Ishbel

I don't want this to be an album of finished projects but I've been doing a lot of knitting lately with very few pitfalls. I think that has to do with about a billion other people knitting a pattern before I get to it so all bugs have been worked out of the pattern. This is Ishbel by Ysolda in Malabrigo. Seems like I've been knitting a ton of stuff with it lately but I've really just got a few skeins in stash that lend themselves well to little lacy things. I've got one skein left and I'm debating whether or not that will be a little shawl or some actual socks. I've also got two (#9 & #10) sweaters on the needles at varying degrees of completion. I switch back and forth on them since #9 is in black and hard to see in dim light and #10 is on big needles and has a tendency to hurt my hands after cabling all of the cabley bits. That leaves 2 more in my NaKniSweMoDo challenge with a few months left for completion. My last two planned sweaters are on little needles so I may need the full time to finish up but I'm about 99% sure I can do it. Go me. Nothing very exciting is happening until the end of September when I'm off to visit my brother and his family in Kansas for a little family reunion.

Baby Update: The Little One has her first two teeth in and they're very cute. She's also started crawling on all fours instead of her soldier crawl. I believe this is in preparation for standing on her own since she has also been kneeling a lot. We are definitely not ready for more mobility, especially the cat who already fears for her life.

Ocher Damson

I knit some pretty over the weekend. I actually had two whole days off in a row! Unbelievable. We took the Little One to the zoo, I made a crazy amount of cornmeal pancakes both sweet and savory, and I cleaned the house. Yep. As of this morning all laundry was washed and put away, the bed was made, and the floor was swept and vacuumed. The rest of the place is starting to finally recover from our first 6+ months of parenthood. I like this upward swing in cleanliness it makes me less crazy. So, yeah, knitting. Ysolda released her first pattern in Whimsical Little Knits 2 which I cast on for immediately. Not to the detriment of other projects, mind you, I was between sweaters at the time and only had a pair of socks on the needles. I dug a skein of Malabrigo sock yarn in Ochre out of deep stash (really deep, it wasn't even entered in Ravelry!) and knit it up over the course of my weekend, binding off at about 8 last night. Yellow is not really my color but I'm loving this mustardy goodness. It makes me want to dip into a big jar of fancy french mustard - the kind that sears your nostrils a little bit. Specs: Damson by Ysolda in Malabrigo Sock Yarn in the Ocher colorway on size 6 addi turbo lace needles. 4 days!

Sock Summit Part 2; Electric Boogaloo

Going into Sock Summit I had two vendors at the top of my list - Miss Babs and Hazel Knits. I think this was a good plan since I was able to hit their booths immediately, ohh and aah, make my purchases, and then browse the rest of the market place thoroughly. Above - Hazel Knits "Limited Edition" color based on her Aurora Borealis colorway.

Hazel Knits Jay Blue - this is going to be a little sharf (shawl/scarf)

Miss Babs - She had sock yarn in tiny skeins which is enough for a pair of socks for the little one. Above - Yummy Toes Periwinkle

Miss Babs - 2-ply sock yarn in Pewter

Miss Babs - 2-ply sock yarn in Oyster.

This isn't all of my Miss Babs. I went back on Sunday!!! She had some sportweight in her booth at a discount since she's changing her base yarn. I picked a few skeins of that up, including one for my friend, Amanda. The color just screamed - I'm for Amanda! Take me to her! So I did. I also bought two skeins of her Yowza! What a skein! in Ironweed. These skeins are a whopping 560 yards so I'm going to use them as some type of Elizabeth Zimmermann sweater, maybe even a Fair Isle Yoke Sweater. I would have hit up Hazel Knits again as well but Jessica steered me away from her booth. These were my top two favorites of the show with Tactile coming in a close third. If I had unlimited funds that is where I would spend it, and did I mention everyone in those two booths were amazingly friendly? I'm sure being a vendor for several days in a row at something like Sock Summit could be taxing but everyone was super nice. I even chatted with Miss Babs herself and met Wendy from Hazel Knits. Good people and awesome yarn.

Sock Summit - Part One

Technically this is not part one since I already glossed over the madness that is Sock Summit previously but I thought I might share a few things that I bought. A few, since there were way too many! I had to hit up Tactile since they are my number one favorite at Madrona and for natural dyeing. Plus the ladies that work there are so nice! I picked up this skein of red (the color is Brick) merino/cashmere/nylon sock yarn and had to buy it since it was the last one. Duh. I just finished knitting up some red sock yarn so this one can take it's place in my stash.








I also got these super-cute ceramic buttons at a couple of other booths. The ones with the fancy packaging are from an etsy shop at really great prices and lots and lots of sizes and colors. It was really hard to make a decision. The larger green button is from Jennie the Potter and I thought it would be great for one of those single button hats or sweaters. I also bought a nifty pair of earrings from her with knit stitches on them. Cute! Everyone at the Ravelry meet-up was sporting their Jennie-ware on Saturday night. Seriously, there were so many vendors at the marketplace it was hard to make decisions. Knitters aren't the best people to keep you on a budget either. Rebecca and I co-enabled although she did keep me from purchasing duplicate colors of yarn. I would have walked away with a whole bag of gray-blue-lavendar sock yarn if it weren't for her. This is just the tip of the iceberg, more to come in the next few days.

And this one time at Sock Summit....

I totally lost my head and bought enough yarn to clothe a quiver of children. I'm super tired but had a great time and met lots and lots of people. The highlight of my trip was meeting Meg Swansen (eeeeek!!!) and she is so nice and personable and everything she seems to be from watching her dvds, and gorgeous to boot! I hope to have that skin and those cheekbones when I'm her age! I also spotted the Yarn Harlot several times, Anna Zilborg, Jess & Casey, and oodles of other folks that belong to the kniterati. I hung out with fellow Purlygirls Jessica, Jeanne, and Rebecca and had a wonderful time with them shopping and eating and laughing, laughing, laughing. My tootsies are still sore from being on my feet for two days. I'll try and get my act together to post pictures of yarny goodness once I fully recover.

Zip

My attention span has clearly dwindled in the past hour. I did the necessary taking care of baby, putting her down for a nap, and getting some caffeine in my system and then....kaput. My brain is broken and I can't seem to focus on the work I'm supposed to be doing right now. I've got stuff ready to go for Ishbel and I just keep thinking about how nice it would be to knit all day today. And tomorrow. And the next day. This is crazy since I'm already working a short week because of an extra full day at the shop and Sock Summit this weekend. I need a taskmaster today - someone to stand over my shoulder and crack the whip. My mind keeps wandering to the fact that it's Monday and that means knitting tonight at apparently the best knitting group in Seattle. I know it's awesome and I guess other people think so too. I've clearly got knitting on the brain and it won't go away, not even just a little ways away to the neighboring town so I can get some work that pays the bills done. Le sigh. Is it possible to have Monday-itis when you work from home?