Mail call! And all the other good stuff...

OK, I've got mitts to knit, 2 pants to hem, swatches to swatch and wash, blah, blah, blah...but-I had to take the time to share some stuff I got recently...

I didn't think to blog this order and then realized-why not? Is not Knitpicks blog-worthy? I'm not a yarn snob, but I guess it is so much easier to gush over handpainted stuff that is more "one-of-a-kind" than to gush over less expensive, massively available yarny purchases! Nonetheless, yarn is yarn and we loveses our yarn!

I think I shared that I'm participating in Secret of the Stole II? If not, well-there you have it-I am! I needed some yarn for it and didn't have enough of any one laceweight that was appropriate for this project.

Enter our good ol' standby, Knitpicks for affordability and good, basic yarn! For less than $8, I got enough of the 'clearance' color for the stole. Of course, I had to meet the minimum for free shipping, so it was really more of a $40 purchase...(Nartian threw in some circs to my order, so that saved me a bit!)

So here's what I got:

In the rear, already wound, "Shadow" in the clearance color "Redwood Forest Heather". Dang, but this color is excellent and so much nicer looking than the pic shown on-line! Glad I went 'cheap' to save the .50 per skein, cuz I really do love this colorway!

Being inspired to make more Dashings, I purchased the aran tweed yarns, not realizing that Dashing calls for DK weight! Yes, Dashings, the cousins to "Fetching" is knit with DK weight, folks, NOT aran/bulky, as is the recommended yarn for Fetchings! Go figure. Someone'd better read her patterns more carefully next time!-lol! No worries, cuz I've done one in a Jo Sharp Aran and was able to alter it to work out.


Save the best for last, yes? Look what else arrived one day...what could be in this lovely package, sent to me from British Columbia?...
Look at the wonderful goodies I got from Spinnybunt's PIF! Not only a handmade item, but YARN!!! And an awesome color that I love!

And in case you don't see what she made, it's a needlecase that she beaded! Look at all the gorgeous detail!

Sorry folks, there is no way I can hold a candle to this, so don't make this the standard for my PIF!

So while we are talking gorgeous yarns, look what Nartian gave me for Christmas? It's from The Knittery and is her merino/cashmere yarn! I love this stuff-it is so soft! And look at this color-it's the "Autumn" colorway! Nartian-you are awesome! Thanks for a wonderful gift!


So remember the Fetchings and Dashings I need to work on? Well, one more pair of Fetchings down, 1/2 a Dashing complete, and a few more to go...


Oh-and about the Knitting New Scarves book I posted about earlier, with the crappy pics--I found all the good pics from the book here, in case you want a better look-see,,, Just goes to show what a bit of sleuthing will result in! Actually, it's kinda dumb that one should have to work so hard to find pics that only promote the desire for this awesome book!

And what I didn't post? The latest Rockin' Sock Club shipment! But I think most of you got that same kit, so I'll wait on it for now. Afterall, I've tortured you enough with yet another lengthy post and I need to go hem some pants!

Still not over, but a few things complete...

Phew! I got this second pair of Fetchings done for my friend by Christmas Eve! I actually finished them over the prior weekend, but still had 2 purses to make for her two girls!


Instead, I cheated. I used the one purse that was 99% completed for my other friend's daughter, since I wouldn't be seeing her right away. Just had to pick up stitches along the bottom, then cast them off. Since I ran out of the purple color, I used black, but then decided I needed to do the same at the top to balance the colors. On Sunday (yes, the day before it was to be gifted!), it went into the washer, then out to dry. I stuck it by the heat vent and crossed my fingers...

while I feverishly crocheted this...
OK, so it was another change of plans-instead of a felted bag, I did a crocheted cupcake purse. I had been naughtily procrastinating, checking out Ravelry, when I came across some crocheted cupcake purse pics. I decided that this was cute, I had the yarn in my stash, and by-golly, this couldn't take longer than a felted purse! And besides, then I wouldn't have to wash it and hope it dried in time! So in a way, I made up for the fact that I had used up valuable knitting time playing on Ravelry!

Actually, the pattern choices I found on Ravelry were both $4 patterns and I struggled over which to get. One pattern was also offered as a set of purses-all 5 patterns for $10! But I needed the pattern NOW and I wasn't sure how quickly the PDF would get sent to me! Should I wing it? It seemed simple enough...should I take the chance I'd get the pattern by the next day (folks, I think this was Saturday or at the earliest Friday night-late night-like 2-3am morning kinda late...) Besides this, where was my reason? I was supposedly doing this with very short time left and I was supposed to be justifying my enormous stash and somehow trying to make amends for all my yarny spending by saving money knitting my stash as gifts!

OK, I'm kinda proud of myself...after the "brilliant" idea of googling for a freebie pattern of this sort (hey-it was late, I was tired and it took that long to figure it out-DUH!), I found this pattern by Cynthia Gurisko! Thanks heavens for Google, Crochetville, free patterns and clever people willing to share!

I went down 2 hook sizes, knit the bottom in Cotton Fleece (Lamb's Pride) and the top with leftover Ella Rae (remember the felted slippers?...)...I severely increased the top, ( 4 evenly spaced increase per row for the first several cupcake top rows vs. the single increase per row instructed in the pattern...). And I was pretty darn pleased with it at 4am on Christmas Eve as I watched the Smurfs and then some other wannabe Smurfly type cartoon that followed...

So I still have a felted purse to make, and another pair of fetchings (for my bros GF), some Dashings for a friend who whines about how I never knit him anything, Dashings for my good friend's son who got me a Wii for Little Emperor with a two days notice (it wasn't planned, but worked out well...spoiled LE!), Fetchings for my quilt teacher who liked the first pair I was working on, so how could I not offer to make her some?, and a pair of Dashing for my bro (another thank-you for his awesome favor of drawing up some designs for LE's school to use for t-shirts and what-not...)

And when am I planning on starting Twist or swatching for my Secret of the Stole II? Yeah, I'm insane and don't know if these will ever happen! Keeping my fingers crossed and my needles moving!

And amidst the planning, wrapping, knitting for Christmas, I received my naughty, me-being-out-of-control Yarn Wench purchase of (not the original 2 I ordered, but) THREE bags of roving! If you care what colorways they are, I'll post them later. Right now I'm too lazy to go look again. I think one was amethyst something-or-other, gothic whatever, and orchid somesuch name...Beauties, aren't they? Oh-how about this...I did get around to sneaking a bit of spinning in to see how they'd look, so I'll show them with their names later...
And I also got me and Nartian's "Digetessa" kits! I'm only showing one because, well...you know, they look identical except one was wrapped in brown tissue paper and the other in green...the Digetessa and accompanying special-dyed Woolmeise yarn! And these yummy gingerbready tasting droplets attached!

And for now, I'll leave you with this...the guest of the Christmas Season! No, don't be fooled-it's not the Bob of Ravelry fame, but my canine niece, Nico! Here she is, wondering where her masters are and why she was dumped off at the Mouse Hutch!

Merry, Merry everyone! And have a wonderful 2008! Maybe I'll post again before 2007 comes to a close, and I hope everyone had a good Chanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, or whatever you celebrate during this time of year!

Recurring theme?...

I just loaded a few pics up at Flickr. In so doing, I noticed that the first one showing was a Purlescence bag with my stash enhancement of pencil roving, yarn...you know-all that good stuff we loves!

Remember this?


So in loading this, it was kind of a deja vu!
Am I crazy or what? Not so unique a composition, huh?

I was good and I was bad. I ended up with 2 Ravens: Grawk and Rauen. The Rauen is for a pair of socks for a friend. I think she and I had decided on a different one, but based on how Rauen looked, I decided she would prefer it over the Valkyrie (I think that is the name!).

From the first moment I laid eyes on the new Ravens pictures, I thought immediately that I'd want Grawk. Then it fell to the bottom of my preferences, since I thought I wanted less variance of colors. I was all over the board on which I wanted! So in the long-run, I just couldn't resist all that pond-scumminess and succombed to Grawk. There was no medium weight, which is good for me, since I would have otherwise purchased 2 skeins of Korpii in medium weight in addition to the others.

So the 2 Ravens was the planned purchases. I decided that the additional Rooster Rock was really not the same as my last Rooster Rock, since this one is dyed up so much differently. I am amazed at how the pinks aren't showing up in the Ravens pics I took. This particular Rooster Rock, (unlike my last skein) has a bright, deep pink in it. I think that with my first skein, the deep pink presented as a deep burgundy color. So amazing the difference! So buying another Rooster Rock really isn't a repeat purchase, since it truly is different.

But I was really only supposed to get the 2 Ravens, so I was going to put back 2 of the 4 skeins of STR I had grabbed up. I put back one. I decided that I did stick to my plan-2 Ravens! The Rooster Rock didn't count-it was a single skein just for me! (As if the Grawk didn't count in the 'treating myself' category!)

And about the roving...you see, there was a Fiber Fiend trunk show and there was all this gorgeous hand-spun fiber, hand-dyed rovings, patterns, samples...and well, I decided that I needed to go home with a bit of the roving-especially after finding this colorway!

What was I to do? When I grabbed up a braid of roving, someone said something like, "Oh! and you spin, too?!" I said, "Well, sorta. Enough to have to get this roving!"

I also got a Fiber Fiend sock pattern, too; then after walking out of the shop, pondered whether I had purchased it already! I know I had contemplated such when I saw it on-line! I still don't know since I haven't checked. Yeah, I'm that bad...

So what else is new...? Well, I took a (long) break just now and spun my new roving. Thought I'd show a sample of what it looks like along with my newly acquired Rum Butterscotch sauce! Yes, yarn wasn't all I bought today, and yes, I indulged on myself yet again!
I also wound this handspun into skeins...I'm thinking I won't ply and will use the singles for a shawl, perhaps? Kinda looks like real yarn you might buy, huh?

For those of you wanting to see better Ravens pics, this it the best I could do:

Grawk, opened to show the "pond scum" and "raspberries" colors

Rauen-black with reddish-brown

Lastly, the swatch that won't! Look how long this is. I'm so over it and have almost used up the whole skein! Long story, but basically, I am still trying to get just the right gauge so I can wash it and see if it will grow to the required 19 stitches over 10cm. I even bought a new Addi needle to use! But it is a lace needle and has a bit more grab than the regular Addis.

Funny about how the comments turned towards "Dashing", which is the next pair I was planning to do after the second Fetchings. However, Dashing may not actually come to fruition til the end of the new year.

One gift down!

I'm no longer a Fetching Virgin! I finished my first pair today-just in time to gift to my son's teacher! I've always wanted to make these, only other projects continued to take precedence. I can't believe how quick a knit these are and am so glad I figured out that I needed to make these for a gift!

Yes, your eyes do not deceive you-one is more tightly knit than the other. I had time to un-do the too-loose binding, but not to re-do the whole other mitt! The picot bind-off is pretty loose and I was kinda not completely sold on it, but left it anyways. Well, I had been talking to Nartian about these and she told me that she had the same issues with the picot bind-off flaring. That's why she ripped back and did a plain BO. Well no WONDER these looked so foreign to me when comparing them to my memories of Nartian's Fetchings. Duh! If I had read through her Fetching notes more carefully, I would have seen her mods about changing the BO.



I liked them so much and they were so quick that I decided that they will be a perfect gift for a friend who I had started a felted bag for. The Fetchings will definitely get completed, whereas the felted bag is a crap-shoot!

And (as I mentioned last time) it looks like my first yarn selection (Lana Grossa "Point") will not become Twist. Luckily, this ("Big") was in my stash, and enough of it for Twist. I am still swatching, but hope to get enough done to wash it up soon.
Here's the swatch in progress, and most probably going to become Twist.

And look (Terry)-right on time for YPF!-my WoolGirl December sock kit! "Christmas Tree" is absolutely awesome. The yarn is a Lisuu (now The Unique Sheep) Leili (75/25 Merino/Mohair) in "Spruce Sprigs"! The stitch marker is Mama Llama. We also got a Christmas Tree tape measure and a goodie bag filled with gourmet spiced cider, cinnamon sticks and the chewy mint candies with the tree desigin in the middle. The pattern is a "Ruffled Lace Twisted Rib" pattern! I loves it!

So I am hoping to get Toby's prize out to her soon, but I wanted to tuck a goodie in with it. And I decided since Marcy did such a great job on her guesses (UFO Contest...remember guys?...), I wanted to send her a little something, too. I'm lagging big-time!

Now back to the mitts and figuring out the decreases for the pink felted handbag that has been sitting until I could find the time to work out the decreases!

Planning, not knitting...

or shopping for that matter! (Sorry Terry, no yarn pr0n today!) Well, actually, there are many skeins I don't share that I've acquired because sometimes I just grab stuff so quickly and then don't get a chance to take pics. And they aren't handpainted beauties, so I just kinda act like they don't count. In reality, they do, cuz they take up just as much space as the other skeins!

So I really want to get some of the new BMFA Raven series yarn. I still need to decide which colorways. Specifically, I want to make some thigh-length stockings. So...which do you think? I first thought of the "Bellocqs", but think it will require more concentration than I can presently muster. Then, there is Annie Modesitt's "Silk Stockings"-here's a pic I took from Annie's book, "Romantic Hand Knits":



And then, the idea of expanding the Lenore pattern length into thigh-length was also appealing...

So I need to figure out which I will do and how much of which weight. I think I'm going with med weight STR.

I am also enjoying looking at all the gorgeous scarf constructions in the Knitting New Scarves book. These are crappy pics, but give you an idea of some of the unique constructions:


Between my gift projects, I've been trying to swatch for Twist, since I did join the KAL...I realized my first choice yarn-from-the-stash would not work. Lucky for me, I found enough yarn in my stash that I think will work. After knitting and washing the swatch, I realized it will grow a bit in gauge, so I need to knit a tighter swatch and wash it up to try and get gauge. I think it will happen. This makes me happy because I am so seriously committed to knitting from my stash on this KAL.

Now, I do still plan on a Ribby Pulli scoopneck, and finally decided on a (new acquisition) hand-dyed yarn to go with. After major lamenting over this colorway or that, this company or than, -poor Nartian had to hear it all!- I finally settled on the Rose Garden Red colorway. It is supposed to ship tomorrow from WoolGirl via Miss Babs, herself. Keep your fingers crossed for me that I made the right choice! Of course, I will share when it arrives...And of course, I will have to match up the colorway with a compatible solid. I'll deal with it when I have the hand-dyed in my hands!

Off to get Lil Emp to bed and hopefully work on his teacher's gift!

When stamping meets knitting...

So I spent the majority of Sunday working on these...


I had decided to join a Holiday Swap on Ravelry. In so doing, I pondered and stressed over 4-5 possibilities of yarns to send to my swap pal. I just couldn't decide between a bright, solid Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn, 2 different dark blue blends of Koigu PPPM, a pinkish mix of Koigu PPPM, and a turquoise blend Koigu PPPM. -Oh-then there was the grey Koigu PPPM, too! Then, all of a sudden, -wham!- it came to me-the brighter of the blue mixes, since (surprise, surprise) they were so similar in color. So once I figured it out and the pattern, I started putting together her package. Then I get this bright idea that I needed to not only make a card to enclose, but hey, why not a set to include in the gift?! So there you have it!

And this is what I put together for my swap buddy:
I included a few pieces of Scharfenberger chocolate; just wish I had had more time to got out and get a couple of bigger bars of it! What I had first imagined giving got encouraged more towards the knitting stuff end, since our group ended up having a big ol' discussion on how they like to relax. I then started doubting what I had gotten and what I had had in mind.

Before getting my swap buddy assignment, I had gone to LUSH and gotten some goodies, passed by a really awesome chocolate shop nearby and passed on that option since they were really good chocolates. I mean really good. I mean like the kinda good that is almost too good because there are some people who have much simpler chocolate palettes and would not appreciate this kind of chocolate that costs like a couple of bucks for one teeny, tiny, filled delight. I couldn't take the risk. I mean, you can't just give a single one, right? It'd have to be more like 2 or 4 and if it were a non-chocolate person or someone who really doesn't like the gourmet-y type stuff...well...it's be a waste. It was that kind of chocolate-the kind that you can only gift to those you are certain would 'get' it. Kinda like my good wines I hoard and only will share with other wine afficianados. (Don't get me wrong-I drink cheaper wines, too, but I can appreciate the goods stuff, too...know what I mean?) Turns out my swap buddy only likes 'good' chocolate and used to work at a chocolate shop! Yeah, go figure! Well, maybe she's kinda 'over' chocolate, having worked at a shop before anyways...

Then I saw she doesn't like "patchouli". Well, I never really know what all scents could possibly be in the different bath bars and all, but I still risked it and included the Bathos bubble bar. Hope it is a non-patchouli scent...

Well, I need to quit freaking out about it cuz it's delivered as I write. Now I'm just dying to hear how she liked it all.

Seems like I haven't been knitting much lately. Why? I guess cuz I've been too busy making cards and putting packages together!

My fellow PTA officers and myself decided to nix the school's annual "Holiday Sing-a-Long" and instead are opting for a "Winter Wonton Land". (yes, the name was my brainchild-which demonstrates my humor...) Yep! Wonton and BINGO! That's tomorrow night and this is our first year doing this-I think our new regime is freaking the old crusties out, but they'll live. So I guess the majority of my time this past week has been spent running around buying stuff for that and-oh-I forgot to mention...My felted slippers were NOT due Tuesday!

I had my dates mixed up, showed up for my quilt group party and realized it is next week! Luckily, it was the day from hell and I was "late" getting there, so I didn't bring nearly as much food as I would have and didn't make more of a fool of myself by showing up early! Yeah, I'm a nut! But I got 9 "Bento Box" blocks sewn and now have enough to piece a quilt top together! Next year's quilt to complete! Now to figure out how to pay for getting my sister's quilt quilted (I piece, I don't machine quilt...). Maybe a future pic will be in order.

A minor confession: what little knitting I have done, has not been any of the previously mentioned gifts! But I also have not cast on for anything new, IrishGirlie! (Not that you were asking, right?)

Quick-post! Observation...

No, really...this will be quick!

Look what I noticed the other day when I washed my Mystic Sea socks...

You may not be able to tell right off, but one is turned inside out. The lace pattern is just about completely REVERSIBLE!!! Not that I hadn't washed them before, but I had never turned them inside out to realize this! Score a lace pattern for a future reversible scarf!

We have a winner!

This post is a tad late, but I wanted to at least post quickly that we do have a winner! (And yes, I did get more than one entry and apparently have more then 3 readers!-lol!)

TOBY-you are the winner!!! She got ALL the yarns and patterns correct-right down to the yarn type and colorway! AMAZING!!!

Straight from her "fingers":

Top row from the left:

Paca Peds “Autumn” yarn in the RPM pattern

Socks that Rock “Titania” yarn in the Titania’s Revenge pattern

SereKnity “Black Forest Fudge” yarn in the Campanulas pattern

Bottom row from the left:

Crystal Palace Panda Cotton “Chocolate Almond” yarn in the Monkey pattern

Mountain Colors Bearfoot “Rosehips” in the Fritzy’s Sock pattern

Yarn Botanika Radiance “Heather” yarn in the Campanulas pattern

Congratulations, Toby! Give me a week or so to get your package to you!

Let's talk FO's!

for a second...cuz compared to the newest stash acquisitions, the FOs discussion will be short in comparison!

I have a slipper swap coming up next week, so I actually got some felted slippers completed! The flowers I had planned on making to look more "lazy daisy" looped, felted together into more of a blobby-abstract kinda flower. Because the loopy ones took up so much room on the slipper, I opted for small 'buds' as additional accents.

Of course, hindsite is 20/20--yes, I could have and should have used a single strand of yarn for the flower accents!

Before 'felting'After!

These are due to the recipient this coming Tuesday and I still need to add some beads to the center of the flowers. Of course, me being me, I haven't done that yet! Hmmm...looks like a job for Nartian! She'll make me get that done! Only thing is, I'd sure as heck better have it done by the next time I see her, cuz that will be Monday!

Amazingly, I have two more projects nearly complete for gift-giving! Now, I guess I need to mention that the two that rank higher in priority are still sitting but "non ne parliamo!" ("let's not talk about that!"-I suck at foreign languages, but there are a few, choice phrases that stuck with me!) So here they are, pre-felting because as I said, they are almost finished...

This is a modified "Stafford" handbag (pattern from MagKnits). I didn't care for the round handles that are supposed to hold the sides, so I extended the side (short, wide straps) into a long shoulder strap. This is for a friend's teenage daughter (one of 'my girls'!) I'm considering adding a bottom areas, similar to the purse below, to add a bit more space and allow for it to sit upright a bit better.

And this, for her younger sister...the Flower Purse featred on DIY Knitty Gritty. I used a double strand of Cascade 220 on size 13 needles (vs. the bulky yarn on size 11's prescribed). I used up all 100g. of the yarn just to get to this point-and that's with adding in some Knitpick's Wool of the Andes. I still have to knit the finishing along the bottom (pick up along bottom ridge and CO), which I will probably do in black. Note that I grafted the handle to the wrong sides and am now undoing that portion!

So...on to stash enhancement! I must first say that I NEVER EVER wake up early to go to Black Friday sales. As a matter of fact, I won't drag myself up early EVER to do anything optional! That is, except for maybe when (long ago and far away) I would drag myself out of bed to "run" a race which required that I wake up early enough to arrive at the starting line, freezing, in shorts because I was never the big athlete type, anyway, so I didn't have the kinda runner wear to keep me warm while running in the freezing cold of the too early morning! OK, so yet I digress...Well as it turns out, Purlescence was having a Jammie Jam party on Friday morning at 6 freakin' o'clock!

So...I made sure the appropriate Jammie Jam attire was ready...

I had to have the proper jammie bottoms to wear, right?...

and against my natural inclinations, was up and on the road, driving 45 minutes to a 6am Jammie Jam! Yes, folks, only for a yarn sale will I do this!

The best thing about Jammie Jam? I got to meet IRISHGIRLIE in person! How about that?! And I had partners in crime as we inspected every nook, cranny and yarny goodness at Purlescence and contemplated new and old knitting projects, cuz Nartian was there, too, with the Monkeys 2!

And this is what I got:

Fiddlesticks Zephr yarn (merino/silk), Cascade 220 (already being knit into gifts!), and a skein of super bulky yarn that was 1/2 price!

Please observe the absence of sock yarn-especially BMFA Socks that Rock sock yarn that had just come in and that I had-yes-walked away from! (Well, not before carefully examining the colorways and petting just about each and every one-including the heavy weight Lemongrass, which just isn't at the top of my list!) Irish Girlie was shocked, but truth be told, as much as I wanted more, well..just look below!

The Blue Moon Fiber Arts stash (most of it!)

Does it all make sense now? And knowing that I want some Ravens colorways for some thigh length stockings, as well as one or two other skeins, do you see why additional skeins are a bit harder to justify? My above Blue Moon Fiber Arts stash may not be all STR, but even if you were to omit the one skein of Bambu, 2 skeins of Seduction, and the worsted (the pre-heavy weight worsted superwash...)...well...I think you get the picture! Nothing like seeing it all in one place, huh? And I am sure there are plenty of other skeins disguised as UFOs and just hiding out where they shouldn't be!

Besides that, there were these two orders that were to arrive later that day:
A package from The Knittery in Australia! (Nartian is to blame for the knowledge of this yarn!)

The Knittery merino sock yarn: Chocolate, Vineyard and Passionfruit

But I enabled her and told her I was putting in this order and "want to add something to the order and split the shipping?" Hee! She got the Chocolate colorway! Man, after seeing that one in person, I was loving that colorway, too! Ever since seeing the Passionfruit colorway on someone's Flickr, confirming it's match with my color tastes, I HAD to get that colorway!

But wait-there's more! The second package from WOOLGIRL!

A little soap for the body, a little soap for the knitted stuff!

Extras aren't everything, but they mean alot to me! I love little details, and look how nicely these were wrapped? When you order from WoolGirl, it really is like treating yourself to something very special! It is so much more than just making an online yarn purchase!

Lisuu Leili sock yarn (merino/mohair in Waves of Memory and All That's Good with Christmas), Das Schneeschaff spray-dyed (Autumn Rose), Madeline Tosh sock yarn (Home)

And I really couldn't resist scoring up some of the new sock yarns she got in! I also picked up a couple of the Leili for Nartian for her birthday which was on Saturday, another reason I held off posting these for a bit...

And some unexpected addtions...

I loved this self-striping chunky wool too much to pass up on sale! I almost passed up this soy yarn, but in the long-run, couldn't resist!

I had wanted this book from the first time Allison showed it to me at ImagiKnit. But when I went back to get it the following month-it was sold out! I like to support my LYS and since Allison was the one who introduced me to the book, I thought it only fair to give her my business and buy it from her, rather than some other on-line deep-discounter. (Now don't think I don't buy books that way, either, but like I said, if my purchase is a direct response to service I've gotten at a yarn store, I'd rather pay for having that service around by directing my funds accordingly...)

Anyways, the scarves in this book are amazing! Like Cat Bordhi's new book changes your perspective on sock architecture, so does this book do the same for scarves! There were a few other purchses for my Holiday Swap pal on Ravelry: chibi needles, Malabrigo, a few other items...more on the swap later!

BTW, I will try and post the contest winner on Monday! Thanks to all who entered!

Last Call-contest closing!

Yeah, some of you may have missed the contest info...or maybe there are so few of you out there that no one wanted to bother naming the UFO socks and yarn... BUT...maybe I didn't clarify that you don't have to necessarily get them all correct to win? Or maybe it wasn't clear how to enter...? You just have to get the most correct answers. (You can send guesses to sassenmass AT g m a i l DOT com). But then again, maybe I should have made it more a lottery...


But guess what? The deadline of December 1 is nearly here and I am sticking with the original date because my goal is to have fun with my small, but loyal readers and give away this:I know, not as enticing as other yarn sock photos, huh?...Actually, it is a lovely skein of Fleece Artist Merino sock yarn in the Cornflower colorway. I decided that I prefer the slightly heavier Fleece Artist sock yarn and after stocking up on this stuff, realized I have soooo many of the lighter colorways that I should release one from my stash! So-after December 1, up to 11:59pm, it get's a new home!

I'll do a more random contest in the near future that Stilaholic Nartian can participate in, since she pointed out her edge over everyone else on this contest being that I make here listen to all my varying contemplations on my sock yarns and patterns, not to mention her getting to see each and every one in person. I figured if I had enough people guessing all the socks correctly, I could throw Nartian's name in for a random draw, anyway...Oh well, she has a special prize coming to her anyway, since I borrowed her plastic tapestry needle, proceeded to break it and still haven't replaced it for her!

I think I need to find more yarn for another contest after the new year.

Next post will catch you up with actual knitting (yeah, I've actually been doing that!) and maybe even COMPLETED projects! I know I have at least one and a couple of nearly-completed that I can post! (Hmmm...could it be that I'm actually progressing on holiday knitting?!) And, for Terry and all you other "reading about yarn is as good as reading about knitting!" readers, I have some stash enhancements to show you from my Black Friday dive into Purlescence, as well as a couple of orders recently received from WoolGirl and The Knittery!

Where to begin...?

My shameless stash? My shameless pile of UFOs?

Well, first let me send out a warm thank you to IrishGirlie! I decided it was my duty to enable her BMFA shopping spree-er, I mean help her destash, so I took a skein off her hands! It is a wonderful Yarn Botanika sock yarn in Evergreen and I have to admit that it looked pretty good along with the others in my Wall of Shame...

The one I acquired from her stash is the top right. I think it ties the other three skeins together beautifully! ;)
And look how well it blends with some of my other green sock yarns?

And here is the best treat: IrishGirlie included two other skeins from her stash dive at the BMFA destash sale!!! She sent one for me and one for Stilaholic Nartian and thought it would be more fun to let us 'duke it out'. Truth be told, Nartian and I are quite good at sharing and swapping out stash. I loved both, so I asked Nartian to do the favor of just picking one, cuz I just couldn't decide! Here is the one I got:

And, well...I didn't get a pic of the other! (for shame!) Nartian ought to have a pic up on her blog-it was a lightweight (what we guess to be) Raven-possibly the Pallos Athena or Rauen, since it was plummy brown black.

So...speaking of UFOs...I was looking through my pile of stuff trying to find my Cedar Creeks to finish, now that I have IrishGirlie doing a bit of pushing on that end towards seeing that project complete! I got sidetracked. Seriously sidetracked. The kind of sidetracked that is gloriously fun because all those feelings of inspiration came flooding back as I looked at the many results of impulsive-inspiration-on-needles. Then it was the feeling (but for a fleeting second) that gads-I truly do NOT need more yarn! Mind you, what you are about to see is not in any way ALL the projects on needles, but a sampling of what I found just looking through a couple of corners of the Wall of Shame and a few 'knitting bags'. Some you may recognize, some you may not...

First up, a few non-sock projects (yes, I do sometimes *start* non-sock projects...)

I think you are all familiar with the "My So-Called Scarf" pattern?...


And the Baby Surprise Sweater pattern? Here is my second one I got inspired to knit. The baby it is being knit for was born a few weeks ago, so I still have time to get it done...if I ever pick it up again any time soon!

Did you ever see this one? It's the Summer Braids Cardigan! Hmmmm...in the round...I think I need to knit to 17"; it is about to perhaps 8" at this time...

And let's not forget the non-knitting stuff like spinning...
Actually, this is a farce, because I actually only spun up a bit to get an idea what the final was going to look like. Haven't done much beyond that-but hey-this whole big ol' bag was on *sale* at Purlescence!

And are you ready for the socks-in-waiting...?

My first Baby Sky (Cat Bordhi) learner sock, once torn back due to a terrible oversight on my part!
Remember the two-at-the-same-time sock trick? I wasn't impressed. And smarty me decided to do two different colors, should they end up a tad different in size, so now I just have two unmatched socks anyways!

But wait-that's not all! Below, you will see a mere six different socks I started...I think I need to reward anyone who has made it this far through this post! A spontaneous contest, if you will! Prize-hmmm...obviously it would have to be sock yarn, since that is what I have tons of and can spare a skein of! (And since I was just having a discussion about my abundance of Fleece Artist, perhaps it shall be one of those...?) Name the yarn and sock pattern! The winner will be whoever gets them all correct (or the most correct). If there is a tie, I will draw names. Let's see...I will give 'til December 1, how's that sound? I think the majority can be figured out from this blog...so GO FOR IT!!!



I think I mentioned starting the Waterfall socks, right? Here is the first, only I had to stop so that I could start some felted slippers for a Secret Santa swap my quilt group is doing.

And to end with a positive note, I wouldn't be starting so much if it weren't for...

FINISHED OBJECTS!

Proof of the finished Lenores...(yeah, yeah...I know I already showed ya!)

Solstice Slip socks completed! (and pictured alone this time!)
And look-I redeemed myself and did complete a Baby Sky sock on the second go-round! Too fun!

And FINALLY...(guess this will be my PIF post, too, while I'm at it!)

I saw that Spin Bunny (Burried in Fiber) and I have a mutual friend at Ravelry. So while checking out the site, I came to her post: "Here's the blurb:
I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog."

Ta-duh! I am now making that promise to the first three who respond! Reminder-it can be any handmade gift, so I am already meowing out in that it may not necessarily be knitting, though most likely will be. It will all be a surprise! I will contact you if you (make sure you let me know how to reach you) and will want to know favorite colors, hobbies, and anything interesting about yourself. If you've gotten this far-thanks for reading!