Whole Lotta Nothin'

Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes. I don't have anything to show, just wanted everyone to know I'm not lost. It's really hard to do a knitting blog on the days you have no knitting to show, isn't it?

I've been doing a little knitting, but I'm very close to finishing the first pair of Munchkin socks, so there's no point in showing the unfinished socks since I'll probably be showing them finished soon. No progress has been made on Frost Flowers and Leaves. I'm not bored or anything, just haven't had time to actually sit and concentrate on lace.

I've also been reading a bit lately which takes away from knitting time (since I can't read and do colorwork at the same time since I use both hands for the colors, I'd have to drop one strand of yarn every time I wanted to turn a page). Mostly Amanda Quick books. I've read all of hers, but I felt a need to re-read some; I love her stuff. Her heroines are always eccentric and quirky and can usually take care of themselves.

Anyway, hopefully I'll have some adorable socks to show very soon.

Birthday Goodies - Sheepy!

(You can click on any of the pictures for bigger view. Comes in really handy for the Trekking colors.)
Yesterday was my birthday and my husband once again came through with a wonderful gift:

I know it looks sort of gold in the picture, but it's actually silver, from Designs by Romi (via The Loopy Ewe). It is so very beautiful and my very first shawl pin. Something I've been missing for quite a while.

I also treated myself to a trip to a local yarn store where I purchased a bit of sock yarn. (Just never you mind that I have enough sock yarn to last me for a few more birthdays.) I found a little I wanted. Three skeins of Trekking in colorways 65 (mostly black/blue with a little bit of grey, green, reds thrown in), 05 (looks like it will stripe in peaches, creams and pinks) and 62 (dark greys which might be for socks for my husband).

I also picked up some more Cherry Tree Hill which I absolutely love. Earlier this year I completed these socks in the colorway Spanish Moss. Tell me, does the colorway on the right look anything like it? I don't know, maybe some people don't like the inconsistent colorways of CTH, but I do like them. I love my Spanish Moss socks but I also love this more subtle version. Anyway, the colorway on the left is "Winterberry".

As I was checking out, I mentioned that I was treating myself because my birthday was Sunday. She asks, "You know about our birthday discount, don't you?" No, I actually didn't, but please, tell me. Needless to say, it was a pleasant surprise.

Spindles

Not too much to show. I've been working on the FF&L, the two pairs of socks and I've been spinning a bit on the wheel. But I took some pictures of most of my spindles for one of the Ravelry boards and thought I'd show them off here, too.

These are my Goldings:

The Celtic Ring on the left was my very first spindle. I got it at my first Maryland Sheep and Wool. Needless to say, when I decided I needed a laceweight, I went straight to the Golding booth the next year (and this year). The Le Fleur was an anniversary gift from my husband last year. The laceweights are all purpleheart.

These are my two Bossies, both the mini (I think that's what they're called):

The one on the left is Paduak and the one on the right is Purpleheart.

They are all such beautiful pieces of work that they are displayed on my bookshelf when not in use. Most of them have yarn in progress on them.

WIP Wednesday - Frost Flowers

I moved Frost Flowers and Leaves to a 60" cable last night and I'm able to stretch it out a little more to get a picture today.

It's really going to be pretty. I'm enjoying the pattern now. Parts of it are fairly easy to memorize, but the pattern really does need to be handy because of little tricky parts. The yarn is Lane Borgosesia Cashwool which is the same yarn I used for Cap Shawl (both purchased from The Loopy Ewe. It really is a nice and soft yarn.

As for the percentage done, I'm not stupid enough to go and figure that out again. I did that with Cap Shawl and it just served to discourage me. Let's just say, I know I've got a long way to go and it's easier to plug away at it than figuring it out.

Socks and Socks

I've made a bit of progress on Frost Flowers and Leaves, but I haven't moved it to a bigger cord yet, so it's pretty bunched up. (Besides it's rainy, so I doubt if I could get a really good picture anyway.) But here is the first munchkin sock to the heel:


I've also started another simple sock for me in my first skein of Socks that Rock.

It's just a feather and fan pattern in medium weight and I'm pretty sure it's "Romancing the Stone" colorway. Just a little something pretty mindless in relation to the rest of the projects.

Munchkin Socks

Here are the new munchkin socks I'm making.

This is my third try. I started them on size 0s and cast on 60 stitches thinking it would work. Apparently, I was getting a gauge of 11 stitches per inch with this yarn (Knitpicks Essential in African Violet and Petunia) which made them too small for either kid. Okay, so I moved up to size 1s and cast on the same number of stitches. What the hey? I was still getting 11 stitches per inch. Huh? The 1s are in fact bigger than the 0s. Mmm. Okay, apparently the yarn wants to be 11 stitches per inch, so I cast on more stitches. Now, they might be too big. *sigh* If they are, they'll grow into them.

Zigzag Socks

I have made a bit of progress on Frost Flowers and Leaves, but I'll wait to show you until I switch to a longer cable so I can spread it out. For now, I decided I really wanted to finish my almost-finished zigzag socks. So I did.

Here's a close-up:

They're not quite as long in the leg as I like my socks to be, but I made the toe-up and got the absolute most I could out of the yarn. I might have gotten a few more rounds if I had tried, but not many.
Anyway, the specs:
Pattern: I used the zigzag pattern from page 105 of Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Sock Book, but to my own basic toe-up pattern
Needle size: my usual 0s
Yarn: Lang Yarns Jawoll in purple

I have some new socks started, but I only have the cuff. My oldest is not subtle. The other day, she sighs heavily, "I wish I had some warm, wooly socks to keep my feet warm." So I have two small pair I need to make.