6/8/2005
However, it seems there are still a fair number of people out in blogland who will be attending the Estes Park Wool Festival in roughly ten days.
In the spirit of community and getting to know who all will be attending, I made up two buttons that can easily be added to your blog if you will be attending the gathering at Estes Park. Feel free to take one for your blog, just be sure to host on your own server and link back to me here as credit for creating them.
Estes and Wool or BUST! :-)
6/7/2005
I finished these socks on Sunday and washed them. The cotton content and that fact that I handwashed them and didn’t get to put them through a spin cycle before they went in the dryer allowed them to go throuh two dryer cycles and still not dry fully, LOL! But, I set them out in our strong CO sun on my coat hanger blockers and they were dry in short order.
In honor of Margene’s new acquisition here are Heatwave socks lounging on our own two week old resin Adirondack style chairs that also had an adventure coming home in a VW Jetta :-)
As you can see, I had some issues with the second ball of Fixation not striping like the first one :-/ I would probably suggest knitting the cuff and heels of both socks with one ball and the instep and toe of both with the other ball. Though, once you have sandals or shoes on it doesn’t show too bad. But, I must remember my own advice when knitting with varigated or handpainted yarns next time :-)
And lastly, here is our Japanese Maple in the front yard displaying these great summer socks…
2 Balls Cascade Fixation (9442)
US 2.5 Bryspun Needles, CO 64
Original Design
Completed Sunday, June 5th 2005 (my dad’s 51st birthday)!
I wore the socks to SnB last night. However, I chose my clothes to match my socks. Is that a sign of a problem??? ;-)
The pattern is currently being test knit by CeCe (the Spearfish sock contest winner) and should be released on the 15th, hopefully.
6/6/2005
I was hoping to have some great modeled photos of an FO for you all, but it is taking *forever* to dry! So, hopefully a picture-filled post tomorrow or Wednesday.
I’m thinking it’s about time to take Skyway out of her timeout beneath the bed. I think it has become very evident that I’m not a “finisher.” Not that I won’t finish Skyway, but more that I don’t enjoy the process of finishing a garment, which causes me to procrastinate for an unacceptable amount of time. By the time I finish it, it will be too big (down 15 pounds and three inches on the hips) and too hot to wear (even though it is sleeveless, it is fairly heavy with the cotton content).
In spinning news, I *think* I’ve made a decision on the spinning wheel. I visited the library this weekend and am reading a few books.
My decision is mostly driven by economics, as there are other wheels I think I might rather have. I don’t doubt DH would spend an additional $200-$400 over what he was originally thinking it was going to cost when he told me a wheel would be my birthday present. However, this last month has been one of lots of expenses. We did a ton of home improvement/cosmetic things to the house to prepare for his parents’ visit before Memorial and we finally purchased a gas grill. Then, we have some sprinkler repair and house painting coming up and would like to also get our patio put in. There is also the issue that our inner spring futon mattress is really not working for either of us anymore and we think we will be graduating to a real mattress. Well, if I spend an additional $300 on a spinning wheel that could mean we need to wait until late fall to get a new mattress, which might actually cause the end of our marriage as we both are getting increasingly crabby from a lack of quality sleep…
I need to do a little more “research” before I make the official announcement on what my decision is and I won’t get to that until at least Wednesday, if not Thursday, so stay tuned! In the meantime, please share with me your favorite spinning blogs to read or let me know if you also blog about spinning on your knitting blog.
Last, but definitely not least - Stitch ‘n Bitch tonight at Catalyst Coffee for those in the area. 6-8pm!
6/2/2005
It’s been nearly a month since I’ve reported on the knit-a-longs here…
Myself, I have just not been in a lace knitting mood, or at least not in a “read a chart” lace knitting mood so I’ve made NO progress whatsoever on my Shaped Triangle Shawl.
However, we’ve had several additions to the participant list for the Gathering of Lace Along in the last month, so don’t forget to check out their blogs. Not to mention, Melissa M has completed two projects, the Super Spiral Shawl and the Feather and Fan Shawl for her grandmother. She’s not stopping there, she is already working on Frost Flowers! She definitely gets the blue ribbon for most projects!
Also, don’t miss the progress photo of Amy’s Frost Flowers that will serve as a huppah for her brother’s wedding (what a cool idea)! Her blog is brand new, so stop by and say hi to her!
As far as Spearfish Madness, people are still trucking a long and we’ve even had a few recent additions over there as well. The biggest news is that Clemintine did indeed make her deadline to have them done to gift to her BF’s mother for Mother’s Day. This week we had another completed pair added to the line up, this pair of Spearfish socks are a fun “coordinating” pair from Paula.
Both of these KALs are low-key, low-pressure KALs so you are welcome to join either one. There are directions on the pages for each on how to join in.
6/1/2005
In order to respect Interweave’s copyright, I will not be walking you through the process to covert their Retro Rib sock pattern into clog/sandal socks. But, if you continue reading you will find a nearly four-page tutorial on how to convert pattern stitches from the leg to flat knitting so they can be continued along the heel for wear with clogs or sandals. I will walk through contiuing a K3, P1 rib, as well as Nancy McGlynn’s Seaweed socks as examples.
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