Happy Feet

It has been uber hot in Seattle the past few days. I mean, almost Ukiah hot and that is pretty darn spicy. The heat wave has led to an abhorrence of all things sweatery since a pile of wool in the lap is equal to another ten degrees of heat. With Sock Summit looming I decided to cast on for these beauties. The Cycling or Golf Stockings (of which I do neither) from Knitting Vintage Socks. It's my first go with Spud & Chloe Fine which is a new yarn line from Blue Sky Alpacas and which we now carry at the shop. The yarn is lovely to work with although the label says size 1 to 3 needlewise and I think if I went any higher than a 2.5 mm (that's a 1 & 1/2 US) the fabric would be very loosey goosey. I was a little surprised that there was no calf circumference measurement in the pattern since there was a measurement for just about everything else. The colorwork is pretty snug on my calf but not unwearable, if my calves were any larger I'd make the socks shorter to accomodate the pretty cuff. Spec wise the Spud & Chloe color is Anemone, the brown is Lorna's Laces in Chocolate, and the pink is some unlabeled koigu leftover from another project. I've already moved on to another sock project. The pattern is Sunshine from Sock Innovation in STR Mediumweight. The color is Hoofle Foofle which I thought would be appropriate for a pattern name Sunshine. The pattern is working up very quickly and is nice and squishy. This is yarn from my first ever Blue Moon purchase and has been languishing in my stash for a couple of years. It's nice to finally dig it out and see it as a project.

Imaginary Knitting

I've been doing some actual knitting lately but since my Sock Summit weekend has come into view I've been doing a lot of thinking about socks. I'd like to knit a pair before I head down to Portland so I have a brand spankin' new pair of socks on my tootsies without all of the pilling and wear most of my sadly small hoard has going on. I am not obsessed with sock knitting and most of the pairs I have knit have been gifts for other people. I think I have maybe three pair? I've knit between six and eight pair total. After all of my sweater knitting the idea of small, portable, single skein or two skein projects is vastly appealing. My problem is deciding what to actually cast on since in my noggin everything is partially completed. The possibilities are endless.

Here I Come!!!

I just worked it out with the Man to take the weekend off for Sock Summit in August. !!! I'll be heading down to Portland solo (as in sans baby, sans hubby) to have some alone time with a bajillion crazy knitters. That's 2 WHOLE NIGHTS to do nothing but knit and visit with friends. I've even got a place to stay. I'm not registered for classes since I won't be exclusively in town for Sock Summit but I'm excited to have my very own schedule for at least one day. The Man is not totally happy with this arrangement but since his band is probably going on tour for nine days this Fall and I'm taking the Little One to visit family in Kansas for six days I should get at least a couple of days off, don't you think? I do. Now, what socks will I bring to knit?

(Not)Lush & Lacy Cardigan

As promised, my #7 sweater. The Lush & Lacy Cardigan by SweaterBabe. The pattern calls for an angora blend yarn but I wanted a nice summery cardigan so I used Samoa which is a 50/50 cotton acrylic blend. I was pleasantly surprised by this yarn, it didn't hurt my hands and felt nice and sproingy without actually being sproingy and it has beautiful stitch definition. This one knits up quick on #8 needles at 4 sts to the inch, hence my one week cardigan. I'm contemplating getting more of this yarn out of the sale bin at the shop before there's not a sweater quantity left.

Three Day Weekend

I had an unprecedented three day weekend over the 4th of July. !!! I just recently decided to decrease the hours I work from home so I don't go ballistic, hop in my car, and head for the border blaring AC/DC at full volume. Seriously, I've thought about it. It was great to have a breather from the 47+ hour weeks I've been trying to power through. So what did I do? Knit, duh. Finished the Butternut Scarf, a second pair of charity mittens, and sweater #7. I need a little help taking the photos so pictures will be posted soon-ish. I've already chosen #8 but want to finish up the baby sweater I'm working on and the first half of my stole before casting on.

We didn't do anything for the 4th. It has to be the worst holiday ever for moms with babies. As soon as it gets dark every idiot on the block sets off firecrackers in the street and starts yelling "Whoooooooo!" underneath the windows. Yeah. Not so baby friendly. The Little One was amazing and slept through all but the loudest bangs and then settled right down again. I don't even know why I tried to go to sleep before midnight since every bang woke me right up again. That was wasted knitting time for sure.