And more socks

These ones are September's sock of the month, and I finished them Oct. 1. Why haven't I blogged about them yet? There are several reasons, including general laziness, but I am displeased with the photos. I'm still struggling with that, but at least the Fawkes ones came out okay.

The yarn is Austerman Step, which is a little scratchy, but the aloe and jojoba make up for it.

It's a nice, simple pattern, beaded rib, cuff down. Once again, I wouldn't have chosen the yarn (or possibly the pattern) on my own, but I'm pleasantly surprised with it.

And the stripes match up pretty well.

In Summary:

Pattern: September sock of the month, Ewe and Me

Yarn: Austerman Step (75% superwash wool, 25% nylon, 450 yds), 1 skein

Needles: Size 1 dpn

Cost: Just under $20 for the yarn and pattern

Time: Knit in about two weeks, took about 4 more to blog

Fawkes Socks

Dumbledore (who is apparently gay) likes knitting patterns, so it's no surprise there are a ton of Harry Potter patterns out there. There is of course, Charmed Knits, and a few sock patterns out there too.
This one, sent to me by Carrie Penny, is based on Fawkes, Dumbledore's pet pheonix.

I realize two things about this photo. 1. It probably violates some kind of copyright law. Sorry. 2. I should probably have used the book The Order of the Pheonix for the picture, but the colors on this one match so much better.
I needed a firey colored yarn for it, but I just wasn't finding anything. I looked for a long time until I finally found Jen's Etsy site, and she had this gorgeous yarn called sunburn.

This picture actually shows the colors pretty true to life. They are absolutely saturated, and I love it.
I also really liked the pattern. It's supposed to be rising flames, and it's a pretty easy 12 row lace repeat. This would not be bad for a beginner at lace.

They're a bit tight on me (my gauge might have been slightly off), but I'm sure they will mold to my feet, as only hand-knit socks can.
So seriously. Loved the pattern, loved the yarn, love the way they look together, and it's all thanks to my internet friends Carrie and Jen. Yay for the internet.

In Summary:
Pattern: Fawkes, from Socktopia, sent by Carrie
Yarn: Sunburn sock yarn (100% superwash merino), hand dyed by Jen
Needles: Size 1 (2.25 mm), two circs (not that I don't like dpns, but the lace pattern was a lot easier to do with a longer needle)
Cost: $19 for the yarn, pattern was a present
Time: I probably dabbled for about a month with these, but you could do them faster. It's a nice little pattern.

Gratutious new pictures of Worfy and Duncan (he's getting so big!) can be seen at their respective flickr photosets, and new youtube videos of them playing can be seen here and here.

Fugly Friday - Pre Halloween edition (2)

Okay, I'll have to be honest. Maybe the reason I like this for Fugly Friday is that I sort of feel that Barbie belongs in something like this anyway.

[Fugly Friday is having technical difficulties. I will upload the pic as soon as I can, but in the mean time, you can check out the link here.]

But....seriously. I applaud the effort, I really do. But let's be reasonable here. No kid is actually going to put this on her Barbie. Regardless of how you feel about the blonde bit....bombshell, the days when kids will put something hand made on their trendy toys are over. If you knit a fantastic mini-shawl, they wouldn't put up with it. We're just not cool enough for that anymore.
Free pattern here.
I mummified a Barbie for a school project once. I think that's a much better use of the thing.

New Disgusting News

Seriously, kids. This is gross.
So I've been having tons of complications since I got my wisdom teeth out about a month ago. Everyone told me how easy it would be, and they were wrong.
Finally, after all this frustration and swelling, I decided to go to a different oral surgeon. He decided he needed to slice me open to drain the area. But there was an unexpected surprise.
There was a piece of gauze. In me. Presumably since the surgery.
It was about half an inch or so long and probably worsted weight.
So then they had to dig around to make sure there wasn't anything else in there (luckily there was not). I now have open slice wounds in my mouth (so it can continue to drain), and I'm incredibly sore from all the poking and digging. It hurts through the Darvoset, which I am taking like candy.
Yeah. I have two pair of socks to show you (one finished about three weeks ago now), but I'm going back to bed to try to sleep this off.

Fugly Friday - Pre Halloween edition

I figured there had to be some fugly Halloween knits out there. But I have to say, most of them are pretty cute or clever.

These, for example, aren't really so bad. They're supposed to be knitted ghosts.

Supposed to be. But then.....they kind of look like something else. Something kind of personal. With eyes.

I just have to say.....no.

Just....no.

That is all.

Look over there! Kittens!

Well, Worfy may be getting older, but he's still my baby. In other exciting news, Duncan finally came home with me! Do you see what good boy Worfy is being? He's barely fussed with Duncan at all. Here they are right next to each other playing with their new toys. And all these links are youtube videos I have of them. Seriously. So cute. Go watch.

I am so in love with my boys. If a super intelligent race of felines attempts to take over the earth (if they have not done so already), I will be powerless.

Sorry about Fugly Friday, but I think it's too late now to try to make it up. And I have knitting to show you. But that doesn't matter, because I am thinking about one thing and one thing only. Kittens!

Also, this toy is genius. Seriously. Just watch the video.

Okay, and this one, with a really big pounce at the end. And this one with lots of pouncing.

And see? Duncan plays with the new toy while Worfy plays with the new scratching post.

They are not quite as excited about the catnip bubbles, but give them more time. Worfy is a fan of the nip.

Don't expect much besides "Kittens!" from me for a while. But with cats so cute, how you can you really complain?

Male Knitter Spotted

So I was working last night at the LYS, when a man (age 50?) came in unattended. I was surprised, but after hearing complaints from male knitters (Franklin and Meg's hubby), I was careful to treat him like he was there to knit.
And he was!
Well, he didn't stay and knit, but he certainly bought some sock yarn. He bought two skeins of two colorsways each of some Fortissima (I guess he has big feet), and some sport weight CTH once I told him about the sale table. The man knits, and he knits socks (though Meg claims all knitting guys just like to knit socks). Although in a new shop, I'd usually just wind up with sock yarn too, especially if it's on sale.
But male knitters do exist! Now I just need to catch a younger one that is interested in girls.

New friends to blog stalk

I started going to Jenn's knitting group lately, and found a whole bunch of new people to blog stalk. Links will probably get updated shortly. However, I'm also going to totally steal one survey. It's knitting related.

The key is:
Done it, want to do it, no interest

• Afghan
• I-cord
• Garter stitch
• Knitting with metal wire
• Shawl
• Stockinette stitch
• Socks: top-down
• Socks: toe-up
• Knitting with camel yarn
• Mittens: Cuff-up
• Mittens: Tip-down
• Hat
• Knitting with silk
• Moebius band knitting
• Participating in a KAL
• Sweater
• Drop stitch patterns
• Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
• Slip stitch patterns
• Knitting with banana fiber yarn
• Domino knitting
• Twisted stitch patterns
• Knitting with bamboo yarn
• Two end knitting
• Charity knitting
• Knitting with soy yarn
• Cardigan
• Toy/doll clothing
• Knitting with circular needles
• Baby items
• Knitting with your own handspun
• Slippers
• Graffiti knitting --------no clue what this is
• Continental knitting
• Designing knitted garments
• Cable stitch patterns
• Lace patterns
• Publishing a knitting book
• Scarf
• Teaching a child to knit
•American/English knitting
• Knitting to make money
• Buttonholes
• Knitting with alpaca
• Fair Isle knitting
• Norwegian knitting
• Dying with plant colors
• Knitting items for a wedding
• Household items
• Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars
• Olympic knitting
• Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
• Knitting with dpns
• Holiday-related knitting
• Teaching a male how to knit
• Bobbles
• Knitting for a living
• Knitting with cotton
• Knitting smocking
• Dying yarn
• Steeks
• Knitting art
• Fulling/felting
• Knitting with wool
• Textured knitting
• Kitchener BO
• Purses/bags
• Knitting with beads
• Swatching
• Long Tail CO
• Entrelac
• Knitting and purling backwards
• Machine knitting
• Knitting with self patterning/self striping/variegating yarn
• Stuffed toys
• Knitting with cashmere
• Darning
• Jewelry
• Knitting with synthetic yarn
• Writing a pattern
• Gloves
• Intarsia
• Knitting with linen
• Knitting for preemies
• Tubular CO
• Freeform knitting
• Short rows
• Cuffs/fingerless mitts/armwarmers
• Pillows
• Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
• Rug
• Knitting on a loom
• Thrummed knitting
• Knitting a gift
• Knitting for pets
• Shrug/bolero/poncho
• Knitting with dog/cat hair (I'm actually saving Worfy's fur - don't know if I'll really do it)
• Hair accessories (I wear scarves as a headband sometimes)
• Knitting in public

Well that makes me feel all warm and cozy. I'm pretty accomplished. Most of the things that are italicized are more or less in my queue. And the fibers I just haven't gotten around to get becaues of price and color.
What about you, kids?

I Never Claimed to be Subtle

Happy Birthday to me!

In case you're wondering, 23.

Fugly Friday - Poppies

Now, in general, I have nothing against knitted flowers. In the appropriate place, like a felted bag, they can be quite cute. However. They do not belong here.

They simply do not.
These are the Perky Poppy Pins on magknits, courtesy of Lorna. As felted flowers, I have no problem with them whatsoever. They are a bit big for my tastes, but on the right bag, a smaller version could be kind of cute.
Let me reiterate. They do not belong there, especially with that name. At least there are three and not two. I hope that doesn't imply anything.
Keep sending the fuglies.

August Sock Club

So I tried to get all creative with the latest picture.

Yeah, that's about all I've got.
I really do like these socks though. They're the August sock club pattern from the Ewe and Me sock club.
When I saw the sample in the store, I was a little disappointed. They looked like boring, simple little ribbed socks, and I wasn't crazy about the yarn.
Boy was I wrong.

The yarn is really wonderful. It's Fortissima Sockina Cotton (75% cotton, 25% acrylic), and it's wonderful to work with. It has all the memory and stretch of wool, and the pattern works up just as nicely. If the mom ever decides she needs more socks, it will probably be this brand.
Also, the pattern was not at all boring, because check out this heel flap.

Yes, it's a little dark, but you can see there's a nifty woven texture to it. That's achieved by knitting the stitch through the back loop and then, the part that confused me for a while, wrapping the yarn the wrong way (you purl normally on the purl rows). Once I realized that yes, in fact, I was supposed to wrap the yarn the wrong way around the needle, I was really delighted with it. That's a kind of stitch I had never even heard of before, and I've spent entirely too much times sitting around looking at stitch dictionaries. I was quite pleased with it. And the way it looks makes me want to incorporate other interesting stitches into my heel flaps now too. Linen stitch anyone?
So anyway, this whole sock club thing might work out okay, because I would never in a million years have chosen either the yarn or the pattern, and I wound up loving both. Something similar is happening with the September socks, which you will probably see in a few days (I swear, I'm on the second foot now).
The one thing I wasn't happy with was their suggested gauge. Even the sample in the shop looked too drapey to me. I subbed in some 1's for some 2's and knit the largest size, and I was much happier.
In summary:
Pattern: Summer anklet with a twist, Ewe and me August sock club
Yarn: Fortissima Sockina Cotton, faux fair isle blues and purples, 75% cotton, 25% nylon, 339 yds, about half a skein
Needles: Size 1 (2.25mm) dpn
Time: About two weeks of light work
Cost: About $18 for the kit (yarn + pattern)

Also, please enjoy this gratuitous picture of Duncan's little speckled belly.