FO Friday - Dimple Done!

Pattern: Dimple soon to be available from Designedly, Kristi
Yarn: 1 Skein No No Kitty Kona Superwash in Graffiti (discontinued), DK Weight Merino
Needles: US 4 & US 3

I’m not big on pink. I would have never chosen this colorway myself, however, I think I will have a lot of fun wearing these with basic jeans and t-shirts etc. They are bright and playful. I prefer the second sock better as it has a bit more orange in it even though they came from the same skein. I had just 1.5 yds of yarn remaining. These have a 6 inch leg and my shoe size is 9.5. It was a close call!

DH wants his Dimples to be longer so I made sure to buy more yarn, but our ankle sizes are almost identical and he likes his socks a bit snugger than I do so the foot just needs to be about 3/4 inch longer than mine. I’ve done about 5 rows on his. I was *exhausted* yesterday.

In other news, I’ve joined in on the 200SOX Kal! I’ll get one of the following buttons added over to the right as well as return my KAL section to it’s previous state before I upgraded the blogging software later today after water aerobics and getting the chilli going in the crock pot.

I did it! FO Friday!

Pattern: Flatiron Clog Socks from Designedly, Kristi
Yarn: 3 skeins KPPPM, it’s been too long, I no longer know what colorway it is, sorry - vast majority of skein 3 remains
Needles: Sock 1 was done on Swallow Caesin US Sz 0, Sock 2 was done on Wright’s Aluminum US Sz 0

Notes: Once blocked the size discrepancy wasn’t nearly as much as I had feared, though sock number 2 was definitely tighter and much more to my liking actually. That said, I won’t be ripping sock 1 and redoing it. It’ll be fine and it will give me a sock I can wear when our friends cats decide to hunt one of my feet and it swells up again.

As for the needles, I will not bother with the Swalloe DPNs again for socks. They are even less sturdy it seems than the birch DPNs. For US 1 and smaller I’ll be sticking to metal from here on out!

I won’t mention how long this took me to complete this pair! The important part is it is done, done, done and I have one more pair of hand knit socks to add to my sock drawer!

Some additional views…

Then, since it’s Friday and I’m totally ready for some sillyness, I have an Avatar as per Jenla’s meme…

Okay, so it isn’t so much ugly as they were looking for, but it is utterly ridiculous - a mini skirt and strapless top in snow and ice? Sure, there is a stocking cap and scarf, but look at all that skin exposed to the elements??? How about that horse and the corgi in a rain coat?? Silliness, pure and simple!

Have a great weekend everone!

I keep forgetting to post over here about the CD Swap 2! I finished my CDs and got them sent out just before my trip. Yesterday was my first chance to get to my PO box since my return and I have 4 of 5 CDs waiting for me. Since talk of music and such is much more on topic in my Culture Catalog blog I’ll be posting over there about the CDs I’ve recieved. I’m the type that music grows on after listening to a CD several times. So, over the next week or so I’ll be posting more detailed reviews of the CDs I recieved. But, I have recievedCDs from flossy-p, Jenni (no blog was given), Becca, and Vanessa.

Keep checking in at the mixed CD category at Culture Catalog. Oh, and if anyone is interested in trading mixed CDs, I’m going to be sending out another set of my mix, “spin.” I’ll probably send them out late next week so if you’re interested let me know!

Hot & Tired!

Same old stuff. . .

I’m *hating* shaped triangle! The &@#*)& stitch markers that are supposed to make lace knitting bearable have to be moved every other row! Grrrrrrr! Add to it that I didn’t heed my own advice and instead listened to the siren call of varigated yarn and varigated yarn that is quite strong in its color changes and I’m more or less hosed. I haven’t decided if I’ll continue with it or not. Regardless, since I’m a host of the Gathering of Lace Along I shall have to choose another project from that book… I have no other lace weight in my stash either. I do have a couple options of about 600 yds of sport weight, but again those are varigated as well… But, I’m open to suggestions from others…

My Flatirons Clog Socks are progressing. I put away the shawl when people started arriving as I didn’t trust myself to visit and remember to move stitch markers properly etc. So I got about hald way through the heel flap on those. Perhaps I’ll get the heel turned and such today. I’d like to have this one off the needles for my trip and cast on for something a bit more dull for the traveling, but I would like to take these Caesin needles as the last time I took bamboo needles home I broke a needle and then couldn’t finish my sock. Perhaps I’ll try Alison’s Anklets!

The house was 83 degrees last night. We got it to a chilly 79 degrees before bed (at midnight). This morning at 5:45 am it was still 76 degrees. It’s already 78 again in the bedroom. I slept a total of three hours, which means I am not only hot and sleep deprived, but I’m also in pain. I’m tired and cranky and crabby and little pissed that DH won’t have the portable AC unit on at night and insists on closing up the windows in the front part of the house so that we don’t get any air flow through the house to push out the hot air. I must focus on the fact that by next Monday night I get to sleep at whatever temperature I like for as many hours as I want in a bed by myself (okay, so my sister’s cat has an uncanny ability to sneak into my bedroom and sleep with me when my sister isn’t home, but mostly I’ll be by myself…)

Now, tomorrow morning the insulation guys is coming and putting in another layer of R-19 in as well as two gable vents. Since we only have 5 ridge vents with no soffet vents or gable vents it should be a big improvement. At least I’m hoping. It should at least improve the cooling off ability at night since the gable vents will allow us to be able to get the hot air out of the attic instead of it just staying there. The ridge vents don’t do much good unless cooler, fresher air can push the hot air out of them. So, I’m hoping for improvement. Also, DH is supposed to put in a ceiling fan in the bedroom while I’m gone. If he hasn’t I’m calling an electrician to do it for us when I get back.

Hopefully I’ll get sleep tonight just due to pure exhaustion and will have enough energy to take some progress photos…

Fiber Friends are First Rate!

So, I had been contemplating spinning long before I actually met Snow. However, Snow made it her personal duty to increase the ranks of spinners in our little corner of the world - especially spinners who enjoy getting together and talking obsessively about their projects on a regular basis :-)

Once she got Amanda and I to both cave and make the BIG purchase she didn’t view her job as over like many would. Instead, she dived into her personal fiber stash and put together some fiber samplers for us so that we can learn a bit about choosing wool for spinning for particular projects.

A group of SnB regulars gathered for Sushi on Friday night and she brough with her this…

Let’s take a closer look…

1 - A blend with angelina
2 - Targhee that is somewhat neppy
3 - Shetland
4 - Superwash Merino
5 - Confetti from Copper Moose
6 & 7 - Coopworth

Amanda is having very good success with the Targhee and a drop spindle. I know I definitely want to try it on my wheel, but I think I might pull out the drop spindle and give some of it a go on there as well…

On a side note, it’s not really a knit a long, but I put it there anyway and you’ve maybe noticed over there in the upper right already. I heard about the first swap at Wax and Feathers and Piddeloop
and was wishing I had gotten in on the exchange as both DH and I love being exposed to new music. So, when Piddleloop announced that she was hosting the 2nd round I signed up! Now, to choose the tracks I want to include on my CD and design the cover…

Lastely, since I had only one entrant in the last contest and the guess wasn’t right, I’ll be announcing a new contest late this week, so stay tuned and exercise your thinking caps, especially if they are of the pithy variety… :-)