heylucy

vesper sock yarn part II

Remember how I was so happy that I got a skein of really pretty yarn in the 5 minutes it was available for purchase and then I found out that maybe I shouldn't have been so quick to gloat because I didn't actually get it after all? Well, my new favorite people are Kpixies and Julia. Shortly after my big disappointment I got another email telling me that if I still wanted the yarn, Julia would be dyeing more and I could have it. So I got it after all. Here it is with the felt ball cat toys Alicia made (I really will let the cats play with them, but they look so nice in my wood bowl for now).

That is the bowl I originally got to hold my yarn stash. Ah, the innocence of a new knitter. Like that could hold an entire yarn stash. I've since graduated to a wicker bowl about twice that size and a gigantic wicker basket and there might be a few skeins under the bed, but that's all. Really. Except for the ones in the little basket next to my knitting chair. And I think I saw a bag with a few random balls in the guest house. But that's it, I swear!

Anyway, back to my new skein of Vesper and Kpixies. Because I was so happy with the service and they happened to have it on sale, I also bought Knitting Vintage Socks, because just look at this Flickr group. Those are some nice looking socks! I think I will use the Vesper to make a pair of simple ribbed socks, there are a few different ribbed socks in that book that I like.

Also, speaking of socks, I've been knitting my second Jaywalker sock and I don't remember the foot on the first one taking so long. I knit for 2 hours last night and I don't think the foot got any bigger. Of course I was catching up on a few episodes of 24 (season 2) that I had on the Tivo and I got so hooked by the suspensefulness of the show that I made mistakes a couple of times and had to un-knit a couple needles worth of stitches. But still, I think there is some weird phenomenon with the second sock, it seems to take twice as long as the first. Once I turned the heel on the first one it seems like it just flew to the toe. Am I the only one having this experience?

think spring

I want to take pictures of things to share here, but whenever I have the time, it's cloudy out. When it's sunny and bright and beautiful, I have to do things like go to work. So unfair! Oh well, today is cloudy and grey and I'm at work so I'll just be happy about that.

I'm so ready to start wearing Spring-y clothes. I love warm, cozy sweaters, but enough is enough already. So I made an attempt today-linen blouse with short puffed sleeves and black linen cropped pants. I almost went with the black sandels, but decided not to risk it and stuck with my closed toe shoes. Good thing, since I'm all bundled up now in my Lady Eleanor wishing my Jaywalker socks were finished (almost there! I'm on the second foot, maybe tonight they will be done!). I'm making my plans, though and I'm going to start on two sweaters for myself for this Spring/Summer. First of all, this one:

I've ordered some Blue Sky Cotton in Sky Blue (heh!). My only problem with it is that big metal zipper. What's up with that? I'm going to try and find a blue one. Also, the edges have a crochet finish. This scares me a little. I haven't given up on the idea of learning to crochet, but I don't know about learning in time to do all those edges. hmmm.

I've also got some Rowan Cashcotton 4 ply in pink for this sweater:

So pretty! I have a hard time knitting sweaters for myself, it's hard to stay committed to such long term projects, but I love these two so much, I really am going to finish these as quick as I can.

Meanwhile, for a little instant Spring wardrobe gratification I bought these espadrilles last night:

Sigh. Spring is my favorite time of year.

P.S. My email doesn't work right now, and I owe a few people emails. So if you are one of them, I'm not ignoring you, I just can't access my email right now.

knitters save lives

Little tiny penguin lives, that is. Although the article keeps referring to knitters as little old ladies making snowflake sweaters and tea cosies, which I found a bit patronizing and annoying.

A pattern is available here. Aww!

Good Times Animal Swap

Since the animals in our home are our kids, when I read about Anna's swap for pets, I signed right up! Little did I know that I would get so lucky. I, er, Reggie, Bear, Dune and Gigi, I mean, got a package in the mail from Alicia. Everything was so sweetly wrapped, felt ball toys for the cats, a tin of treats for Bear, but I was just awed when I opened the package for Reggie:

Our photo shoot didn't go quite as well as the one Alicia did with Audrey, Reggie found a bit of bone that Bear left in the yard, and was rather distracted, so these are about the best I could do today. I was trying for a portrait with daffodils in the background. Instead I ended up some nice pictures of our weeds, but don't let them distract you from how darn cute that sweater looks on him. And it's crocheted from cashmerino, one of my favorite yarns ever!

"Mom, let me go get that bone!"

"Oh, here it is!" (Look at the cute buttons she sewed on the collar!)

"Yummy! I have a bone to chew on!"

I can't say thank you enough, Alicia! I'll probably make him wear it every night, while it's still cool out. Oh, and although I've never known Reggie to eat a slug, he does like to check the cat box for disgusting things. Why do they do that? Okay. I'm grossing myself out now, time to change the subject.

I'm behind on sending my animal pal package, as my spam filter seems to have blocked the e-mail informing me of my swap partner and I, silly that I am sometimes, didn't bother to ask when I would be informed. Luckily, if I need to buy v!agra, hood!a or a fake rolex, I've got plenty of e-mails telling me how I can order such things. Nice work, spam filter. Well, my point is, that later this week, once they've arrived at thier destination, I'll have pictures of the goodies I'm sending.

I also took some pictures of my recently finished embossed leaves socks:

Indoors, on a cloudy day.

Outdoors on the porch, where I think they look quite at home. Although my feet look like paddles. The yarn is Fleece Artist Rose Garden colorway. I think it was just perfect for this pattern, the colors are subtle enough that the pattern doesn't get lost. I love the way they came out and they're so comfy. They are to be a gift, but it will be a little bit hard to let them go. I enjoyed knitting them, so it won't be hard to make another pair for myself. They're only my second pair of socks, and I have a question for all the expert sock knitters out there. What method do you use to cast on for top-down socks? My cast on is a little tight, so they are a little hard to put on. I tend to knit fairly loosely, but I guess I cast on quite tightly. It just seems like if it's too loose they'll be too slouchy. Any advice would be appreciated!

blue monday

Another birthday gift:

A friend gave me tail light covers for my Beetle! Aren't they cute? This is also a self portrait, see me squinting while I take the picture?

Speaking of birthday gifts, my internet friend Yvonne treated me to two books from my wishlist, which was a wonderful surprise! She is the best ever! I'll take some pictures of the Vintage Fabric book so you can get a look inside, Yvonne!

I spent Saturday at Summer's Past Farms for Sweet Pea Day. It's been so chilly the last few weeks that the sweet peas were not very big and there were not many blossoms. So I didn't get to cut a bouquet, but I did come home with these little pretties:

How could I not?

I also did a bit of crafting, inspired by one of my Japanese craft books:

I can't find my zipper foot, so I had to stitch the zipper in by hand. It seems to have worked out okay. This was an easy little pouch, and I think there are lots of different ways to make it, with applique's or beading or quilting, so you could have lots of different looks. I will definitely make more.

I like blue!

intervention needed

Can someone please talk me out of buying the 7 kinds of sock yarn that are sitting in my shopping cart at knitpicks? The total is only $40, which means that I need somebody to give me a serious reason why I shouldn't buy this yarn. There may be a prize for the most convincing argument.

collections

I'm finally starting to feel better, I had a case of bronchitis that apparently decided to take up residence in my upper respitory system and liked it so much in there that it started re-decorating and moving around the furniture and decided it just wasn't going to budge, no matter what kind of earth-moving coughs I threw at it. Well, three different kinds of cough medicine and some strong antibiotics have finally started the eviction process and those nasty bacteria are relunctantly making their way out of my body. Good riddance is all I can say.

I didn't do much while this was happening. For some reason, all I wanted to do was read and knit socks. One sock finished:

That's an Embossed Leaves sock from Interweave Knits. I've only made one other pair of socks, so I was quite impressed with myself for making this one. I'll start the second one shortly. To guard against second sock syndrome I started on a pair of Jaywalker socks, which I mentioned below. I finished one of those too, but haven't taken a picture yet. Maybe this weekend.

I also took a couple pictures of some of my birthday loot:

My lovely sister-in-law read about my love of pink cafe au lait bowls and sent me these two from Williams-Sonoma. They are so cute! I will have to make some hot chocolate this weekend and use them. So now I have the beginning of a collection! That means I have an excuse to check eBay regularly, right?

Speaking of collections, I received this cute little tea-for-one set from my mom and my sister:

More blue and white! It arrived just in time, as I've been drinking copious amounts of lemon-ginger tea and peppermint tea these last couple weeks. A friend also gifted me with some lovely tea bags and that cute jar of lemon curd. I have more to share later this weekend. That little photo shoot just wore me out. Tomorrow is Sweet Pea Day, so I will be enjoying fresh air and sunshine, both of which I've seen very little of these past weeks. I'm so happy about that! Hooray for Spring! And good health!