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023365.070 3/11/2010018017013012

Mirror mirror on the wall…

oneI did manage to knit the Mirror Sock far enough for my mother-in-law to try it on. I think the large size has not been test knit and I’ve found a few errors but it’s turned out very nicely. Thank goodness I had her try it on because it was a good bit too long and I had to rip back 10 rows. I hope it’s okay now because I didn’t get to the toe until after they’d left for the airport but I”m fairly confident it will be okay.

By special request

left-begunLook! Some knitting I can post about. These are going to be the Mirror Socks for my MIL. I’m using On Your Toes in a heathery blue for easy care. It’s been 3 or 4 years since I knit her a pair of socks and at that time I wasn’t so obsessive about noting measurements so I’m hoping to get this far enough along for a try-on when she’s visiting next week. It’s super easy on the hands and quick to memorize so I think it’s going to be a breeze and a nice break from test knitting.

Thanks Tara!

lootpin-tapemeasurecuffssoup

I got such a nice package from Tara who was sadly unable to join us for the potluck and swap. Didn’t she do a great job on those socks? The yarn is Claudia’s and it’s incredibly soft. She also included a lovely little shawl pin of a type I don’t yet have. I can’t wait to try that out and it’s just in time for shawl season. I’m continually loosing my tape measure and I only have the kind you use for sewing, not a wind up one like this much less a cute little sheepie one. Also included is a new to me scarf pattern and some Blue Sky alpaca merino blend. I’ve been meaning to try some of the blue sky yarns for ages so I’m really looking forward to knitting that up. Debbi brought a delicious ham to the potluck and I managed to score the ham bone at the end of the night so last night I made a delicious bean soup with it. Thanks Tara for such a wonderful swap package. You made a great addition to our little group and I definitely hope you’ll join us again!

Just a swappin’

CarrieCherylChristineDebbiLuciaRuthTaraLast night many socks were swapped. I had to fight to keep my pair but I won in the end by sneaking them onto my feet and not taking them off. A good time was had by all and there was even mention of a next time which made the organizers very happy. I got a wonderful package and it was a real privilege to receive Tara’s second pair of socks knit ever. They deserve their own post tomorrow once I’ve had a chance to take nicer photos of the goodies.

Liang Zhu

002003030When I found out my downstream pal for the fall Silly Sock Swap would be Rose I really thought I would knit something with Lorna’s Laces rainbow yarn because that just screams Rose. I knew I wanted to do butterflies and I’d thought I would use the chart from Sata for that. The rainbow ribbing looked great but the flower motif was getting a bit lost and I didn’t think my color combo would do at all for the butterflies so it was back to the drawing board. I also realized that the butterfly chart wouldn’t wrap around properly since it’s only intended to be on one side of a mitten so I used only the butterfly and charted out a new background for it. There were a lot of adjustments and changes along the way but I’m quite happy with the result (other than the pink yarn bleeding but we won’t talk about that).

036038041It was fun putting a name up top but also risky because if they don’t fit she can’t very easily pass them on to someone else. There’s also a “seam” along the bottom of the foot where I let blue meet in a heavy stripe. They are full of busy pattern and not socks for the meek of spirit so I think they are quite fitting for such an energetic and creative lady.  The name Liang Zhu refers to a tragic Chinese love story along the lines of Romeo and Juliet.

Tuesdays are for fish

6-30-sole-and-beets 6-30-sole Now that we can go to the farmer's market again and the fish vendor has become a regular there, we are eating fish on Tuesdays. This week we asked what was local and bought some delicious sole. We also found some lovely red and golden beets. I was surprised to discover that I really don't like white rice anymore but I made it so that I'd have leftovers to make fried rice for Daniel.

Oops Early in the morning I was knitting just a few rows on the Skyp sock and broke one of my DPNs. Thankfully I have several backups!

and when it rains

6-28-cherry-pie  For the most part, I cook during the week and Jason cooks on the
weekends but there are a few things that are exceptions to the rule.
Jason generally does the grilling (except for pulled pork which is my
dish) and I generally do any pastry type activities. When he decided to
bake a pie this weekend that meant that I did the crust for him. We
don't bake pie very often and I think it shows. I have some crust
shields but I forgot to put them on until quite late. It seems as if
the oven temp in recipes is always too low in our hands so it takes
much longer for the filling to get hot and bubbly. I forgot to make
enough dough for a double crust so we just had some scraps on top
there. All that said, it was really delicious!

Begun I'm also beginning to knit a little bit again. In preparation for knitting with the group again I've cast on a mindless and not secret knitting project. This is Socks that Rock in the Nodding Violets colorway on size one needles. The pattern is Simple Skyp Socks.


Fire on the Mountain at last

Pair Despite greatly rationed knitting time I've managed to finish my pair of Fire on the Mountain socks. I used size 1 needles, Louet Gems in black and Rock Creek Super Soft Sock yarn in Kilauea (which was enough for two pairs of FotM socks). I was using a partial skein of Gems left over from another project and ran out just 5 or 6 rows before the end of the second toe so I finished it up with some Kilauea. I really love these socks and I see them getting a lot of use though sadly I think they will not last terribly long. I'm finding that the Gems yarn doesn't wear well so I suspect I'll eventually have to knit myself a second pair using a sturdier sock yarn- either Lorna's Laces or On Your Toes would do nicely.

Potluck

5-30-winnings 5-30-bark-cloth Two-progress Some very pretty winnings arrived in the mailbox this week. I have no idea what I will knit with these yet but they're soft and very shiny, perhaps another silk kerchief type wrap. We also picked up a piece of Hawaii artwork that was off getting framed. This is a painting done on barkcloth that we picked up during our Hawaiian vacation. There's even a wee bit of knitting going on here and I've finally rounded the corner on my second Fire on the Mountain sock.

Lucky Diamonds

Pair Pair-top No-hole-outside No-hole-inside Yesterday I finished up the last little bit of heel on my second Lucky Diamond sock. This heel turned out much better, no holes! I guess practice really does make perfect.