Let's see...

What have I been up to.

On Monday I didn't have to work until the afternoon, so my morning was spent with this:

Working on the second Aran Sandal Sock, while watching Lucy Neatby's Sock Techniques 1 & 2.

I tried to take a close up of the mirror cable in the middle of the sock. It runs down the front, as well as the back and on the heel flap:

It's not too clear, but you can kind of see the pattern.

Yesterday and today, I've been at first aid training. I now know how (and when) to use the defibrillator that we have at my work. I hope I never have to use it, but it's good to know.

Today when I got home I had mail:

From Robyn:

Stitch markers with hearts, and flowers, and iridescent beads.

and

From Knit Girl:

I really like these colours and the white bead at the bottom is neat.

I was asleep at the wheel so I missed out signing up for the summer swap, but I'll be swapping stitch markers again in the fall and this time with 5 partners.

Finally, I'm losing my faith in the postal service. I ordered some Fleece Artist sock yarn from The Loopy Ewe, and Sheri (prompt as always) had it shipped the next day. This was the 8th. It is now the 27th, and I still haven't received it. I checked on the USPS website and they say international mail could take 6-10 postal business days, so I'm not fully panicking, but I am beginning to get a tad concerned. I really hope they didn't lose it. I'm hoping that it just got caught up somewhere. I'll wait until Friday, and if it's still not here I'll email Sheri and let her know. I really hope I get it tomorrow. I have plans for that yarn.

Anyhoo that's it for now.

TTFN and KEEP KNITTING!

Sorry I got carried away...

I've been too busy to blog, but now I will take a break and let you see my progress (it ain't much). I finished the first of my Summer of Socks socks yesterday:

The Aran Sandal Sock:

The colourway makes it kinda hard to see the pattern, but I love it anyway!

Here's a shot of it on my foot:

I love the colour, and it fits my foot really well. I can't wait to finish the second one and start on my next project. I'm not sure what I'll do yet, but I'll find something. One thing is for sure, socks go much more quickly when they are for a size 6 foot and involve an intricate pattern.

Yesterday I was reading the latest Interweave Knits at the library and I fell in love with these:

Knitter's bags from Jordana Paige. The top one is a messenger bag, and the bottom one is the satchel. Other cool knitting bags are from Namaste Needles. I especially like these two:

The Executive.

and:

The Jetsetter. These bags are awesome. Not only are they great purses in really cool colours, but they also have places for your needles, stash, pattern and everything else you'd want to take with you.

How come I've never seen these before? Here I am stuffing all my stuff in my purse, and dealing with needles poking out, and my pattern getting mushed at the bottom, wrapped around my wallet. I think I'm asking for one of these for Christmas (if I can wait that long).

Anyhoo that's it for now. I'm back to knitting socks and watching CSI.

TTFN and KEEP KNITTING!

And so it begins....

With this:

Eager anticipation for the Summer of Socks 2007! On my way into work today that turned into this:

The first of my SOS Socks.

The pattern: Aran Sandal Socks from Socks, Socks, Socks.

The wool: Interlacements Tiny Toes

The colour: Bachelor's Buttons.

The camera flash doesn't do the colourway justice. The colour is just fantastic. I love it!...I think I need to steal Wendy 's idea and cast on an easier pair for transit purposes. I love this pattern, but methinks the cable needle may pose problems on a bumpy bus ride. We shall see.

For the Summer of Socks I have entered one contest only. The Vacation Sock, basically I'll take a picture of one of my SIP (Socks in Progress) or one of the socks I've completed during the KAL in some type of interesting vacation scene; if it gets voted as the most interesting (by the other 505 participants) I win. Hmmm... looks like I'll have to take lots of pictures to find the perfect one.

Finally (before I go back to the land of socks) The completed Boyfriend Socks, modeled by the Boyfriend's Feet:

He really likes them.

At least I got time to knit....

Yep, I was right: It's Strep Throat. The only good thing about a visit to the doctor's office, is the amount of knitting time it allows.

I was able to finish the heel of my second sock while waiting for the doctor to see me:

Yes those are the stitch markers I received from Knitphomaniac.

Then while in bed trying to recover from the evil strep throat:

I finished the second sock. Yea! Now I can start the SOS2007 with a fresh pair of socks. It starts on Thursday (the Summer Solstice) and runs until September 21st (boy am I glad that Knit from Your Stash allows the purchase of sock yarn).

Finally, before I go back to bed:

My Lavender is blooming. This picture was taken with my new camera. I love how it does close-ups!

TTFN (Ta Ta For Now) and KEEP KNITTING!

Stupid Sore Throats....

I hate being sick.
No pictures today, because I've been nursing a bit of a sore throat for a few days now, and I'm beginning to suspect that it's Strep Throat. I had it about two years ago, and this is starting to feel the same with the fever, nausea, and the fact that it's getting difficult to even swallow water. I think it's a trip to the clinic if I don't feel better by tomorrow. In the meantime I'm going to stay curled up in bed and knit on the sock, while keeping properly hydrated.

TTFN and KEEP KNITTING!

I've Been Busy...

It's less than a month until my birthday, and my boyfriend got me an early present:

A new digital camera! Now I don't have to use my camera phone and pay $0.50/picture to upload.

I got my stitch markers from Knitphomaniac!:

She noticed I like making socks, so she made me these:

I love them!

On the subject of socks:

One down, one to go. I'm hoping to have these done by the 21st so I can start the SOS with a new pair!

Last, but not least, I finished tinking the shawl and was able to finish a row of flowers so you can see how the sides line up:

Not too bad. I can live with this.

Well I'm off to make dinner and knit some more.

TTFN and KEEP KNITTING!

I Tink I Can, I Tink I Can....

It's my new mantra for the past two days. I laid out the shawl to take a picture of my nicely matching halves, when I noticed a place (right in the middle of the back) where I forgot to psso. So, I set the shawl aside for a bit while I decided whether or not I could live with it (I was about 10 rows beyond the mistake). I determined that, no I could definitely not live with it, so I decided to try and just undo those 5 sts for those 10 rows and just work that section. Due to the wonderful "clinging" ability of angora yarn, this didn't work quite as well as I hoped, so for the past day and a half I've been tinking those 10 rows. I'm almost done, and my eye twitch is subsiding, but it is still very frustrating.

Also on the frustrating front: On Sunday morning I looked out at my balcony and in the plant pot I have under the bistro set, I saw a black butt sticking out with this fluffy tail waving merrily at me. Fortunately there is nothing in the pot but dirt, however I think I should be keeping my eye out for the squirrel in case he decides to plant a tree in there. He's a really cute squirrel, just annoying.

On a happy note, my hibiscus has buds again. So I think it's reviving nicely.
Pics tomorrow.

TTFN and KEEP KNITTING!

HAPPY WWKIP DAY!!!!!

For those of you who don't know, WWKIP stands for World-Wide Knit In Public Day! A day when knitters everywhere pick up their sticks and take to the streets to do their thing.
I started out my day by mailing off the Stitch Markers for the exchange:



I figure I can show a picture, since it isn't very clear, and my partners don't know which one is for them.


So, for KIP day, I:

Knit at the bus stop,

Knit on the bus,

Knit while walking from the bus stop to work (that was rather interesting, one lady stopped dead in the middle of the sidewalk and just stared).

Then while I was knitting during my break at work, someone commented that my WIP matched my skirt. I looked down and:



I'll be...! Martha Stewart would be proud. I managed to co-ordinate my knitting project to my outfit (ain't I talented?).

While I knit on the bus on the way home from work, I noticed something: As crowded as public transit can get, an almost sure fire way to get two seats to yourself is to knit. There were people standing in the aisle, but I had a free seat next to me. No one dared sit next to the crazy woman daring to knit in public! (I think I'm on to something here)

So now I'm finishing WWKIP Day by sitting out on my balcony and working on the shawl:



That's how it looks so far,

and here's a close-up of the pattern:



When I get a little further along I'll take a shot of the center row to show how nicely the two sides match up, it's a little hard to see until I get a full flower done.

TTFN and KEEP KNITTING! (in public)

I was right...

I caught the little buggers trying to make off with one of my balls of wool...



They look so innocent don't they?

I had my annual meeting today, so there was a little more progress on the sock...



I hope I have enough wool to make it fit my boyfriend's foot.

It's hot here today, and I'm tired, so this will be a really short blog. I finished the stitch markers for my partners and I'll mail them out either tonight or Monday (more likely on Monday). I hope they like them!

Well I'm off to make myself a Bacardi Mojito, and do some more knitting.

TTFN and KEEP KNITTING!

Markers and Socks and Shawls...Oh My!

So, I got my partners for The Stitch Marker Exchange, and my apartment is covered in beads. Whenever I bead, I end up dropping the tiny seed beads at least once and have to pick beads out of the carpet for an hour afterwards. Sigh, at least the markers are almost done and I should have them mailed out by Monday.

There has been progress on the sock:

and the Shawl:

I've finally managed to pick up the provisional cast on and begin knitting, and this time the sides will match up (Yea!).

Only 14 days until SOS2007! I can't wait! This is what greeted me in my sock stash this morning:

They appear rather shifty. I'm afraid if I don't knit up that wool soon, they may slowly make off with it. I'll have to keep a close eye on them.

Last but not least, It's payday, so I bought more sock yarn from The Loopy Ewe. Can't wait!

Anyhoo back to picking beads out of the carpet.

TTFN and KEEP KNITTING!

Saturdays...

For once my boyfriend and I had a Saturday off together. We started by doing groceries in the morning, and then headed down to Yarn Forward. I needed to buy some wool wash...This is what I came home with:

The Yarn Harlot 's newest book, and four balls of sock yarn. (notice no wool wash, they were all out)....Sigh.

I've started new socks:

They are the Garter Stitch Rib from Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch. The wool is some that I purchased at Inspirations Needlecraft show. It's called Super Trekking by Titan Wool. The colour is 79 I think.

After we got home, I think you can probably all guess how I spent my night. Here's a clue:

That's my boyfriend's inflatable Stanley Cup.

I watched the Sens beat the Ducks:

(Shot of the sock watching the game)

GO SENS GO!!!!!

TTFN and KEEP KNITTING!