Sunday, December 30, 2007

If you could bottle stuff like this, you'd be rich...

Mark and I are back in Blacksburg right now and I have had one of those days that it would be great to be able to bottle up and save. If I could, I would, and then when I'm Starkville and I'm cranky and bummed cuz most of my good friends are here and I'm there, I could just open up the bottle, pour out a few drops of this gleeful fun day, and feel a little better...who knows, maybe I won't have days like that, but I wouldn't bet on it.

So what happened...we got here (Jess's place) about 10:30 last night, caught up with Jess a bit and went to bed. Mark was a driving maniac yesterday and drove the whole way up here so I went into a knitting frenzy on his soon to be felt slippers which are the reverse of mine (which I love love love).

This morning I couldn't sleep so I got up and knitted more of the slippers. They are extremely gratifying, cuz they go so quick. Jess got up and we all goofed around and talked for a couple of hours before getting our act together and going to Gillies' for a freakin' awesome brunch.
Jess in the AM

Then we dropped Mark back off at Jess's and went to meet Darcy, Katherine, and Liz to hang out and knit at the Easy Chair. Katherine brought legos cuz she hasn't leanr to knit yet, (even though I think she would love it) and didn't want to be the only one without something to do...
At some point Liz or I or Darcy will just tie her down in a chair and teach her how to knit and I'll bet that she yells at us for not teaching her sooner, but that's ok.

Overall, it wad a really great afternoon of hanging out and knitting and giggling, after which Jess and I went across the street to Mosaic, the LYS which was having a 25% off sale...WOW! (See what I mean about a great day???). I showed huge restraint, but did buy some NORO sock yarn which I have been really eager to try. YAY!

Afterwards, Jess and I got food for dinner and a movie to watch w/ Mark. Mark made one of my favorite dinners for us, yogurt chicken w/ quinoa for us. He pretty much rocks!

After that I helped Jess skein up some her huge new stash with my brand new niddy noddy (that Mark gave me for Hannukah but at Christmas)

and then we watched a movie during which I finished knitting Mark's slippers (still gotta weave in all the damn ends)
My felted slippers and Mark's huge unfelted ones.

and now I really gotta go to bed...it's after 1:00am,, today is tomorrow already.

More to come.

Friday, December 21, 2007

Almost destroyed the house last night

So, even though I have a ton of other stuff to do like reading and writing for work and present making (which is now mostly done), I got a little panicked late last night when I couldn't find my swift in all the packed boxes. I found my ball winder, but without the swift it's not so useful. Here I am sitting with a bunch of new beautiful yarn, that I really shouldn't touch given everything else I need to do, but I really want to wind it up so I started looking in some of the boxes, and then some other boxes and then... It took all of my newly gained maturity (hah!) and restraint not to rip through every unpacked box leaving the house in a shambles until I found my swift, but I resisted and went to bed.

This morning, I sweetly (double hah!) asked Mark to help me find the swift today even though I promised promised promised not to wind any new yarn or start any new projects until I have finished the holiday stuff, his slippers, our bathmats and various other tasks that really should come first...sigh!

As it turns out, Mark has super powers, or maybe he wasn't deliriously tired when our apartment was being packed up, so he knew which box it was in. We carefully unpacked (how mature of us) and immediately found both my swift and sock blockers. Yay Mark! Unfortunately, I now have to show more mature restraint by not balling up the beautiful new yarn and casting on new projects, as I promised. Fortunately, my restraint is aided by the fact that we are leaving for Raleigh, NC in the morning for the holiday.

As part of my break from knitting, I repaired the beaded necklace I made my sister-in-law Sandy last year and made her matching earring as part of her present for this year.
I'm also going to make her a pair of sock with this if she wants,
or the yarn of her choosing, if these colors don't appeal to her. I thinking of making her a pair of Monkey socks or the slipped stitch pattern I really like...hmmm.

I also made a matching pair of earing for my sister-in-law Jenny to match her necklace from last year. The colors of her necklace are my favorite of the three I made last year. Sorry that this pic is a little blurry, but these were hard to photograph without proper equipment.
It feels good to bead again and it certainly is much quicker than knitting, but knitting is more portable and cozy feeling.

Lastly, I have to felt these.
Unfortunately, my new awesome energy efficient front loading washer can be opened during the cycle, but not all the time, so it's too risky to try to use it for felting...sigh. Hopefully Serita, my mom-in-law, won't mind when I felt them in her washer (in a pillowcase, of course). I'm excited to see how they turn out.

More to come from the Holidays in NC, New Years in Blacksburg, and then 5 days in Puerto Rico. If all the travel doesn't kill me, the trip to PR should definitely relax me some.

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Slacker blogger!

I've been trying to add to this blog at least once a week, but I've been slacking cuz of all moving craziness. I'm am officially no longer moving to Mississippi. Now I am here, 6 days and counting. The moving truck arrived Monday and now we're surrounded by boxes that we are slowly digging out of. Fortunately we finished painting the last room over the weekend.

The house, like any new house, still requires tons of work which is hard to motiviate to do when I'm still bummed about leaving Blacksburg. I just ordered some thick cotton yarn (Peaches & Cream Double Worsted)to make some custom bathmats and welcome mats. That'll be fun. The pattern is called 'Absorba' and it's in Mason Dixon Knitting. I'll post pix as they progress.

There are a lot of things I love about this house, but one of the best things is the amazing spa tub.
I used it once, and I'm going to use it again tonight cuz I just went for a run. I kinda feel like I have to run or exercise, to deserve a soak. Otherwise I feel too decadent.

Other than that, I'm knitting a pair of felt slippers in Hokie colors because the floors here are a bit cold and I miss Blacksburg.
I also have a ton of work to get done before the holidays, which means I have to work like a crazy woman until we leave on Saturday...yikes! I can't believe the holidays are here already.

Saturday, December 8, 2007

Yummy Cookies!

I found a great Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookie recipe online and made it for some friends who were hiking the AT last year. After trying the cookies I decided I could make them even yummier by adding cranberries and pecans. These cookies are soooo good! Note that the dough keeps really well in the fridge for about a week.

I decided to post this recipe because I am making some to thank Darcy for teaching me how to spin and sending some to my friend Kerry because these are healing cookies, which she needs right now. They don't contain any pharmaceuticals, but they definitely make me feel better and with all of the oats and cranberries, they are almost healthy.

The Following is for a double recipe (makes about 60 cookies depending on how big you make them and how much of the dough you nibble):

Ingredients
1 and 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 and 1/2 cups white flour
1 teaspoon SALT
1 teaspoon BAKING POWDER
16 ounces (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 and 1/2 cups LIGHT BROWN SUGAR, packed (can substitute sucanat)
1 and 1/2 cups granulated white sugar
4 large eggs
6 cups OATS
3 cups chocolate chips
(1 and 1/2 packages of Ghiradelli Bittersweet 60% cocoa or any high quality dark chocolate chips )
2 scant cups of dried cranberries (depending on preference)
2 scant cups of chopped pecans

Directions
1. Preaheat oven to 350 degrees, and line large cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. Whisk flour, salt and baking powder together in a medium bowl.

3. In a separate bowl, by hand or by mixer, beat butter until creamy. Add sugars and beat the mixture until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time.

4. Combine/Stir dry ingredients and butter-sugar mixture together with a wooden spoon or a large rubber spatula in a large mixing bowl.

5. Stir in oats and chocolate chips and pecans and cranberries. Mix will get harder and harder to stir as each of these is added but it will work.

6. Place dough onto parchment-lined cookie sheets in chunky balls about golf ball size, leaving at least 2 inches between.

7. Bake until cookie edges turn golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Slide cookies (on parchment) onto cooling rack. Let cool, and store in airtight container.

A tip from the original internet recipe: Place a piece of bread (any type) in with the cookies to prevent them from becoming stale. If they hang around long enough, that is!

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Spinning and Hokie Pride

First, I love spinning, but yes, I still suck and have a long way to go to become proficient.
Darcy, who taught me, said that for a first attempt, I'm doing great, but then I look at her yarns and I am absolutely in awe. I know she's been spinning for 10 years, but still, her yarns and the things she's made with them are really freakin' inspiring. Check back with me in 10 years and I'll let you know how I'm doing then.

Now, for a bit of proof that I can be a bit of a Hokie football nutter. I never used to like football, but somehow the Hokies have gotten into my blood. Their wins can cheer me up for a week and their losses, especially the close ones, can leave me devastated. My mother, a non-football person, is convinced that this is evidence that part of my brain has gone bad. I'm ok with that.

A few months ago, when the Hokies lost to BC with 11 seconds left in the game, I and the rest of the fans in B'burg were in shock. Like any slightly crazy fan, I felt a little responsible for not doing all I could by holding my stuffed Hokie bird in my lap or cheering hard enough from my living room (They can hear me through the TV, can't they?)

So when the Hokies got their rematch with BC and the chance for the ACC title, I was prepared. Despite having to pack and clean for the move, I watched the game with my Hokie bird
and began to knit Yarn Harlot's Unoriginal Hat with some great orange and maroon yarn I've been saving.
I changed the pattern a bit to make it bigger. I added 8 stitches/row (2/repeat) by adding an extra purl stitch between each of the cable elements. It's a little short so next time I would also add a 1/2 cable repeat at the top, about 7 more rows, but I love it. Next time I want to try the yarn suggested in the pattern, Blue Moon Fiber Arts Leticia because it looks beautiful.

Anyways, it was a freakin' amazing game and we won, we won, WE WON!. Now I can't really take the credit because the team really played great while I sat here on the couch, BUT, maybe, just maybe, my effort added some good juju.

Because of that win, the Hokies are playing the Orange Bowl on January 3rd and I'll be in Puerto Rico with Mark and my parents. Damn skippy, I'm bringing my new Hokie hat and my bird who I think I will name Horton the Hokie, cuz if I don't and we lose, I'll feel responsible. I may even bring some more Hokie-colored yarn with me for good measure.

As an aside, yes, I haven't been talking about my move because I am in complete denial. The moving trucks arrive next Tuesday (in 6 days) so I'll talk more about it when it happens. I am excited about the new house.

Monday, November 19, 2007

Assateague

Last week, I went to Assateague Island National Seashore for a work meeting, which sounds a lot cooler than it is. I get to go to a lot of cool places for work meetings, but I also have to stay in crappy depressing hotels, and spend hours and hours and hours discussing sampling plans, budgets for those plans and why two options that are seemingly identical will result in completely different statistical analysis results. Usually, the slightly more difficult option results in the desired results, hence the hours of discussion and explanation. It is interesting work, but usually it's not quite as fun as it sounds.

This meeting was cooler than some of the others, and the discussion was really productive. We also got to actually go out and visit some of the study sites which meant I got to see these


and this
some incredibly idyllic scenes like this
and this
Seeing the famous wild ponies was just as neat as I had expected. They're just so cute and charming. You can't touch or feed them, but they are great to watch. It really was fun and fortunately one of the other researchers lent me a pair of knee-high waders so I could tromp around in the salt marsh. Otherwise, it would have been a lot less fun.

On drive back, I also used our cool new GPS device to find The Yarn Lounge in Richmond, VA. It was so cool to be able navigate to a place I wanted to go to in strange city I had never been to before. GPS devices like mine aren't perfect, but they are awesome for stuff like this. I really only went there to get a Perl Grey brooch for my Celtic Cardigan,
but there was such beautiful yarn there that I ended up buying this
and this
and I was lucky to get out of there just with that damage to credit card. That place was dangerous, and the whole part of the city where it was located looked like a great place to hang out. Lots of cool little shops and yummy ethnic restaurants. It reminded me of some the neighborhoods I used to explore in Portland, OR. Who woulda thunk I'd find that in Richmond.

I made it home at 9PM and was so tired that I had to spend the whole next day knitting on the couch to recover. What a shame :)

Spinning News: Darcy and I have set a date next Sunday for her to start teaching me how to spin...YAY...YAY...YAY!

Monday, November 12, 2007

learn to spin?...me?...WOW!

I went to a party tonight at my friend Katherine's. Katherine is awesome and hilarious and does not censor herself, which I love. She also tends to give me crap about knitting in her presence because she's convinced that I'm not actually paying attention unless I'm looking at her. If you knit, you know that you can actually pay better attention to people if you are doing some straightforward knitting because you are less fidgety. Complex knitting is more distracting, but if I'm doing stockinette or garter stitch I can totally focus on what's going on around me.

So, at Katherine's, I met this incredibly cool woman named Darcy Whitlock who has been knitting and spinning for years and offered to show me how to spin...weeeee....I am so darn excited and hope hope hope we have time to meet and have lessons before I move. Darcy also has lots of other fascinating interests like 18th century reenactments, etc that make me wish I had met her earlier, but at least I met her now.

As with house painting, and most other things, I am fully prepared to suck at spinning when I get started, but hopefully, it will be learnable and as addictively cool as knitting. It seems to have so much potential...I'll keep updating my progress.

Eye Infection, Procrastination, and Craziness

My last day in Starkville (wed.) was made much more stressful and a lot more painful by an awful eye infection. It totally sucked and made it really difficult (i.e. dropping to the floor in screeching pain) to put contacts in. Yeah, I know I probably shouldn't have put contacts in at all, but I am stubborn and hate wearing my glasses when I exercise or do highway driving.

It also didn't help that Mark was absolutely baffled by how to help me so he kinda walked around the apartment looking at me funny. I know there's nothing he could do, but nothing makes you feel like more of a freak than someone else's freaked-out reaction

My eye hurt so much and was so hard to deal with that I thought I might not be able to make the drive on Wednesday, even though I knew I had to...so I sucked it up and made it here (to Blacksburg) in 9 hours with three gas stops.

I was so excited to be home that I immediately started winding my new Fleece Artist Scotian Silk for my Celtic Cardigan at 10:30 at night...weeeeee...I forgot how much fun it is to knit with thicker yarns. I don't have 7mm needles so I'm using my US 10.5/6.5mm, but I think it will block out to approximately the same size. I'm almost done with the back.



I haven't made any sweaters before and this is a great first cardigan because the sewing up at the end is minimal. I'm loving it! Yes, I should be getting ready for the move, but if you are going to procrastinate, what a fun way to do it.

I also have decided that I'm a bit on the crazy side of the spectrum. I went to a great potluck on Saturday night with a bunch of people that were new to me, interesting, and definitely fun to talk to. Somehow the subject of football came up, and they all voiced their disdain for spectator sports. Me, in crazy mode, explained how great football is because it goes so well with knitting. There is so much stopping and starting that you can get plenty done and still keep up with the action. I think they were amused, but certainly not convinced. I think one women was intrigued by my handknitted socks though...I am always looking for a new potential addict...kinda like a drug pusher, but a little healthier.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Recovering

Yesterday we painted our freakin' huge living room and hallway and I had a bit of a meltdown. Despite my checking the color in the room where it would be painted, it still turned out darker than expected. I'm okay with it although I haven't been over there yet today to see how dark it is now...yikes. It also looks down right odd in the hallway where the florescent light hits it...Yeah, I know to check these things beforehand, but I swear I looked at it in all lighting and settings. The hallway bugs me so much I may end up bugging Mark to change the fixture in there. Maybe, I'll get used to it...

Here is a Pic
Between the color and the fact that for some reason this paint was much drippier than the paint we used two freakin' days ago...I had a bad night. Mark can also work for much longer stretches without food by which time I get irrational, and cranky and start feeling like a 4 year old having a tantrum.

So this morning, I'm doing some work for my real job, a little knitting, and just staying away from the house until I feel better. I'm also going to yoga which will help (aaaahhh yoga!). You know you've had a hard a couple of days when you get home at night and you are too tired to even pick up your knitting, no matter how much you wanted to...ugh.

Tomorrow, I head back to Blacksburg to start packing up the rest of our stuff...bigger ugh! More knitting therapy will be needed in larger doses to get through this.

Friday, November 2, 2007

Yarn Therapy

So, my suspicions are confirmed and house painting is tedious and has bit of a learning curve, but it is totally worth it. We have one room done (the lovely peachy colored laundry room - the color is actually called 'Fragrant Coriander' - great name for a beautiful color)
and we have learned tons in the process (besides the fact that I really do suck and am a complete klutz). I am getting better - actually we both (my husband, Mark and I) are. Granted, it would be really sad if we actually got worse since neither of us had ever painted before.

In the mean time, I received 2 different yarn deliveries:

1) On Thursday, I received the first delivery from the Griffin Yarn Sock Club which I will not post a picture of yet, just in case someone from the sock club happens to see this (not likely) and hasn't received their delivery yet.

2) On Friday I received some bargain discontinued lace weight yarn from Knitpicks...how could I resist ordering enough yarn to make a shawl for 10 freakin' dollars. Granted, $10 and 10 bazillion hours of my life, but soooo worth it! I have a pattern, but I think I'm going to make one up instead using one of the lace patterns from Barbara Walker's 'A Treasury of Knitting Patterns' (her first of 4 volumes).


I don't have the correct needles here (they are still at my apt. in VA) or the time to get either of these yarns casted on for their respective projects (must paint house), but just receiving the yarn totally cheered me up. Yay, yarn! I was so excited, that I've decided that in addition to my standard forms of therapy (running, yoga, knitting, and chocolate), magical yarn deliveries have some very therapeutic effects....soooo I joined another Sock Club. Fortunately, my husband is cool with this.

This second club (the Rockin' Sock Club organized by Blue Moon Fiber Arts) is one I've been lusting (yes, lusting) to join because I've been reading about their gorgeous yarns and patterns for the past few months. The ever hilarious 'yarn harlot' mentions them often. The Griffin Sock Club is closed but I think this one is still open, if you happen to read this, can afford to join, and need yarn therapy as much as I do right now. I'll say it again...YAY YARN!

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

COLORS!

I love colors! One of the reasons I have become such a knitting junkie is because there are so many beautiful hand dyed colors. Like many others, the phenomena of the yarn magically changing color as it passes through my hands (i.e. self-striping or variegated) is more than enough to keep me entertained for hours.

I'll admit, that I also love how yarn feels and how knitted material feels. Seeing and feeling how each new yarn behaves with each new pattern is definitely part of the fun...but the colors are a big part of it.

For the past week, I've been getting to play with colors without the yarn. We've just bought our very first house (We closed yesterday!) and now we get to paint it lots of pretty colors; sage green for the living room; a cranberry color in the kitchen; a bright light peachy color for the laundry room; a creamy coffee color for the dining room; a deep smoky blue in one bedroom; a smoky plum in another; and a dusty brick color in the third...Ok, I'll stop now, but I could go on and on and on. Tomorrow, after weeks of deciding, we're taking the plunge and buying the paint. Weeeee!

Having never painted before, I'm doing lots a reading, but I'm still prepared to SUCK and have to do stuff over. Fortunately, my husband and then later his dad, will hopefully help me suck less and get more done. Yay color! Yay non-white walls! I'll post pix when we're done.

PS I almost forgot...Happy Halloween! No trick-or-treaters visited our temporary apartment which is a bummer, cuz I bought a good amount of yummy chocolate candy that is now calling my name from across the room. I also got a bundle of baby pumpkins cuz they were too cute to pass up.

That's my toe (in my favorite hand-knit slipper sox) added for scale. I'm talking tiny pumpkins!

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

long trip = lots o' knitting

I travel quite a bit for work, which usually consists of a flight or two to some small airport in the Northeast, renting a car, meeting with people from the National Park Service and then going home. This kind of travel is one of the reasons I love to knit. With flights and connections, there is tons and tons of time and since I'm not flying the plane, my only jobs are to manage my carry-on luggage (I hate checking bags) and to knit. Whenever I am sitting on a plane, I always wonder why more people don't knit. Sometimes, on these flights I have to prepare for whatever meeting I am heading to, but that never takes too long.

If my husband and I are traveling together, however, I'm just as content to go by car because he likes to do all of the driving and I like to do all of the knitting. In fact, if he isn't driving he gets bored and restless (the way I used to get before I discovered knitting). I offered to teach him to knit, but since that's not gonna happen anytime soon we are both quite content with our respective road trip roles.

Yesterday we drove to Starkville, MS (approx. 10 hours from Blacksburg) and I almost finished my second monkey sock. We also just got satellite radio in our car which is great because the stations available as you drive here are...uh...limited (with the exception of the fantastic college radio station in Chattanooga) So we listened to NPR and BBC news and I knitted to my little hearts content. As much as I am completely overwhelmed by the prospect of moving to Starkville, I am consoled by the prospect of many many long drives in my future with lots of hours of happy knitting.

We close on our house today...more about that to come.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Back online and driving to MS

I took my blog offline for awhile, but now that our move is imminent, I feel like it's time to start it back up.

We're driving down to Mississippi tomorrow to close on our brand new house which is one of the cooler aspects of being uprooted and dropped down into the deep south like a cold weather plant suddenly being transplanted into to a tropical climate. I know exactly how that poor plant feels.

Starkville is fine and everybody there is incredibly friendly. Unfortunately, I'm from the north and that much friendliness is completely strange to me. I have my running and knitting and chocolate to keep me sane, in no particular order. More to come on the adventures of an uprooted Yankee in the deep deep south (too much deeper and you'll end up off the Gulf Coast)

OTN at the moment: Three (yes 3!!!) pairs of socks:

(Yes I did finish that pair mentioned in my original post and I love wearing them which is why I am a full on sock junkie at the moment. I'll post a pic of me wearing them soon)

1 pair for my friend, Kerry, who doesn't know she's getting them. Hopefully she won't discover this blog until after Thanksgiving when I give them to her. These are the Monkey socks from Knitty.com that many people are making because the pattern is so darn pretty. I'm making them with Koigu KPPPM which is so much fun to knit with and also so darn pretty.

Progress to date: 1.75 socks completed - Almost done!



1 pair for my husband, Mark, made with Schaeffer-Anne that I got at my soon-to-be LYS in Columbus, MS. Mark picked out the yarn so he has no excuse for not liking them. The yarn is beautiful, BUT I opted to knit them in plain stockinette with no stitch pattern. I gotta admit that they are a little monotonous to knit, but the first one fits him perfectly.

Progress to date: 1.01 socks completed - 2nd sock casted on and a few rounds done. Just getting that 2nd sock casted on is half the battle.



1 pair just for me knitted with Knitpicks Essential Sock yarn (Tuscany Multi) which I'm really excited about because a) I taught myself to knit using 2 circulars and b) developed a pattern myself which I really like. I adopted it from the Thuja socks on Knitty.com to be used with finer gauge yarn (2.5mm needles) and a 2x2 rib/6x2 rib. The seed stitch rib kinda looks like a knitted zipper which I'm really happy with.

Progress to date: 0.65 socks completed. I'm past the heel on the first sock, but this pair will take longer since I really want to get the two pairs above done and I have lot else on my plate at the moment like this pesky move!



Alright, that's more than enough for a good restart to my blog/place to vent/therapy...

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Starting a blog about ...

I've been inspired to start a blog of my very own. At least in part because I'm resigned to the fact that I have to move to Mississippi. I've been living in Blacksburg, VA since 2001 and absolutely love it here. My mom, a true New Yorker, is baffled at how anyone could live in a rural town in the south. If you live here, however, you know that Blacksburg really isn't that far south, geographically or in attitude. Yes, Blacksburg is rural-ish, but it's also a college town so there are decent restaurants and 2, yes 2 health food stores and plenty of diversity.

Blacksburg is also surrounded by mountains and caves so if you like to go hiking or caving (which I love), there is plenty to do. I'm not much of a bar/club person (actually, not at all). My idea of a great weekend is camping in a cow field with a bunch of my caver friends, drinking margaritas, and hanging out by a ridiculously large bonfire. Definitely not an urban activity, but if you've done it, you know how fun this can be.

Unfortunately, my time in Blacksburg (paradise) is about to end for the time being. Mark, my husband, and I both have received good job offers in Starkville, Mississippi. Yes, good job offers using our degrees are something to be proud of, but we really don't want to leave here. Even worse, we definitely don't want to move farther south. We're going to Mississippi this weekend to check out Starkville and the neighboring town, Columbus. Hopefully we will like it more than we think. There are no mountains or caves or hundreds of cavers to hang out with in the Starkville area so it's already at huge disadvantage. I'm hoping for the best ( and expecting the worst).

One of the things that keeps me sane through all of this is knitting. Blogging about my knitting and my ongoing adventures moving to and living in Mississippi MAY help keep me from losing my mind. I guess we'll see.

Now that I've started this, I can show off my latest, in progress, creation which is my first pair of socks made with real sock yarn. I've made socks
before, but they were more like slippers made with with much thicker yarns. These are are genuine patterned socks knitted with fingering weight handpainted yarn and size 1 needles. I know veteran knitters won't be impressed by this, but my novice knitter friends are and I'm excited because they look so pretty:
Cool, huh? I've only just started the second one. The first progressed pretty slowly, but I think the second one will go much quicker, cuz I've learned so much from knitting the first. If you're interested, the pattern is called 'Handpaint Highlights Socks' and is from a book called One Skein Wonders, edited by Judith Durant, which is one of my favorite books. I'm definitely developing a sock fetish and just ordered a few more sock knitting needles and more yarn so that I have more options for more socks. By the way, I linked to Amazon so that you can check out the book for yourself, but I definitely prefer supporting local bookstores and yarn stores if possible.