Back to school

The kids are back to school and I spent the whole week running around like a crazy lady. I thought the plan was that they went back to school and I had more time not less. The lack of time is mostly due to the fact that their schedule is not set yet, I am anxiously waiting for September 10, when everything is supposed to fall into places.

Even with soccer season already in full force, I haven't had much time to knit, but something I did. I finally finished the piece for One Planet Yarn and Fiber (I am so late but they have been so good and have not complained), I finished the first of my Lace Mock Cable socks that I am knitting for Sockapalooza 4 (I did mail my pal the contrasting toe socks, but still ......), and I took out of hibernation my SKB:



Can you believe it was on my January 2007 wip list? I was really surprised to see that I had finished the body - I did not remember that! But it looks awfully short, good thing I can easily lengthen the body (I do have plenty of yarn!)

And yes, I have been dyeing more and more, shop is updated!

New socks

Last night I suddenly realized that I had only one pair of socks on the needles, the Lacy Mock Cables Socks. Only one? Well, yes, I should be knitting the Hogwards Sock Swap II socks as well, but for now those are in the frog pond, coming back soon.
Anyway, last night I needed to knit on something new, so casted the Madder Ribber Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks, in Ornaghi Luna Park:



Soccer season has started, I need plenty of mindless knitting.

I have a new toy

The Wonder Winder, aka WW:



and I am a happy woman.

Need opinions

I bought a skein of CTH in Purple and I made the contranting toes. So, what do you think?
Good? Ok? Hideous?



Would you be extremely disappointed if your pal sent you these socks?

Disaster recovery

1. Post on the blog, so that many people smarter than will give me sympathy and suggestions. Agnes is a genius, I kept thinking that I could not possible send my pal a pair of sock with one toe in a different color, but of course, as she said, both toes in a coordinating color!

2. Go to the LYS and see if I can find that coordinating color (you would think that in my stash of 200+ different yarns I could find something, think again.)

3. Get an amazing package from Karen of ABC's of Creative Pursuits:



3. Dye some new yarn:



Panda Sock Yarn, a wool, bamboo, and nylon blend, that I just got and love. It will go on etsy soon, and look on the side bar ---------->
I even have a newsletter now!

4. Swatch my freshly dyed yarn:



Swatching a new yarn always makes me happy, new yarn with new colorway, double points.

5. Dye some more:



6. And more:



7. OK, enough with the dyeing, let's go back to task. I fished this from my stash:



and I sent it to my pal with an apologetic note telling her about the disaster and that her socks are doomed will be a little late.

9. Finishing the Gaeta Tank Top for One Planet Yarn and Fiber:



Nothing to do with socks, but saying "Done!" always feels good.

10. What if the coordinating toes thing does not work? Need to knit another pair of socks right now. Toe up socks, it would take a while before I muster the courage to knit another top down sock. Decide to use my pattern, it should go fast and smoothly (stay tuned on this blog to see how many times I can screw up a pattern that I wrote.) Look for yarn, and decide on this one:


Yarn Botanika Merino/Tencel in Hot Summer Nights

Roll the yarn in two equal balls:





Swatch the yarn, and NOT get gauge.

11. Go look for another yarn and spend few hours debating between this:



and this:



Fleece Artist won because it is superwash. Swatch. Get gauge. Do the happy dance.

12. Since I am swatching, swatch for the Hogwarts Sock Swap as well:



And while I am at it, email Sheri to see if she has an extra hank of Louet Gems in Burgundy in dye lot # 80-1582-9, you know, just in case.

13. Cancel Paperino's party for Sunday, since most of his friends are on vacation, and reschedule for September. Thia has nothing to do with the socks, but the idea I do not have to deal with a bunch of 7 years old this Sunday makes me feel better anyway.

Disaster

Picture taken by Principessa while I was sobbing.

Yeah, I know, the picture is blurry. Do you really want to know? Ok, look here (sit first):



That is the yarn I have left, and I have to make the whole toe of the sock. The whole toe, and no yarn left. Of the second sock of the Sockapalooza 4 socks (yes, they were due a week ago, we won't talk about that.) The yarn? Cherry Tree Hill Supersock with no ball band (I got this yarn in a swap-bot exchange, one of those "send yarn from your stash exchange".)
Hollis told me that she thinks it's a potluck colorway, so I am dead in the water, no chance whatsoever to find another one (and even if it were not a potluck skein, CTH colorways are so variable that I would be dead anyway.)

I started to notice that something was wrong (read: I do not think that I have enough yarn) yesterday morning, but I kept knitting hoping that the ball would get bigger. Reality set in when a customer of my store looked at my socks and said, "Nice yarn, Koigu? You do not have enough." When a random knitter passing by comments that you do not have enough yarn, usually you do not have enough yarn.

In the vain attempt to make my yarn last longer, I screw up several times so I had to rip back and keep knitting, but eventually I had to face reality: I do not have enough yarn.

I am going to cry some more now.

All Ravelred Up

If you are on Ravelry and look me up, you can guess what I have been doing in the last two days. All my stash is up, my wips are up, and I am working my way through my finished projects. Elspeth commented that "it really can replace a blog with the places to put your yarn and patterns", and that it is why I love it so much. A blog is good for rambling away, and even if I used it in the past for keep myself on track, it is way easier over there.
So, off these two go to retirement, I have my tidy list over here - it is great to be easily amused!

The socks? Natalie sent them to me, in a cute little package, for Sockapalooza 4 (yes, I am still knitting mine, but we won't talk about that), my first pair of Koigu socks ever, and they fit like a dream.



Don't you love the color? I do!

Send out the rescue squad

This is what my room looks right now, just few hours after I got my invite to Ravelry. I guess the children can live on pizza delivery until I am done adding all my yarn (I am already half way there), my past projects, my current projects, my queue, my patterns ......

If I do not blog for more than a week, please come get me.

12!

* You signed up on June 9, 2007
* You are #7986 on the list.
* 12 people are ahead of you in line.
* 15473 people are behind you in line.
* 33% of the list has been invited so far

ETA: I am in, I am in ...... lux2night as usual!

It is easier on vacation

Sticking to the planned projects is much easier on vacation. Even if I pack enough yarn that if there is a crash and we are lost, everybody will have socks and the baby clothes for his first year, still I do have a limited selection to choose for. I get bored easily with the yarns I pack, so since nothing new excites me, I stick to the planned projects.
When I am home, I have books, I have my stash, I have the internet (my parents in Italy are still on dial-up, believe it or not), the possibilities are endless.
So, I should be working on these:



I casted on for a felted bag and a EZ Surprise Jacket.



I do not even like felted bags.

61 gold pieces

Kat commented that with the gold I have accumulated I could treat myself with a nice yarn spree. Well, not really. I accumulated gold way too fast. I was envisioning myself knitting for months before having a significant amount. More than 60 in few days? Not working for me.
Don't get me wrong, I am still playing, but I need to re-think this spending gold stuff, because my stash? Still huge.
Things I have learned during Knitting from your Stash 2007:

• sock yarn does count;
• knitting sock does not reduce your stash that much;
• having yarn given to you to design stuff really hinder your stash reduction efforts;
• if you decide to pick a yarn from your stash to design socks, do not pick red, you'll never get a decent photo.

But I love my new bag.