WARNING!!! Yarn Pr0N...

The Socks are finished!:

And there was much rejoicing...

Here is what prompted me to join the Summer of Socks: My sock yarn stash....

I know it's not that enormous...but here's my guilty little secret...I buy sock yarn like Oprah buys shoes. I can't resist it. However, I live with a non-knitter boyfriend who, although he is wonderful and supportive, cannot comprehend my need to collect sock yarn. So I figure if I knit some of the balls into socks (for him as well...he never complains about the socks he receives from the stash)...maybe he wont notice that the stash never seems to diminish. At least that's the plan: Distract him with socks.

On a completely unrelated subject (yeah right) here's my order from the Loopy Ewe:

Oh look! Sock yarn! I can't help it... I'm a sock yarn junkie and proud of it! By the way, it's Interlacements Tiny Toes in the Bachelor Buttons colourway. I can't wait to see what they become.

I'm now impatiently waiting for my catalogue and yarn samples from Lana Knits. I want to knit this sweater for my boyfriend:

It's from the book No Sheep For You by Amy R. Singer, and is made from AllHemp6 which is from Lana Knits. I want to make the sweater in a dark colour with an orange pattern and I can't decide between Licorice and Chocolate...(I know...It wouldn't be a tough decision if this was candy, I hate licorice). I've seen several pictures on the Internet but the colours are never the same, hence the samples.

I also joined the National Capital Knitters web ring. Who knew there were so many knitting bloggers in Ottawa? Or knitters for that matter? See... I know people who knit and live in Ottawa (just check out the turn out when the Yarn Harlot comes to town), but I never really see anyone KIP. I knit on the bus, but I never see anyone else doing it. Where are all you knitters that KIP?

Oh well...I'm off to work on the shawl and figure out which socks to do next.

TTFN and KEEP KNITTING!

Deja Vu...

Here's a pic of the shawl (again...):

Hmmm.... I get a sense of deja vu, but at least this time there are no mistakes, I figured out how the get the top and bottom to line up, and I wrote down the instructions so I don't forget by time I get to that point. So all should be well...(cross your fingers right?)

The nights have still been cold here, so I moved the hibiscus indoors. I think it likes it in here since this is what greeted me this morning:

It's big and beautiful, and there are at least 3 other buds that are ready to bloom soon. The leaves are concerning me though...they look a little limp. I saw a site on the web that suggests spraying it daily with water, so I'm going to try that and see if the leaves revive.

I'm eagerly awaiting my shipment from The Loopy Ewe, since yesterday was a holiday, I figure I should get it tomorrow (I hope...I'm impatient when it comes to yummy sock yarn). I was really impressed with Sheri though...I put my order in last Wednesday at about 9:30am and it was shipped by 12:30pm. Great service!

Last (but definitely not least): GO SENS GO!!!! WOO HOO!!! We're in the Stanley Cup Finals! Sorry Buffalo fans...

TTFN and KEEP KNITTING!

Whimper...Sob...Sniff...

So...I picked up the sts at the bottom of my shawl and there it was! A BIG FAT MISTAKE! and I found out that it is not a mistake that I can live with, since it prevents the two sides from lining up. So...I have to frog it. Sigh...at least I didn't sew in my ends yet or else I would really cry (ever tried finding sewn in ends in an angora/lambswool blend? It doesn't happen). I was sooo depressed that I purchased some sock yarn from the LOOPY EWE. It's Interlacements Tiny Toes, in the Bachelor Buttons colourway. It looks yummy. I'm really excited since it's my first purchase from there, but I've heard great things about them. For those of you shaking your heads re: Knit from your stash 2007, According to the rules SOCK YARN DOESN'T COUNT AS STASH, and besides it's the first yarn purchase I've made so I think I've earned it. I also bought a wooden sock blocker, since I'm participating in the Summer Of Socks 2007 KAL, and I thought it would come in handy. Oooohhh...I can't wait to get my yarn... Oh well back to frogging.

TTFN and KEEP KNITTING!

As promised...

I finished the top half of the shawl this morning:

Here's a close up of the pattern:

Now all I have to do is pick up along the provisional cast on, and knit the other way. Sounds easy doesn't it? Except I have to figure out how to knit the first row so that the flowers match up perfectly. I tried on my swatch to do it just as written, and the flowers are just slightly off. I'm going to have to fiddle with it for awhile to get it right.

TTFN and KEEP KNITTING!

Garden Oasis in the sky...

Ryan and I have been busy setting up our "oasis". We now have several herbs:

Oregano, Pineapple Mint, Curly Parsley, Winter Savory, and Lemon Thyme in the pot on the bistro set. Italian Parsley, Spanish Lavender, Purple Sage, and Cilantro in a container on the ground.

We also bought a Hibiscus plant:

And an Oleander plant:

You should have seen the two of us on the bus this morning with two trees, two pots, and a 30L bag of potting soil. People thought we were crazy (especially the driver)!

To finish off the balcony we bought a wind thing. It's not really a chime since it doesn't make a sound, it just catches the wind and spins. Kinda neat to watch:

That's all for now. I'll post some knitty-type pics tomorrow, I promise!

TTFN and KEEP KNITTING!

Good morning....

I'm not a morning person. My boyfriend has to wave a cup of coffee under my nose to get me up. However, since we've gotten the balcony furniture, I seem to have more incentive to get up. I love sitting outside in the morning. It's really relaxing.
I love the bistro set! Here is the sock chilling with my morning coffee:

The antique finish on the set is really neat. It has shades of beige, green and red. Now all we have to do is get some plants up there to finish our oasis.

The sock is coming along nicely. I've started the gusset:

I want to get the heel finished before I have to go to work, so I can knit on my way to work without having to juggle an instruction sheet while crammed into my seat on the bus. I'm really loving the colourway of this wool especially on the bottom of the foot:

I'm such a geek...I get really excited when I'm using a new self-patterning wool and I see what colour comes next. I can't wait to finish this pair.

For those knitting/sheep fans out there, this is an illustration I think you'll enjoy:

I think it's just hilarious. Oh and just in case I'm breaking a billion copyright laws by posting this: This is an illustration from the book RUSSELL THE SHEEP by Rob Scotton. The illustration is also by ROB SCOTTON. (That should keep the feds off my back). His illustrations are fantastic. For cat lovers he does SPLAT THE CAT. They are also really cute. Sigh...I really wish I could find the Russell pic as a poster or coffee mug.

Anyhoo, I'm gonna grab a second cup of Java and adjourn to the balcony to work on the heel.

TTFN and KEEP KNITTING!

I love days off...

I've had a relaxing day off... kinda. My boyfriend and I went to Home Depot early this morning and picked up a bistro set for the balcony. He's bringing it home tonight so I'll have a pic tomorrow. As to the rest of my day...I've been knitting.
I was on the bus this morning heading back from the store and knitting on my sock... when I got home my sock and I did this:



Listened to some music on my stereo and had a nice relaxing cocktail. I like to call it Blue Passion. It's Blue Curacao and Strawberry Passion Awareness Fruitopia. Yummy!
I also worked some more on the shawl:



I'm onto my third and last ball for the top, when it's done I get to pick up the sts along the prov. cast on, and knit the bottom of the shawl. I've determined to stop working on my boyfriend's sweater until I've finished knitting the shawl. It will take a long time to sew on all the beads and do the fringe, so I figure I'll get the knitting done and the work on my boyfriend's sweater when I need a break from sewing. Hopefully I'll get it all done in time. I should since my boyfriend's b-day isn't until September.

TTFN and KEEP KNITTING

Still Knitting...

I decided that I didn't like the way the sock was turning out, so I frogged it and started over. I like this much better:

I'm just doing a simple K1 P1 rib, and you can now see the colours better. I'm also thinking of trying the gusset heel that Wendy used here:

http://wendyknits.net/knit/SportweightSocks.pdf

I usually use the short-row heel when I'm knitting toe-up, but I like the way this heel looks.

Speaking of socks, (don't you just love that segway?) I've just signed up for the Summer of Socks '07. You can learn about it here:

http://zarzuelaknitsandcrochets.com/summerofsocks2007/

It looks like fun, and it should give me fodder for my blog.

In other knitting news, there is progress on the shawl:

I've finished one ball, and completed three full repeats. I was so excited because the other day as I was organizing my stash (fighting with my stash would be more accurate), I discovered another ball of the angora/lambswool blend that the shawl is being made out of. So I now have 6 balls instead of 5. YEA! I've also cast on the front of my boyfriend's Aran-style sweater:

It's turning out really well and, because of the chunky wool, is knitting up rather quickly.

TTFN and KEEP KNITTING!