Halfway Down the Stairs

Happy Pr0nday?
All right, so I received two gift certificates to the Loopy Ewe for my birthday. I had a lot of fun shopping, so I present to you, Loopy Ewe Birthday Yarn Pr0n!
Some Lorna's Laces in Hawaii colorway - Puck had to wind this up into a cake right away.
Claudia's Handpainted in Sherbet.
Claudia's Handpainted in Toast
And some Schaefer Anne in Lime Chill.

Now I have to go type up the minutes from our last LAX Board Meeting. Ugh.

Enjoy my pretties!

Can I just say?


I LOVE these kids! (and I like this shot, 'cause I can show you the kids without showing their faces.) It doesn't matter if they win or lose - they play their hearts out (These are nine and ten years olds, by the way). At the end of every game, they skate out onto the ice and they celebrate the goalie. See them here? They're watching a little inner-city team that was losing 9 to 0, and they were cheering for that little team that was losing. When that little team scored, theirs were the loudest cheers in the arena! Our kids lost their game on Friday, but they battled their little hearts out and won a fantastic game on Saturday. Today they are in the Consolation Championship game (GO EAGLES!), I had obligations to the Teenager, so I had to stay home. (Not to mention the bi-weekly migraine, which? No cheering please. Ow.)

ETA: Our little Eagles won their game today 5-1! Two goals scored by Puck's BF (he's not in the picture because he always the LAST one to be ready), two for the little T-Bone (#7 up above), and Puck (#16) scored a goal with one assist!! I'm making brownies for the Puckster to celebrate!

DH had to drive to Woodbury (about 30 minutes) through this! Yikes! Yesterday morning, we were starting to see the dead grass underneath all of this! We're supposed to get some more today! The Teenager is going boarding, so I will have to drive a little bit, not to mention get to the grocery store.


And for Inquiring Minds who want to know, this is what the house is starting to look like!


New windows are in, the siding is on, they're getting ready for the cultured stones. The pounding has become much less intrusive.

I have no knitting pictures today, the baby sweater is inching along, the April Fools Sock (2nd) is t the heel flap, and the Grid Lock Sock (1st) is also ready to flap. Hopefully I'll have progress to show you tomorrow - oh - and also? Loopy Ewe birthday Pr0n. (Yummy)

Later!

Isn't it Lovely?

I just love the color of this yarn. It's a little rough, and the dye rubs off on my fingers, but I'm sure that with a good soak, it will be soft and lovely. I just love the colors and how it's knitting up! I bought this from Mystical Creations Etsy store. So far, I love it a lot.
The pattern is Grid Lock Socks from Wildhorse Farm Designs - I picked this particular pattern up at the Loopy Ewe.

Well, this weekend is hockey, hockey and hockey. We have a tournament in Woodbury. Go Squirts! (I know, I know! It's going to snow. A lot.)

Look! An FO!

Basketcase Socks:

Posh Yarn - 4 Ply Babyface, Cashmere/Wool Blend
360 yards on #3 dpns
(ETA: I am NOT a member of the Posh Yarn sock club - however, I do like to daydream over their weekly sales because she really does have some interesting colorways - and hello! - cashmere socks?)

Just a little bit closer?

Easy pattern, fast knit. I would definitely knit this again.

Very atypical colors for me.

Let's start with the pr0n shall we?
(Yarn Pr0n, that is.)

I bought this right before my birthday (when I received much love in the form of Loopy Ewe dollars, so look for more pr0n to come, ok?)

I bought this from this young lady, over at her etsy store, when she came in and performed a little hit and run restock. (Seriously, 13 skeins in like 20 minutes!)

This is Tapestry and Love. Kind of appropriate for February.


This is a rather blurry photo of the baby sweater I'm knitting from the Knit Cafe book I've been yakking about. I thought I was making a lot of progress, but I had to frog about six inches this morning as I was knitting the Honeycomb pattern stitch incorrectly. So here is the progress, thus far:
I'm about two and a half inches into the pattern stitch, I'm about to make the sleeve hole - I'm hoping to get a lot done today, so I can finish a sock tomorrow!

(The weekend? No MOA for me, hockey (win), hockey (lose), snowboard (everyone wins - no broken limbs), lacrosse (scrimmage - no score), MORE lacrosse (The Swarm - WON!), hockey (again...practice) weekend over.)

Oh, and the siding crew? They worked all weekend long (except Sunday), I discovered on Saturday that the Portalet had not arrived on Friday. None of the crew spoke English, and guess where they....ummm...relieved themselves? If you guessed the golf course and the neighbors bushes, you would be right. So, how do I tell them..."Not okay!"?? (Portalet arrived today, thank you very much.)

Labels: project progress, Stash Enhancement

FO Friday! (Kind of.)

Here is one finished sock of the April Fools sock:

A little bit closer? This is actually a better color representation:

I'm not counting these socks for the L&V Sock Marathon until I finish the second of the pair, but I will be at 1.26 miles when I am completely done!

And last night I started something new. A gift for a baby shower at the beginning of March:

This is "Judy's Grandmother's Baby Sweater" from Greetings from Knit Cafe.

I'm working this double stranded out of some hand-dyed chenille I bought about a year ago off of ebay. It's actually knitting up better than I expected. I'm also alternating with my other Basketcase Sock. I've got some Mystical Creations Sock that is going on the needles next for Project Spectrum. I haven't decided on a pattern yet - perhaps something simple and quick?

We've got hockey, hockey, snowboarding, hockey and lacrosse this weekend. Wish me a nap, OK?

Labels: New projects, sock knitting

Magic Yarn Ball Swap:

Remember all of those swap-bot swaps I signed up for? Well the first package has arrived! How fun is this one? A lovely Malabrigo-type wool yarn (which I am going to pair up with my leftover blue and make a long, skinny scarf - yummy!)

Cathy - who does not have a blog, sent me all of these very adorable goodies!

A cute little beaded bracelet (I believe she made herself). A funky little printed comic book, two little erasers (I think?), a little heart sponge that resembles Hello Kitty and a packet of Japanese hand wipes - oh and my yarn is hiding in back there.

Cath - such a very lovely package! Thank you so much!

Progress Wednesday.

I have new windows.

I have one sock of my Posh Yarn Basketcase Socks finished - very snuggly & quick.

ETA: The link to the Basketcase Socks pattern is this: http://criminyjickets.blogspot.com/2006/04/basketcase-socks-revisited.html

I hope to finish this sock today, as I am knitting the heel flap this very minute:
This is the April Fools Socks from Wildhorse Farm Designs and my Ruby Sock Yarn from Ruby Sapphire in the Naomi colorway. They actually updated their site this week.

This is the little hat I knit up with yarn from I Don't Know Where on ebay - but it feels just like Malabrigo. This also is my first Project Spectrum project! The head it fits on ran out the door this morning like I was the Paparazzi chasing him.


Lastly, this is the paint chip for my house! We have Portabello as the base color, mahogany for the trim and mulberry for the doors. (Ignore that little yellow blob - that's going away.)


Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!

Okay, so you know how it's still really cold outside? (This is my living room in all it's backlit glory; sans window.)

Well, now it's really cold inside. I hardly know what to do , it's 48 freakin' degrees in my house. They did all the re-framing, then they covered it with a sheet of plastic and went to lunch . People, it is 48 FREAKING DEGREES in my house, and they went to lunch!

So that you all can see the difference. On the left: Lisa Souza's new Merino Hardtwist in Little Devil and on the right: Lisa Souza's Sock! (75/25 Merino/Nylon) in Marsquake. So you can see the difference in the twist of the two yarns.

Love & Kisses People.

My new fave sock discovery:
This is Lisa Souza's new hardtwist in her little devil colorway. Nice tight twist, looks like STR, but feels a little softer on the fingers.

Just sharing a little of the yarn love!

ETA: This pattern is in the Spring 2007 Interweave Knits - I saw it at B&N just today!


Is anyone else having the same sweater love that I am having? Must have this sweater. Anyone have a good source for Louet Gems? Any other suggestions. This may have knocked me right out of my sock groove!
Hello pretty girl! Don't you want to come and live at my house? I'll take good care of you....

Labels: New projects

Ahem,
Blogger very kindly e-mails copies of my comments to me. Oftentimes, they are questions about my post, however, I find that I cannot respond to these comment/e-mails. I am at rather a loss at how to answer you lovely commenters.

About my house:

We bought a stucco home in 2000 that had been built in 1997. I was quite smug buying only a slightly used house as our old stucco home had become rather a nightmare. Shortly after we moved in we discovered that many of our neighbors (our neighborhood was almost entirely stucco - 3-4 brick homes) were discovering problems with moisture intrusion. Our neighborhood is a no-egress culs-de-sac filled street about .9 miles long, one side overlooks a golf course, the other side overlooks a bike path.

By 2003 several homes had had their stucco sidings removed, their home repaired and new (usually different) sidings put on their homes. Turns out we all had different builders, but they all used the same sub-contractors and none of them had been built to code. At that point we called an inspector and and attorney. Long story short: building code violations, framing damage, lawsuit mediated and settled, house being repaired.

We have opted to replace our stucco with Hardeeboard (a concrete product), and cultured stone. All of our windows are being replaced by the window company (part of the settlement, though they admit no culpability, and frankly, I don't believe the windows caused the problem, it was entirely poor contractor work.)

So that is what is going on at my building site of a house right now. It's freaky (and yes, VERY cold, I'm quite scared to see my heating bill) and scary, but we hope to be done by March.

I hope that answers all of your thoughtful questions.

Hockey tonight, and tomorrow.
Oh, and I turn 46 tomorrow too (last time I'll remember that on the spur of the moment).

The Eagle Has Landed:


Finished last night! It really did help rotating through the projects. I got a couple inches done on everything. I even cast on another pair of socks with some Posh Yarn from my stash. The April Fools Socks are up to 3 1/2 inches and the hat is at around 5 inches! I rocked the needles yesterday.

Stats regarding the Eagles Flight Socks:

KP #1 dpns
2 skeins Koigu KPPPM
Work time: Started 2/1/07 - Completed 2/8/07
1.02 miles completed for the L&V Sock Marathon.

House Update:
The stucco is entirely removed from my house right now, and the house is currently wrapped in plastic. There are approximately 7-8 areas on the house that actually need to be re-framed because water intrusion has rotted the framing wood. Yesterday the basement wall was entirely gone. I'm actually going to lose part of my living room floor next week. I hide in my little office where it is warm and cozy - but they're going to be up here eventually.

I'm also mailing my first swap package this morning! The Magic Yarn Ball swap is the first to go. The Scarf Kit goes next week - I need to find a coffee mug.

Labels: sock knitting, SP's

Here's the deal-i-o:

Don't get me wrong - I love the Koigu - the colors are knitting up beautifully. However, I am knitting these socks up on a #1 needle and this pattern contains many YO's and K2's. The Koigu is a rather dense yarn knit at this gauge - a little like STR lightweight. Combined with the sharp points of the KP needles? My fingers are developing these little shiny callouses.

To give my fingers a break I am alternating this:
Hmm. Not really a break.

Well it is negative 13 degrees outside today, what would you have me do?

I have Season 1 of Dr. Who lined up on the computer for this afternoon. Look for progress on the projects!

Socks Are Mean!
(and Koigu is tough on the fingertips!) So, after a weekend of Famous Dave's BBQ, Lacrosse, Hockey, Hockey parties, Football and very negative temperatures through the whole thing; these socks are kicking my *ss! Here is Eagle's Flight sock #1, ready to be kitchenered. I am going to cast on sock #2 this morning. But I think I need a little distraction.

So I'm going to cast this on too. Isn't it purty!!

I'm tempted to dig out a purple skein, because really, didn't Prince totally ROCK last night?

This, that and the other thing:

I have joined Project Spectrum:


I have also joined several swaps on Swapbot: Magic Yarn Ball,
Hand Dyed Yarn - Spring, Int'l Sassy Sock Yarn Swap,

and the Winter Scarf Knit Kit Swap.

My Scarf Swap Pal wanted to know the answers to a few questions:
fav colours? I like rich colors as opposed to pastels. fav yarns? For a scarf I don't like the itchy or overly fuzzy. any allergies? No allergies but I'm a non-smoker so the smell of smoke in my yarn/clothing makes me sad.

I received an early birthday present this week from my SP9 giftee/pal (the girl I sent to) - Yvonne at Loisirs et Plaisirs.

Yvonne is in the Netherlands, so she tried to send me Dutch things. The wool is beautiful and I may use it for my first Project Spectrum project. Thanks so much for the early gift Yvonne!! What a sweetie!

Mr. Sock Mojo was giving me the froggie fidgets yesterday. I got to the heel flap with the Eagle's Flight out of Koigu on my #1 dpns from Knitpicks and I slipped them on and promptly popped a couple stitches they were so tight. Grrr. I ripped, got out the #2's and my Eagle's Flight socks are much happier:
See? Happy socks.

I'm going to update the links on my sidebar later today to add some of my new swappie friends!!

Have a great weekend, stay warm because it is bone-chilling here today.

Labels: sock knitting, SP's, Swaps

Did I mention moments of Weakness?

Etsy is a bad place for me.

Yarn Ahoy (who has just updated her sock yarn this week), has some of the most vividly colored yarn you could find. It makes me happy just to look at it. I ordered this last week after a new update. I can hardly wait to get started using this.

Fearless Fibers also has some great springy colors. I just checked her store today and she's updated some muted tone-on-tone colors. The yarn is fantastic, and she's got a really great price for hand-dyed yarn. I actually ordered this a couple weeks ago.

That yellow and pink are making me think Easter....

Temptation, thy name is Etsy.