Happy Halloween!

Halloween Fun & Socktoberfest Update

It's been a great weekend here in MN, yesterday the temperature was 69º, above average for this time of year. Kyle and I cleaned up the yard (and now it's full of leaves again) and just hung around outside all day. Today is a little cloudy and rainy so I've been in the house all day knitting and brewing up a pot of my mom's spaghetti and meatballs. It smells delicious! Last night was Blogless Nikki's annual Halloween party...here she is dressed as a devil and me as a nurse (I know, not creative). It was a fun party, lots of laughter, food & drink but it was a late night.










I finished the 1st Trekking sock which is my socktoberfest entry. I will finish the 2nd soon but I need to work on some mittens 1st. Which reminds me, I dyed another skein of wool, this time using pink lemonade but I'm still not sure it's the right shade of pink. It's closer though. Argh.













Casey thinks the white pumpkin is yummy.










Happy 7th Birthday to my niece Jessica!

What Costume Should Casey Wear?

Casey's not quite sure which costume he should wear on Monday. Should he go with the crazy eyed devil hat or the Bad to the Bone bandana?

Trekking Along

I've been making good progress on my trekking sock, I'm almost ready to start decreasing for the toe. Considering I have very few plans for the next few nights, it may actually happen! I can't wait to wear these socks. I think once I'm finished with this pair I really need to buckle down and finish a few socks I have lonely singles of. My Crusoe sock is lonely, my Circus sock is still on the trapeze alone and my Retro-Rib is anxiously awaiting it's mate.

Pink Problems

I need to make a pair of mittens (the Hermione mittens) to match my new down vest so I decided to use some dye your own yarn I had lying around. I had a limited selection of kool-aid in the cupboard and took my pick with strawberry. If I only use a little bit of powder it should turn out pink right?











Apparently that doesn't work so I'll either have to try this over with pink lemonade or head to a yarn shop in search of pale pink yarn.

Now, what should I do with the hot pink yarn????

Good Morning

Casey & I say HI!! We had a really busy weekend so there's been little progress on my knitted objects. I promise tomorrow I'll have a knitting update, I hope ya'll had a great weekend!

Huggy Cinnabar Blue

Casey likes to cuddle like this either early in the morning or late at night, it doesn't matter if he cuddles with a pillow, stuffed animal, a blanket or a human he just like to cuddle. This photo was taken early yesterday morning. And I swear he gets in these positions all on his own.

I managed to visit the only yarn shop in Ely while there last weekend and found another skein of malabrigo in the colorway cinnabar. I love this stuff and need a fun way to use the 3 colors I've collected, I'm thinking something felted (are you surprised?).

Retro Rib & Return Mail

I finished the first of the Retro-rib socks! I love this pattern and I love this yarn. It's the yarn I dyed this past summer with Kool-Aid. Hopefully I'll finish the 2nd quicker than I knit the 1st. I want to wear them!!

Casey's chin, he's a little frothy since he just ate breakfast. He normally has a nice clean, dry mouth. I love all his wrinkles.

There are still 3 skeins of yarn left from my summer cleaning...the Shinano is gone, sorry.

An anonymous reader wants me to share directions on how to make this flower, the one I put on the buttonhole bag. The pattern is found here, at Knitty.com. Super easy to make and it's a great way to use up scraps. I made a few more for fun, seen here.

Amandamonkey, I tried to email you but wasn't able to find an address and I couldn't comment on your blog either. Thanks for entering my blog contest and commenting on Tuesday. I can tell the rock star socks are super soft, they look great! And I love your photo from 10/16.

How do ya'll like the new look?

Socktoberfest Progress

I made some headway on the Trekking XXL 100 sock on the trip home from Ely and then again yesterday when I was home and laying low due to a cold bug. Knitting with this yarn is like opening a present every 2 minutes, I have no idea what the colors will look like until they're knit up, very fun.

Weekend Knitting

I managed to knit this on the Ely trip plus I started another. Many of you will recognize it but I need to keep it sort of quiet since the recipient may see this. The project will be given at Christmas and then I'll post a FO photo. Relax, Christmas is only 68 days away. :)
My October goals are melting away one by one. Yay.

And the Winner Is...

AMY of ...and knitting!!! Her favorite knit is Orangina, go check it out for details. I think Amy lives just around the corner from me (so to speak) so that's kind of fun!

This contest was so fun I may just have to do another one sometime. I didn't have time to take any knitting photos so I'll leave you with my favorite one from this weekend in Ely.


Congratulations Amy!

It Fits

Just returned from Ely where I gifted Andrew with his new hats!

Sorry about the fuzzy photo, my settings were off.

Moto-Knitters *Take 2

Thursday night was the 2nd installment of Moto-Knitters at Betty's in Mpls. Between the five of us we were knitting a scarf, a turtleneck shrug, a shawl, a sock and beading a necklace. Non-knitting is allowed. Here's the progress I'm making on my Retro-Rib sock.

Me & Blogless Nikki all bundled up because there was a cool breeze right on us.

Check out these size 35's that B.N. is using for her shawl. We all thought they looked like firecrackers. Too fun.

Only a day & a half left to enter the contest!
I'm headed North for the weekend so I'll catch you all on Sunday!

Blueberry Babies & WILD Adults

Once again, a quick knit baby hat. This one is supposed to resemble a blueberry and I think it does, unblocked in all it's blue glory.

Pattern: Kids Fruit Cap by Ann Norling
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cotton Cashmere # 15010 (MC)
Cascade Sierrra #40 (CC)
Needles: #6 bamboo 16" circular & #6 birch DPN
Started: October 7
Finished: October10

Last night we went to our 1st WILD game of the season and they won 6-0!!! We had a great time and can't wait until our next one, New Years Eve!

I didn't bring my knitting because I thought Kyle would be embarrassed but 1/2 way through the game he said "you should have brought your knitting". Doh. Oh well, I wouldn't have touched it anyway, the game was action packed.

Socktoberfest

Have you noticed a new button over on the side bar? I joined Lolly's Socktoberfest knitalong! I've loaded my Go Knit pouch with Trekking #100 and size 1 DPN's. I think I might start these tomorrow night at moto-knitters. I'm thinking a 3x1 rib would be nice.

About my Go Knit pouch, I had a bit of trouble with the plastic cincher. I emailed the company and was told to send it to them immediately and in less than a week from the original email I had a new pouch in hand. Now that's excellent customer service! Bravo Knowknits!!!!

Don't forget to enter the contest!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Sunday Scarf

I finished the skinny scarf on Sunday. It knit up so fast and matches my pink hoodie just perfectly.

Yarn: Schulana Supercotton Color #102
Needles: Size 8 straight birch
Pattern: None really, CO 11 sts and knit every row until almost gone (leave some for fringe)
Started & Finished: October 9

I bet you're asking "How does a scrawny little scarf warrant 4 photos?". Because I couldn't figure out a fun way to photograph it besides wearing it and I was home alone so this is what I ended up with. Good question.
A close up of the fringe.

And of course one with Casey Blue. He was watching a dog walk by, getting ready to pounce.

1 Year Blogiversary Contest!

October 15th marks my one year blogiversary so I thought I'd have a giveaway because who doesn't love free stuff? Post a photo of your most favorite thing you've knit onto your blog, post a comment here with the link and I'll randomly draw a winner. Contest closes Midnight on Saturday October 15th and I'll draw a winner on Sunday.

One skein of Galway and a cool new pattern for felted vases! Who knows...maybe I'll have so much fun I'll give away something else too!

OK, I'll start...my Squggle slippers. I love the colors of these and the Squiggle tops. The Fiber Trends pattern was easy to follow and it was a quick knit, plus I'm in love with felted things.

Mmmmm New Yarn

Galway will become a felted object, Kidsilk Haze will become Airy Scarf, Schulana Supercotton will become a skinny scarf and I have no plans for the Malabrigo Merino. Blogless Nikki said it looks just like the sun, I have to agree. This is what happens when you sit in a yarn store for 7 1/2 hours. It was fun...

Knits In Progress

Here's a stack of my October goals. They're even looking a little differently than when I took this photo a couple of days ago. Knitting for 7 1/2 hours this afternoon at Yarn Cafe with Splatgirl & Blogless Nikki helped a little. I also increased my yarn stash *surprise, surprise* so stay tuned for those photos.

Happy Birthday Kyle!

He left this photo for me on my camera earlier this summer when he left for a weekend. So cute.

October's Yarn of the Month

On Monday I received my 1st installment of the Yarn of the Month club. There's enough to knit a 4 inch swatch with each sample.
Clockwise from the top they are:
Cashmerino Astrakhan by Debbie Bliss
Supersoft by Sirdar
Fantasy by Manetto Hill
Fiamma Stampata by Dive

Super cool package to receive in the mail, thanks Splatgirl & Blogless Nikki! There was even a sweater pattern included which uses the Cashmerino. Now, any ideas what I should do with the samples?

Show Me Your Socks

There's a contest going on over at Quiddity called Show Me Your Socks. She has many more hand knit socks than I do. I'm working on it though. I actually have given 5 pairs of socks as gifts, exactly the same amount I've knit for myself...that's pretty good isn't it?

Clockwise from the top left (my own quirky names, nothing scientific):
Lollipop Socks
Lorna's Laces (my 1st pair-knit for a sock class)
Alison's Ankle Socks aka melon anklets
Converse Socks
Stripey Wool Socks

October Goal #1 Completed

I finished the Harry Potter Bookscarf last night! I didn't have a crochet hook quite small enough so I used a needle to thread the fringes through, I think my eyes are still buggy from that. I enjoyed knitting this little project even on the size 0 DPN's!
Pattern: Harry Potter Bookscarf
Yarn: DMC Pearl Cotton size 5 MC#815 (2 skeins) CC#976 (1 skein)
Needles: Size 0 Pony Pearl DPN
Started: September 18
Finished: October 1

I like this photo...

New Reads

I picked up a couple books this week with some birthday money I had floating in my pocket. The first is Last Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson. There's definitely a few things I'll make from this one such as the mini stocking, angora baby booties, airy scarf, and the pashmina cowl. There's also a few maybe projects like the hourglass sweater and also some items that may make great gifts like the child's rainbow scarf or the soft drawstring pouch.
The second book I picked up is Holiday Knits by Sara Lucas and Allison Isaacs. First of all, I love the photography in this one. I want to make a couple of the striped Christmas stockings and I adore the striped stocking caps. I just love paging through this book , the colors are stunning.

Of course I say this at the beginning of every month but I cannot believe it's October. Wow, time flies.
My knitting goals for October:
*Finish my HP bookscarf
*Knit blueberry hat for little Andrew
*Make 2 Christmas gifts which I already have the materials for and they're quick knits to boot.
*Finish at least one of my retro rib socks
*Work on the felted mittens I started last winter
*Finish up the 2nd of my sock yarn / kidsilk haze mittens

Do you think these goals are steep? They might be although, the weather should be cooling off soon (today it's 84º!), there's lots of new TV playing and I'm taking a road trip in a couple weeks so that will be a good opportunity to work on a few things. We'll see what happens...

What are your knitting goals for October?