Finished Object and a Meme!

First off, I finished some socks!

Details:

Name: Birthday Socks

Yarn: Louet Sales Gems Pearl

Needles: KP circulars in Size 0 and 1

Pattern: My Own toe up

They are my second submission for Socktopia in May, this time under the theme "May Flowers". I call them my Birthday socks, and this is why: My Birthday is in May, and using the day, year, month, and my age, I came up with all of the numbers in my pattern! I cast on the year I was born. The lace pattern is repeated 5 times - as May is the 5th month. There are as many rows of ribbing as I am old. And it goes on. I chose the lace pattern - Lily of the Valley, because it is my favorite flower AND the May flower. Fun!

Notes: I like this yarn. This was my first time using it, and I'd do it again. (Good thing since I have another socks worth at home in Lavender.) It isn't my favorite sock yarn I've ever knit with, but it is definitely not the worst! Nice middle of the road - and in Solid colors!!

A close up of the lace:

The modeled shot:

I've also made progress on my Tomato sweater.

I've been slowed done quite a bit on the sweater production. We are getting ready to move. Just across town, but you still have to pack and clean and crap. I've been trying to reward myself for packing with a "pack some knit some" type system. It doesn't work too well.

I am also patiently waiting for June to start my Sockapalooza socks. Only two more days!

I suppose since I will be moving in June, and I will mostly be working on my Sockapalooza socks when I have time, I will have a boring blog. I think it might be the time for me to work on the housekeeping around here. I'll work on how to make progress bars, and make lists of FO's and wish knits. I can dream, can't I?

Ok. on to the Meme.

Pheobe tagged me for this one. I am to tell 7 little known facts about myself, and tag 7 more people. (The last bit is the hard part.)

1. I have two implanted things on my body. No they are not my breasts! They are my teeth beside my front teeth. They were growing in upside down, and as a kid the dentist removed them. I had the implants put in in High School.

2. I know how to drive a frontend loader, Dump truck, and back hoe.

3. I listen to music that most people hate. Country and Heavy Metal. My favorite band of all time is Metallica, and I listen to more Toby Keith than I probably should.

4. I am part of the 1993 Pennsylvania State Square Dance Champion team. I secretly still love to square dance and Line dance.

5. I watch professional wrestling on Friday nights. It's just like watching a soap opera, only with Heavy metal music, pyro effects, and additional punching. Hey! It's a Connecticut industry! I'm supporting my local economy!

6. I love goat cheese and fresh mozzarella. Add tomatoes to it, and I will order it. You are guaranteed that I will choose an item on a menu because of tomato's and either of those two cheeses. Literally. I scan the menu for any of those three words and am almost certainly going to order the entree with at least one of them in it. Come to think of it, I can't remember the last time I ate something for lunch or dinner without a tomato in it.

7. If I suddenly became wealthy, I'd still be a costumer, since I love it, but I'd live in St. Thomas. Ok. That's no secret, but I thought I'd throw it out there in case anyone wants to give me a bundle of money to live out my dream.

Well folks, that's it!

I'm tagging the following people:

Debi http://fluffyknitterdeb.blogspot.com/
Emma http://stitchnsue.blogspot.com

Trillian42 http://katydidknits.blogspot.com/

Knitting Therapy http://knittingtherapy.blogspot.com/

Romi http://rosemarygoround.blogspot.com/

Janette http://knitavenue.blogspot.com/

emilee http://emileeknits.wordpress.com/

Hey! Today is the blogaversary of my first "real post"! Go me! Is started the blog on May 3, but didn't post anything until 20 days later. It's hard to imagine going 20 days now.
And i thought I'd run out of stuff to say...

Sockapalooza Spoiler!!

If you are my sock pal, you will see the yarn for your socks in this post! It will be the last thing I show. Be warned!!

Ahhh. I have some time to update my blog. Sweet.

Did I tell you what I found at a flea market? A giant garbage bag of yarn!! I have some pictures.

this is the wool/ animal fiber pile:

This is the cotton pile:

Can anyone say "score!!!!!"????

Along with the annibervisday - which was great, btw! Red Lobster - YUM! - DH and I went to visit DH's dad this weekend. It was a good visit. we spent a lot of time just talking, so I got a lot of knitting finished. bonus!

I took along my Tomato sweater. The pattern is out of "No Sheep for You" by Amy Singer, and it is my first cotton sweater. I don't knit a lot with non-wool fibers, so I really like this book. It has great info, and is making me feel inspired to expand my knitting world. I have reached the fair isle section of the pattern. It is my first time doing stranded knitting as well. Two firsts in one go!! It is a lot easier than I thought it would be. I've wanted to do color work for a while, and picked up one of those handy stranding gadgets on clearance once. I've now officially put it to good use.

From all of my blog reading, this sweater picks up speed after you hit the body part. The sleeve increases felt like they took AGES. I am ready to increase speed!

I also took along my Birthday socks. I have the foot of #2 finished. They will be done before the end of May! A bit late for my Birthday, but still in my B-day month!

Then, on Monday night I took DH to a YANKEES GAME!! He has wanted to go for, well, forever! His anniversary gift was a baseball themed gift bag. It included, a Yankees T-shirt, peanuts, cracker-jacks, binoculars, an MP3 player loaded with his favorite songs (and gets am/fm radio to listen to the game), and two tickets for the train & game! It was even the big rival game between the Red Sox and the Yankees!!! Who is the best wife ever?!

Yesterday we went apartment hunting again. Blech. Stupid apartments. we can't seem to rent anything before someone else does. We;ll see how the application goes for the one we saw yesterday. I like it, and I want this process to be over. I need apartment vibes!

We also went Geeking! DH to is store in New London, and I to the Yarn Barn in Woodbridge, followed by Saybrook yarn in Old Saybrook. Why, yes. I did by yarn!

In woodbridge I picked up some contrast yarn for the tomato sweater. you can see that above. Not terribly exciting, but needed. Did I mention that the idea of a "Blue tomato" makes me smile every time I think it?

In Old Saybrook I found tres' wonderful yarn.

evidently, Brown Sheep is putting out a new Yarn called "Serendipity Tweed". It is 60% cotton, and 40% wool. The wool is dyed a slightly lighter shad and twisted with the cotton. The result is a tone on tone tweed. I, of course, bought a skein. I must try it!

I also cannot resist Trekking. I bought colorway 100.

Finally, I bought yarn for my Sockapalooza Pal's Socks!

Look no further Secret Pal, unless you want to see your sock yarn!!

I'm not kidding!!

PELLIGRO!!

You asked for it!

wow. Sure is pink!!

Ahhh. updated feels so good.

My Blogaversary is coming up!

I am officially one year older. My Birthday was yesterday, and DH's the day before. We get to grow older together - literally. Also, our 10th anniversary is today! Yes, I said 10th. We will have our traditional Red Lobster tonight in celebration. yum. The SnB people will just have to be with out me tonight, but Ann will understand. After all, it is Red Lobster!
My blogaversary is sometime around my birthday. So it is soon! I'll have to find out exactly when...
I am making a modicum of progress on my Tomato Sweater. I am using this yarn:


I got it in a swap on Knitty. I am not used to using cotton, so I don't knit very much at a time. I like top down sweaters though. They are easy to see if they are going to fit. The pattern is written with a contrast design. I can't decided if I want to do that or not. I don't have another color of this yarn to do the design, so I'd have to order some. hem haw. hem haw. hem haw.

I have stalled on the Birthday socks. I have been working on my end of season gifts for my staff, and candle making is time consuming. who new? Anyhow, I am finished with them now. Tomorrow they will be handed out, and I will not see my people for 3 months. All alone at work. I expect that I will get a lot done this weekend, as we are going to DH's Dad's house this weekend. we will spend a lot of time sitting and visiting. Socks and easy sweaters are good knitting for that kind of weekend.

Tomorrow I hope to post a picture of my Staff gifts, and maybe an update about the sweater. Then I will be gone until Wednesday next week. ahh. Time off. sweet.

May Socktopia Socks

My May submission for Socktopia is under the "Yikes, Stripes!" Category. I had a lot of fun knitting these! Why did I enter them in "Yikes, Stripes!". hmm.... let me see... could it be the STRIPES!? Well, and what is more "May" like then these colors? Come on!

The details:
Pattern: Cable Rib Socks from Favorite Socks, from Interweave Press.
Yarn: Lana Grossa Meilenweit Cotton Multiringel
Needles: Knit Picks Classic Circulars, size 0 and 1
Notes: I really like the finished look of these socks. The yarn was very fun to knit, as the stripes never got boring! The stripes were incredibly even. I usually cannot get my socks the same from foot to foot - no matter how hard I try. These came out perfectly!! I got a little bored with the ribbing eventually, but it was a perfectly easy pattern to knit in the dark. Overall, a very successful sock project.

I am half way through my Second Submission for May Socktopia. One sock down! I am also starting the "Tomato" Sweater from "No Sheep for You". See? I finshed up all of my projects at the same time, so I had to start a bunch more. I cannot work on just one at a time. :?

Completed Forest Path Stole!

The specs:

Name: Forest Path Stole, from Interweave Knits

Needles: Size 3, Knit Picks

Yarn: Zephyr in Basil

Started: Februaury 1, 2007

Finished: May 7, 2007

Notes: I learned Entrelac to knit this puppy, and I don't regret it. I love this stole. I shortened it by several repeats, and it still blocked to 77" long. That is plenty long enough for me, as I am 5'2". It also measures a generous 31" wide. So worth the work!

Blocking:

A Close up:

Next time, pictures of it dry and displayed, and my May Socktopia Socks!

My Sockapalloza pal already figured out who I am!

I sure to suck at being a secret! Maybe someday I will be better at it.
I guess now I will have to be all clandestine with my posts. Only showing little glimpses of the socks in process. sneaky sneaky
I am almost done with my first pair of May Socktopia socks. I will finish them up today. I will also finish up my FPS today!!! I only have 21 rows and a bind off to get through yet!! Tomorrow will be blocking pictures from both projects!!
I finished up the knitting on my staff gifts as well. As of this evening I will be officially "project-less"!! This never happens to me! Thankfully, I have a very big stash. crisis avoided.
I think my next project is some birthday socks for me. My Birthday is on the 16th, and I want some Lilly of the Valley socks. It is my birth month flower, and also my favorite flower. I'm not sure how nupps in the round will work, but, I'm gonna give it a shot. If I finish them in May, they will also count as a second pair of Socktopia socks!
I don't know what my next big project will be. I kinda want to do a sweater - slightly impractical as we are headed into summer. Maybe some more lace?? There are so many projects I want to knit. I'm a bit overwhelmed.

I had to knit all day for work.

Yup. I did. Granted it was a 2x2 rib scarf, but it was still knitting at work - for work! I knit at work frequently anyway, but the chance to do it for a "requirement" was awsome.

FPS update

Really, I AM working on it!

I have finished the right side border!!

Seed stitch is, well, not very interesting to look at. Frankly, not interesting to knit either, but, whachyagonnado? I have decided that it will premier at the Gala this year. (My work's big black tie fund raiser for the year) I'm so excited to finish it!

I'm headed into, yet another, tech this weekend. I'll be switching over to socks for the duration. The Seed stitch is easy enough to do in the dark, but the dark green is not the best choice. Light colors are way better.

In other knitting news...

I got my Sockapalooza swap pal's info yesterday!! She doesn't have a blog, so no blog stalking for me. (frown) But, she is a fine artist! Her flicker page is amazing! I have to pick a pattern and yarn worth of an amazing sculptor. I'm thinking knee highs...

I'm working away on some Socktopia socks right now. I know this pair won't last through tech, so I am planning another pair. I was going to start my Sockapalooza's, but I think I need to think on them a bit more. (I also need more information from my pal)