had impaled me, although the dr was impressed with the stainless steel needles and said I shouldn't have any issues or infections with such a "clean instrument". I might have a little nerve damage which will heal sloooowly... but I can keep knitting since it was to my foot and not a hand, right? I'm perpetuating the idea that knitters are freaks, aren't I? Le sigh. Moral of the story: knit with stainless steel needles so when you inevitably stab yourself (or is it just me that knits enough that it was probably inevitable?) you won't have splinters or infections!

too big? or just right?

too big?, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

(requisite apologies for the mac-cam photos... but it was the easiest way)

I'm currently in the midst of a sweater KAL with two dear friends who now live in different time zones. We're working on elfe and I'm trying to decide if I should go on as is, or rip back and do the smaller size. (Currently working on size medium but I thought I was between sizes and this would make a slightly slouchier t... now I'm not so sure.)

With my arms out (like above) I think it looks huge. But since I generally don't walk around like that....



It looks better with my arms down, right? Except the arm-holes, which still look huge... or am I crazy? (I put the stitches for the arms on hold rather than casting off... I think I will want to add some length to them, depending on how much yarn I have left over...)

So do I rip back and start over? Or trudge on and hope for the best? For now this has been cast-aside until I can decide, but I'd really love to have it finished so I can wear it before it's so cold that I'll have to cover it with another sweater...

look ma, no pools!

no pools!, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

If these look familiar, it's probably because they look a whole lot like the socks I recently received from a friend. I'm pretty sure it's the same yarn (Knit Picks Stroll Stripes).

But this yarn + this pattern (by the seine river) is making perfect stripes. So perfect, I was worried that the heel gusset would cause the yarn to start pooling badly, but instead I just got a few rows of shorter stripes:



I'm really pleased with how these are turning out! Probably the closest to perfect striping I've ever gotten. Now I just need to knit the other one and get some goodies to send off to my swap partner.

fall, and a hat

fall and a hat, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

It's officially fall! And you can stare at the tree behind me, by all means. So pretty. I'm a little tired, so focus on the tree.

Or, if you prefer, the hat:


like I said, tired.

Is that an "old man hat" or what? I actually like it, quite a bit, but it's not for me. DH requested it after I jokingly showed him the pattern. It was a bit tedious, although not an overly long process. You do have to pay attention all. the. time. This is not a simple, watching tv at the same time/having a conversation at knit night kind of project. It's a "count every row/stitch" kind of project. But I like the end result, especially now that it has a peak stabilizer, has been blocked and snaps have been sewn into place.

I hope DH likes it too!

I bought the yarn for him (Sanguine Gryphon Traveller in "experimental love child"*) some time ago. I bought it without a specific purpose in mind, but rather because it matches a scarf his mom knit for him many years ago and I wanted him to have some other accessory that matched well. More than a year later, voila, a hat!

I used the brim of a plastic football hat I found at Michael's as a stabilizer. It was the perfect size and shape for this project! The rest of the hat will not live to see such a glorious use, sadly...

Project raveled here.

* I believe that "experimental love child" is the name that Sanguine Gryphon uses for any sort of mish-mash of dyes they use up as leftovers. I could be wrong... but this base has been discontinued in any case, which is sad because it is nice and springy and machine washable to boot!

there be dragons

dragons... er... alpacas, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

and alpacas...

and sheep....

But really, the only dragon is the colour of the yarn in my new hat! Pattern is the naked star hat and yarn is alchemy sanctuary in "Dragon".

A good friend was visiting and there was a fiber festival this weekend and, well, perhaps another dragon is the call of sweet, sweet, yarn. I may have gone over-budget... just a wee bit. But perhaps you'll understand why...

I ended up with 3 skeins of fingering weight:


Longmeadow Farms Fingering Weight, 100% Merino (and so soft) in grape (top skein) and sea shore (bottom two). The top one is going to be mittens and the bottom two might be for my sock swap partner (and yes, you can still sign up, until tomorrow night!!).


Two skeins of 80/20 wool/alpaca, also from longmeadow farms. At 175 yards/4.5oz, I'm calling this a "heavy worsted" or aran weight. I have no idea what I'm going to do with this yet, but I'm sure it's going to be pretty.


100% merino, again, longmeadow farm (I reallllly liked their stuff, what can I say?). 230 yards each, 4oz. Closer to a worsted weight. To go with:


Another longmeadow farms (the proprietor might have thrown in some free soap after I purchased all of this...) 100% romney lambs' wool. 250 yards/5.5 oz. Slightly heavier, but I think they'll work well together, for something similar to the hacky sack hoodie.

Finally:


Dorset Sheep Yarn, worsted weight. 7 skeins of approx. 210 yards each. This will be for a hoodie for DH, specially requested... still deciding on the exact specifics of this one. Sadly, there is no tag and I did not catch the name of the farm on this one. (Something about the fumes of yarn taking over my finer sensibilities...)

My friend was much more sensible, only getting 2 skeins of fingering weight in complimentary colours for a pair of stripey socks. Of course, he had to fit any purchases into an already full suitcase, soooo....

One more gratuitous alpaca pic for good measure:


This one, of a child about to lose some hair to a couple of hungry alpacas...

long time coming

Morko, finally, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

Poor DH. He's waited for these mitts a loooooong time. I started the first last December, just before Christmas, and realized when it was [mostly] complete that I was going to run out of yarn. I bought more, and then promptly forgot about these. Or rather, tried to... I got a few "so, how are my mittens coming along?" prompts, but they remained on the backburner for far too long. Good thing last winter wasn't that cold...

I finally ran out of other projects that I felt like doing... er... I mean, that needed doing first... and sat down with the second mitten last Saturday. They're surprisingly quick, but take a fair amount of concentration (*shakes fist at colourwork*) but I got the second mitt, plus the thumb of the first, all finished up this morning. Well, between last Saturday and this morning, anyway.

Pattern is Mörkö (now available in English so you don't have to try and wing it, like I did!)
Yarn is: 1.25 skeins of black lett lopi and slightly less than 1 skein (seriously, like 2 yards left) of grey. The original skeins were bought in Iceland on our honeymoon!
Needles: US3/3.25mm dpns
Mods: thicker yarn = extra warmth! plus I had to cut off the last repeat of snowflacks on the backs and thumbs or they would have been ridiculously long. Corrugated ribbing with the colours reversed on the 2nd mitt.

These may eventually get a lining... personally I find this yarn to be super scratchy. DH says he doesn't mind it, but we'll see how he feels in the dead of winter.

Socks for me (and possibly for you, too!)

Socks from Siona, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

I can't believe I haven't blogged about these yet. When I was in Spain this past May I got to see a couple of my knitting friends from the Madrid Knits group. One of them, Siona, made me the above socks as a belated wedding present. Siona, lo siento no haber "blogeado" sobre los calcetines antes... no me lo puedo creer que se me haya olvidado! Ni siquiera sé cuál es el patrón!

I'm not sure of the pattern, but I'm pretty sure that the yarn is knitpicks stroll multi... which I have in the same colourway in my own stash! Do my friends know me, or what?!

Also in the "socks for me" category:



I finished up my Devon Socks (pattern from Cookie A's "Sock Innovation") today. Raveled here.

And socks for you? You could get some if you sign up for the international sock swap! Sign-ups still open, until Sept 30!

socks, socks, socks

devonaire, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

I'm knitting socks, which can only mean one thing! My feet are cold!

No, wait, that wasn't what I wanted to talk about... oh yeah... it's sock swapping time again!

Except that these aren't for my partner, they're for me. So, I guess we're back to my cold feet? Only I already have lots of lovely knit socks, so my fet aren't as cold as they could be...

But I digress. The sock swap is open for new swappers to sign up. Sign-ups will be open until the end of September and swapping will take place from Oct 1 - Dec 31, 2012. Socks and packages must be in the mail on or before December 31.

For those of you not in-the-know, the sock swap started a couple of years ago while I was in Spain. It's international, so you must be willing to send to anywhere in the world... but you might also receive a package from anywhere! So, go on over to the group (must be a ravelry member), fill out the questionnaire and get ready to knit!!

If you were wondering about the above socks (which are MINE! ALL MINE! ahem...) pattern is devon by cookie a with some modifications (only 3 repeats of cuff pattern, switched to stockinette for the foot).
Yarn is Ellyn Cooper's Yarn Sonnets Fine Merino, purchased last year while visiting Connecticut for a friend's wedding.
Needles are US 1.5 (2.5mm) hiya hiyas.

extra yarn

lopsided log-cabin, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

I posted a sneaky picture of this blanket when I was first working on it, but didn't want to give a full reveal until it was in the hands of it's designated owner... my new niece, Ellis! My first niece, too, which means she'll probably be more spoiled than most babies I've met. Every cute pattern for little girls I see on ravelry now goes into the queue immediately...

The yarn is the interminable seven skeins of knit picks stroll, although I have, in fact, found a project that might finally finish them off... more on that later.

The pattern is a sort of lop-sided, make it up as you go along, log-cabin. I didn't want it to be perfectly square so I made skinnier stripes on 2 sides and bigger stripes on the remaining 2.

I also got her the appropriately named book, Extra Yarn:



It's a very cute book about a little girl who finds a box of yarn that seems to never end. She knits for her whole town and never runs outs. It's a little old for her 3 week old self today, but I'm sure Ellis will love it (and learn to knit/crochet as soon as she's ready... she has both me and her own mom to show her how!).