L&V Sock Marathon #7

L&V Sock Marathon #7, originally uploaded by Miss Shine.

Another pair nailed.

This was Colinette Jitterbug yarn, and the stitch pattern from Magknits' Tropicana sock pattern.

While I love the effect the Tropicana pattern made, I did get a little fed up with it at the end as there were a lot of increases and decreases which seemed to make my hands hurt a lot.

I used up all but about two feet of this yarn, and the sock cuffs are still very short. I think i've been spoiled by Lisa Souza's super generous skeins - I know I have big feet, but it would have been nice to be able to make the cuff longer.

L&V swap goodness!

Look what arrived at my door today!



A whole box of goodies from the lovely Attachic, with sheeps, and chocolate and FABULOUS STRIPY ORANGE YARN OF DOOM. Ahem. Thank you so much!

Socktastic!

I've been finishing off socks!

Klein dice bag

Matt's Klein dice bag.

It's a three dimensional representation of a four dimensional object, apparently. All I know is it makes the physics geeks squeeee.

x-posted to my livejournal

Colinette Jitterbug and Brittany DPNs

So last week I received my birthday Colinette order, two skeins of Jitterbug sock yarn in Sahara and Florentina. I had intended to keep the Sahara and send the Florentina to my L&V swap partner as I know Colinette is sometimes tricky to get hold of in the US. But, man, this stuff is nice. Even Tim squeeed a little bit when he saw it. The colours are incredibly deep and vibrant.

I also ordered a Brittany crochet hook (cos I seem to have lost my 5mm hook in the move) and some 5" DPNs. I've never been too sold on either non-metal needles or The Pointy Sticks of Doom but I can see why people like them for socks :) I cast on a plain sock out of Opal Rainforest - the caterpillar one. It looks extremely ugly, but in a cool way :)

I bought the needles and stuff from Purlescence who seem very nice and shipped the stuff in very funky triangular packaging.

Mum's knitted boobs!

CIMG1166, originally uploaded by Miss Shine.

My goodness, my mother has been busy. Puts my single knitted boob to shame.

Questionnaire for the Lime and Violet Pr0n Exchange!

Hopefully not too overdue for my swap pal :)

1. What kind of fibers do you prefer?

Wool, all the way. As for more exotic fibres, I'm not allergical to anything, as far as I know. I have yet to try any angora (but would love to!)

2. What kind of weight do you prefer (sock, worsted, bulky)?

Sock or worsted.

3. Do you spin?

Why yes, I am a newbie spinner.

4. Do you crochet?

Why yes, I am bicraftual.

5. Are there any books, patterns, magazines would you like to own that you don't?

I wouldn't mind that Spin to Knit book. I live in hope that I will find a spinning book that doesn't go completely over my head after the first few pages. I think I have a mental block about anything involving whorl and treadle ratios. Otherwise, I'm a bit of a sucker for any kind of crochet book / magazine. Generally, anything with plus size patterns in would be great.

6. Are you participating in any themed a-longs like the Project Spectrum?

Nope. Only the sock marathon.

7. Do you have a wishlist on Amazon.com or Half.com? (provide a link)

Amazon wishlist here...

8. Any Etsy stores that you would love to get something from?

Not specifically, but everything I've received from Etsy has been totally lush!

9. What other crafty things are you involved in (quilting, drawing, painting)?

Button making. Hair extensions. Animal photography.

10. What is your favorite sort of scent?

I really like spicy scents.

11. Do you have a sweet tooth and what kind of sweets do you like best?

Dark chocolate, truffles, sour and fizzy sweets!

12. What kind of music do you like?

Folk, country, rock (in that order!) I'll listen to anything! :)

13. What do you like to knit? And for whom?

I mostly knit socks. For me. They're small enough for my short attention span! I tend to crochet anything bigger than socks :D

14. What sort of things do you like to collect?

Mice. Hamsters. Rats. Bunnies. Yarn. Nuns! (no, not a hoarder!)

15. Do you want needles? And what kind do you prefer?

More 2.5mm needles are always appreciated. I'm just starting to expand my collection of non-metal needles, so bamboo or hardwood long circs or dpns would be very welcome...

I hope this gives you something to work with. Seriously, I'm not fussy. I like lots of stuff! I especially like bright colours and lots of contrast in varigated yarns. Big stripes make me happy. Orange and black are my absolute favourite colours at the moment.

L&V Sock Marathon: Sock Hop(ish) RPMs

L&V Sock Marathon: Sock Hop(ish) RPMs, originally uploaded by Miss Shine.

These were dead quick. I've mostly only been knitting them while playing Guild Wars...

Pattern: RPMs from Knitty
Yarn: Handspun from Crown Mountain Farms roving - 'It Takes Two Baby'

I was aiming for sock weight but it turned out more of a sport weight (my excuse - my first time spinning merino!) - which actually worked out quite well cos I didn't have to adjust the pattern at all to fit my monster feet. Also my first time using bamboo needles!

Stash!

stash, originally uploaded by Miss Shine.

Here's my yarn stash incumbent in its new home after the move. Yay!

Boob!

DSCF1019, originally uploaded by Miss Shine.

Yay!

Lime n Violet socks

I started these several months ago however they were relegated to the bottom of the To Be Knit pile after I messed up the heel. I finally got round to undoing and redoing the heel about a week ago, and finished them off today.

Pattern: My own devising, with minicable stripe down the side.
Yarn: Lisa Souza's Lime n Violet (of course)

I'm counting 220 yards towards my Sock Marathon total, as I think 2/3 of them were knit since Jan 1st... Although this is my second pair of socks finished for the marathon, I suspect my sprint start will quickly be overtaken as I start having to knit entire pairs of socks... :)



Yarn day! Today not only arrived the first installment of the Fyberspates sock club (my first alpaca! Lush) but my long overdue Christmas present, 2.5kg of soysilk sock weight yarn.

My brain can't even begin to calculate the yardage on this lot. Maybe later :P

Starr's scarf

Starr's scarf, originally uploaded by Miss Shine.

Crazy crochet scarf. Why yes, I am trying to use up novelty yarn.

This thing turned out in excess of 7 feet long. Terrifying.

Caps to the Capital

littlehats01, originally uploaded by Miss Shine.

Little hats for the Save the Children Caps to the Capital appeal (now closed).

Miss Shine's Sock Yarn Stash

Miss Shine's Sock Yarn Stash, originally uploaded by Miss Shine.

My starting picture for the Lime & Violet sock marathon - a comparatively meagre 4.36 miles in total.

But I'm still waiting for my Christmas sock yarn (hmph) and my first sock club package from Fyberspates...

Jaywalkers in Lisa Souza Little Devil

Jaywalkers in Lisa Souza Little Devil, originally uploaded by Miss Shine.

Finished on New Years Day! Made as per the pattern, but with 1x1 ribbing instead of 2x2 (it's still a bit loose). Otherwise I love this yarn and pattern :)

Christmas knitting...

...is done and suitably appreciated.

My lot:


Chaos machine knit scarf, with random stripes decided on by rolling a couple of D6. This was a bit of a test project really, but Tim asked if he could have it.


My grandma (who is 85 next week!) modelling the Shelly scarf from CrochetMe. She's been wearing it ever since...


My mum, another happy Fetching recipient.


Christmas gnome from Simply Knitting, for my dad. This took ages, even though I substantially altered the pattern to do most of it in the round. Made from some of the Mountain of Handspun, some of which I dyed. This little guy looks a lot more disreputable than the picture in the pattern, he reminds me of a pirate gnome, whatever that is.


Ubiquitous curly scarf, for my BCUK Secret Father Christmas partner.

I've just realised that's two FOs in a row that include fun fur. I'll lose my membership to the Snobby Knitters Club at this rate :D

Tim's lot:

Yet another curly scarf for Tim's mum.


Sweetpea shawl from the Happy Hooker for Tim's grandma. She really liked this, Tim and his mum went to see her at the nursing home the next day and she was still wearing it :D




Crochet scarf for Jess, Tim's sister, made from recycled sari silk. She seemed to really like this too, she wore it all Christmas day :D


Tychus hat for Tim's little bro, Tom. Modelled here by Tim.

Phew! Glad that's over.

Now all I have on the needles is the pair of Little Devil Jaywalkers (which are nearly finished with all the travelling we did in the last few days) and the L&V socks (which need the heels ripping out and redoing, cos I'm a spatchcock*).

*new word discovered over Christmas

Giftmas knitting,...

Made great progress, only the curly scarf left to be done.

Sweetpea shawl is blocking and has gone HUGE. I hope it doesn't eat granny.

End in sight

My holiday knitting is (shhhh) nearly finished...

I have left -
about half a row on a curly crochet scarf
A couple more inches on Shelly from CrochetMe .
About eight more rows and the thumbs on a pair of Fetching
The fringe, wash & block Sweet Pea shawl from the Happy Hooker

and I have given up on
Anything for Tim's step-dad. The only clue Tim gave me for what he might like is a beret, and while I am sure my skills are up to the job, I will not knit a grown man a beret.
Ravenclaw scarf for Tim's brainy bro. Although not as daunting a task as this one sounds (as I'll be machine knitting), the wool I bought on Ebay, while very nice, turned out to be just too light and girly a shade of blue. So I'm going to have a go at overdying it, but no way is that going to happen before Christmas.

So the end is in sight! And then I can knit socks, nothing but socks forever! Mwahahaha!

Sad story about frogging!

Here's a sad story about frogging, but don't worry, it has a happy ending.

Here is a pair of Purl When Ready 2x2 ribbed socks, toe-up, short row heel, complete to the ankle. They are made from Lisa Souza's Little Devil Sock! yarn, which is fabulous, and stripes beautifully.

They were languishing in my knitting bag because, despite being nearly finished, I wasn't happy with the texture, they were kinda lumpy.


So after putting off the inevitable for a month or so, I finally frogged this weekend...




... and cast on some Jaywalkers, cuff down, as Great Cthulhu intended. I love the way this is striping, these are going to be some seriously eye-catching socks. Yay!

Spinning pron!

I had great fun spinning the 'Gemstones' roving from The Flying Ewe's Etsy shop! I'm definately getting the hang of pre-drafting now, and I'm getting a bit more consistent. I plied some of it with itself and some of it with some grey long staple fluffy wool that came with my spinning wheel. I haven't decided what to make with it yet though...