and all I have is one FO to show you.

yarn: yarntini fingering weight in pureknits
pattern: madder ribbed socks
needles: 2.25mm dpns
date started: 5.10.06
date finished: 5.28.06

I've gushed over this yarn plenty of times so you already know how much I LOVE it! I finally took the time to finish the second sock this weekend while we drove down to savannah. my grand plan was to finish all the socks on my wip list. I'm a daydreamer you can say. or a fool. yep, definitely one of those. I didn't count on dropping two needles under the seat (reason #53 in the anti-dpn manifesto), going around everywhere with my parents, or the scorching southern heat beating down on me. I only managed to work on the sock while in the car (once I found the needles), the hotel, or at an ice cream shop while sucking down a milkshake. anyway, I pretty much followed the pattern as written except for the toe, where I knit till I was two inches away from finishing (as opposed to three) and removed half the plain knit rounds.

these socks fit perfectly and the colors make me smile. what else could I ask for? oh yeah, the stripes matching perfectly in each sock. how often does that happen?! and I still have 1.5 ounces left of this yarn! I can't wait till fall to wear these all the time. I'm so sad the cool weather we've been having just disappeared, I hate, haaaaate, the summer. I become a total shut-in, hiding from the humidity and heat and racking up our electricity bill. how else am I supposed to knit?

or spin?! I finally broke out my spindle again, getting ready for a spinning class in two weeks (I don't want them to think I totally suck) and I'm loving it. steph's hand blended batts are amazingly soft and beautiful. I've had fun just drafting the rest of the fiber after I spun some of it up. I'm pretty excited about how this yarn will look so this will be my little project for the rest of the week along with finishing up the last few rounds of a hat for a certain someone and finishing up a baby sweater that I haven't mentioned.

Posted by bitter purl at 05:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (45)

going down to the shore when it's chilly and grey is quite conducive to knitting. between hanging out, eating some great food, and walking the boards I finished the two socks I started. a mis-matched pair, but it's still a pair! both socks fit great, so much so that I'm still wearing them right now.

the jays were knit toe-up on 2mm needles with a turkish cast on and a short row heel. I'll admit that I wish I had knit the heel flap from the pattern, I remember how comfortable it was, but this way did the trick and it was pretty speedy. with the madder ribbed sock, I went with 2.25 mm needles and shorted the toes in the pattern by started it later and removing a lot of the knit-even rows. I like how they are a lot less pointy than in the pattern. I would say that now I'll start the second socks, but I know I'd just be lying, especially when I got this in the mail today:

some sock candy in kiwi. I had a mini swap with renata, who had read me wondering of this yarn's existence. apparently her lys carries it and she was cool enough to pick up two skeins for me (along with some str heavyweight) so I can finally try it out. unfortch, the good people of blue moon fail to tell me what the gauge is. fun times swatching are up ahead for me. I'll try to give some first impressions tomorrow, so far...it's squishy.

monday give--away in the extended entry.

Continue reading "new socks....give-away" »

Posted by bitter purl at 05:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (25)

I keep telling myself that I should be working on the jaywalkers, or the sunrise circle, or umm, I don't know, work! but I can't stop knitting these, the colors just make me so happy. I've even forgiven the tools of the devil, what some of you call "dpn's", and I'm already in the middle of the foot. I should be done tonight, yay! The guilty conscience likes that.

oh, there's been some confusion, maybe, I don't know. but I didn't dye this yarn. oh please, I don't have the patience to come up with a cool striping sequence or to deal with a warping board! both striping yarns, the pureknits and the appletini, were dyed by jess over at yarntini, she has a couple of skeins left in stock now and she's sending off some yarn for me this weekend. I think she's done a great job and I couldn't be happier with the yarn. come on, it makes everyone smile!

sooo, that knitter's guilt....it isn't helped by packing up my knitting bag. I still have that first jaywalker to finish, a postcard to make (hint, the lace silk has something to do with it), and my lovely sunrise circle jacket to work on. not to mention the scraps of sock yarn I'll be swatching. oh, and a hat I promised steph I would finish so I could tell her about the yarn. oops. what happened to my project list? wasn't I finishing stuff left and right? it feels like I haven't accomplished anything in a while. this weekend though, I will knit! I'm going to the shore tomorrow and I will become a machine. a pair of socks will be completed (not necessarily a matching pair though!), one side of the jacket (you have to start small) will be done, and some swatches will be ready for some rough housing by the time I come back Sunday night. umm maybe monday, let's shoot for monday. actually, don't even hold me accountable. like we say at 'bitter purl': keep your expectations low!

to entertain you in the meantime and in honor of amy who's left a void by getting a new job, here is my weak attempt at:

Various and Sundry Links - May 12 2006

- gorgeous handmade postcards gallery, started by nichola
-hey! remember when mr.hooper died? no? yeah, I didn't either till now. I've must've blocked that episode out.
-sure, everyone knows about Rocky and the steps of the art museum...boring! why not check out the fabric workshop and museum, it's one of my favorite places in philly.
-are you rockbottom?
-christine got 'slashdotted' this week, go see what people who don't get it have to say.
-you like nancy bush? we got your nancy bush right here!
-a minnesota one for amy....what happens when you drive the speed limit? [source]

Posted by bitter purl at 07:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (20)

this

turns me into :

happy is an understatement

the dpns....that's another story

Posted by bitter purl at 02:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (34)

I bet my mailman reads this blog and is dying to delurk. I imagine one day, while dropping off some package, he'll casually wear a scarf or hat he knit so that maybe I'll say something. I'm sure I'll ask if someone made it for him and he'll shyly say, "oh this? I just knit this one night while watching {insert one of my favorite shows here}. it really didn't take long." after that, we'll start an impromptu knit night, where we'll proceed to eat, gossip, and maybe knit. I'll start to get my mail even faster, and maybe he'll hookup with a free scale........no, I haven't gone insane. but with the amount of yarn coming into this house, my mailman might as well start knitting. look at this beauty he brought me today:

Continue reading "some yummy yarn, and a monday give-away" »

Posted by bitter purl at 06:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (26)