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03/31/2006
What happened to the FUN in Fun Nation?
Thanks for all your votes and comments concerning the cuff of the Fun Nation socks! Half of you voted for plain stockinette, which was twice as many votes as for both wavy and spirals. My wonderful sockpal 'Itsa Secret' is right, though- doing a different pattern on the top would kind of be too much.
Anyhow, I've got another yarn picked out that I'll do a wavy adaptation with:-)
So last night I worked away on the socks, and there it was. A speck of colour in the yellow stripe. There already was one in the light turquoise, which I tried to ignore, but in the yellow stripe it really catches your eye. WTF?! Just a few rows up, there was another speck.
How can that happen- it's REGIA after all?!
I went to the store where I'd bought it and they gave me a free ball of the yarn, which was great. I'd been afraid they'd ask me to give them my unfinished sock so they could send it in, but they didn't.
Man, this is really bugging me now. These socks really belonged together and I even liked this side better because of how the striping worked out in the heel part. But the specks are bothering me too. Boo-hoo.
13:50 Posted in Socks | Permalink | Comments (3) | Email this
03/29/2006
Adventures in Dyeing...
Umm, okay, I thought I'd give dyeing a try last night. I still had a 50g ball of white Regia Stretch (!) in my stash, and had bought some food dye for coloring easter eggs yesterday, so I wound the ball into a strand, soaked it in water, prepared the dy
e and applied it with a spoon. Then the yarn baked in the oven for an hour and voilà:
you're right- ICK! I don't like the colors and it's just NOT well-made. 
It looks less crappy when wound up into a ball (uh, there is no such thing as a center-pull ball out of stretch yarn)...
But really, I don't care much for this color combo. Oh- I forgot to mention what I had in mind when I started with this project: watermelon stripe yarn. LOL!! I started with the green and reddish-burgundy and kept the white in between the two, but after the first hour in the oven it was just so obvious that neither of the colors were ANYWHERE NEAR a watermelon! So I picked a blue to go with the two, but it's only a tad better than before. Eww. This is what you call 'waste yarn'.
But I've learned.
- I need other dyes than easter egg colors OR learn how to properly mix them. How do you get turqoise from red, yellow, orange, green and blue, tho?
- Using WHITE vinegar instead of brown probably helps when you mix the colors
- when the instructions read 'massage into yarn', really massage
- I was going for STIPES. Those require LONG stretches of the same color. Duhhhh!
14:31 Permalink | Comments (9) | Email this
03/27/2006
Sock Yarn Addicts Club
I just had to join this new KAL;-)
My current stash is worth about 35 pairs of socks. I was a little shocked when I counted the yarn... There's sock yarn stash pix coming up on April 1st!
10:45 Posted in Socks , Stash | Permalink | Comments (3) | Email this
03/26/2006
Need help deciding!
I finally picked up the Fun Nation socks again- the two circs managed to intimidate me for a while, which probably annihilated the 'in between socks' time I thought I was going to save;-). Anyhow, after I've gotten into the groove, the socks really soared on those two circs and I turned both heels. (Those colors in the pic are really off:-()
Now I'm having trouble deciding what to do with the cuff- should I
a) keep doing the stockinette because the stripes are nice all by themselves
b) do an adaptation of the wavy scarf pattern, or
c) do a k3p3 spiral ribbing
Please help me and vote!
15:15 Posted in Socks | Permalink | Comments (8) | Email this
03/25/2006
'insert witty title here'
hey there,
my head is a little empty right now, so I can't even produce a decent title...
Johanna's been sick again and stayed home for most of the week and I've been completely busy dealing with her and I didn't even feel like hanging in front of the screen at night reading blogs. There's a lot to catch up to!
Nevertheless, I've done my share of knitting, first of all trying to make some progress on the little striped raglan sweater. And once again, I was too eager to bind off the body in order to get to the collar and sleeves. When I had Miss J. try on the sweater, it fit her well, but I really need to add 3 more stripes at the bottom so she can wear it more than just a couple of months. (Sorry for all the crappy flash pix in this post!)
Oh, something cool happened last Friday when I took my once-monthly trip to the university library and went to get some coffee afterwards- I ran into this professor Christoph who'd ordered a knitted hat a while ago and who never got back to me. I'd already come up with a design, made a swatch and started the ribbed hem until I decided it'd all just been hot air and ripped it. Well, he said he'd had a major harddrive crash and had lost my e-mail address but still wanted the hat and gave me a little advance payment;-)
So I need some opinions on a little dilemma with my sockapaloooza socks: the second one is quite a bit smaller! 
I'm sure I stuck with the notes I took for the first sock and technically, they must be the same size...at least they should be! It's probably because I freakin' stretched the first one in an attempt to squeeze my foot in it. AAAAAAARRRRRRGGGG!!!!!! I've washed them and dried them flat trying to get them both the same size, but they just went back into the old shape.
Maybe I did a few less rows on the toe... I haven't even counted them yet, as the socks are out of sight in my knitting basket- I need some 'space' before I can get into the problem again. But there's still so much time until we have to send them to our pals, I'm sure I'll figure out a way to make them proper twin socks;-)
19:55 Posted in Baby Stuff , Sockapaloooza | Permalink | Comments (5) | Email this
03/17/2006
Skully Cowboy Knitting Bag
09:40 Permalink | Comments (15) | Email this
03/16/2006
Please melt now.
I'd ordered some Clarks mary janes a couple of days ago and they're already here:-) OKay, these Jaywalkers don't go so great with brown, I think, but imagine some of the Regia Canadian Colors with it, that should look nice.
*NOTE TO HEDI* Und Hedwig, die Schuhe würden Dir auch gefallen, oder? Ich musste gleich an Dich denken:-)
Not like I could wear these shoes any time in the near future, though... As you can see in this progress pic, there's still snow on the ground and most the sideways are still covered with compressed snow and ice.
Last night I finished the Mata Haris for Sockapalooza, no pictures yet though, I gotta run them through the washer. I'm quite happy with how they turned out and I hope they're going to look good on my recipient's feet, but I'm still very nervous about her reactions- will they be 'funky' enough? Will the pattern show well enough to prove it's not just any old plain stockinette?
One thing amazed me, too, was that I still have sooo much yarn left! I could easily knit a third sock of it! That was one economical ball of yarn!
12:26 Permalink | Comments (10) | Email this
03/15/2006
No sandal weather...
So I went shoe shopping yesterday, trying to get into a better mood after a weekend of dealing with a very cranky, screaming and crying toddler and a nightmare of a doctor's visit on monday. THought I needed a treat:-)
Well, I didn't find any shoes because it's kind of difficult to find cool shoes in size 42/US 11. Except men's shoes which I usually wear anyway. No big deal.
Anyhow, I'd put on my Jaywalkers so in case I'd find shoes to show off my handknits in, I'd know if they'd actually fit in the shoe... thought I'd try on these cute sandals at a store- they were too small, but when the sales woman saw my Jaywalkers, she let out a little cry and was really excited about the pattern:-D It's great to encounter others who appreciate a nice handknit sock!
Things are looking up today, too, little miss J. woke up in a better mood and there was no crying this morning, what a relief! My baby girl is back!
12:55 Permalink | Comments (5) | Email this
03/12/2006
Is it spring yet?
Nope- it's been snowing heavily the last couple of days, I haven't seen this much snow up here in a long time.
So I did my best to get into a spring mood:-)
I can't begin to tell you just how much I enjoy knitting with the ultra soft Trekking XXL (color 107)! The colors are perfect for spring! The pattern is as well- it's Pretty Petals by Jeanie Townsend. I definitely need some nice new shoes this spring to show off all of my new socks:-) All I got are hiking boots, sneakers, other boots... oh and the birkies... hehe. This neighborhood is so over people in Birkenstocks, though, I'd be the token hippie around here. Good thing I even baked my own almond honey cinnamon crunchy granola today, hehehe.
10:50 Posted in Socks | Permalink | Comments (8) | Email this
03/10/2006
My 100th post!
Well, HELLO! Today's a little anniversary- my 100th post:-) How much fun this is. I love how this blogging thing turned out for me. It's an amazing and uplifting community and I'm so inspired by all of you!
I spent the last days learning some new techniques, namely knitting 2 socks on 2 circs. I've put off trying it because I never have 2 balls of yarn that I knit with, but the Fun Nation comes in 50g balls. Then the 2 Addi circs I had ordered at Bastel&Hobbykiste (only 4,75 € a pair, btw) arrived, so I went ahead and prepared the second toe, which turned out really well, I think the striping is only about half a row off, so they're going to be twins:-) and put both of the toes on 2 circs. After having figured out how to knit with 2 circs, working two socks at the same time isn't very hard to do, but I'm still kind of slow at it. I'm sure I'll get used to it soon and I will hence break any singleitis spells in the future!
Oh, and I managed to weave all the ends of the Star Sweater, which is now absolutely completed and you can see a picture of the finished piece in the gallery! WOOOO-HOOO!!
11:05 Posted in Blog , Socks | Permalink | Comments (9) | Email this
03/07/2006
Feast your eyes:-)
Okay now, check this out: last week, I left a little comment on Anna's blog who showed a picture of her sock yarn stash and she seemed shocked to hear that I'd never knit with Lorna's Laces before;-) She sent me an e-mail asking me for my mailing address and rushed this envelope with this gorgeous sock yarn to me. A stranger. Lorna's Laces. Can you believe it? That's so amazing and Anna: THANK YOU SO MUCH!! I LOVE THE YARN!! You're so generous! BIIIG HUGGGGS!
There won't be any complaints or pouting from me again concerning eventual disappointments;-) Aaahh, I can't wait to cast on:-)))
13:10 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (10) | Email this
03/06/2006
Oh Canada!
They're here! If I can't travel to Canada right now (due to lack of funds...umm- note to self: BUY LESS YARN!!), I might at least knit Canadian inspired socks, right? That was quick and at 5 Euro a skein and only 1,90 postage on Ebay, this was such a steal!
The River Rapid socks are a wonderful knit- at first I thought it'd be a bit complicated, but after the first pattern repeat, I hardly even had to look at it anymore. That sped up things immensely:
I'm almost ready to turn the heel. Check out how it looks when it's stretched out more: 
As I mentioned, I was a little worried that the yarn was too stripey for the pattern, but I kind of like how it chops up the river, like ripples.
Then late last night, while I was on the phone with my much-missed friend Hedi, I started my first toe-up sock according to Wendy's pattern. By the end of our conversation, I'd finished the toe:-)
Don't recognize the yarn? Well, I HAD to buy it on Saturday at the LYS. It's Regia Nation Color 'Fun' (I'm a member of the fun nation now;-)) One skein was discounted because it was a different dye lot. Couldn't tell a difference. I'd seen a pair of socks Carola made from this colorway, and I wanted to make one as well!
12:45 Posted in Stash | Permalink | Comments (7) | Email this
03/05/2006
New stuff on the needles
Have you noticed there's suddenly a lot of space in my 'on the needles' column? Well I have finished some items and decided to erase the fleamarket yarn vest which is now waiting to be frogged. I still love the yarn, but somehow this is not the right project for it.
A while back I also frogged the Noro ganomy hat that was way too tight and I've started to knit that one again after having acidentally on purpose lost the ugly hat I've been wearing in shame. This is actually the 3rd try I'm having at this hat, the first time I cast on for it again it turned out to be too tight again. I don't know what went wrong when I calculated the gauge...
Another exciting new project are the River Rapids Socks by sockbug in Lana Grossa Meilenweit colortweed color 1004. I'm a little skeptical if the river pattern will turn out as well in this self-striping yarn, but I thought the colours were perfect for it. We'll see.
18:30 Posted in Hats , Socks | Permalink | Comments (3) | Email this
03/04/2006
Could felting me my new knitting?
I forgot to mention that I've been taking a felting class. Well, not really a class, as it's just me and the woman who teaches me. She's one of my mother's customers and offered to teach me at an okay cost. We met for the second time yesterday and I worked on a mug cover that I've been wanting to make for a while. 
It's a really fun process and I love working with all the colors. So far, I've made a flower, an i-pod cozy which is a little too big still, this mug cover and then last night I sat down to make this book cover for a blog friend I still want to send something. She's probably not reading this, so I feel safe to post it. The pink things are supposed to be wings:-)
I hope she will enjoy using this notebook/cover combo for her knitting notes!
Anyhow, as much fun felting is, naw, it's not going to be my new
knitting... nothing beats the portability of knitting projects:-)
On the way to my class yesterday, I did some knitting on the bus and got some interested/confused stares. I really get a kick out of knitting in public looking like the least likely person to knit with my cargo pants and black windstopper jacket and hiking boots. Hehehe.
18:20 Permalink | Comments (3) | Email this
ooh, I'm feeling cheerful now
THey're done. The cheerful socks. Lana Grossa Meilenweit 6fach Fun, Color 302. Plain k3p1 ribbing, 4 mm needles, short row heel, kitchenered toes. Very practical socks. Warm.
You may be able to tell, I'm not very excited about these;-) They're alright and I'll wear them, but not worth raving about. Just a nice in-between stash-busting project.
10:35 Posted in Socks | Permalink | Comments (4) | Email this