Welcome to the Frog Pond

I finally decided on a new name for my blog.

Hogwarts Sock Swap Questionnaire

I am so excited to be a part of the swap. I'm considered a first year, since is the first time that I am participating. 1. What Hogwarts house have you been sorted into? Ravenclaw 2. Shoe size? US size 7 3. Foot Length? 9 1/2 inches 4. Foot Circumference? 8 1/2 inches 5. List your three favorite double-point needle brands, including size and length. a. Crystal Palace size 2 length 2.75mm b. I only have one favorite brand that I knit with. c Sorry no other choices. Definitely am in love with the Crystal Palace DPNs. 6. Would you like to try a new brand needle? Yes If so, which brand? Knit Picks came out with some new dpns that I wouldn't mind trying Size? 2 Length? 6 inch 7. If you are a RAVENCLAW, do you prefer the colors in the film or the book? Prefer the colors from the film, love the silver and blue combination. Do you have a strong preference? Definitely more attracted to the film color combinations. 8. Allergies? Do you have any? No allergies Will your knitting be exposed to smoke or animals? NO Are you an international participant (outside US)? No Are you willing to have an international Hogwarts Sock Pal? Yes

Sock It To Me Contest

The Sock It To Me Swap that I joined is having a contest, the prize a skein of Socks that Rock in a colorway of my choice. All I have to do is write about is why and how I started knitting. Let's first address the why I started knitting. I've always been fascinated by knitting, I all ready knew how to do crochet, cross stitch, ceramics and quilting but not knitting. I am not quite sure what had drawn me to knitting but I was just drawn it was a force that I can't explain. How I started knitting, I bought some how-to books and thought that I could teach myself knitting. I had a difficult time learning the knitting stitch but had an Eureka moment in the place where I always get them, the shower. I finally was able to visualize myself doing the stitch. So as soon as I got out, dried off and dressed, I grabbed my needles and started knitting. I quickly found online resources for knitting and slowly progressed. My stash grew unfortunately with acrylic red heart yarn (you'll have to excuse me on that one, my town did not have a LYS). That was quickly remedied when I made a trip to Milwaukee to visit one. I really didn't get the true knitting bug until about a year ago. I have learned so much in the past year. I didn't really get bitten by the sock bug until about a couple of months ago. You should see my sock yarn stash!

Sock It To Me Questionnaire - Answered

What are your foot measurements? (Please give shoe size, length and circumference.) Shoe size - American 7 Length 9 1/2 inches, Circumference 8 1/2 inches How long have you been knitting? How would you rate your experience? (Beginner, Intermediate or Advanced.) About 2 years. I'm an intermediate knitter but a beginning sock knitter. What is your favorite color? Orange Your least favorite color? Olive green Do you have a favorite fiber? No What type? Prefer natural fibers Do you have any allergies to certain fibers? None Do you have an Amazon, or other type of, wishlist? No, I all ready own a lot of knitting books. (If so, provide the link.) What techniques, if any, would you like to learn? Felting, still have a booga bag that needs to go for a bath. Do you have a sweet tooth? Yes, but have to curb it. What are your favorite snacks? 100 calorie snack packs, weight watcher snacks What is your family situation? (Children, Husband, Pets...etc.) 1 son 19, 1 daughter 14, hubby and no pets. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Circulars except double points for knitting socks Metal, plastic or wood? Addi Turbos, Knit Picks Options sets and bamboos for my double points. Besides socks, what are your favorite items to knit? Sweaters Is there a pattern, (sock or otherwise), that you are dying to try? Central Park Hoodie Do you like to read? Yes What are you reading currently? Too busy knitting to read. My favorite author is Debbie Macomber. Do you collect music? (On an iPod or MP3 player.) Yes, I own an Ipod. What kind of music do you listen to? Country, rock, top 40 Is there anything you collect? Magnets of places that I have visited. What are your hobbies, aside from knitting? Quilting, cross stitching, crocheting. Are you participating in any other swaps or knit alongs? Just got done with the International Scarf Exchange 4, am currently participating in the Sockapalooza 4 and Mysterystole 3. Do you have a favorite scent? From Bath and Body Works Moonlight Path. The only scent that I wear. When is your birthday? Feb 11th, I'm an Aquarius. (You don't have to add the year if you don't want to, LOL.)

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.

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Mingle² - Online Dating

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.

Look Where I've Been

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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!