Another finished pattern! This one is an anchor (no really it is) and will be added to the free patterns page probably tonight. I also finished the dreaded puzzle blanket that has been tormenting me for these past few weeks. I can not wait for the mailman to pick that up and get it out of my life.

Now I can get back to my socks, that chunky cabled bag, and the two star blankets I am working on. I might accidentally cast on a new project too. Funny how that happens.

Ah, yeah. I need to count the frog dishcloth chart and write that up for test knitting. This one scares me a bit.

I finished it, I felted it, I really hate it. Besides the fact that the stupid thing involved making 12 feet of i-cord, I just don’t like the colors. Next time I let something design itself on my needles it had better keep in mind my loathing of i-cord. Bleh. It probably needs some kind of button or snap on the flap, but for now it is languishing in the ‘random finished objects’ basket.

before felting:

after:

DFW Fiber Fest starts today, I’m pretty excited. Unfortunately I behaved myself and spent all of the money from my stitch marker sale on supplies and left nothing for yummy yarn at the fest. Ah well. Looking is fun, right? Sure.

Oh look, I’m focusing. How scary is that? Well, in a minute I will. First, thanks to Jeanette for letting me know about the messed up lines in the martini glass pattern. It is fixed now.

I’m going to the Fiber Fest this Friday, and decided to finish my little purple felted bag to carry my essential stuff there. Late last night the bag informed me (what, your knitting doesn’t talk to you? Just me? ok.) it wanted a stripe or two. We decided on red.

Now to get it done and felted by Friday morning. I can do that. Sure.

Also, took the puzzle blankets out of the shop, because I am currently finishing one that was donated to a charity auction, and it has about driven me over the edge. I don’t want to make them anymore. Ever.

Beaded pattern row counters will be available in about two weeks. They will be made to order and you get to pick out the colors even.

Right back in the saddle with my two socks at once project. I find these tiny little needles strangely relaxing. The yarn is a merino that has to be handwashed, but I only wear socks in the “winter” as such in Dallas, so I’m ok with that. Definitely want to get my hands on some clear clogs or boots by then.

Mindless random project, this purple felted…bag thing. It will probably be a kind of wallet on a string thing, and I may even keep this for myself as well. Shocking, I know.

Finally, I got started on the cabled chunky bag I have been dying to try. How do people knit with these size 13 needles? This is as far as I got before my hands shriveled up and said no! no more!

Other news, hm. I wrote a martini glass pattern that someone has volunteered to test knit for me, hopefully that will be up this week. I had to redo the anchor pattern as it came out really, really squatty. I’m trying to test knit that in between all of this other stuff and these three small children who seem to need taking care of now and then. I have the frog pattern charted, but not counted or written.

Best news, we are having a SALE this week in the shop. All stitch markers and magnets will be marked down. I’d love to say I’m doing this out of pure goodness of my heart, but the fact is, I am going to Fiber Fest this weekend and it would be ever so much more fun if I could raise a little cash to buy sock yarn with. Shhh. Sale starts tomorrow unless I break the site (again).

Wow. These knit up so fast, so easily.

So you can imagine my despair when I made an unfixable error and frogged them today.

That yarn is in time out now, while I am making another pair using pure wool. I don’t really want to talk about it anymore.

I’m doing it, I’m doing it! Almost done with the ribbing and am completely consumed by this project. Hopefully this phase will pass, I do have other things around here that need doing.

Ok, once more from the top, shall we? Got my new needle, that really, truly is 40″ long. Got some different yarn, yes. I feel less pressure with less expensive yarn for this project. Best of all, got a new pattern. Rather than master the figure eight cast-on of the fiends, I decided to give up on the toe-up method for now and knit these from the cuff down. Still doing two at once, because second sock syndrome is severe in this house.

So I’ll just…go get started on them now. Eep.

No, I haven’t really knit anything lately. The craft room is looking fairly organized, and much fun has been had with some beads, but not so much the knitting.

I put a few sets of stitch markers on eBay. A couple of these designs will also be in the store, a couple of them won’t. Hopefully I will not break the store in the process of adding them.

These are the ones I hope nobody bids on so I can keep them. Shhh.

Reprieve! The needle I thought was a 40″ circular is only a 32″ circular. I will practice this awful figure eight cast on thing with some larger yarn and needles until I get the right size for my socks.

So between that frustration and the whole twisted tote bag incident, it is time to turn my energies toward other crafts for a bit. Things like a bunch of birch needles I started last year and never got the cool tops glued onto or the final finish done. Or the skirt with matching bag that leapt out of my fevered brain onto paper last weekend, just waiting to be put to fabric and sewing machine. I recently ordered some fun things to make a bunch more beaded goodies like pattern row counters and new stitch markers, too.

Meanwhile, remember that onesie I knit last year?

Ok, socks. Prepare to be conquered. I went to the actual yarn store yesterday and bought two kinds of sock yarn. The top one is Trampoline Stretch by Skacel. See the bright colors? (Lisa, I’m talking to you.) The bottom one is Jojoland Melody. It is so soft and fun to squeeze I might just keep it for pets instead.

Got my yarn, got my needles, got my pattern. We are ready to roll.

Settled down on the couch, had my knit-savvy sister with me for moral support, and felt ready to take on the sock world.

Yeah, that figure-eight cast on? You people are kidding, right? That has to be a joke. No human could do that.

There could be a third picture of socks in progress here, but it would look exactly like the above photo. Now is the part where I google til I drop, beg friends for any help, and practice my swearing.