Feeding the stash

The mailman came the other day, and brought me a pretty package! My package from Eat Sleep Knit had arrived. Sadly, I didn't really have the time to really enjoy the pretty colors.

Cherry Tree Hill Yarn - Fingerpaints Self-Striping Sock Yarn
Black Cherry

Finally, I'm able to take some pictures and input the info into my stash page on Ravely. It's good practice for my photography. (Which I hope I am improving on. Who wants to read a blog with crummy photos?)

And a close up...

Claudia Handpainted Yarn - Fingering / Sock Yarn
Colorway: Argyle2

And another close up...

Even more fun ahead! I have to decide what patterns will show off these yarns. Any suggestions?

Sweater...in time for a southern summer?

The winters in east Texas are short. This is a fact. This is something I've always known. Yet, for some strange reason, I cast on a wool sweater in December. I knew full well that by the time that I probably finished it, it would be 110 degrees outside.

Well, it looks like I'm right on time. Spring is here, and the sweater is slowly growing. And the temperatures are slowing rising.

Wicked in Berraco Vintage

I should stick to socks.... or move north...

March Sock Blankie Update

It has been over six months since I started my own sock blankie. Sadly, it was put into hibernation about the time that my christmas knitting started last September. This past week I've pulled the poor thing out of its project bag, and I've added 3 squares this week.

Not much of a dent, but each little square counts! Here the is sock blankie so far in all its glory:

And some closer shots:





Things I've learned from my sock blankie:

1) Picking up stitches - If you look at bottom row of my blankie, the stitches that were picked up weren't very uniform. I was picking them up in the wrong location, which lead to bumps on the reverse side that was not very smooth. I have definitely gotten better over time!

2) I-cord - This was my first time trying i-cord, just starting the border on the bottom. I'm still not sure I've done it correctly, since I can see the colored yarn peeking out of the corners occasionally. At some point I'm probably going to rip it out and redo it, but I think I'm continue adding squares first.

Lastly, I've started keeping scraps I've already used in the blanket in a small box to be used later on again. I just thought it looked pretty, so I thought I would share.

Mystery WIP

If you haven't checked out the Sock Knitter's Anonymous group on Ravelry yet, its worth checking out. Each month they have a knit-a-long of a particular sock technique. Along with this knit-a-long, every other month they offer a mystery sock.  I've only done one mystery sock before this month, and was sadly disappointed. However, I've just fallen in love with this month's sock by Verybusymonkey.



After Clue #1


I used Schaefer yarn Nichole in the colorway bluebell that I had picked up while back at a symposium in Taos, New Mexico.

After Clue #3!

Clue #4 is being posted tonight. I can't wait to see whats in store for me next!!!

Asperger's Syndrome?

Sorry, no knitting today. Something else has been on my mind. I thought maybe if I wrote it down if would be easier...

I've always had a hard time communicating with people. I would get angry when people wouldn't actually say what they mean. I have a hard time following conversations that have more than two or three people involved, usually being a moment or two behind everyone else in the conversation.

I always thought it was because I grew up in an extremely small town, and I really didn't have much in common with my classmates. I prefered to be by myself, reading during recess and mostly just doing my own thing. It was something that I thought I would grow out of, or would stop once I had found people more like me.

In the last few years, being in graduate school among people a lot more like me than anyone I grew up around, I realized that I still have trouble communicating and understanding other people. I've expressed my concerns to Eric, my boyfriend. He suggested that I look into Asperger's syndrome, because he felt that I demonstrated many of the symptoms, such as little eye contact and inability to understand body language. He often has to explain to me what people really meant when they were speaking.  If you want an example of my personality, think of the character Temperance Brennan from the tv show Bones.

I've started reading on the syndrome. The most useful so far is the book The Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome. I originally thought there was no way that I could have Asperger's, Eric was simply overestimating my shortcomings. However, as I continue to read, I'm finding the descriptions very very familiar.

I'm not sure where to go next with this. Should I attempt to get a diagnosis? Am I just being a hypochondriac?  Anyone out there that can give me any advice? I'm a little scared and I feel like I'll always feel out of place when around others. I just don't know what to do.

Past accomplishments

I haven't been keeping up with the blog lately. However, its spring! A time to begin anew, or at least try to keep up with what I've already started.

Its a slow friday night here, and I have soup on the stove. I figured it would be a great time to recap what I've been knitting since I've been on here last.




First off, I did finish those Jayne hats. Eric and his nephews are just adorable. For the record, Eric already had his hat. I just made all the nephews ones to match.








I made a strangling vine lace scarf for my grandmother for christmas. I couldn't get a better picture before I gave it to her. But I also have a close up for the stitch pattern. It's one of those great patterns that look super complicated, but are very easy to memorize and repeat. I used

Araucania Ranco Multi

Anyone that knows me, knows that I have a huge weakness for caffienated beverages. Some, in fact, would say that I'm addicted to coffee. So, of course, I designed a coffee cozy over christmas break that is now on Ravelry. I'll have an upcoming post with the instructions here.

I learned how to do socks 2-at-a-time.  Melissa Morgan-Oakes' book 2-at-a-Time Socks is great if you want to learn.  So far, I've only done one pair, using a pattern from the book: Sugar Maple.

Pay no attention to the mistake on the left sock

Knitting and Dealing

Anybody out there?  Probably not.

I haven't posted in a while, but I've decided this blog is more for me than anything. Every just need to scream from the rooftops "Hey world! I'm still here!"?

Well, I've finished several knitting projects since the last time I posted. Most recently was the Dancing Socks. The pattern is from the book Pints and Purls: Portable Projects for the Social Knitter. However, I did modify the second sock to mirror the first, rather than have them both go in the same direction. (I'm a sucker for symmetry.) This is the first time I've successfully modified a sock pattern for personal taste. (Yay me! I didn't ruin it!)

 

And yes, that is a microscope. And yes, I was taking pictures of my socks when I should have been counting cells. Don't judge. You spend an entire day in a dark closet and see how much you want to count brown spots.