Quick Update...

Finished the Tiger Eyes!





OOOHHH.....AHHHHHH!....

Now I'm starting to knit bright yellow socks for my boyfriend (he picked the yarn). I think I'm just going to do a generic toe up, ribbed sock, so the colour is really the focus.

I finished blocking the shawl (actually it's more of a stole):



Here's a nice shot of the pattern:



I still have to do the beads. I've decided on just a beaded fringe rather than beads on the stole itself. I think that decision will go a long way in saving my sanity.

Well, that's the update. Tonight I'll knit more socks and watch Miss Marple!

TTFN and KEEP KNITTING!

Wool 'n Stuff...

I have finished THE BOOK. You know what I'm talking about. It is AMAZING! That is all I will say on that matter, aside from: blame THE BOOK for my lack of knitting progress. However, I did manage to finish one of my Tiger Eye socks:



Here's a close-up of the leg:



It's kind of neat the way the front and back of the leg have a different pattern. I've never made a pair of socks like that before.

GOOD NEWS!

Sheri at The Loopy Ewe took pity on me because the post office stole my Fleece Artist order (see the blog entry on June 27th for details), so she sent me a replacement skein! and a sock blocker key chain! Thank you Sheri!



The colourway is Rainforest. I love the blues and greens.

RAVELRY!

No, I haven't received my invite yet, but they now have this way to check where you are in line. My position as of about 20 minutes ago stands as such: I am #7251 on the list, however there are only 446 people ahead of me. My invite is coming soon!

YARN PrON!

I went shopping on my day off (Tuesday) to Wool 'N Things. I went to buy some wool wash so I can wash and block the shawl:



As you can see there is wool wash...among other things. My boyfriend had been complaining that of the SOS socks, there hasn't been a single pair of socks for him. So I told him to pick some sock yarn. This is what he picked:



Bright yellow with shades of pinky red and green. At least he's not boring.
For me, I bought a ball of Tofutsie's. At least I intended to buy one ball. I came home with two, I must've blacked out for a moment in the shop.

I stopped off at Coles Books on my way home and had to buy this:



I didn't buy it for the patterns (although there are several that I like very much and will make), but for the freebie that came with it:



Sheep point protectors!

Anyhoo, that's the update from the Nation's Capital. Now that I've finished THE BOOK, I can return to my regularly scheduled knitting.

TTFN and KEEP KNITTING!

Hello, my name is Joanna...

...and I am an addict. I am totally addicted to knitting socks. So much so that my poor blog gets neglected while I mutter to myself: "I'll just finish this part, then I'll take a pic and post it on my blog". I said this while I worked the toe of my new sock...:

Well, in case you hadn't noticed the pic happened a little bit past the toe.

So, I had a pic of my new SIP (Sock in Progress), but I said to myself..."I'll knit a little more, then take another pic, and I'll post BOTH pics on my blog". Here's the 2nd pic taken four days later:

As you can see I've finished the foot and I'm working the gussets now.

Here's a close up of the pattern:

This pattern is Tiger Eyes from (Yep you guessed it) Socks, Socks, Socks. So sue me I liked a lot of the patterns in this book and now during the SOS 2007, I have a chance to knit them all. The yarn I'm using is Meilenweit Cotton Fondo in colourway #6505. I chose it because of the black and orange stripes (kind of like a tiger, see?). I'm using my standard 2.75mm circulars.

I'm really loving the Meilenweit cotton for the lacy socks. It's soft, the colours are fabulous and it doesn't split very easily, which is especially good for this pattern because it has quite a few K3tog's.

Another thing I'm loving during the SOS 2007 is my slow-cooker. I can still have a nice healthy dinner ready at night, with lots of knitting time in between. Plus it doesn't heat the apartment like the oven does. Quite the neat little invention.

I'll have to work on my knitting while reading technique today, because yesterday I got this:

The last book in the series! Will Harry defeat Voldemort once and for all? Will the end see Harry and Voldemort dead, or just one of them? *Must...keep...from...reading...final...chapter...first....Can't ruin J.K. Rowling's wonderful ability to tell a suspenseful story.* So...I have until 9pm to work on my sock and the book. Why 9pm you may ask? Because that's when Miss Marple is on PBS, and I can't miss a chance to knit along with my favourite sleuth!

TTFN and KEEP KNITTING!

Sleuths, and Socks, and Shawls...Oh my!

I had a fantastic birthday! My co-workers got together and gave me lots of presents:

A chocolate fondue pot. Yummy!

A cool candle. It's made of this jelly-like stuff and has an orchid in it.

A necklace and earring set. The colour is sort of an aqua-sky blue mix. I love it!

Thanks you guys!

My boyfriend and I went out for dinner at East Side Mario's on Saturday. It was delicious! We decided to forgo the movie when we saw how busy the theatre was, so we bought a bottle of wine, went home and celebrated the fact that I'm getting old!

Sunday saw some progress on the knitting front. I finished knitting my shawl:

Now I just have to sew in the ends, block it, and decide how I want to do the beading. Did you think it was actually finished? Not even close, but it's looking good and I'm happy so far.

On Sunday night I worked on the 2nd Gull Wings sock while watching this:

I love a sleuth that knits!

All that knitting paid off because yesterday I managed to:

Finish the Gull Wings! (fanfare!)

I am excessively proud of how I managed to get them to match. See:

Not bad at all.

Last but not least my birthday present to myself from The Loopy Ewe (This is a new order, sadly not the one still lost in transit)

I'm not telling you what the yarn is for (Shhh...it's a secret!), but it's not socks!

The beaded thing you see there is this:

A row counting bracelet from the Moonlight Knitter. Quite clever really. This way I can keep track of up to 100 rows without losing my little row counter (and my mind). It's been very useful already on my next sock project. I'll have pics of that next time.

TTFN and KEEP KNITTING!

Wow...it's been a while...

In my defence I've been sick with the flu. As a result I haven't done much knitting. However, I'm feeling better now and today is my 29th birthday so I had to post.

Because it's my birthday, I'm going to do something that I saw on the June 29th posting of Rochelle's blog. You go on Wikipedia and type in your birth month and day. Then you list 3 events, 2 births, and 1 holiday that take place on your birthday.

Here goes:

Events:

- 1789- Storming of the Bastille in Paris, France.

- 1943- George Washington Carver monument in Joplin, Missouri, becomes 1st US National Monument to honour a black American

-1995- Mp3 format named

Births:

-1862- Austrian Painter and Artist Gustav Klimt

-1913-38th President of the United States, Gerald Ford

Holidays:

Official:

France & all French Dependencies-Bastille Day

Unofficial (remember this is Wikipedia, so no real guarantees of accuracy):

United States: National Nude Day (no I will not be participating)

Wow July 14 was an interesting day in history.

Now on to serious matters:

Campanula. One of the members of the Summer of Socks 2007 has come up with a brilliant idea to raise money for Breast Cancer. She is participating in the Weekend to End Breast Cancer, and in order to raise money for this she has decided to "sell" her lovely Campanula sock pattern. Everyone who sponsors her will receive the pattern. Please go to her blog and assist her in this worthy endeavour.

Now for some knitting:

I finished the Camera Bag:

All done except for:

Arghh! I-cord. It's strong... it looks nice...it takes FOREVER to knit...

I also finished one of my Gull Wings socks:

The photo doesn't do the the colour justice, but when I used the flash to show the true colours, the pattern didn't show to it's best. Pattern vs. Colour....

Now I am off to work and then dinner and a movie with my boyfriend.

TTFN and KEEP KNITTING!

Oh Look...another sock in progress...

I think that will be the theme of the blog this summer.

Yesterday I finished turning the heel on the first Gull Wings sock:



Now it's down the foot and finish the toe. Oh..and knit the second one.
I'm really liking the Meilenweit Cotton. Looking at the twist:



I was kind of thinking that it could split a lot, but it hasn't. It's also soft and not hard to knit up (probably because of the wool blend). I'm definitely looking forward to knitting up the other 3 balls I have:



Not sure what patterns I'll use, maybe I'll try my hand at designing some. But first I'll have to finish Gull Wings.

There have been some projects other than socks.

I finished knitting a camera case for my new digital camera:

The pattern is adapted from this one by Trampled by Geese. I still need to felt it a bit, and make a cord so I can sling it around my neck, but I like how it turned out.

Also there has been a little progress on the shawl (no I haven't abandoned it entirely):

I still have 4 flowers to go and then I can block and do the beading. I haven't yet decided if I want to have beads all over or just a beaded fringe. I'll decide when it's blocked.

Anyhoo, that's the update from the Nations Capital.

TTFN and KEEP KNITTING!

O Canada...

Happy Canada Day to all you Canucks out there. This is our day to celebrate the 140th birthday of our country. How will you celebrate today?
It's overcast here in the Nation's Capital, so I'm seriously debating about whether or not to head to Parliament Hill. I may go this evening and catch the fireworks.

Meanwhile I finished the Aran Sandal Socks:



They are really comfortable and warm. I'm actually wearing them right now.

So one pair down in the SOS2007!

I've cast on for the 2nd pair:



These are going to be Gull Wings from Socks, Socks, Socks. The yarn I'm using is Lana Grossa Meilenweit Cotton Multiringel. The colour is 2210.



This yarn is a nice cotton, virgin wool blend, and I like the stripes of colour that I'm getting so far:



This pattern will definitely be easier for public transit, since it doesn't involve a cable needle.

Update on the Fleece Artist yarn. I still hadn't received the order on Friday so I sent an email to The Loopy Ewe. I know Sheri is on vacation, so I was expecting to receive an answer from her assistant. Instead I got a response from Sheri on Saturday (they are so great at the Loopy Ewe!) She said that sometimes orders can get caught up at customs, so she told me to see if it arrives by the 4th of July (when she'll be back), if not, she'll track it and see where it is. So hopefully it hasn't vanished into a black hole of nothingness and I will get my sock yarn soon. Yea!

Anyhoo, I'm going to drink some beer and celebrate the birth of my country by knitting socks!

TTFN and KEEP KNITTING!