Knitter in Progress

After months of feeling very blah about all my crafting activities, I feel my crafting mojo coming back with a vengeance. I have gone through the house and located all my stitching WIPs. And in the past week I have added four projects to my knitting WIPs. My stitching WIPs are in the sidebar and, as I mentioned before I will be working on those in a rotation--switching up after I finish a page(since they are all multi-page pieces). I have two knitting pieces that are deadline pieces: an afghan and a mitered baby blanket . I have two pieces that are my "travelling" knitting pieces(ie. they fit in my purse and are in the car with me all the time): Rage's socks and the Baktus scarf . Then there are the pieces I added because I like them: Cambridge and Cupcake Mittens . Oh, I also have a pair of socks I would like to start during Socktoberfest :) **All the links above are Ravelry links** I don't want to leave out sewing either. I have a strip quilt and Amy But...

I finally finished my Penguins socks. I started them when they won the Cup(2009) and finished one very quickly and then the dreaded second sock syndrome hit and I worked on the second one sporadically. I thought I could finish them while watching games last season but what I have learned is that I cannot knit a lot during a Pens game--I get too into the game. But they are done now, ready for pre-season which starts at the end of September! I also started another pair of socks for my Grandmother. I'm trying to do them using the magic loop method. I'm not sure my gauge is the same this way but I am getting the hang of it. In other news, I started a third round of P90X when my kiddos started school in August and I have finished the first month, starting the second this week. I just love P90X even though it is sometimes a pain to make the time to workout everyday--the results are more than worth it. Speaking of which, I need to go workout now.

I have started, and restarted, and restarted, and restarted this pair of socks too many times to count. I have finally finished the first one. I branched out and learned magic loop for this one and I learned a new toe up Cast-On. I followed the pattern exactly and they are just a little bit too long in the foot BUT I am not ripping it out. This yarn is sticky and knots easily. The pattern was fun as it is a departure from traditional sock structure. On to number 2! Stats: Needle: 1.5 40" circular Yarn: Noro Silk Garden Sock Pattern: Skew from Knitty

I've been working on some baby knits for my friend Sam's upcoming arrival. We had her shower yesterday so now I can unveil the the socks and hats I knit for her little one. The pattern is a personal baby sock pattern and I used a few yarns: Dream in Color Smooshy, Pagewood Farms, ShiBui sock, and Socks that Rock. These are too cute and very quick knits. It is the Handle pattern by Larissa Brown; I found it on Ravelry. I used Jitterbug and Opal Harry Potter yarn. I also bought her a few other store bought gifties. Now we just need to wait for the little one to arrive!

I finished two socks in October. One I posted about the other day and the second is right here: I also started another sock(nothing like having three pairs going on at the same time). It is the Braided Gem sock from Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarn. I like the pattern but the yarn is another story. It's Mini Mochi from Crystal Palace. It's really soft and the color is stunning but it is a nightmare to work with. It splits, it has knots, and it is almost impossible to rip out.

Or DKB for short. I started this last weekend at Camp. Some changes I've made: **I knit the body in the round **I'm knitting the arms/legs with i-cord I'm using some Knit PIcks palette yarn in Tan. These are A LOT smaller than I thought they would be. If you're looking for a bigger doll, make sure you use a heavier weight of yarn.

I started(actually restarted for the fourth time)a pair of socks over the weekend. I had been wanting to try making a pair of socks using the Fibonacci stripe method and I thought doing a pair in Pens colors would be perfect. So my dilemma has been whether or not I need to cut the yarn between the bigger stripes--hence the multiple restarts. I finally ended up with cutting the yarn before each repeat of eight(I'm doing stripes in the following order: 2, 3, 5, 8, 1) and even spreading it out that much is going to leave a boatload of ends to weave in so this will probably be my first and last pair of Fibonacci striped socks ;) I thought about doing jogless stripes and then decided I didn't feel like adding that into the mix. Now that I have a pattern down, it makes nice mindless knitting.

now that the Playoffs and Finals are over. It was very difficult for me to knit during Pens games--I get more than a little distracted while I'm cheering on my boys. I've turned the heel on this Rick sock(from Sock Innovation by Cookie A) and I'm surprised and pleased with how this colorway is knitting up. I really wasn't sure how the colors in this yarn would work with this pattern considering that most of the time variegation tends to eat up any pattern but so far so good. I really like the pattern too; honestly, I like just about all the patterns in that book(even with all the errata). It may be the only knitting book where I actually knit every pattern in it.

Since I finished my Kai-Mei socks, I need something else to keep my fingers busy during my Pens games. I started another pair of socks from the Sock Innovation book. Originally I was going to use Mini Mochi yarn BUT it was not working out at all. The yarn is too fuzzy and loosely spun to work for socks like these. So I pulled out some Red Rocks Fiberworks yarn and now I'm in business. I wasn't sure about the pattern showing up with this yarn but I like the way it's knitting up. Stats: Pattern: Rick, Sock Innovation Needles: size 2 dpns Yarn: Red Rocks Fiberworks

I have been working on a pair of socks while I have been watching the Pittsburgh Penguins play in the NHL playoffs. The Pens are ahead in their series 3-1 and they only need to win one more game to make it through the first round(they have 3 games left to do that) and I have finished one sock and have one to go as well :) I really love how this sock doesn't start the lace pattern until after you turn the heel. I think the whole design of it is inspired although I will admit that it required me to let go of my traditional sock knitting tendencies and just follow the pattern. It gets very interesting after you turn the heel. Oh, it's the Kai-Mei sock from Cookie A's new book.

The hockey playoffs are upon us and I need something do keep my hands busy while I'm watching my Pens play so I started this: Kai-Mei sock from Cookie A's new book. I love the construction of this and I can't wait to see how it turns out. Pens won last night and it was my favorite kind of win--they took the lead and kept it the whole time. Lets Go Pens!!!!!!!!

The mystery project is coming along nicely and now it should be a little more obvious what it is: It's a Funky Monkey from Blue Moon Fiber Arts.

My knitting crew gave me a gift certificate to Colorful Yarns for my birthday in February and I used it towards this: 10 skeins of Dream in Color Classy in Black Parade destined to become Cassidy .

1. Diva's Fingerless gloves 2. 2.5 Barn Raising squares(pictured one in my leftover Clapotis yarn and one in my Three Irish Girls yarn which also doubles as a project towards Project Spectrum 4).

I'm not telling you what it is yet, because I'm not entirely sure that I'm going to keep going with it. It's made with Socks that Rock and it's not a sock or a Barn Raising square. More to come. . .

A while back I made myself a pair of Bella's Fingerless Gloves . Well, Little Diva latched right onto those and informed me that she wanted a pair too. Now I made mine with Knit Picks Merino style--Little Diva, living up to her name, picked Blue Sky Alpaca Silk in a hot pink. At first I thought I'd knit them with smaller needles since: (A) Diva's hands are fairly small and (B) the gauge for the yarn is smaller. So I knit this yesterday: That glove fit her fine but I really wasn't pleased with it. So I decided that I would try to double the yarn and knit it again(which I did this afternoon). Much better: This yarn is yummy. So soft, so silky. If they weren't pink I might keep them myself ;) Now I just need to finish the twin(or triplet if you consider that the next one will be the third I knit for this "pair").

Finally a finish. Clapotis: Yarn: Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Rosehips Needles: size 6 Pattern: seriously, who doesn't know where to find this pattern? Knitty , for the non-knitters out there.

At the Mystery WiP: It's Cascade 220/size 5 dpns and that's all I'm saying about it right now(because the recipient has been known to stop here once in a while). :) **************************************** P90XLean--Day 16: Plyometrics This is the only cardio workout in this series that I like and I don't just like it I.LOVE.IT!! It's hard but in a good way. You bust your A$$ in this one. I burned 543 calories today during that hour.

Diva's winter hat is done. It's Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in Bittersweet, size 4 needles. The pattern is from Ann Budd's Knitters Handy Book of Patterns Now onto Rage's hat. It's Cascade 220 Heathers in orange, size 8 needles. Same pattern.

I need to get some mittens and hats made for Diva and Rage. Diva's hat is on the needles right now. Diva chose some Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in the Bittersweet colorway. I'm on the homestretch with this hat then it will be on to Rage's Road Cone Orange hat. ******************** Last night we went over to our neighbor's to watch the unrated version of Step Brothers . That movie is hysterical and all the of the deleted scenes and the gag reel are well worth the price of the two disc DVD. John C. Riley's character, Dale, reminds me WAY too much of my own son, Rage.