August

Hi guys!!

Elephant in the room...I stopped blogging for a brief period because I felt like I was in a rut and it all felt too routine. There have also been two big technological changes in my everyday life that have hindered my posting: the biggest change being a smart phone with a very good camera that I take almost all my photos with, and the second, using a tablet more than this laptop. Blogging takes effort. Time to "style" the knitting (which for me generally means waiting for the right light and photographing [with a real camera] on my front steps), head space to put a meaningful post together on a laptop, and time to edit. Sometimes it takes me an hour or two for one post, and that feels like a really long time to me. Maybe that's a normal amount of time? I am interested in your thoughts, how you blog, your system. I am definitely not trying to judge or put anybody's blogging style down; everybody is different and I am still trying to figure out what works for me. During the time when I wasn't blogging, I felt a little sad because I like calling myself a blogger and don't want to lose that.

Ok, enough of that. Knitting. My latest finished object is a pair of socks.

Yarn: Opal Smile
Needles: 2.25 mm 64 stitches
Pattern: Plain vanilla with a modified Eye of Partridge heel

Looooooooooooove Opal. Forever.


And I recently cast on another pair of purple socks:

This is the Arne and Carlos yarn from Regia!!! I was super excited when I realized my LYS had it! (I purchased three colorways). This colorway is Star Night and it's my favorite. Though this pair is for a friend, I bought enough yarn to knit myself a pair too. I'm knitting a contrast color for the heel (and will also use it for heel and toe); it's white. I absolutely love knitting this yarn; Regia is always great, and Arne & Carlos...duh.


I made pretty good progress on Scott's Crazy Zauberball socks:

I'm planning to finish them for his birthday in mid-September. The colorway is called Riverbed and I felt it fitting for his outdoorsy self.

Massive sock. Scott decided he didn't want individual tomato cages, so he built one large wooden cage around the entire tomato raised bed. I tell him it works pretty good, but really.... ;) it definitely works well for showing off socks.


We are gearing up for our summer vacation which is in a few weeks! (after that, I told myself, I can start looking forward to fall stuff; pumpkin spice lattes, sweaters, everything cozy) Until then, I'm excited for the Oregon coast, camping, yarn souvenirs, car knitting, and relaxing!!

I hope everybody has a good Friday and a happy weekend, and thank you so much for reading. xx

socks and a shawl

Hello lovely friends! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We spent it with our families over two days, ate lots of yummy food, and just felt thankful. Oh, and we also gave our attention to this little monkey:

His name is Bruce and he is the newest member of our family. We adopted him last Saturday because he just melted us. When I picked him up it was instant and nonstop purring ♥ unfortunately, at his vet visit he tested positive for feline leukemia, which he could pass to Berny. I am thankful my bosses are also my vets as I've been able to ask them all my questions. They recommended sending a further blood test out to a lab to double check. Sometimes the in-house snap tests can give false positives. So that is what I'm praying for. The results should be back anytime this week or next...

Anyway. I am trying to stay positive and accept the results whatever they are, but it is hard. I have been pretty depressed about it. Thanks for listening xx


Well, I have been knitting a lot. I've finished some socks:

Yarn: Knit Picks Felici in Maple Leaves
Needles: 2.25 mm
Pattern: 64 stitch vanilla with Fish Lips Kiss Heel

Yarn: Liberty's Yarn Jabbersocky in Yule
Needles: 2.25 mm
Pattern: Hermione's Everyday Socks by Erica Lueder

Pair 22!

This pair was part of a swap with an Instagram friend :) I love knitting socks for friends!

I also love the modified eye of partridge heel! It always looks so pretty.


Um....then I had NO socks on the needles! It was really weird! So I started my Christmas socks:

progress of first sock

but now I'm on the second :)

It's Lynai Yarns in Sugarplum Fairy -- how pretty is this yarn?! It's hard to see, but there are sparkles :) very magical

I cast on 60 stitches and am knitting (of course) a modified eye of partridge heel :) sooo pretty. I am just turning the second heel now. These will definitely be finished before Christmas, so I might cast on another pair of Christmas socks .... :) I have another Christmassy yarn that I'd like to knit.

Oh!

Look at this bag from Dag:

Grinch inside fabric! Too cute, I love it :) And it's holding my Sugarplum Fairies socks of course :)


This weekend I knit all the way to the last lace repeat of Nurmilintu:

This whole time I've been pretty nervous about running out of yarn, but now that I'm at the last section, I am sure I will have enough. I really like this pattern and will knit it again. The first lace section was difficult because I kept getting off count. But by the second lace repeat, it felt much easier and quicker.

I still need total silence for the lace parts though!

Garter squish *lace* garter squish

I'm knitting it in Madelinetosh Merino Light in Black Velvet... so pretty


Those are the projects that I've been working on the most these past few weeks. What have you been up to? I hope everyone has a happy week; stay warm xx

Hello, hello, hello!!!

Happy Fall!!

Last weekend I had the good fortune to have Friday off and we spent the time out of town. In Spokane, Washington to be exact. It is only about three hours away; far enough to feel like you're getting away but close enough that you're not driving all day! I also like the time change :)

We truly did not do much while in Spokane, which was awesome. On Saturday, we walked around  Riverfront Park. It was so beautiful.

A lot of the attractions were closed for the season, but we were able to take the Sky Ride...a gondola over the falls.

Top left clockwise: 1. Pavilion skeleton 2. LUNCH! 3. Scott on the Sky Ride 4. The view of the falls from the Sky Ride

I was able to knit a lot too :) I brought three projects (because that's what we knitters do...way over pack in case of emergency!) but mainly worked on a new sock that I'm calling Patronus:

and yes, I loved Throne of Glass!

The yarn is Knit Picks Hawthorne and I'm using all of the colorways. When the yarn first came out, I had joined a co-op on Ravelry to receive a small sampling of the colors. It was really difficult to think of a pattern because I wanted to use all of the colorways. The balls are only about 4.5 grams, so just a little shy of what I need for my sock yarn blanket's squares. I decided on Blender Socks by Heather Sebastian. Here is where I'm at on them:

One finished!

It's a really fun knit! Sometimes I use two colors and alternate rows by carrying the unused yarn up, and sometimes I juggle three colors. I think three colors makes a more blended appearance, but it's a pain to keep everything untangled! I admit that the OCD part of me hates this project because the rows are pretty much random. Sometimes I will plan it, like once I knit an inverse set: 1 row C1, 3 rows C2, 2 rows C1, 2 rows C2, 3 rows C1, 1 row C2. But for the most part I just grab a strand and knit it.

I used a Fish Lips Kiss Heel in one solid color.

Even though each yarn is carried up, there are still a lot of ends to weave in! I think there are twenty colorways, so each sock will have ten different colors...and twenty ends. Towards the end I started using a Russian join...I think the second sock will have many more Russian joins! (don't know what I was thinking)


I also finished each sock from last post, Fall and the Crazy Zauberball:

Fall Socks received a FLK heel...

while Crazy Zauberball received an afterthought heel. Now to finish their mates.



and I finished Brie's socks!!

I'm dying to show off the super amazing color, but I'm going to wait until she receives them. The pattern is Faux Cables by Jen Lucas. I've knit them once before, exactly per pattern, but this time I continued the faux cable pattern onto the back of the leg. I thought Brie might like that better.

I think I mentioned last time that Brie and I have been making hand knits for each other. I already received the item she knit me and I absolutely love it!!!

I'm not sure what pattern it is, but it has such amazing texture and patterning! It's been cool enough to wear it already :)


This past week I knit a lot on Nurmilintu by Heidi Alander. I'm using Madelinetosh Merino Light in Black Velvet that I purchased while on summer vacation.

I am just about to start the first lace portion!! And I've ordered some yarn to make one for my mom :)



That is it from me.

Happy Friday!!! I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend that includes plenty of knitting x

Jesse