Saturday, August 23, 2008

Absolutely Addicted to Ravelry

If you are a knitter, or a crocheter (is that what people who crochet call themselves?) or a spinner or a weaver, or anyone who likes to play with yarn in any way, Ravelry is hugely addictive. I have to admit that that is my most recent excuse for being a slacker blogger...(I have so many excuses).

Seriously though, if you take Facebook and Wikipedia and Yarn and mix them together, you get Ravelry. If you bother to read my blog and you like to play with yarn, go there now and sign up...the current waiting time for invite once you sign up is only 3 days...I spend way too much time there these days checking out new patterns ideas and looking at other peoples projects.

Monday, August 11, 2008

not gumdrops, not rocks...

Peacock feathers! That's what this pattern looks like. Here's a closeup of the pattern:
During our drive here (to Holden Beach, NC) on Saturday I drove a little to help out but mostly just knitted and knitted and knitted. I got past the heel and on to the foot before we pulled in.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this heel! I've never done a garter stitch heel before and am now a huge fan.

Yesterday, I cruised along...finished the foot and started the toe before I decided to put it down and give myself a little break. This pattern has a garter toe which is constructed like the short rows heel and then grafted to the sole stitches under the foot...love it.
My plan for today is finish and graft this sock, cast on the second one, make a pie, go for a run and a swim, and actually do some really work from my actual job...hmmm...that's not too ambitious, is it? I wonder which thing might not get done. Mark and I are also scheduled to cook for everyone tonight (we take turns) so as vacation days go, this is a busy one.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

dorky knitting con't

Mark and I are driving to Holden Beach for the annual 'Eisenbies' beach week. I don't really like the beach, but I'm bring plenty of knitting and reading. I just wanted to post a quick 'Ravelympics Dork' update. Here's what I got done on day 1:
The pattern is challenging but fun. I also made my life harder by doing it in the largest size with the smallest needles (80 sts on 2mm needles), but so far I really like how they're turning out. Twelve hours in the car today (UGH!), which means lots and lots of knitting time....good thing I'm bringing plenty of extra projects to the beach with me...wouldn't want to run out of things to knit cuz then I might start twitching and drooling in the corner from withdrawal which might freak Mark's family out a bit.

More updates to come when I can find wifi near the beach (always a challenge!)

Thursday, August 7, 2008

seriously dorky knitting

I will try try try to post regularly...this has been a rough summer so I slacked off. Anyways, tomorrow starts the Olympics which is cool all by itself. It's made even more fun because it brings all the knitting dorks like me out of their little hidey holes to "compete". Ravelry, the online home for all cyber-knitting dorks, has organized the 'Ravelympics' complete with knitting "events" and teams that you can sign up for. You can sign up for as many events as you want. Each event corresponds to a project (or group of projects) that you intend to start during the open ceremony (tomorrow) and finish before the closing ceremony on August 24th.

No big surprise...I'm in the 'SockPut' and hope to start and finish a pair of socks with a new pattern that I've never tried before. You're allowed to swatch ahead of time (and I did) because that's considered training (See what I mean by dorky?). I'm on the 'Blue Moon' team since I am using their yarn and their pattern.

I'm using July's pattern from the sock club I belong to, Blue Moon Fiber Arts Rockin' Sock Club. This club is great (a little pricey, but worth it) but this month they sent me pastel yarn...YUCKY! Instead, I'm knitting the socks with some cool earthy-muted-variegated yarn called 'Metamorphic':
The sock club dyer seemed excited about experimenting with pastels and I respect her creative urges BUT...not only would I never knit with pastels, I think they are a scourge that should be eradicated from the earth...a little harsh, I know, but I'm allowed to express my true feelings in my own darn blog!

The pattern is called 'Gumdrops', but because I'm using a different yarn, I think the the little knitted circles will look more like tumbling rocks than gumdrops. These will be my tumbling rox sox! (Yep, dorkin' out again)
(You can see the pattern done with the pastel yarn here. This pattern makes the yucky yarn look a little better, but I still wouldn't ever knit with it.)

I'll keep posting on my Olympic Knitting progress for anyone who is dorky enough to care.