Another week of knitting

Surprisingly (no...not really) I have no FOs this week but I do have a lot of progress, or at least I think so.

Works in Progress
I have 2 pairs of socks on the needles that I am loving like crazy.  Last week I casted on the non-April socks.  I have passed the heel for both of them since I am knitting both socks of the same time.  I tried on 1 foot and it fits pretty good but it feels like it could be tighter closer to the ankles.  I'm not sure how I'd accomodate since my calves require a 72 stitch count and so does the area before my toes.  The rest of my foot is slimmer but how do you accomodate that and still be able to put on sock?

I am in love with this yarn.  I had to stop myself from buying another skein online last payday since there's a plan for the end of the month which does not involve me ending up with a ton of yarn with no money left.

Anyways, sock #1 of the Vanilla Latte socks is almost done.  I'm pretty certain I have less than an inch left before starting the toe :)  I was going to finish the sock tonight but somehow I got distracted with watch "19 Kids and Couting".

Kinda random but not quite
On Instagram there's a 100 day challege that started on April 6th (so I'm a day behind).  To participate, I pulled our my Sock Blankie and decided to do a square a day for the next 100 days.  Quite possible since I'm at home every evening and it doesn't take long to do a square as it is.  I have a lot of left over stash plus mini skeins to go through.  I'm pretty sure there's still going to be a lot of work to add to it after the 100 days but here Day #1's challenge:

 

Wow, those pictures did not turn out the way I wanted tehm to.  Got to work on that.

As I was saying before, I'll finish up this square before I go to my bed tonight and get it ready for a new square tomorrow (aka: pick out the next colour ready to go)

So THERE you are!

I've been checking my Canada Post app every 5 minutes trying to figure out where my order from Must Stash Yarns is.  I keep getting the same message stating "International item mailed in originating country".  Great at least I know it's in the mail but what the heck is taking it so long?  I was right about to send a message to find out if the shipper could perhaps help me locate it when I decided to check USPS with the same tracking number.  My yarn is in LA...after it went through Portland...isn't that further away from Canada?  A quick ride from Portland can land you in BC.  Sure it's on the other side of the country but at least it's in the country.

I dunno, may this means it'll be on a plane and head straight for Toronto and I can get it sometime this week so I can start gushing on how beautiful my yarn is!

On a somewhat happier note, I have decided to knit a pair of plain stockinette socks for myself with Turtle Purl Yarns sock yarn in the colourway Trenchcoat - I'll still be calling in Burberry in my head.  I wound it up in a ball using a method commonly called "The Everlasting Gobstopper" introduced to me by Susan B. Anderson.  It really does remind me of a big ball of candy from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

I found 2 sets of circulars in a size 0 and went to work, knitting the socks 2 in conjunction (not 2 at a time since I'm doing them on 2 sets of circulars).  I've made wonderful progress and I love the fact that they match exactly however Hiya Hiya Sharps are really that sharp since I now have a wound in my index finger.  I need to hurry up and get a calous so I can get back to my knitting.  But I could also take this as a sign to work on something else until the finger is not so sensitive.

How to build a sock stash

It has been cold in my house for the past couple of days.  In order to keep warm, I've been wearing my Lissajous that don't stay up.  This has prompted me to want to make another pair of knee high socks (not anytime soon, mind you) and I found a couple of basic sock calculators for both regular length and knee high socks. Got to love all of these extra inspiration for building a sock stash.

Link to the sock tutorials:

Knee Highs | Regular Length Socks

Perhaps I can attempt a more basic type of knee highs closer towards the end of the year, beginning of next year. I can't even plan early for the kind of yarn I'd use since I have no idea what my stash is going to look like. I'm expecting quite empty.

I also need to start experimenting to make a good fitting anklet sock. Those kind of socks had always been my go to type before I learned how to knit socks. I do realize however that if I want to build my sock stash, I'm going to have to start making proper anklets for myself, especially to fit properly around my ankles.

Once I do that, I can also try to adapt some existing sock patterns that I like into anklets. I did manage to do one foot of the Blackrose socks as an anklet a couple years ago but since I only did one foot, it's kind of useless.

My mind is also spinning with ideas for basic, try as you go lace patterned anklets. I guess I'll save the larger portions of left over socks for anklet production, both matching and mismatching.

Of course, in order to do all of this, I have to increase my sock yarn stash.  Perhaps I'll just dwindle down what I have for this year and next year will be the year of increasing the sock yarn stash.  Since I've been wearing my Lissajous for the past 2 days, I've been wanting to get more Wollmeise sock yarn. One skein alone should get me 3 pairs of anklets at the minimum and they come in a vast variety of colours.  If I'm going to build a sock stash, they might as well be colourful.  I'm definitely going to try out a variety of different yarns for this endevour.  The yarns I know for sure that I will be using other than Wollmeise are:

• Springtree Road Muscadine (like that would be such a big surprise with the amount of time I talk about the yarn),
• Indigodragonfly MCN Sock
• Gritty Knits (never underestimate the power of selling mini skeins. I have never purchased an entire skein of Gritty Knits yarn but I have gotten the mini skeins and I love it!)
• Tanis Fibre Arts Blue (I have the yarn and I have petted it many many times but I have never actually knit with it)

There are many other yarns that I'd be open to try as well.  I'll try them from a destash first before I buy one outright.

I saw more flowers again that I took a picture of. I think they're pretty.

Like I need another challenge

Is it bad that after reading someone else's blog that I want to start a new challenge? It's all about 365 pairs of socks. Realistically, I know I can't knit a pair of socks a day. I'm lucky if I can manage a pair in a month, but it's more like 6 weeks. But the idea I making enough socks to have a new pair to for every day of the month. This so wouldn't been done in a year but maybe it could be a 2-3 year project. I just got to make sure I know where I put them when I finish making them. I it sad I can only track 2 pairs of socks out of the...(monkey, mona, BFF, anklet...wow only 4 for myself?) so I can only find half of my socks.

Houston? We got a problem!

I just got my 2nd skein of Wollmeise Twin in Nazar Boncugu. As soon as I opened the package I knew there was a problem. And the I saw the label "We're Different!" and my heart felt. I put it beside my first skein. They are not the same shade of blue. I just wish the person I bought from had told me so I could have gone looking for a skein that was not a "We're Different".

I'm going to have to alternate every few rows and have strippy Lissajous socks.

Just want to show off

No purpose to this post but happy thoughts of going through the mail today an finding a skein of Wollmeise Twin 80/20 in Nazar Boncugu waiting for me. I practically skipped to my room, ripped open the packaging and fawned over my pretty new yarn. The only experience I have had with the yarn has been 5 mini skeins which I acquired in a destash. I liked how it felt and knitted into the Blankie. Plus many people I've seen raving about the yarn.

I still have one more skein I'm waiting for so I can make my knee high socks. I am looking forward to the project but I probably won't start it until next year anyways.

Sock and Yarn Love!

While looking through my sock stash, I realized that I really want to knit more socks once I'm finished my current projects, which are making somewhat progress.

This list by no means a guarantee of what exactly will be done but just a way to track what I want to do with certain skeins of yarn.

Let's have a look at the skeins we're working with:

Got my Book

Remember a couple posts ago about my local library system being anti-Trekkers/Trekkies? And how I was going to have to buy the book on kobo because of their frequent coupons?

If only I had scrolled down I would have seen that coupons cannot be used with the purchase of the book anyways :(

So I bought the book; Star Trek: The Next Generation: Greater Than the Sum. Why does it have so many colons in the title? I have no idea but I am enjoying the book do far.

It has a Human/Vulcan hybrid named T'...something who took the opposit approach of Spock and loves ignoring basic protocol and running with her feelings. As of yet, there are only 5 characters between TNG & VOY that I recognize. I'm shocked that Piccard got married but I do like who he married to. Worf is now Number Obe. Seven is going by her real name of Annika Hansen and now a professor but there's no sign of Chakotay. Seemed like their relationship was going somewhere at the end of VOY but no mention of him yet. They did mention Wesley Crusher (also known as Sheldon old nemesis on Big Bang Theory). I forgot he went off with the alien race of gifted people. I actually had to go look it up on google.

On a completely different note, my feet are cold and I wish I packed my favorite socks (or any socks for that matter). Take a gander at my BFF socks (designed by Cookie A.)

Knitting Friday Progress

So this week I picked up a project I haven't worked on in over a month. My Aunt's Wanida Socks. It's always the same place I stop; halfway through the heel flap. It is the most boring part of knitting socks. But I have turned the heel and am working towards the foot.



My motivation? Once I finish my outstanding projects, which include these socks, another pair for my best friend which is currently stuck at the heel flap and my Anisette Cardi, I am allowed to knit MYSELF another pair of socks out of my "higher grade" sock yarn. I got some Springtree Road Muscadine and Julep, and Tanis Blue calling my name :D

My Sock Blankie has made a little progress as well. I don't expect to work as much on it in the up coming weeks. I have put out request with some of the ladies from my knitting circle who knit many socks, for left over sock yarn. I really want to make my Blankie as colourful as possible while still being washable. Superwash wool all the way!



BTW, I am excited for this weekend. Every summer in Toronto there is The Taste of the Danforth. It's a street festival of Greek culture. I'm not Greek but I do have a fondness of Mediterranean foods (shawarma...drool). Also, I have realized that The Purple Purl is about a 30 minute walk from there. So my plan for the weekend is to stop at The Purple Purl, pick up some Tanis Fibre Art Sock Yarn and I'm going to try to get a skein of Indigo Dragonfly. I'll decide on the colour when I see what's available. I can't wait :D

After that purchase, I am not allowing myself to buy any additional yarn in either full skein or mini skein format until the end of November. I would very much like to sign up for Cookie A's sock club for 2013. And there's also Cyber Monday with KnitPicks which will either be sweater quantities of yarn for sweaters sitting in my queue, and the glossy sock yarn that I bought earlier this year that I am dying to use.

I really need to go to my bed now. It's past 2:30 in the morning and I need to be up at 7am. Good night!