yes, yes, YES!

I had a good day today so I thought I would share ....

(yes)

Its spring - It was beautiful here today, sunny and warm. Just being outside a bit made me happy.

(yes)

Turning the heel. I love the heel of a sock - I like socks because a. they are portable, b. its semi-mindless knitting that you can do without paying total attention (making it conducive to do in transit, during slow times at work, while watching something on tv you are interested in), and of course c. sock yarn! But, because of reason b., they can be a bit boring at times. Sometimes the heel is all the excitement between the cuff and toe decreases, so I look forward to it, and I love the short rows, the gusset and how the heel just "turns." BTW, the above socks are not at all boring, this pattern is a lot of fun and has a nice flow to it. But I still enjoyed the heel, which I knit today.

Finally (YES!!)

Cleveland Cavaliers 91 Detroit Pistons 87
I know, technically this was yesterday - but the series is tied 2-2 now (the Cavs had been down 0-2 games), and (being on the winning side) it was such a fun game to watch, seeing the highlights today made me smile. Plus, there is nothing like a good rivalry - Sorry Detroit fans, but for me, this highlight was almost as good as any from the game (there were just too many good plays for this to win), and really kept me smiling today! (To clarify, my joy lies in seeing Rasheed Wallace get upset, not the poor guy in the background - I know sports fans have a bad rep in Ohio, but I'm not that barbaric!)

Hope everyone else had nice, peaceful days as well!

Kookoo!

*love*

(Koigu KPPM 196)
I'm such a fan of Koigu - this is such a great idea!

I love seeing the colors, and I'm now really inspired to make stuff (mainly socks) from patterns that I've had my eyes on from seeing beautiful examples of them. Its just that issue of time .... especially seeing that I'm already working on 4 pairs of socks (see my current projects?)! Well, its a long weekend and summer is almost here, I can hope!

p.s. I had bought the above for Knitty's Crusoe Sock, but I've heard they are tight/hard to slip on over the ankles and a bit of a gauge nightmare. I'm also tempted by these, these, or the diagonal cross-rib socks from this which, sadly, I have not knit anything from yet. We'll see!

Pools

I'm not a very big fan of pooling. I just don't like the way it looks, its not my style I guess. It reminds me of something out of date from the 70s (the disco-esque, brut, tacky 70s). I was born in the 70's, so I don't know if this represents a repressed childhood memory - well, probably not.

Sometimes its fairly subtle, good even:

(Koigu KPPM from my first socks)

Sometimes it makes me twitch, so much that I usually resort to frogging:

(STR medium weight, Monsoon - from Inside Out Socks)
So you know, this occurred on the BACK of the second sock very close to casting off - the first sock and remainder of the second sock were spared ... so it survived. Plus, these had already been ripped out at one point for intolerable foot pooling that occurred on the top of the second sock foot. So, I took a deep breath, ignored, and cast off)

But, sometimes its hard to tell:

(STR Silkie, Walking on the Wild Tide from Grasshoppers, currently still on the needle)
Its not subtle: its pooling. But, if you concentrate on the individual rows, the same color does not repeat itself on bordering rows - maybe every other row, but there are no "blob" type areas of color as you see in example B. I'm conflicted, I really am not a pooling person, but something about this is appealing to me.

I'll probably stick with it, keep knitting - this is on the sole of the sock. We'll see how it turns out, keep your fingers crossed!

Proof

Its so Airy! :)


I've talked about/alluded to my sister before, and you have probably seen her smart comments on here as she likes to give me a hard time about knitting - but I think she is envious (she always says that she wants to learn) and ?something is just holding her back. FYI - Remember, her yarn (hit the above link): it was bought back in the fall and, still, is just sitting there). Anyway, here is proof that she IS interested in knitting: Karen, here is your scarf - on my blog - as YOU requested! And you could knit this scarf, which you like so much, after learning just a few stitches!


Karen's Interview Scarf/aka Airy Scarf from LMKG
Knit in the fall of 2006 with Colinette Parsienne, Raphael on US 10 needles

This was my first lace project/well, lace project using lacey yarn and I would recommend it as a first lace project. The pattern is easy (just knitting, yarn overs), and fairly quick (although, for me, nothing in that book takes as little time as they claim). The Mohair/Lace weight yarn can be tricky to start out with (use wooden needles - less slippery) - it took me some time to get the hang of it and keep it from becoming a tangled mess. And best of all, it has satisfying results: sometimes the simple patterns are the best ones. (that reminds me ... I have a skein of malabringo in the stash which is perfect for a garter stitch scarf)

Too little time...

I'm Very Antsy

I've been busy with my non-knitting life, and I have some new additions to my stash for this (Cider Moon Glacier in Istanbul)

and...


...this (220 Cascade Heathers, Color 9450) - I finally found THE Knitscene magazine when home for Mother's Day! Even though its a recent issue, I'd been having a time finding it at the area LYSs.

I am really excited about these projects and can't wait to knit!!! I've been eyeing both projects for some time, and now have the yarn ... but no time!!! As the weather is finally getting nice, and the flowers are blooming, does it make me sound crazy to wish for rain this weekend so I have an excuse to stay inside, curl up with PBS cooking shows or HBO on demand, and knit? I know that I am a "seasons" person (summer all the time would be boring, I don't mind the cold: snow is pretty -as long as I'm not driving, and I love a good storm) ... but I'm wondering how much I like cold/bad weather for the sole reason to have an excuse to take it easy inside (knitting!)

(as you can see, I'm also working on my yarn photography skills, I didn't have a large enough Tupperware to use as a light box, and see that I need to control whats under/lying behind the Tupperware as well)

Hi Mom!

Sorry that I didn't finish your shawl, but Happy Mother's Day Mom! Thanks for being such a great mom!
Love,
Cindy

P.S. Mother's Day 2007 in 4 pictures, I'm glad you had such a beautiful day!

Good morning

Its one of those wonderful mornings with the windows open, no urgency to get to work because I am working from home today, and making some progress on the mother's day project. And, its a Thursday, making the morning so much more enjoyable than if it was on a weekend. Lets see if I get my project done by Sunday, in general I am not good with knitting deadlines - I've gotten close though!

Overwhelmed

I'm having trouble focusing. Things had been OK in terms of keeping track of what I want to knit until I received this in the mail yesterday.



I don't know about you, but I have been really happy with the knitting magazines this spring. I always like them in general for the articles and inspiration/ideas from the patterns, but there is not always a lot that I actually want to knit. Well, look at my sidebar, this is not the case now. And then, there are patterns that I had just liked, but I am now tempted by when seeing stuff like this (from the Rebecca magazine). Must stay focused and realistic about future projects, or at least get out some paper and try to make a knitting schedule!

Status

Back a *few* months ago, I bought my sister a nice cake of yarn with some cute needles from one of my favorite places to go when I am home. She has always been more "artsy" than me, and while she likes to (omg) give me a hard time about knitting, I think she would enjoy it, and she has expressed some interest in learning to knit. I'm getting ahead of myself, but with the subtle dye varigations, I envision this to someday become a nice skinny garter stitch scarf. Anyway, this is the state of the yarn today. I'll keep you updated.

Rockin'

My first FO of this blog!

Rockin' Sock Club 2007 - Kit #1: Inside Out
Socks that Rock Mediumweight - Monsoon
Toes/heel/leg knit with US1, foot with US0 DPNs
Started: Early March 2007, Finished: Late April 2007

Well, my first of a few things...

First time knitting with Socks that Rock (they do!)
First toe up socks.


First short row heel. First cabled socks. (to be fair, this is just my second pair of socks)


I love them - I have been intrigued by BMFA STR since I started reading blogs because, well, everyone else is, but I had never managed to get my hands on a skein (thankfully for my budget, I'm not much of an online yarn buyer). So, for a birthday present to myself this year , I joined the Rockin' Sock Club (doesn't it feel good to splurge on yourself?). I really enjoyed the pattern, and I am looking forward to the next installments and trying new sock techniques. While this isn't a color I would have picked, I think these are going to get worn a lot - they match so much and its not that I don't like the colors, I'm just usually drawn to brighter ones. Plus, its so fun to wear one "inside out" - they are reversible! Its also interesting to see how my tension varies with whats going on in my non knitting life - I am a pediatric resident, so, some months are much more demanding than others. For the most part (all of sock #1, and to the leg of sock #2), these were knit on a light rotation, but finished recently during a call month (See the pooling? Call month. Its knit so much tighter! Sleep deprivation = bad).

Best of all, I finished just before receiving this:

the next installment (this one calls for knitting with 2 circulars!)