To bed, I said

I am so tired right now, I can barely stay awake. I did work a bit on the Ernie sock. I have two more repeats before the heel flap I believe. And I'm still on the time table to finish the flap by tomorrow night.

Tomorrow is also the big day to make the "Non-Pecan Pecan Sandies" which I have roped my cousin into helping with. As for the regular Pecan Sandies, I have a house to donate them to if I wish to make them. I haven't met a family with no allergies in so long, I forgot they existed.

It is finished!

I couldn't stay up last night to finish the toe of the Newtons. I picked them up first thing this morning and finished it up in no time flat. I put them on my sock blockers, took a few pictures and sent them to be washed. They are currently drying right now and look lovely. I can't wait to wear them.

I caked the the Julep sock yarn from Springtree Road, printed off the pattern for the Ernie and casted on. I've read that others say the Ernie pattern is easier; or more like easier to memorize and I think in time it will be. It's only an 8 row repeat as opposed to the Newton pattern which is 24. It's coming along nicely.

Since I've been working again with DPNs, I have been wanting to purchase more but I have requirements:
1) no metal or plastic
2) no bamboo
3) 5" long

Right now, that's leaving me with either the Harmony needles or or something else. I've been looking at the Dyak needles. Right now, the only thing I'm not liking is that wait time. Four to six months? I guess I could do it like an investment and get them in the mail, forgetting that I even ordered them.

Almost done

I think I'm going to finish the Newtons. I just have the toe to finish and I may or may not finish it tonight. I'll definitely be starting the Ernie's tomorrow.

Today I randomly decided to dye another skein of yarn in my new crock pot. It turned out really nice. I used a Superwash skein of BFL. I'm not sure what I'll knit with it but I will do it soon. I really wonder how the yarn would have turned out of it had some silk it it. The colour is already has an iridescent look to it. Someone named it for me. It is now called Peacock Fury. If only I had kept notes as to what I did so I can at the very least attempt to repeat it.

I am sleepy

I casted in the second Newton sock yesterday morning. You wanna know how far I've reached? I'm working on the gusset. This pattern is easily addictive. I keep thinking to myself "Just 1 more row and I'll put it down". Apparently I can't trust myself to listen. I may have this thing finished by Thursday. When it's done, I get the yarn ready for the Ernie.

I went to the grocery store today, looking for the ingredients for the non-pecan pecan sandies. Other than powdered sugar and vegetable oil, I have everything. Sometimes it great that my mother is a pastry chef.

As another bonus, I received an invitation to join another knitting circle that's even closer to my house. The woman who's starting it, is the same one who started the one I am currently in. I don't think you can have too many knitting opportunities.

I am listing to this band on Jimmy Fallon Live and I have no idea as to what the lead singer is saying. I can't even pick out a word or two but he sounds like a decent guitarist. He just needs to learn how to enunciate. 😥

Progress has been made

Just like I said last night, I finished the first sock for the Newton. I casted on the second sock this morning. I finished the cuff and I'm almost finished the first repeat. I don't have anywhere to go tomorrow except the gym and then knitting circle tomorrow evening. I'm hoping I can reach to the heel flap by the time Knitting Circle comes around so I can show someone how to do the heel flap.

I am still amazed the the speed I'm getting through these socks. At the rate I'm seem to be going, I should finish the second sock this week and be ready to cast on the Ernie socks.

On another note of the other portion of Cookie A's Sock Club, I still have a batch of cookies to make. I wasn't sure if I was going to make them. One of the recipes is a Pecan Sandies. Just based on the name, it means pecans are pretty much required. I can't eat pecans and my brother has nut allergies so that's pretty much a no-no. Someone on the forum replaced the pecans with white chocolate chips. Now that's doable.

What What!

I cannot believe it!  I am almost finished the first sock of the Newton pattern.  I just have a couple more rows to go before closing up the toe.  It's been pretty much a week since I got the pattern as was able to start Monday night. I don't know (but I most likely will) if I will cast on the second sock tonight.  I am on such a good roll that I think I want to keep it going.  I cannot wait to have the finished pair of socks.  I'll take a better picture of the sock once this one is complete.

After this, it will be the Ernie.  I am quite certain that I am going to do them both.  It will be interesting to see how many socks I will do this year.

I watched 3 more episodes of Downton Abbey.  I only have another 2 episodes to go before I finish Series 2 and one of them is a Christmas special so I don't know how vital it is for me to watch that episode.  I had to stop myself from going further tonight.  It was almost 9:30 when the episode finished and if I started another one, I have no idea what time I'd be going to my bed tonight.

Twenty cent difference?

I have been enjoying knitting these Newtons far too much and I'm attributing a good portion of that to the yarn. The cashmere in the yarn feels divine! I've already scoped places to buy undyed sock yarn that contains cashmere. I had 2 places on my list; Acme Fibres, which I have purchased from before and Polika. Polika only sells them in packs of 5. Acme Fibres sells them individually and gives a discount if you spend over a certain amount. And finally a bonus for living in the same province, I would get charged less for shipping and handling than if I ordered it from the other side of the country. I put everything into the shopping carts and did everything before putting in PayPal information. The difference was $0.20 (I can't get the cent sign on this phone). Might as well go with a company I have worked with before.

Anywho, I have already finished the gusset and tried the sock on (first time I can do that without the DPNs coming out of place). It's at the half way point on my foot. I think I have a chance I finishing the sock tomorrow. I am definitely going to have to pack a knitting travel pack for Monday so I can get started on he second sock. Besides, someone in the knitting circle wanted me to show them how to turn a heel. Got to hurry and get to that point by Tuesday.

Turned a heel

I really did turn the heel on the Newton last night and then I picked up the gusset this morning. At this rate, I'm wondering if I can get the sock done by Tuesday, if not earlier. Time this weekend is in short supply. I got church tomorrow, food bank on Sunday and on holiday Monday, my mom wants us to go to Collingwood. We'll see about that.

I'm actually looking for undyed sock yarn of Merino and Cashmere. I don't know if $15.40/skein is a good deal. I think it is considering how much it costs for a dyed skein of Merino and Cashmere. I guess I'll decide by Tuesday or Wednesday.

I am still in shock

I have been doing wonderful progress on my Newton socks. I'm almost finished the heel flap and plan to turn the heel before I go to bed. I always peruse the sock club forum on Ravelry. Someone posted that they'd finished one sock of the Newtons. I'm like "wow!" At this point I was still in the middle of a repeat. And then the craziest thing; someone finished the pair. We just got the pattern on Monday. That's 4 days if I'm being generous.. I'll be glad if I can finish 1 sock within 2 weeks.

Suffice it to say, I think I may finish these socks much more quickly than I anticipated. I think I'll do the Ernie's afterwards with the Springtree Road Julep sock yarn in the colour Calends. I've been holding on to it for awhile, trying to decide what to do with it but now that I've been spoiled with Cashmere in the sock yarn from the Indigodragonfly MCN sock yarn that I got, I want to use more cashmere induced sock yarn. Just got to hurry and finish the Newtons.

Anklet Plans

I washed the anklet socks I made last January. I had always found that they were loose around the ankles. This time, I decided to throw them in the dryer. This is what happens when you just can't be bothered to separate the hand made socks from the rest of the clothes. Surprisingly, when I put them on this morning, they were perfect for my feet.

This gave me the idea that if I have time before the next sock patterns come from the Sock Club, I can try to make anklet versions of the alternative patterns. Depending on how much yarn I have left over, I may use that or other commercial yarns that I have left in my stash.

These Newton socks are coming along very nicely. I've finished 2 pattern repeats and I'm pretty sure by the time I finish the 3rd, it will be time to do the heel flap. I'm actually looking forward to it.

Minor Dilemas

I'm having a dilemma. It's not life changing or anything. I got laundry to fold but I want to knit the Newtons. It's not like I haven't been working on it throughout the day plus it's a knitting circle night. I just got to buckle down and fold the laundry because as soon as I'm done, I'm getting back to my socks.

As I'm seeing the progress on the other sock option for the Feb/Mar, Ernie, and I'm wanting to do them as soon as I finish the Newtons. I don't know what yarn I'm going to use for them. I was thinking of using the Muscadine in Kohl by Springtree Road.

The Newtons are coming along quite nicely. I keep stopping every few rows to admire my work. I am so vain in regards to my sock knitting.

Tis All Here

I woke up this morning and checked my email, waiting for notification that I got my first pattern for the Cookie's Sock Club. At 7:30 in the morning, it wasn't there. And then I thought to myself, "what the heck? She's in California and that's 3 hours behind me. Should I really expect for her to be up at 4:30 in morning just to make a pattern available?"

Just before noon, I get the notification that the pattern is available. I don't know why I was so giddy. I couldn't print the pattern to really go over it. I couldn't cast on since I didn't bring any needles or the skein with me and I still couldn't cake the yarn until I got home. The only remaining question was if I had to use child labour to do it.

Little cousin B2 was lucky today because when I got home, there was my swift. I immediately set it up and caked the yarn, ran downstairs and printed the relevant parts for the pattern. I came back up and went through my collection of needles and wondered where all of my smaller sized 1.5US needles went to.

I finally had everything ready to go. I decided to do the Newton Socks which is the more lace based design. I casted on my 1.5 US Kollage Square needles. I hated it. Once I finished one row and realized I couldn't locate a set o 1.5 US needles that was free to use, I actually pulled out my Harmony DPNs. I'm almost finished the cuff and I'm liking the progress I'm making. If I continue at this rate, the first sock would be done in a week. But keep in mind, I haven't reached the heel flap and that is what slows me down.