I have GOT to do this again

I have been craving Toffee Bit cookies since I has them at T's baby shower. I finally managed to get the ingredients a couple of days ago and made them yesterday.

They were so good and my family finished them off last night. I still have some dough left over to make 6-12 more cookies. But it's not enough! I need to make more! So the plan is to make 2 more batches this week; for the house and possibly for church.

Year of Projects: Week 44

Guess what? I can use this again:

 ...although I doubt I'll come anywhere near this total.  I finished my Mint Twist socks on Sunday afternoon. I washed them on Tuesday and wore them to work by Wednesday. I barely gave them a chance to let the sit in the drawer.

I still want to make changes for the lower foot part of the pattern but I ADORE the Manos del Uraguay yarn to the point I will always be willing to add it to my stash.

I had to frog my Tree of Life socks this week. They did not fit. They did fit when half of the chart was finished but when the chart was finished, it couldn't make it past my heel. I had 2 options: try to turn them into gloves or frog it. 

After 15 minutes of admiring my work, I frogged it and I was surprised at how little yarn of each colour I had actually used. Two days later, I picked up the needles and started again on a larger sized needle.

I got my Standard Grab Bag for Rohrspatz & Wollmeise on Wednesday. Just getting the package makes it feel like it's your birthday. All I knew was that it would be 2 skeins of Twin (80% Merino/20% Polyamid) and one would be relatively solid.

I got home really late after work on Wednesday and saw the package on the table. Picking it up, I went to my room to go see what was in it. To extend the anticipation, I got changed for bed before I opened the package. I took out the little pack of gummy bears that's always sent (they are the best gummy bears I have ever had) and the went to look at the yarn.

 

They're both WD skeins, meaning that they didn't meet the exact colour that Wollmeise was trying to attain. The top one was intended to be Allergria and the bottom was supposed to be Sabrina. I think they both look awesome and are a wonderful addition to my stash.

Somehow on Thursday, I admired the new yarn do much, that I actually caked the Allegria WD and decided to free form a basic sock since the colourwork of the Tree of Life socks really isn't that basic.

I finished the 2x2 rib cuff and I am loving the colour pooling. Half the sock is hot pink and red and the other half is a yellowish orange. Absolutely cool.

Therapeutic

It was easier than I thought. Last update I had the revelation that my Tree of Life socks simply didn't fit. Instead of trying to change into mittens, I decided to bite the bullet and frog the entire think. 

It took a couple of days but I am starting it again with some adjustments. I'm doing the cuff in a 2US and the rest in a 2.5US. I hope it works better this time.

I got my grab bag order from Wollmeise. And now I want to do it again. I had no clue what the skeins would look like until I opened the package. 

The top skein is Allegria WD and the bottom is Sabrina WD. The normal Allegria has pink in it and this skein has very little if any. I think the Sabrina I supposed to be bluer. I'm starting to see a bit of green in it. I still don't know what I'm going to make with them but I was thinking of trying the Rick's again in either Sabrina WD or my skein of Elsa. One of them is still going to be saved for a pair of knee highs.

Rethinking a pattern

I still can't get the tension right for detailed colour work. I tried on the Tree of Life socks yesterday. It was a tight for but I got it on. Today, I tried it on again since I'm almost finished the leg chart. I couldn't even get it past my heel. So I can either attempt to turn it into a glove or rip back to the cuff, change it to a 2US needle and start again.

It does look nice on my arm though. Maybe I should make arm cuff of some sort.

An intermittent entry...not necessary but wanted to

I've finished another pair of socks (the Mint Twist socks from back in December) and did a load of sock wash this afternoon.  I looked at my Stitch Surfer socks and I want to knit another pair.  Not necessarily immediately but in the near future.

I'm still in the middle of knitting the Tree of Life socks, almost at the heel.  I'm also waiting in anticipation of my Wollmeise order, which according to Canada Post will be arriving on Thursday (YAY!).

I was telling my mother about the changes I wanted to make to my room so I can get a desk in there.  She then informs me that there's a dresser in the heating room of our house that someone ended up not needing when the moved.  When I went to go look at it, it's a Malm 4-drawer dresser.  I'm not sure of the colour but any of the colours it's made in can work with the colours for my room.  I now just have to get a desk, a few Expedit/Kallax drawers and a laptop.  I'll see if I can get it assembled either this week or next week and start shopping around for the other requirements for my room.

I almost forgot! I got this sweater a few months back that is now falling apart.  There's still a lot of yarn that's perfectly good.  I'm going to try to reclaim it.  It's 100% cotton according to the label.  I've washed it, which apparently you should do before unravelling cotton (don't wash before unravelling if it's wool - thank you Ashley with this blog entry.  It also looks to be a lace weight.  I'll update another time reporting how this unravelling project goes.

Year of Projects: Week 42 & 43

It is right but it still doesn't look like what it's supposed to be. Welcome to the first picture of my Tree of Life socks. I love the colour combination. I love the knitting process. I even love my mistake of forgetting to what was colour A and what was coulour B thus turning sock 1 into an inversion of itself. It still looks beautiful! You just can't make out that it's a tree, over there on the right hand side of the sock. I know I have to wait until I finish the leg, or make it to about 2/3 of the way up the chart before it really makes it's appearance.

I spent most of this week however, working on my Mint Twist socks and as I'm typing this up, I am working on the toe. 

I am anxious to have them done so I can wear them.

I finally got my bag from Sew for Ewe and it's very much loved by me.

Everyone who sees it tells me "Cool lunch bag!" Not a lunch bag but a unique knitting bag.

This week I'm waiting for an order from Wollmeise which I believe will be my last order for awhile despite my wonderful stash growth.

Year of Projects: Week 41

It was really not much of a knitting week this week. I worked hard on the second sock for the Mint Twist and I'm about 15 rows from the heel flap.

I have sort of planned ahead for my next sock project. 

The new Manos del Uraguay from last week and the Springtree Road will be the colours I am using for the Tree of Life socks; the same socks I have been talking about doing since I first saw the pattern. I'm hoping to cast on tomorrow for an important event.

And I'm spending it with me, myself and my knitting. I am looking forward to my quiet time :) with intermittent breaks to do laundry.

PS: I saw "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" for my birthday with my brother and his girlfriend and I enjoyed it tremendously.

Trying something new...

It's not often I am on a computer anymore unless it's to update my blog for my Year of Projects.  So today, after checking out the blog of a commenter, I managed to click my way to a blog about reading Madame Bovary.  Since I have never read it, or know anything about it other than it's originally written in the French language and it's a classic, I decided "Why not?".  It's 470 pages which is doable for me.

I downloaded the book via iBooks on my phone.  Before I even got a chance to open the file to check it out, I went to the library for my Knitter Circle and checked out the paperback version as well.  I think I'd prefer to have something tangible in my hands for my first try.

I have until April 10th to finish the first part so I will get started after I finish watching the newest episode of "19 Kids and Counting" (I love that show).