April Showers...

Alas, the end of April. Almost the end of Sockapaloooza & the end of orange/yellow Project Spectrum. It's been raining non stop since Friday so I'm hoping this rain brings great things in May. Here's my monthly mosaic of orange & yellow. Enjoy!

Surprise Parcel

I think Heather read my mind because I always peruse amyville but haven't ever bought anything. Today I came home and there was a package from amyville in my mailbox. What a cool surprise!!!! Amy even included a little amyville button, perfect for my knitting bag! Thank you Heather, I enjoyed every minute of being your secret pal 7!

Chi-Town Sox

Yarn: Koigu KPPPM Color# P511
purchased the 1st time I went to Chicago although not in Chicago...I bought it on the drive home in Madison, WI
Needles: Size 2 DPN Rosewood
Started: February 23rd, 2006...in Chicago at the Ritz hotel ;-) (gosh they need to clean their windows!)
Finished: April 28, 2006
Pattern: A basic sock pattern from a sock knitting class I took when I just started knitting. 1x1 rib for 13 rows and then a 3x1 rib down the leg & instep. I continued with the 3x1 rib all the way to the end of the toe.

These socks are orange so that must count for April Project Spectrum!

Guess What?

I mailed off my sockapalooozas today, complete with a German note translated by Katja. Thanks Katja!! And thank you to Theresa for pointing me in Katja's direction. I also enclosed a bit of extra yarn for darning and a a darning needle set (Chibi...my favorite knitting accessory). Since the socks need to go half way around the world I mailed them a bit before the deadline. I hope they arrive safe & sound...

Casey Has a Blog

Casey's on Dogster and he needs bones!

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Following Amanda's lead, I've written down a few pangrams, signed my name and posted a photo. There's a Flickr page for them too. Go ahead, start writing...

Collections

I spent most of the day today looking through childhood mementos in order to purge some of my belongings. I simply don't have the space to save every last piece of my youth.
I did run across something (actually a lot of stuff) that I'll keep...a b&w photo I took of my friend Nate building a birch bark canoe on a trip we took to the BWCA probably in 1988 or so. We were there with a group and one day we decided to exchange gifts. Well, the BWCA is one of the most rustic camping areas in the US (?) so the only resource you have is the outdoors and what little you've brought with. Nate made a birch bark canoe and I snapped this photo as he built it. I received this little carved paddle but I don't remember who from.













As I was digging through the boxes, I realized I have had many collections over the years. Troll dolls, hockey cards, jewelry boxes, rubber balls, shells, spoons, postage stamps, artwork from Kindergarten on up, notes from friends, letters, pencils, stickers, 45's, negatives, books. Can you say P-A-C-K-R-A-T?

Pretties

I made ankle socks!!! Did you expect anything different? ;-) I could have made these quite a bit taller considering I still have a good size yarn ball left over. Remember, I had split the 440 yd skein in 2...about equal to 2/3 and 1/3. This was the bigger ball of the two.










Pattern: Alison's Ankle Socks
Needles: Size 3 birch DPN
Yarn: Knit Picks Color Your Own Sockyarn
Started: April 18,2006
Finished: April 22, 2006
Adjustments: I knit 2x2 rib for about 13 rows, stockinetter for 3 rows and then started the short-row heel. I knit the toe using the 'star' method from the Embossed Leaves pattern.

I'm warming up for the dye-o-rama swap!!!

Dye-o-Rama

Ya'll know I couldn't resist this,

Sneak Peak

It's all you're getting.

Five Places I've Knit

Kat's having a contest and she wants to know 5 places I've knit other than in the house and at a knitting store so here it goes:
1. At a motorcycle race in Brainerd, MN (while I was working-oops;-) and also at a motorcycle track day in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
2. At the pool, I even attempted knitting on the floatie!
3. During a seminar on Oral Pathology.
4. At a New Year's party and a Halloween Party.
5. On a train traveling home from Chicago.

The fate of my Easter eggs...

Eggs & Yarn Nests

I dyed my Easter eggs Sunday morning and when I was finished I was *this* close to dumping the dye down the drain and thought to myself, "self, you should use the rest of this dye for yarn!". What a fabulous idea self!!! The pink and blue really stood out so I knew that would be a combonation I would dye and I couldn't resist the orange and green together. The colors turned out so vibrant!













I wound the skeins around chairs so I could dye the yarn to be self striping and I split the 440 yd skein in 1/2 so I think each colorway will just be enough to make ankle socks (I'm hoping there's enough).
I may have to take a trip up to the craft store to get more egg dye...it'll be on sale today right??
I think the yarn looks like nests.

Super Sized Secret Pal Seven

The postman delivered a super sized package from my Secret Pal 7 today! And now I know who she is, it's Brooklyn Handspun!! She definitely has been reading my blog because she had me completely pegged! She packaged everything in a handmade tote bag, it's sitting behind all the presents. She filled the bag with 2 skeins of dye-your-own sockyarn and about a gazillion packets of Kool-Aid, a box of beads and findings for jewelry making, a skein of handspun merino with sparkles (maybe for a hat?), a can of peanuts, 3 Ritter Sport bars (I haven't tried one yet!) and a skein of superwash sock wool so I can knit socks and wear them without the bottoms felting. Whew, she really out did herself and I truly appreciate all the thoughtful gifts!!
Thank you Brooklyn Handspun!
ETA: New Photo!

Sixteen Days Early

Very rarely do I finish anything ahead of schedule except for by a smidgen. So you can imagine how glad I am to be finished with my Sockapaloooza socks! Since they'll be flying overseas to their new owner, I thought I'd give them an American themed photo shoot, they are the perfect shade of American flag blue.










Pattern: Embossed Leaves Socks by Mona Schmidt
Interweave Knits Winter 2005
Needles: Size 3 birch DPN & size 2 birch DPN
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock
color: blue
Adjustments: I started the socks on size 3 needles and knit a 1x1 rib (instead of the CO & 1st 2 rows called for in the pattern) for 2 rows then switched to a size 2 DPN for the remainder of the sock. I also knit a 1/2 pattern repeat less than called for since my sock pals feet are smaller than the pattern is long.
Started: March 12, 2006
Finished: April 16, 2006

Happy Easter!! The bunny gave Casey a visit, the beggin strips didn't last too long ;-)

Garage Sale

This morning I read on my local SnB board about a 'garage' sale at the MN Textile Center so I hightailed it over there to check it out. I'm assuming it was quite picked over by the time I got there since there was only a few hours left but I dug around anyway and found a few things. There was tons of fabric and sewing patterns and just one long table covered with yarn. I found a baggie containing a pair of mittens that someone started with some brown wool (?), it's really scratchy. I picked it up mostly for the pair of size 4 aluminum straight needles and the stitch holder. Definitely worth the $3 I paid, IMO.










I also adore the pattern that was tucked in with the yarn. It has a 35¢ price marked on it but I can't find a date anywhere. It appears that this is just a piece of the pattern book.













Then I found this bunch of yellow and white wool with a partially knit sweater. It's fingering weight and it looks like someone was knitting this sweater on size 2 or 3 needles. I wouldn't have finished it either...crazy. This bundle was $1. The baggie was ripped open so who knows whether there were tools tucked inside or not. Maybe I'll use the yarn for socks.










Here's closeups of the ball band. The yellow wasn't labeled.

Chicks Rule

Last night I met up with some friends for a bit of wine, dinner and knitting. What better project to knit while buzzed from a few glasses of wine than a knitted Easter chick. I found the pattern here and I knit it with Knit Picks WOTA color-daffodil and a scrap of Cascade 220 which I originally used on Rosie's birthday hat and my iPod cozy. I still need a couple of wiggle eyes and it'll be complete & my crochet skills need honing.










My cool knitting friends thought it was odd for me to be making this kitschy chicken, I did it because for some reason it reminded me of my Grandma. Plus I can't knit on embossed leaves socks while drunk. ;-)

It's In My Blood

My mom always tells me I didn't get my creativity from her. I must have gotten it from my dad. This week he whipped up (designed, cut & welded) this fish which will go to Ely, MN for display over the summer. K painted it on Sunday and we brought it over to my dad tonight, I think he was pleased with the end result.











It's been so nice these last couple of days in MN, near 80º yesterday and low 70's today! Tonight I took my first ride on my motorcycle, I thought I'd need a little time to get reaquainted with it but it was like ridin' a bike ;-)

Wobbly Tote

I've gathered up my yarn for the wobbly tote KAL which is starting April 15th. I used one of my favorite t-shirts as the color inspiration for this project, I promise to pose the bag with the shirt in it's final photo shoot. Here's a clue. All of the yarn is Cascade 220 and the pink came from my Secret Pal 7 (I'm dying to know who she is).










Does it seem that I'm always starting projects but never finishing? Has there been anything I've mentioned, started but never finished, shown photos of the yarn but never started that you've wondered where in the H-E-double hockey sticks it went? Leave me a comment and I'll try to address these issues ;-)

Tonight I have to get reading on this months book club selection The Sparrow. Has anyone out there read this book? I just can't get into it although the last time I sat down to read I was a bit more interested than I was at the beginning of the book. I have a feeling I won't finish it before Wednesday.

Dry as a Desert

Since it's been a little dry over here in knitting land, I thought I'd bring up something that happened to me quite a while ago. This little sock was the 1st sock of the 2nd pair of socks I had ever knit and it was meant to be for my -at the time- 5 year old niece. Swatch? No way, why do I need to swatch for socks? It turns out I should have done some figuring...can you see how long that foot is? And it's super skinny. I'm not sure it will fit anyones foot. I did reknit the socks and Jessica loved them. I kept this one for a reminder.










On another sock note, has anyone had experience with Knit Picks dye-your-own sock yarn? I wore these socks on Tuesday and the soles are almost completely felted just from wear. A little frustrating but I guess I can live with it. The upside is my sensitive baby soft feet won't feel every stitch.

Spring is in the Air

This past weekend we attended a MN Swarm game and of course I shot a self portrait of us. See my skinny husband down there?? He's been working super hard this winter and has dropped 55 pounds. I'm super proud of him and he's inspired me to work out more than I ever have before. Our last MN Wild game was Sunday but since our car was in need of repair, K stayed home to work on it and I took my mom to the game. We had a fun time but sadly the Wild lost to the Red Wings. It looks like they pulled off a 5-4 win tonight however. Go Wild!













Look! There's sprouts popping up in the garden!!! I planted some new bulbs last fall and I can't remember what they are. I guess time will tell.













I have an exciting knitting opportunity coming up, I'll tell you when I can...

Apron Strings

Quite a while ago I started making an apron with the help of Splatgirl, she has sewn garments and I have not. I managed to make this one for $17.18, much cheaper than I've seen in the stores plus I learned a little about sewing clothes (sort-of). Although, if I would have bought one I would have been using it for over a year now since that's how long it's taken me to finish the darn thing.

I Knit With Grey's

Without giving anything away from tonights Grey's Anatomy episode I'll just say the show revolved around knitting. Izzie & Meredith used knitting to get their minds off of something else. It was a great show!




For the life of me I can't figure out where I found this button, if anyone knows please post a comment here so I can give credit where credit is due. Knit on.
Edited to add: The button came from Amy from good to be girl, thanks for the button Amy! And thank you Michelle for knowing where it was from!

My Recent Obsession

Yellow & Orange April Showers

Today is the beginning of yellow & orange Project Spectrum. I'm not quite sure what I will do for the month. I had planned to paint my bathroom orange but plans have changed a little so painting will wait for a different PS month. I will be making a postcard for the PS Postcard swap, that's the only definitive plan I have for this month of crafting.
Last night we met up with some friends for an impromptu dinner at a new local Japanese restaurant and then we came back to the house where we sampled all of the candy I received from Molly in Japan last weekend. It was a fun night.
There's no jokes here today, I already pulled one last week! ;-)
And no flash your stash today either. Last night Splatgirl told me that I really have too much yarn, I'll just leave it at that. I will point you in Wendy's direction if you haven't seen her stash yet, it's fabulous. And check out Cara's STR collection (scroll down to the last photo).
Happy April!