Sockapalooza Pics!

Above is the wonderful package that my Sockapalooza pal Lori from Massachussets sent me! It was like Christmas when I opened the package. She decorated the side of the package with these stickers and wrote Socakapalooza on the side of the box. The contents of the box: one pair of yummy Jaywalkers, extra yarn for repairs, shower gel and handlotion from Bath and Body Works in my favorite scent, some chocolate from her area, some tasty blueberry spread from her some state of Maine, some gorgeous stitch markers, a couple of postcards showing where she's from and a gorgeous pen which is not pictured that she made just for me. I absolutely love how the pen writes. I do apologize for not having it in the photo.

The socks are Jaywalkers. Aren't they simply gorgeous. I had requested orange socks. The socks are made of Schaefer Anne. The funny thing is I remember seeing these posted on her blog but didn't think anything of it. The stitchmarkers you can't tell the gorgeous purple of the dark beads but they are so pretty. I oohed and aahhed them when I opened the container that they were in.

She was and is such a wonderful pal! Thanks a lot Lori.

Frogged Yet Again!

The Uptown Boot Socks are going to the Frog Pond again tonight. Don't get me wrong I love the color but the pattern is just not working with the color that I had chosen. I was going to use Claudia's Hanpainted in the Peppermint Mocha colorway but it's just not working. I even took a photo of the sock just to see if the pattern would show up in the photo. Nope it didn't show a thing. So it's back to the drawing board. I am going to try to locate some yarn in a semi-solid color. I should have been almost finised with the second sock by now. Since I can't work on The Uptown Book Socks, I figured that I would start on Victoria's socks from The Hogwarts Sock Swap Two. I received the gorgeous Slytherin yarn and just have to get it wound up into it's neat little pancake balls. I've all ready picked out the pattern. I am going to try to keep that a secret since Victoria is probaby reading this blog. (Hi Victoria!). I'm eagerly waiting to find out who my pals are for the Monkey Swap 3 and the Christmas Around the World Swaps. The Monkey Swap is open until August 31st but I'm not quite sure about the Christmas Swap. I think that I am done signing up for swaps for now. Although there is going to be an ISE5 swap that I have been throwing around the idea of participating in. I know I need to start getting photos on my blog. That's coming. I need to post the photos of the wonderful socks my pal Lori sent me from the Sockapalooza sock swap they are simply gorgeous. More about that in another post.

OTN Friday (but a day late)

Pretty much nothing has changed since last week. Although I did mail out a package to my Sockittome Pal and the socks and goodies to my Sockapalooza pal. I did not take a photo of the second pair of socks. I am hoping that my pal will post a pic of her goodies and then I'll use a link so you can visit her blog. How cool is that? The reason for no knitting, of course Harry Potter. I finished the book and I also read Debbie Macombers Return to Blossom Street. Debbie is my all time favorite author.

I Want to Change...

I want to change the name of my blog but to what I don't have a clue. I also know that I need to start posting more. I also joined the yahoo group mystery stole 3. On Friday, we received our first clue. I haven't even started knitting it. I am going to knit it using some laceweight Malabrigo in a natural color. I am also going to add some seed beads to it. The first clue contains 99 rows of knititng. Guess I better get started. Next I joined another exchange called Sock It To Me. It starts in a couple of days. This is one where I will knit a pair of socks but send other goodies along also. Should be real fun. It would be even funnier if I would happen to get the same sockpal that I have now. On the Sockapalooza front, I am now on the foot (the homestretch) of the second sock of the fixation pair for my pal. I think she is going to pleasantly surprised to get not one pair of socks but two.

Monkeying Around Update & Other Non-Knitting Stuff

First all a Monkey Update! The Monkeys are done! The Monkeys are done! Pictures in another post along with a posting to the Knit Pligg. The Monkeys actually have been done for well over a week. Look how bad I am. In that time frame I also have completed the sock that I have been working on using Cascade's Fixation yarn. Photo to come of that also. I have casted on for another sock but using a different color of the Fixations. I am almost to the point where I am ready to start decreasing for the toe. I just started this sock over the weekend. I really need to start keeping a notebook and keeping track when I start a project and finish it. I have joined Mystery Stole 3. Sign ups close on Friday as to that's when the first clue comes out. I have my yarn picked out and bought my needles. I want to stop at hobby lobby and see if I can find some beads that might work with the stole. My Mom is in the process of selling her house. So I have been over there helping her go through 43 years worth of stuff. She is going to temporarily move in with DH, DD and I. DH has been wonderful about this. I'll go more into detail about the troubles we are having with the offer we received on the house. DS recently informed us that he is slowly moving out. He has been MIA for quite some time. He's been living with his girlfriend and her dad. His girlfriend asked her Dad if DS could move in with them and her dad replied, I all ready thought he had. I'm not quite sure how I feel because with Mom moving in things are definitely in a state of flux at the moment. On a brighter note, I did hear from my pal in the UK that I had knitted a scarf for. She received the package and became the envy of her office. She had me ship the parcel to her office. I need to post the photos on the ISE4 blog. Either that or send Dawn the photos and she can post them. That might be a better plan.

One Monkey Down, One to Go!

Here's the first Monkey in all of it's glory! I am very pleased with how it turned out. Here's a closer view of the foot. I like how it is striping. I immediately cast on for the second Monkey! Although I am sad to report that second Monkey decided to go to the frog pond! I had knitted almost two complete repeats before I made a mistake that I couldn't fix. The mistake got worse and worse. So it was destined for the frog pond. This is actually the third Monkey that I cast on for. This is a very easy pattern to knit and I am becoming more and more addicted to knitting socks as each day goes on! Now, for the big question? Could this be your sock??

Monkey Update!

I spent the past week in Washington DC with my daughter's eigth grade class. I thought that I would have all this knitting time since we were travelling by bus. I didn't do any knitting on the bus but knitting daughter did a bit. I ended up talking with the kids and had a lot of fun. I did get some knitting done and that was one night between 3am and 5am when I had to watch the floor to make sure nothing happened to any of the girls. The knitting kept me awake. The Monkey is coming along quite nicely. I'm not quite sure of how it is going to fit my pal though but I am going to keep knitting. I have turned the heel and am working on the gusset for the first sock. Take a peek!

Monkey Frogged!

I was happily knitting away but what to my dismay? An extra stitch on one of the needles. How did that happen? I don't know, but I do know that I was unable to fix it. I had completed one complete pattern repeat plus a bit more at this point. I decided to frog the whole thing. Do I hear gasps out there? Don't worry, I honestly believe it was the yarn telling me that, the sock was going to be too small for my pal. I am going to go up a needle size and start all over. I am also going to rewind the skein so I don't have all the kinks in it. Sorry no pics to go along with the post. I should have taken a photo before frogging. I actually have my camera with me at work (long story). The frogging took place at my desk.

I have a question??? Can anyone Help?

I have a question. I have the yarn, I have the pattern, now I have the needles that I am going to attempt to start with. Here is the question...when you first start knitting your socks, what do you do for your swatch? The pattern I am planning on doing is Knitty's Monkey Socks. 32 sts/48 rows = 4 inches in stockinette stitch and Lace Pattern = gauge instructions from the pattern. HELP! I want to start knitting but I want to make sure that I am doing this right.

Yarn Check! Pattern Check! Pal Check!

Well it looks like i'm ready to start knitting. I picked the Monkey pattern from Cookie A that appears in Knitty Winter 2006. The yarn in from Lorna's Laces in the River colorway. My pal likes blues so I thought this would be a gorgeous colorway all knitted up. I find my yarn first and then decide on the pattern. The pattern was actually chosen upon my pal's sock size. I have only knit one pair of socks so this will be an adventure in knitting. I am unsure how to change the pattern to make it fit. It wasn't too hard to find a pattern that would fit her. Her sock size is definitely bigger than mine. Take a look at these gorgeous pictures of the yarn that I got for the Monkey socks.

I can't wait to see how these will turn out. Stay tuned!

To My Sockapalooza Pal!

I know your out there stalking my blog. So I thought that I might give you a clue or two. I'm not quite sure of your knitting abilities but heres some hints as to some of my likes for socks.. Jaywalkers, Monkey and a lot of the socks from the Favorite Socks book. Or you can be bold and design something from this or this. Need yarn help? Stay tuned that's coming next. Just thought I would be helpful. By the way it was too much fun putting this together for you.