Socks that Rock yarn + Quidditch 2

So, I got my order from Blue Moon Fiber Arts today. I had ordered 3 skeins of yarn- 1 skein of 24 karat, 1 skein of Mustang Sally, and 1 skein of lover's leap- 2 reds because I wasn't sure which one would be best for a Gryff sock kit. Turns out Mustang Sally was, because Lover's Leap was (as I suspected but wasn't quite sure) definitely more pink than red. But it worked out- I have a skein of STR to call my own. OH, yes, all were STR Lightweight.

Yum. The yarn is really lovely, and I wish I didn't have to send off the Gryffindor colored skeins. Also, for anyone who's wondering- 24 Karat and Mustang Sally are PERFECT Gryffindor colors. I'm also working on the bag (I plan to have everything sent out on MONDAY of next week I'm just waiting for a few things to come in the mail and I have mostly everything all set) and not making it in Gryffindor colors this time, but using some earthy Crystal Palace Taos instead. Good times.



Sock Kit Swap 2 Quidditch Trivia Round 2
1. What did Mrs. Weasley make to eat the first night that Harry arrived at Grimmauld Place?
Stew

2. When the children are de-Doxying the curtains what lunch does Mrs. Weasley say she will bring them?
Sandwiches

3. When Hermione arranges to meet Rita Skeeter in "The Three Broomsticks", what is Luna Lovegood eating?
A cocktail onion

4. The wizard bank Gringotts is located hundreds of miles below London, deep under the Underground. Due to this, what does Hagrid say you are mostly likely to die of even if you manage to break into one of the vaults?
Hunger

5. True or False: In "Sorcerer's Stone", when asked by Harry what the difference is between stalagmites and stalactites, Hagrid's answer is: "A stalactite grows down from the ceiling. A stalagmite grows up from the floor."
False

6. In "Prisoner of Azkaban", Harry meets Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic, at the Leaky Cauldron when getting off the Knight Bus. Fudge takes him inside and sits him down to have a "chat" with him about blowing up his aunt Marge. Fudge says that everything has been repaired and that the Dursleys are prepared to take him back next summer on what condition?
That he spend the Christmas and Easter holidays at Hogwarts

7. In "Prisoner of Azkaban", Harry spends time every day gazing longingly at his dream broom, the Firebolt. The first day he ever saw it, Harry overheard the owner of Quality Quidditch Supplies telling everyone that which National Quidditch team had just placed an order for seven of them?
Irish International Side

8. Book Three: When Harry is hiding under the table in the three broomsticks what drink does Flitwick order?
Cherry syrup and soda

9. How much do Fred and George bet on Ireland winning and Krum getting the Snitch (Ignore the 5 Galleons for the fake wand)?
37 galleons, 15 sickles, 3 knuts

10. How much does a journey on the Knight Bus (without toothbrush or chocolate) from Magnolia Crescent to London cost?
11 sickles

Picture Scavenger Hunt
(worth 5 house points)
You can either post the pictures on your blog or leave a link so that we may find it.

Fountain from the Ministry of Magic
Quidditch World Cup Campsite
Diagon Alley
The Knight Bus
Flourish and Blotts


In other news, I don't want to go to work tomorrow. Why is my 'weekend' always so short? le sigh.

Quidditch and some Updates

OK, before I start with the "real" updates, I just wanna say- if you haven't already, go get on the invite list for Ravelry. I've been on there for a few weeks now and it's really worth the wait, so get on the list and wait it out. Good stuff.

Lessee.. I've progressed quite a bit on the Moccasin socks for Jeremy, and next time I make them I will add a few more repeats of ribbing but I think they will JUST fit. I am going to make him try them on multiple times as I knit the bottoms so that I'll be sure they fit.

I got my final secret pal package last week (just a tad over deadline but my sp told me and it was just a few days so.. yeah) Thank you Miss Prism. There were a lot of British candies and some harry potter patterns (dark mark illusion scarf and weasley sweater cell cozy. And some green/black lamb's pride worsted for the scarf. I ate most of the candy, and I'm too lazy to take pics right now (God my job is exhasuting) but eventually, some day, I'll take pics of the patterns and the yarn.

I ended up with the same person to spoil for the Hogwarts Sock Kit Swap 2 so I'm devising a new bag strategy for that, and the yarn has FINALLY Shipped so I should be able to get it out next Monday and beat the deadline. Whew! 1 month is not a lot of time, even though I get things done quickly!

quidditch round 1 stuff
1. "What happens if I wave my wand and nothing happens?" "Throw it away and punch him on the nose." Which two people are talking?

2."If he raided our house he'd have to put himself under arrest." Who say this?

3. When sitting on the wall next to Professor Dumbledore at the beginning of the book, who does Professor McGonagall bet was the wizard responsible for the shooting stars seen by Muggles over Kent?
Dedalus Diggle

4. Known by the students as Nearly Headless Nick, what was Nick's actual name?
Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington

5. When venturing into the Dark Forest with Hagrid for their detention, who is the first centaur Harry and Hermione see?
Ronan

6. We know that Parvati Patil was sorted into Gryffindor house, but what house was her twin Padma sorted into?
Ravenclaw

7. What colour do the flames turn when you use Floo powder?
Emerald green

8. What colour tie was Cornelius Fudge wearing when he came to take Hagrid to Azkaban?
Scarlet

9. After running away from the Dursley's, Harry took up a room at the Leaky Cauldron. What number room did he stay in?
11

10. While Ron, Hermione, and his other classmates are in Hogsmeade, Harry stops in for a chat with Professor Lupin. What did Lupin tell Harry he had just taken delivery of for their next lesson?
Grindylows

Picture Scavenger Hunt
The pictures can either be posted on your blog or you can link to them from your blog.

Harry's Aunt
Whomping Willow
Cornelius Fudge
Buckbeak
Emma Watson
Whew!



Lessee.. I can't think of anything else right now, but I'll post more if I do.

Promo

1. What Hogwarts house have you been sorted into?
Hufflepuff

2. Shoe size? Foot length? Foot circumference?
Um.. I guess it'd be a Womens 10.5 WWW But here's the specs: 10 inches long, 11" circumference at top of toes 12.5 at top of foot, and ankle is 13inches.

3. List your three favorite sock yarns.
a. Koigu (KPPPM)
b. Trekking
c. Opal

4. Would you like to try a new brand of sock yarn? If so, which brand?
I would probably most prefer a new brand- any of the following would be MORE than awesome: STR, Chewy Spaghetti, Fleece artist (espcially the sea wool), Tofuttsies, Zen String, Scarlet Fleece. I'm open to anything pretty and good quality.

Probably best to not get me any knitpicks sock yarns, though. I have pretty much every color that's there.

5. Do you prefer variegated or solid sock yarn?
Variegated all the way. Solid is nice, too, though. My favorite is the varied solids of 1 color- you know, where the color is all the same but varied, like the kettledyed stuff from handpaintedyarn.com

6. What colors would you like to add to your sock yarn stash?
Any colors. I'm especially fond of the ROYGBIV rainbow, but not especially fond of any other "rainbow" combinations, so if it claims to be rainbow but doesn't have ROYGBIV, i probably won't like it. Also not a huge fan of pastels, but pretty much anything else i'll love.

7. What kind of sock patterns do you gravitate toward? Lace? Ribbed? Fair Isle?
Anything that ISN'T fair isle

8. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, animals, etc.)
None, but dislike smoke.

9. Will your socks be exposed to cigarette smoke or animals as you knit them?
They only animal they will be exposed to will be ME. lol. I wash and block before sending though so none of my long falling out hairs will get in.

10. Are you willing to have an international Hogwarts Sock Pal?
I'd rather not.
Now onto the fun stuff...



Sign-ups for the swap start on July 14th and it's totally going to be worth it. You should ALL sign up. Basically, what you do is knit a pair of socks for someone else, and if this is your first time participating (you should already know about the swap if it isn't) then you'll be sending along with that knitted pair of socks (In your buddy's house colors) & a set of sock needles as well as a set of stitch markers.

"Second years," though (and this is my favorite part) since they already have participated in the swap and have this stuff already, get to send sock yarn and a pattern instead, because they already got the first stuff. How great is that? How many swaps even pay attention to that? Yay!

EDIT to ADD: Second years also send bookmarks. Woohoo!

You do have to do a little extra, and if you're planning on signing up come July 14 pay attention- 1, you have to visit the Hogwarts Name Generator (or come up with your own Hogwarts name, like I did) and get a name. Then you need to create an email address containing that name (I got a gmail one with Holly Heathertoes in it). Then you determine what house you're in (Hufflepuff here), and then you email the headmistress your necessary information. A little more work than last time but still pretty simple and totally worth it to participate in a superfun swap. I know I'm really looking forward to it.

So go SIGN UP!

Sock Yarns

I ordered some more yarn from Lazy Perry Ranch, and it came today. All I can say is wow.
. Seriously, the color? SO much more amazing than I could even imagine. Their picture did NOT do the yarn justice. You can see the listing here. Their picture, as you can see, doesn't do the yarn justice AT ALL.

Now, since I get an awful lot of sock yarn, I've been noticing there's a vast difference between thicknesses of brands. For example, Lion Brand Magic stripes is really thick, and Opal can be a little bit on the thick side as well. Koigu is a bit thick too, and KnitPicks sock yarns are at what I consider the "Perfect" thickness. Now, there are some sock yarns that are very thin. I don't know what base yarn the people on Etsy are using, but there seems to be this 2 ply sock yarn (I'm pretty sure it's all the same yarn) that is really loftily spun, so when you knit it into socks it stretches out quite a bit and becomes quite thin. Even just by ball winding. Now I thought it was just thin, but today when my yarn came from Lazy Perry Ranch, I realized that it's loftily spun, and not inherently thin.


From left to right: Koigu PPPM, KnitPicks Sock Memories, SunnySide Ellen sock yarn (she has now switched to Louet Gems for her base yarn, so she is using the same base as koigu), Rainbow Sock from LPR after winding, Rainbow Sock from LPR pre-winding, KnitPicks Shimmer (lace weight).

Now, as you can see.. there are some discrepancies. Now, the thinner sock yarn- I knit these sock yarns from some from LPR- it's not so bad. It still makes decent socks, and for some people, it might even be better for them because the socks fit better in shoes. But a difference of 10 stitches/inch with the thinner to 8 stitches/inch with the thicker.. that's actually a big difference in knitting time and number of stitches, etc. So I'm kinda stuck. But we'll see. I'm going to wind the Rainbow Sock from LPR really loosely and see if that helps at all. having it in a ball wound on a ballwinder seems to make it stretch more because those are more tightly wound. So we'll see. But it certainly is curious.

Hogwarts Sock Kit Swap TWO

OK everyone, you probably remember my participation in the Hogwarts Sock Kit Swap, right? Well, that's almost over. I got my kit, my partner got her Kit, and everything is peachy. So I'm left a little bored.

What do I do? Sign up for the Hogwarts Sock Kit Swap 2.



Now, you guys, you've got ONE day left to sign up, so if you're thinking about it... DO IT. Seriously. It's fun, and it's actually a super-simple swap. All you need to do is assemble ONE package for your pal including the following things: Sock yarn (in house colors), a bag (knitted, sewn, whatever), a set of house-related stitch markers, a set of sock needles, and a sock pattern. You can then add in whatever goodies you want- I put in some candy for my pal, and my pal sent me a mini sock needle case as well as some Harry Potter candy goodies. (if you want more details on what I got see my previous blog post on what I got.

I actually really love this swap because it's not as involved as Secret Pal. You just send 1 package, and you have a ton of fun making it, and that's it. It's also a tad cheaper. So if you're wanting a swap to do, you love harry potter, or your maybe not up to doing a whole secret pal.. seriously, check this out. It's easy to sign up and there's ONLY ONE DAY LEFT!



PS: You can view my livejournal blog here. I'm going to be trying to keeping the posts on both blogs current so take your pick.

Extreme Rainbow Socks

As you all know, I've been working on the 2-in-1 Socks from Knitty for quite some time, and have finally finished them.. this is my official FO post. Enjoy.


Here we have an innocent looking sock toe...


But there is a hidden secret.. there are actually 2 socks!


And here we have a photo after the heel has been turned.. Still going strong.


Unfortunately.. the socks stagnated at this point for several months. More than half a year, actually.

But now.. they are finished:






Now I'm not going to post the photo itself behind the cut, but while my fiance and I were outside taking the FO photos of the socks, we ran into the cutest kitty that stopped for a petting session and to roll around at our feet.

Details
Pattern: 2-in-1 Socks from Knitty
Yarn: Superwash Merino Sock from Lazy Perry Ranch- note on this yarn: it is a bit THIN. Compared to Koigu or the Knitpicks Sock yarn or even like Opal or similar it's quite thin. I wouldn't even call it sock yarn, but.. it made a pair of socks so it was fine.
Needles: US 00 (because double-knitting tends to knit up looser than normal)
Notes: The pattern was modified to be toe-up, which means that I had to knit the toes separately. This may be considered "cheating" but I didn't feel the need to make this any more 'difficult' than it already was! On the technique of double knitting.. I don't really find it that difficult, but I probably will not knit another pair of socks like this because doing it on small needles in a small round is a total pain in the butt. You get into a rhythm, but it's still a pain and you have to constantly check to make sure you haven't crossed the yarn. In short, doable, something I'm proud to have done, but something I probably won't do again. Also, I wish the rainbow "stripes" on the yarn were more gradually color-changed (it's just an abrupt switch) or maybe in shorter repeats. I still like the socks, however.

Anyway, as a word of encouragement to anyone wanting to do double knitting (I'm an expert now, what with these socks and this headband and the number of other things I've double knit just for the fun of it)- It really is not that hard. Not something you want to try when you're just learning to knit and purl but if you have those two things pretty much grasped and you can hold the yarn in front and in back of your work as you go- just follow the instructions and I promise it'll work. Great beginner project would be the hoover baby blanket. Double knitting DOES NOT have to be done with 2 different colors, or even 2 yarns, so don't let that deter you. It really is super easy- just a bit tedious at times.

edit: as an add-on, I did indeed have to use the fix detailed in the 2-in-1 Socks pattern/article. It basically involves dropping back rows of knitting and then knitting them back up uncrossed. There was also a false start when I crossed the yarn in the toes. But I consider myself an expert in fixing mistakes several rows back so I was OK. Should you take on these socks, just follow the instructions in the article and make sure you haven't actually SWITCHED the two yarns (inside sock and outside sock). If you switched the yarns no amount of tinking back will help. You'll have to rip.

Knitting Musings

Lately I have been wanting to design something, though I am suffering from a distinct lack of inspiration. I've been poring over knitting blogs, magazines, books, and websites and sitting at my desk with pencil and paper in hand, trying desperately to feel inspired.

It just isn't working. I need more.. resources, or something. I don't know what it is. I did discover, after thinking about it rather hard, that I have a thing for knitting accessories. I don't knit sweaters- I surmise, in part, because I am so large that the idea of knitting a sweater for myself is incredibly daunting. On top of this, I really don't know what would fit my body nicely. I know what would fit my ideal body nicely, but me? No idea. So here I am, making myself as many "perfect" pairs of socks as I can (none patterned though I have an itch to make patterned ones, I simply haven't found a yarn I can truly allow myself to be creative with), all the while thinking about making fair isle mittens and drooling over the sheer beauty of Eunny Jang's Blog. What is a girl to do?

Knit lace. If my book would ever get here! I blame my father wholly for this, as I had left three of my dearest knitting books in New York thinking I would be returning for the eating disorder clinic, only to discover that I would have to spend entirely too much money in order to stay there (already scared by the prospect of a summer with people I didn't know, I caved in and cancelled those plans). So now, Knitting On the Edge, Knitting Over the Edge, and A Gathering of Lace are all in New York*, taunting me. I have already asked (no, implored) my father to please send me these three books. I did get 2 packages from him last Saturday- imagine my disappointment when I opened both boxes only to discover that they were mere Christmas presents, not the fountains of inspiration contained in my three beloved books. I have an email from my aunt claiming that he will be sending them, but who knows how long this will take. And before any of you make smart remarks about me borrowing these books from the library- I have already tried! They are not contained in the Great Falls Public Library, and I certainly am not going to spend the $30 per book to purchase another copy of any of them (it gets more tempting each day, though, to buy another Gathering of Lace, every time I see the Frost Flowers & Leaves Shawl that Eunny Jang whipped up. I am simply in love).

What is a girl to do? The 8 knitting books I got for Christmas only served to intensify my desire for these three books. I got A Treasury of Knitting Patterns by Barbara G. Walker, only to discover the very lace pattern used in the shawl I want to make is plastered all over the cover, taunting me. Of course, I could design a shawl of my very own, but why bother, when there is a pattern already so beautifully laid out for me? I lust for sumptuous, shiny, silky lace.

The rainbow socks are losing their appeal. The yarn doesn't really "fade" so much as it stripes in very wide and ungainly rainbow stripes. The finished product will be nice, but not as nice as I would have hoped. They will not be the incredible rainbow masterpieces that I had envisioned. Each stripe is over 3 inches wide! I suppose I will have to break down and just knit striped socks in rainbow colors, but still. Is a rainbow sock yarn so much to ask? I don't think so.

I fell this morning while walking to work. It really really sucked. I have skinned knees and my back is bothering me even more than it was already. Knitting isn't giving me the pleasure it should. I'm lusting after something I can't have, and I am sitting at work with 22 minutes to go and I simply just want to go home, curl up in a big chair (which we don't have) with my knitting. I miss Eco House, and I miss the big chairs, and most of all, I miss my copy of A Gathering of Lace!

*You may wonder why I left some of my favorite books at home. Firstly, there was the fact that those three books would be the ones I would want with me for the summer- then there is the fact that all three are rather large books so it was easier to stomach being without them for a mere 3 weeks than it was to stomach lugging them on the train to Montana and then on the airplane back to New York.

Christmas Meme

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper

2. Real tree or artificial? Used to be real, but no tree now. Someday I want one of those sparkly disco ones- the silver ones.

3. When do you put up the tree? 2 weeks or so before xmas

4. When do you take the tree down? Weeks after christmas, lol

5. Do you like eggnog? Ew!

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Oh god.. Probably one of those knitting machine kit things. You know, the ones that aren't actually "machines" but just big looms. I loved getting craft stuff for Christmas even then.

7. Do you have a nativity scene? No.

8. Hardest person to buy for? Brothers in law

9. Easiest person to buy for? Jeremy

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail, if i send them at all

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Probably the crocheted hanging flowerpot holders from my aunt (it was one of those family gift exchanges so it wasn't for me specifically)

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? I hate christmas movies, but if it counts, Hook.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Right after Christmas last year.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yes. I'm careful not to let anyone know about it but I'd rather give it away to someone who will like it than to keep it and never use it.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Turkey, and when I am with my family, macaroni and cheese.

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Colors- Blue

17. Favorite Christmas song? The one with the figgy pudding

17b. Christmas Song That, When You Hear It, Makes Your Eyes Bleed And Your
Brains Start To Leak Out Your Ears, Because That Is Less Painful Than
Having To Listen To: Most christmas songs

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Depends on where you count home, but not with my family, with my fiance's family.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers? Dasher, dancer, prancer, vixen, comet cupid, donner, blitzen And then there's rudolph. But he doesn't count in my mind.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Usually an angel back home, when I had a tree.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Used to be Christmas Day but since we don't have a tree or anything special we did it on the 23rd this year

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Christmas Crowds, Christmas Movies, and Christmas TV

23. Favorite Christmas Tradition? Homemade macaroni and cheese.

24. Outdoor decorations? No

Fair Isle for Fun

So, I know I don't have pictures of my finished Koigu socks but I am waiting to block them because I want them to look absolutely perfect. I have a bit of a photo series planned ;-) Anyway, right now I'm using that amazing yarn I mentioned to knit a pair of socks X-Treme style. I've had some problems with the technique (see: crossed yarn a couple times) so I had to rip back to the toe (not that I'd gotten that far) and I don't think I'll be making socks like this again because it is kind of a pain in the butt, even if it does give me official knitting goddess status. but the yarn I bought is actually on the thinner side for socks sooo... I need to use the smaller size dpns that I have. Anyway, I decided this morning I wanted to mix it up a bit.




I don't know if I'm making a pair yet (the mitten itself may become some sort of ornament), but I'm working on the "Selbu mitten" from Folk Mittens. It's not exactly what I wanted but its turning out really nice. I can't wait till I get it washed and blocked- I bet they'll turn out great. I don't really do a lot of fair isle and I hate working on dpns to be honest but these are turning out quite good. The purple and the pink is a really good combo (it is KnitPicks Pallete, and I'm thinking about doing this same design with some modifications. I don't realy like the thumb gusset or the thumb design- i'd do the whole gusset in a solid color if it were up to me, you can't see the rest of the thumb obviously but it has a snowflake and I can think of ways to make it look better. I'm also thinking of doing some doubleknit reversible mittens with the snowflake. I need to buy more KnitPicks Pallete. Lol.

PERFECT YARN 2

OK, Anyone remember the last Rainbow Yarn that I found? The perfect one? I found one last night that is even more perfect. The first one I got is a lovely handpaint, but this one is going to become the most perfect pair of socks ever!!




See, I'm already becoming a fan of the seller who makes this yarn. The yarn is a spectrum fade, so the socks will start at one color and then fade all across the spectrum to the next.. HOW FREAKING AWESOME IS THAT? I haven't even got the yarn yet but I'm confident that only the nastiest yarn can ruin the colors this person makes.

The best part? They also have a custom color listing so you can get your OWN colors made (she only charges a $5 deposit which goes on to the final cost of the yarn, which is then charged in increments of 100 yards- read the lsiting if you're interested). If that rainbow one hadn't popped up I probably would have asked for one, but I guess they saved me the work, eh?

I'll let you know how the wool is when I receieve it, because I know not everyone is going to be so enchanged with the colors that they don't care about the wool, but I'm excited.

Koigu Super Saver Sox

finished sockie:




..aaaaaaaaaand a progress shot


My previous post has most of the details on pattern and stuff of these socks, but I'm pretty proud of myself. I was using the stuff I picked up from Simple Socks Plain and Fancy, which is really an excellent book. Totally worth it, and it has a lot of information on estimating sock sizes based on just 1 or 2 measurements! And Mittens too! Plus, she totally advocates toe up socks, which are my FAVORITE. Anyway, I'm only a little way through the toe of teh second sock but I'm just busy doing stuff for and an Etsy secret santa.

I made this a while ago..

Curly Mohair Rainbow Wrap
Originally uploaded by cimorenegal.

But I just got around to taking photos now that I have a dress form. It is made from a kit I got from some place in australia, but I'll be damned if I can remember where the website was... Anyway, it was expensive and it came with like 20+ skeins of yarn all perfectly dyed and it knitted into this huge wrap that is like.. 9 feet long, I swear. Its so good.

Its scratchy but it's really pretty so I don't care. Nothing beats a rainbow. TRULY. Rainbows make you feel happy. And just in case you're wondering about the sudden rash of posts, its because of susan. She has inspired me. I need to find all my damned books so I can get knitting.. I think my copy of A Gathering of Lace and my Knitting over/on the edge books are all still back in New York. GRR!

Also, I purchased a pattern for the Heere bee Dragone shawl. It's got a weird name but isn't it gorgeous? I'm excited to start it but I'm hoping that my secret pal sends me the perfect silk or silk/wool blend yarn for it. MMM.

"Krafting" in Montana (AKA reason 2002392938 why New York is BETTER than Montana)

So, yesterday was a rather slow, enjoyable day. Lots of crafty ladies over here at N.E.W. but it's all very "Kountry Kraft Korner" here, which makes it hard for me, being the ivy-league educated "hip" twenty-something that I am. Hard to listen to Big Butch Lesbian Lady talk about how HORRIBLY overpriced the local yarn store is and extolling the virtues of the "Pound of Love" yarn you can buy at Walmart on sale at this one certain time of year. Ugh. Expand your horizons and realize that sometimes yarn is expensive because it is nice.

Don't misunderstand- I don't see anything wrong with shopping for cheap acrylic yarn at walmart- I think that cheap acrylic yarn has its place in the world, but talking down about the Local Yarn Store Owner because her stuff is "overpriced" is just close-minded, in my thinking. On top of all that, I haven't seen anything remotely "nice" from any of the ladies around here, unless you like garbage bag holders and novelty yarn scarves, but nothing that is remotely "hip" or even traditional- its all tacky "krafts." It's very uninspiring- I miss being around craftspeople who made things other than fun fur flip flops and furry scarves.

Seriously people, there's a whole other world out there, one where plastic canvas is recongized for the tacky travesty it is and where there are yarns beyond Red Heart Super Saver and Caron Simply Soft. There is a world of traditional knitting, lace and fair isle and loveliness, a world where legwarmers and armwarmers are made from deliciously soft merino wool hand-dyed by people just like you and me. There's a world where socks are like butter on your feet. There's a world where super-detailed counted cross stitch patterns look all the world like stitched paintings of landscapes and animals, a world devoid of cute little teddy bears and tacky 'homemade' looking things. A world where cabled sweaters are made by people and not bought at Old Navy.

Am I snobby for feeling this way? I don't really feel that I'm being snobby but for gods sake people there's more to the world than garter stitch fuzzy scarves and those stupid no-sew fleece blankets! Dammit! Yarn doesn't have to be made out of plastic!

And for god sakes Montana, there is a world where cheddar cheese is not dark orange.

I can't wait to go back to New York. Until then I'll have to comfort myself by looking at gorgeous pictures of pretty knitted things on

Sockles

I started making some socks, these spiral socks using Koigu Painters Pallette Premium Merino and some KnitPicks Gloss. The gloss is so I can get a full pair of socks out of 1 skein of Koigu. Yum. They are super soft too because not only is the Koigu super yummy, the gloss is soft so these socks are gonna be heaven on my feet. I'm sooo excited.

I'll post pictures when I get a chance but they look totally rocking, the Koigu is pink and orange and the gloss is black so its a really great effect. Luff it.

I finally found it- the PERFECT rainbow yarn.

Me LOVING my new yarn
Originally uploaded by cimorenegal.

If you've read my blog for any amount of time you may know that I've been on a mission to find the perfect rainbow-colored yarn for quite some time. In fact, I've failed many times- and the suggestions people give me are always "red Heart mexicana!" which doesn't have the right colors or "Bernat Hot Sox!" which, well, doesn't come in a decent fiber.

But at last, thanks to LavenderSheep on Etsy I have found the perfect yarn, and this yarn is going to be an awesome pair of socks that will be mine... alllll miiiine.

I LUFF IT.