I want to drown in sock yarn

I've been in a weird kind of knitting mood these past couple of days (any non-knitter who accidentally stumbled upon my blog probably just left after reading that first sentence).

When I finished my Froot Loop socks, I thought it would be a good idea to work on an UFO so I picked up my Montego Bay scarf, which is a great project for summer knitting since the silk is so light. BUT... I'm just not feeling it. I think the yarn is pretty, but I'm not liking the scarf too much. Granted, I only have a little more than a foot done, and I do think it has the potential to become a very pretty scarf, so I don't want to frog it. But meh. I'm on vacation, I should knit whatever I want!

Problem is, I don't know what I want! I'm really looking forward to the September challenge in the Sock Knitters Anonymous group (Nancy Bush mystery sock!!!), but we're not September yet and I still haven't received my yellow sock yarn (it was sent on Monday so hopefully I'll have it soon). I almost bought a beautiful skein of Tanis Fiber Art in yellow the other day, but I figured I'd wait for what I ordered.

I finally cast on for a pair of Merletto mitts, using homespun yarn that I got as a gift. Let's just say that after a lot of frustration (and yarn that kept on breaking and breaking), I ended up throwing the yarn in the trash. Yeah, I know, I'm bad, I threw away yarn...

After that, I decided I'd knit a pair of plain vanilla socks and I thought it would be cool to use the 2 socks on 2 circs method. I've tried it before, thanks to Karine who helped me figure out how to cast on. Unfortunately, that was a couple of years ago and last night, I just couldn't do it, even though I had the instructions in front of me. It was very frustrating. I ended up casting on using DPNs, but after a few rows, I realized they'd be too small so I frogged. I'll start again later today and *maybe* I will try the 2 socks on 2 circs method again, who knows. I'm using this btw:



I also want to start the Shifting sands scarf (that may or may not become a Christmas gift for my mom) and a pair of Postwar mittens soon.

Oh and I bought Cookie A.'s book!



OMG. I seriously want to knit every single pair of socks in that book. They're just beautiful. I bought it just before watching Julie & Julia, and it really made me want to start a project of knitting all the socks in the book in a year. But then I thought I'm participating in enough challenges as it is. But I do want to knit socks from the book soon.

I'm feeling chatty today. I think this is my longest post ever (ok maybe not, but it feels long. I hope I'm not boring anyone).

When I decided to use DPNs for my plain vanilla socks last night, I thought it would be a good thing to try my Harmony DPNs, since I hadn't had the chance to try them yet. Well guess what? I couldn't find them! I looked everywhere and they are nowhere to be found. I'm so pissed!

But I went through my modest stash while looking for them and it made me realize that I really have a lot of yarn that I'll just never use. Mostly acrylic that I got when I was a brand new knitter. Now I already have a plan to go through my closet sometime next week and get rid of everything that doesn't fit and that I don't like. And I decided I'll do the same with the stash. I don't have much, so it won't be a lot, but it'll be nice to get rid of some stuff that just take some space and that just end up making me feel guilty. We are giving everything to Le chaînon by the way, so we're not trashing anything.

Of course, giving yarn aways means that I'll have some room in my stash... ;) I was on Knitpicks earlier and thought I really should replace those Harmony needles. And then, last thing I knew, some sock yarn jumped in my cart, as well as some Palette yarn for mittens... Eeek! I haven't bought anything yet, it's just all there, sitting in my cart, tempting me. I really do need solid yarn for all the socks I plan to knit, you know...

(Expect a yarn porn post in the next couple of weeks...)

Oh the joy!

I am on vacation Ladies and Gentlemen! I'm just beginning today two weeks of pure bliss, of days filled with nothing but knitting, reading, cooking and... nothing! We have a little trip to Quebec city coming up, but other than that, not much is planned. Chris is going to a bachelor party (no, not his own!) on Saturday and I think I'll spend that day at my mom's. Hopefully, it will still be sunny and I'll get to swim in her pool.

I figured there would be no better way to start my vacation than with a FO, so here you go:



Pattern:Froot Loop by Kristi Geraci (Ravelry Page)
Yarn: Lotus Yarn sock club exclusives. Colourway: Dookie (in honor of the Green Day album of the same name)
Needles: 2.25 mm DPNs
Modifications: None

Yarn jumping in my cart

So it seems I haven't updated since July 22! Yikes! I'd like to blame it on summer, but we've had such bad weather these past few months that I've spent more time inside in front of the computer than I care to admit. I don't know why I haven't been posting. I have been knitting, that's for sure. And shopping.

Every knitter who knows me knows that I don't have a big yarn stash (but Chris would beg to differ). I like to buy yarn, but I don't like having too much. I know this is going to sound weird, but I feel like I can't be creative when I have too much yarn. Whenever I want to start a new project, I feel forced to use the yarn I have. And even when I don't have a project in mind, I feel like I should really try to find patterns to go with the yarn I already have. So I end up not always knitting what I feel like, I'm just knitting to use up the stash, know what I mean? Whereas when I don't have a lot of yarn, I can just pick whatever pattern I choose and go to the yarn store to buy what I need without feeling guilty.

Oh and also, I don't have that much space for a huge yarn stash.

That being said, I've been shopping anyways. It all started when I decided to order blocking mats from Knitpicks. I just didn't want to order from them without getting some yarn too. And since I was in a lace mood, I got a skein of lace yarn.


Knitpicks Gloss lace in Fiesta. Sorry about the blurry pic, I only realized it was blurry once I got it on my computer.

While I was on the site, I looked at the sock yarn and also decided to get this:


Knitpicks Essential Multi (now known as Stoll Multi) in Tucson. Unfortunately, when I bought it, I thought it would stripe. It turns out it pools (at least that's what it looks like on the Ravelry pics). The colours are still pretty though.

A week or two later, I was looking for yarn for a scarf I want to make soon. So I got this from Robyn's Nest:


Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Dark Earth. Sorry again for the blurry pic. Ordered it on a Sunday night, had it in my mailbox on Tuesday morning! Or was it Wednesday? Anyways, it was the quickest transaction ever.

There's more.

I'm a member of the Sock Knitters Anonymous group on Ravelry and I decided I wanted to participate in their Sockdown challenge this year (See the group page for info). I figured I'd challenge myself even more by trying to use yarn from my little sock yarn stash at least for the first few months of the challenge (I had told myself when I started my Froot Loop socks that I'd need to knit 5 pairs before I bought any more sock yarn).

But then I found out the Mystery sock designer for September (first month of the challenge) is Nancy Bush... And that the socks would have to be knit in yellow (solid or semi-solid) to count. I didn't have any yellow in my stash, but dude! A mystery sock by Nancy Bush!

So it looks like I'll soon be the proud owner of a skein of Socks that Rock in 24 carat. I didn't have a choice. The yarn jumped in my cart.

*love*

Have you ever been so enamored with a yarn/pattern combo that you feel you could knit it again and again and again and again...



If I could marry a project, I think I'd marry that one.

Ishbellissima!

Ok I know I haven't blogged in weeks, but that's because I was too busy knitting. That's a good reason, right?

It took me exactly one month to finish my Ishbel shawl.


Here it is pre-blocking.


And here it is drying. You'll notice I chose not to do the pointy lace edging.


Done! Sorry the pics aren't so good. We wanted to go take some outside but it was raining. Of course, now that I'm posting this, the sun is out. Go figure.




I like it as a scarf too.

Pattern: Ishbel, by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: All I know is that it's 100% wool and that it came in a cone. I still have tons of leftovers too.
Needles: US 7 / 4.5 mm
Modifications: I knit the large stockinette/small lace version. It's my first ever finished lace shawl and I love it.

And as I always do when I finish something, I immediately cast on for something else.



I'm making Froot Loop socks, using Lotus yarn. Stay tuned!

Soleil!

Today is the last day of June. Seriously? I'd like for time to please stop flying, I need to catch my breath.

So the weather around here has been less than stellar, but we've had a few nice days here and there. We sure are hoping to see a bit more of the sun in the upcoming months because last weekend, Chris and I decided to buy this:



Isn't it beautiful? See, we have a great terrasse (pictured above) on top of our building. But we never use it because we didn't have a table. Well now we have one and we want to spend some time there this summer so we need sun (of course, the sun is shining as I'm writing this, but it's supposed to rain later today. We'll see).

Ok, enough about the non-knitting content. I have a FO to share!



Sorry I look like a butt on this pic.

Pattern: Parrotfish/Pomatomus hat by Kristy Pedersen
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock Multi in Vera
Needles: US 3 / 3.25 mm (circular + dpns)

I think it's a cute hat. It'll go to my aunt, who has unfortunately lost all of her hair due to chemotherapy. I hope I can give it to her soon.

Can't blog, Must knit.

Hey friends! I'm only taking a few minutes to update on my current WIPs. I'm taking advantage of the fact that I just want to knit (and plan what to knit next) all the time.

I cast on for the Ishbel shawl on June 19 and I'm loving the project, even though the yarn is not the softest I've ever worked with. I think the FO will be beautiful and it's all I care about.



Sorry there isn't much to see yet. I had to set it aside so I can keep working on the Parrotfish/Pomatomus Hat. My aunt is undergoing chemotherapy treatments right now and she's already losing hair. I promised her a hat so I must finish it. I'll probably be visiting my mom this weekend and I want it finished by then. I'm almost done though, I'll get to the decreases in a couple of rows.



Thanks to those of you who complimented my choice of yarn. It's Lorna's Lace Shepherd Sock Multi in Vera. I got one skein during a Secret Pal exchange so I didn't have enough for socks. I'm glad I found a nice hat pattern to use the yarn with!

Startitis

That knitting mojo I've been talking about? Yeah it's back. I've been knitting like a mad woman these past couple of days. I'm getting ready to cast on for Ishbel on Friday, and in the meantime, I've been working on a hat.



It shouldn't take too long to finish.

I've been hit by startitis. I just want to start new projects. I need to control my self. I'm also sick with "Addittomyravelryqueueitis". I want to make lots of cute scarves and shawls even though I know I won't ever have the time to make everything I want. I even added a Christmas stocking to my Ravelry queue! Crazy. I'm already starting to think about what I want to make for Christmas gifts. I think I'm a bit nuts.

Oh... and startitis usually comes with yarn lust so I put in a small order with Knitpicks. Nothing much, just a skein of laceweight and two of sock yarn. I'm reasonnable right? Right?

Phlox that!

Pattern: Phlox socks, by Jennifer Lori.
Yarn: Biscotte & Cie Alexandrite (from Robyn's Nest sock club).
Needles: 2.25 mm (US1) DPN
Note: The cuff looks shorter on one sock. It's just the pic. I'm not really sure what happened there.

I think my sister will like them. Can you believe I have one Christmas gift done already? Woohoo!

Summer!

You know summer is close when Skeins her Way is having her Summer knitting goals contest!

I now consider it a tradition to list my summer knitting goals (even though I've never actually managed to reach all my goals). Anyways, here you go. This summer, I want to knit:

1. The Ishbel shawl, of course.





I'm pretty sure I'm going to use the above yarn (wool from unknown origin, that I got for free when Véronik destashed. Woohoo!)

2. Parrotfish/Pomatomus hat. I actually cast on for it this afternoon, using a skein of Lorna's Lace that I got during a round of Secret Pal. This is going to go to my aunt who'll be undergoing chemotherapy treatments this summer.

3. I'd really like to finish at least one of my UFOs/current WIPs. Believe it or not, I only have three things (not counting the hat) on the needles right now: Cardigan for Merry, Kiri Shawl and the Montego Bay scarf. I'd like to finish one. My money is on the scarf.

4. A pair of socks. I haven't decided on the pattern yet. Froot Loop, perhaps. Or a Nancy Bush pattern? Or Spring Cable? We'll see.

That's it for goals!

In other news, I realized that we can now organize our queue on Ravelry. How long have we been able to do that? I've been using tags for a while so I could just search "socks" when I only want my queued sock patterns, but now we have TABS! How cool! I have almost 300 items in my queue, so I need organization!



See? I now even have a tab for "things I want to knit soon" (Ishbel and Parrotfish are in it). Very practical. Ravelry is the best!

Ps/The Phlox socks are currently blocking! Pics soon!

Lace it up

So Ms Tara advised me to just give in to the lace lust and I'll admit I was tempted, but it wasn't until I got a comment from Robyn that I really got THE CALL.

Robyn casually mentionned hosting an Ishbel knitalong and I, not knowing what I was in for, looked up the pattern on Ravelry.

Instant. love. I want. I need. Must make now.

I can't fight it. I must give in to the call of the lace.

I joined the knitalong and will cast on on June 19. Anyone else want to join? You know you want to...

Twisted

Thanks to everyone who commented on my last post, I really appreciate it. And don't worry, I'm not going anywhere. I like to blog and everyone who read it and comment are people I have come to really care about (even those of you I haven't yet met).

Blogless-Kate and Tara asked which pattern I liked the most in the latest issue of Twist Collective. I like Bernhardt and Uhura. I think Niles and Cleo are the cutest toys Jennie's ever designed (and she makes great toys).

But for some reason, I'm really finding myself drawned to the lace. Aphrodite. Artichaut.

It is weird considering I've never been able to finish the lace shawl I started three years ago. Maybe I should get back to it...

(And I know I promised pics last time, but I really am almost done with the socks and I kind of want to wait until I'm done with them to share. Stay tuned).

I've been blogging for a while

I just realized that this blog will be 5 years old in August. It's crazy! Everything I've ever knit is on there, as well as most of the yarn I've ever bought or received. This past year, I've been writing about non-knitting subjects almost as much as knitting ones, but it remains mainly a knitting blog and I hope I can continue to keep it for a long time.

I do feel, however, that I'm having a hard time keeping things interesting. My life really is pretty boring. I don't have cute kids to take pictures of. And I'm not a really good photographer in the first place anyways. I don't knit as much as I used to and I try not to spend too much money on yarn. So what is there to write about, I'm asking you.

Still, I like to keep the blog. I like the interaction. I like to get comments. I only have a few regular readers, but I appreciate each and every one of them (seriously people. your comments make my day).

All that being said, I am happy to report that I've been knitting more this past week. I finally turned the heel on the second Phlox sock and I frogged and restarted the Montego Bay scarf.

I'm itching to start something new, maybe because the new issue of Twist collective is online and filled with beautiful patterns...

My next post will have a pic of a WIP (or FO, who knows?).

I ♥ NY

I am back from New York! I've actually been back since Tuesday night, I just haven't had the time to blog. I'll also mention that I haven't knit a stitch in more than a week! OMG! Crazy. I should be getting back into it tonight since we're planning on renting a movie so I'll pick my sock back up. No worries! I had brought yarn in New York, but I didn't touch it the whole time I was there.

Ok, so I'm sure you're all dying to know about the trip, right? It was A LOT of fun! I love New York! It's a great city and I definitely plan on going back. We left early Friday morning and we were at Newark Airport quite early (I think around 9). We also got very lucky because our room was ready when we got to the hotel.

Speaking of which, if any of you plan on going to NYC, I could not recommend our hotel more. Its name is pretty straight forward: The Hotel at Times Square. It's part of the Apple Core Hotels mini-chain. The price is right (we paid 150$ a night), the rooms are nice (though not luxurious, but we didn't care). The free breakfast was good. There was free internet as well as a gym (that I did not use). And it was a 5 minutes walk to Times Square! The location was excellent. I'd definitely stay there again!

The first thing I noticed when we got out of Penn station? The yellow cabs of course! They were everywhere and I really felt like I was indeed in New York!



After we found our hotel and took a shower, we went to Central Park. I loved it, it's so huge and beautiful!





I really wanted to find Strawberry field to see the John Lennon memorial.





We had lunch in a diner and I ordered a shrimp roll. It was huge! But very good.



I think we stayed in Central Park for most of the afternoon. In the evening, we went for a walk and we saw the famous Flat iron building.



Then we went to the Empire State Building and went up. It was great to see all the lights from up there (I don't have any good pics though).

On Saturday, we took the subway. We did ok, but their subway is more confusing than ours, that's for sure. We wanted to go to Canal Street but we somehow ended up in Brooklyn. Oops!



We got back and found the right station. We walked for a while and saw city hall. Then we sat near a fountain and Chris had fun taking pictures of a bird (he likes taking bird pics, go figure).





And I had fun taking weird fountain pics.



Then we walked on the Brooklyn Bridge, which was very cool. We only walked half of it though, and then we decided to get back.



After that, we saw a church where there was a memorial for the victims of 9/11, and then we went to Ground Zero.

We walked by the river and saw the Statue of Liberty. That's the closest we got though. We didn't really feel like going so we just looked at it from afar.



Then, Chris really wanted to go to Coney Island, so we took the metro and went. It was a loooong ride, but we had so much fun there it was totally worth it!





We saw a freaky sideshow with flame eaters, contorsionists and all that jazz. It was fun.



Then we went on the scariest rollercoaster ever. It was old and just scary. I sort of enjoyed it but I screamed a lot.


(It doesn't look scary? Trust me, it was.)

We were so exhausted that night we actually got back to our room pretty early, though we did see Times Square at night and it was something!



We spent a good part of Sunday at the American Museum of Natural History where we saw DINOSAURS! Or dinosaur skeletons anyways. Very impressive. We also saw a meteorite and lots of gems and precious stones.




Ooooh shiny!

That evening we went to a comedy club called Ha! where I drank champagne (hey, why not?) and laughed a lot.

Monday was the best day ever. In the morning, we went to see the UN, and then we walked on 5th avenue and saw the Mac Store as well as FAO Schwarz! I got to make my childhood dream come true by playing on the big piano!



Then I went to the Harry Potter section where I couldn't resist trying on the Sorting Hat.



In the afternoon, we went to wait in line because we had tickets to see THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART! I was so excited! I love Jon Stewart.





We waited for a long time. Think three hours. I had brought things to read and music, but Chris and I just spent most of the time chatting. Even though we were one of the first in line, we didn't get in first because they also had a VIP line (that was apparently for people who hadn't managed to get in the day before).

When we finally got in, I was pretty happy with our seats. We were on the side, but very close to Jon's desk and could see very well because there were no cameras in front of us (except during the interview with the guest). I was hoping John Oliver would be the correspondant that day, but he wasn't there. Wyatt Cenac was though and he was very funny.

I was very impressed with Jon Stewart. He was super nice and answered people's questions before the show. He was very professional during the taping, they did the whole thing in one take! The guest was Sarah Fisher, a race car driver. I didn't know her.

Stewart also did a toss with Stephen Colbert at the end of the show, which was great! He chatted with him a bit during commercial and then they did their thing and it was very funny. We just loved that whole day!



Tuesday was our last day and the weather was gorgeous so we went to Central Park again and spent the day in the sun.

Then we went on 5th avenue and we saw the Rockefeller Center.



After that we had about 2 hours to spare before we had to leave for the airport and we noticed TGI Friday had 3$ margaritas so we went in there. And we got carded! Woohoo!

I was very sad to come back. It all went by so quickly. We will go back for sure!

Hats!

I've been a bad blogger and haven't updated much. I'm sorry about that, life really got in the way. I've been working a lot and working out and preparing my trip to NYC (FRIDAY!!!!). And knitting! I'm back into it and my Phlox socks are coming along nicely. I don't think I'll have them finished by the time I leave like I wanted though.



Pink ribbon. You all know what that means, right? Breast cancer awareness. Like many people, I have been indirectly affected by it. My paternal grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 42. So young. Thank God she did survive and had a good long life (she died two years ago and she was in her 80's). She had her left breast AND arm amputated though.

Well in March of this year, the disease striked again. This time, it touched my mom's sister, who is in her early 50's (I think 53). She should start her chemo treatments soon. I saw her yesterday and told her I'd knit her some hats.

So now I need suggestions. Hat patterns, yarn to use. I have no idea how long her treatments are going to take so I think I'll make her a couple of lighter hat (cotton maybe?) and a couple of warmer ones. We'll see.

I think I want to make this one first. What do you think?