first socks of the year!

I solemnly swear ... I'm going to try to keep up with blogging FOs this year!



These are the first pair of socks I finished this year. I knit them a lot while we were in Colorado last month skiing. And the yarn came from my trip to St. Louis with my mom last year, so it holds special memories that way, too.

The yarn is Dyeabolical Strong Arm, which Ravelry tells me is now discontinued. Bummer, as it was lovely to work with. Very soft hand and it feels like it will hold up well over time, thanks to the nylon content.

Here are the Rav details, if you're so inclined.

2011 in knitting

Hi, y'all!

I thought I had blogged my year in knitting, but a quick check told me that nope, 'twasn't the case. I blame it on my new job (a promotion to assistant copy desk chief! Yay!), which is keeping me busier these days.

Without further ado ...



Plus a pair of socks I finished after I made the mosaic but before the end of the year:



That is:
24 pairs of socks (15 for others, nine for me)
10 hats (nine for others, one for me)
1 baby sweater (duh)
1 ornament (gift)

I didn't realize I knit quite so many hats this year!

My only knitting goals for 2012 are to:
a) Finish my February Lady Sweater. I haven't blogged about it, but I've been on Weight Watchers since April and I've lost 56 pounds. I am so eager to see myself in my first handmade sweater!
b) Knit more for myself. I always say this and then I make a zillion pairs of socks for other people. Well, some of my socks are starting to wear out, so I need to make some more for myself!

still crocheting away ...

Josh's blanket isn't done yet. But I'm getting close!



I'm putting it on hold so that I can knit on a secret project with a deadline looming. I told Josh that his blanket might be a birthday present instead of a Christmas present! (His birthday is in about six weeks.)

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

I got an iPhone!

Oh, how I have been counting the days until my Verizon contract was eligible for renewal. The weekend after Thanksgiving, it was time, and I made two trips to the Apple store in order to find an iPhone in stock. Since then, I've barely put the phone down!

I'm afraid I'm a little obsessed with Instagram and Hipstamatic.

I brought it on a walk with Josh and Gracie ...





To work (that's our Christmas tree):



Out to eat:



(That's lunch at Jessy's Taqueria, a really awesome place in Ocean View.

But mostly I take pictures of Gracie snoozing beside me on the couch:



I am always open to app recommendations, so let me know if you have any that you can't live without!

knits for friends

Oh hai.

Things have been busy 'round these parts.

Especially my knitting needles.

I've got something like a dozen FOs since August + am going to do my best to blog about them. Tiffany is doing a blog-post-a-day thing in December, and while I clearly missed the boat on that, as it's Dec. 2, I'm going to do my best to post less sporadically this month.

Speaking of Tiffany ...

I knit her some socks (Rav link)! Way back in August.



Sometimes, friends just need a pair of hand-knit socks, ya know? Knitters are the best people to receive hand-knit socks because they know the work that goes into each stitch. And getting those texts from Tiffany when she got the surprise package in the mail just made my day! (And months later, it still makes my day to think about it.)

(By the way, this is Yarn Pirate sock yarn in Wildflowers, a color I've had in my stash for several years.)

Also falling under the category of "knits for friends" is the next pair of socks (Rav link):



These are for a swap I did with my Twitter friend Melissa. This is Cascade Heritage Paints in a lovely semisolid blue. Y'all, this yarn is heavenly to work with. Really soft hand, no splitting, and SO reasonably priced. Go get some now + be amazed at the loveliness (and thriftiness). Oh, and in exchange for the socks? I got tons of delicious canned jams. I cannot wait to open strawberry margarita jam in the midst of a dreary wintry day and have a taste of summer on my toast. Thanks, Melissa!!

I'm in the midst of Christmas crocheting ... though the knitting is all done (in fact, three of my four knitted gifts are already at my parents' house -- BOOYAH). Here's a progress shot of an epic ripple blanket I'm making for my beau:



By the way, it's folded in HALF in that shot. SO huge.

It won't be done by Christmas, especially with a four-day break looming in which I will be skiing in Colorado and not lugging around a massive blanket. But he's OK with that. =)

a knitter's rite of passage

I've just finished my first chemo cap. (Thankfully, my dad never needed chemo so I never had to knit him one. I just knit him lots of socks for his cold feet!)



(Green is Neighborhood Fiber Co. Studio Sock in Edgewood. Tan is remnants from a shawl I knit a few years ago from an Etsy shop that has since closed.)

This is for Kevin, a friend of my parents'. He is a homebuilder -- he built my parents' house. I think it's safe to say it's their perfect home.

A couple years ago, Kevin had a leg amputated because his circulation problems just got to be too much. He's been in and out of the hospital for the past few years and it's been touch and go.

Recently, he found out he has a rare cancer (on his tongue, I believe). I can't imagine going through so many difficult things in such a short period of time.

So I wanted to knit him something.

Whether he needs chemo or not (they're still figuring out a treatment plan, I believe), he now has a hat to keep his head warm in the window.

It has five stripes -- one for him, his wife, and his three kids.

I hope it brings him some comfort.

other recent knits!

I promised I'd be back!

Here's what else I've been up to, knitting-wise ...

I knit yet another Sockhead Hat (a third!) -- this one for my college BFF's birthday:



A confession: This was going to be for me. It is Koigu, and dammit, I deserve something knit from the only Koigu in my stash. But then I was daydreaming, and I thought, "BOY, J would love this." And once I visualize a possible recipient in the knitted object, I just can't get it out of my head, and it must go to that person. The timing worked great, because her birthday was within a few months!

Next up is a hat for a friend's birthday ...



This is a modified Sockhead Hat (no slouch) knit from Neighborhood Fiber Co. Studio Sock (about half a skein) in Edgewood (a beautiful forest green). The recipient is from Seattle so I knew she'd love the lush green-y-ness of the yarn!

Finally is the hat I am most proud of.

But first, a little backstory.

I knit a hat for this recipient over a year ago, before he was born. His mama and papa put it on him + he wore it OUT. (This pleases me greatly.) And now it's too small for him.

I had a crazy vision of a colorwork hat that included whales (I know ... I'm crazy, right?) and knew what his gift for his first birthday would be. A little browsing on Ravelry landed me a chart.

Behold:



I'm so so happy with it. It's retro and bold and fun and perfect for the wee one! It's actually a little big on him, so he should be able to wear it for a year or two. Details about the yarn are on my Rav page.

Finally, here is a sweater for a friend who is due with a baby in a few weeks. The father-to-be is a hip dude and I wanted to knit their wee one a grandpa sweater just like his or her papa!



The pattern is the Scrappy Socky Stripey Cardi -- an excellent pattern for using up bits of sock yarn. (I really want to knit another one ...) I used Madeline Tosh sock in Golden Hickory and Hazel Knits Artisan Sock in Jay Blue.



The buttons came from The Yarn Lounge in Richmond.

I am in love with this sweater + will definitely make more for other babies in the future!

recent socks

Ahem, let's pretend I didn't take off the past two months from blogging ... instead, I'll show you what I've been up to, knitting-wise! This post is all about the socks ...

First up is a pair of 2x2 rib socks I last blogged about in March ...



This is yarn I got at Maryland Sheep & Wool last year -- Autumn House Farms Strideaway Twist sock yarn in colorway Montego Bay. It's really lovely yarn, just awfully thin. I knit these on size 1 needles and I think they'll wear like iron!



These next socks were for a friend as a pick-me-up gift.



The yarn is Socks that Rock mediumweight in the colorway Paula Mae A Night at the Show. (BOY does this yarn knit up fast.)

I knit a pair of baby-sized socks out of the leftovers, for a friend who gave birth to a baby girl about a month ago.



Don'tcha love how different they look even though it's the same yarn?

Next up is another pair for me -- my first picot-cuffed socks:



This is STR lightweight in a rare gem. It's funny, I think one sock looks like it has more purple than the other! I can't wait to wear these when the weather turns cool again.

Next up -- some socks for my dad!



This is Lion Brand Sock-Ease in colorway Toffee. As it turned out, the color looks lot like honeybees, and my dad started bee-keeping this year, so they were extra appropriate! (On a side note, my dad had some bloodwork done this week and found out he is still cancer-free, six months since his surgery, so we are all so happy!)

Next up -- some tweedy socks for me:



This is yarn I got on my trip to Missouri last year with my mama. It is Hand Painted Knitting Yarns Sock Donegal in a colorway unique to the store where I bought it (Simply Fibers in Springfield, Mo.).

And finally, the piece de resistance ... knee-highs for myself!



I took these on as a Tour de France project. I know spinners have the Tour de Fleece, where they try to spin a certain goal during the 24-day bicycle race. But since I don't spin, I wanted a knitting challenge. I've had this hand-dyed, DK-weight yarn marinating in my stash since the fall (when I purchased it at Knitting Addiction in the Outer Banks) and this was the perfect time to take on the knee-highs. The first one was knit in all of a week -- same goes for the second. I finished with about 10 days to spare in the Tour!



They were knit from the toe-up. Since I wasn't using my usual 64-stitch sock, I needed to find a new number formula to do the gusset increases + heel turn. This site was super, super helpful. I mirrored calf increases along the center back of the sock.

I don't know when I'll wear 'em -- it is rarely cold around here -- but I'm sure I'll find a time!

More detailed info about all these projects can be found (as always) on my Rav page.

I'll be back in a couple days (seriously) with a post about other recent FOs -- I've been knitting more than socks lately!

yarny spoils

So, about Maryland Sheep & Wool.

I bought yarn. (Duh.)

Not as much as in years past, but I definitely got a lot of goodies!

My first stop was at Spirit Trail Fiberworks. They were just opening their booth and I ended up being the first customer of the day!

I got a skein of Frija (a merino-cashmere-nylon blend) in this beautiful blue-gray colorway:



I have knit with Frija before (these cabled socks) and found it spectacular. I am tempted to knit another pair of cabled socks with this yarn, but we'll see!

My next stop was The Fold, which surprisingly did not have a majorly long line. I tried to resist the siren call of Socks that Rock, but it proved to be too much when I spotted this colorway I have long admired.



There, I also picked up a skein of Nightfall sock yarn -- a gradient colorway. This will make some fantastic socks.



My final purchase was at Tess Designer Yarns. I had regretted not buying anything from Tess last year after I saw Tiffany's beautiful socks. (Last year, it was our final stop of the day, it was about 9000 degrees on the top of that hill, and I was summoning all my energy for our walk back to the car!) This year would be different. I got a skein of merino sock yarn in this beautiful peachy colorway:



And a skein of Whiskers (a merino-cashmere-nylon) in this lovely royal purple:



There you have it -- my yarny spoils from MDS&W!

MDS&W recap!

I have been an absent blogger as of late, but I'm back with a fiber festival update! Maryland Sheep & Wool has come and gone, and once again, my pals Lennis, Tiffany and I made the trip from our corner of Virginia. This year we were joined by the lovely Caysie, a longtime friend of Tiffany's. I've gotten to know Caysie over the past few months on Twitter and was so so glad to meet her!



We were SO EXCITED. The weather was wonderful (actually kind of chilly Saturday morning). We had lots of late-night knitting + laughs. Basically it was the perfect weekend.

At the festival, I got to meet up with my pal Kim, who I met for the first time last year. It was lovely to walk around with her and her pals for a while.



One of her pals is Steven, who made the most awesome hotpants. It was kinda fun to be with him when he got stopped for photos -- hee hee.



Doesn't he rock those? He's got the legs for 'em! We hung out at a Twitter meetup for a little while, too, where I mostly felt shy about talking to strangers I don't know too well! But it was lovely to just sit and knit in the sun.

Saturday night was the MDS&W afterparty. It was a lovely affair, complete with a presentation by the authors of "The Fleece and Fiber Handbook."

Finally, here's a shot of our combined haul:



(I'll talk about my purchases in another post.)

And here's a link to all my photos from the weekend. I'm already counting the days to next year! (My mom said she really wants to make the trip next year. I am so so psyched that she could finally experience a Maryland Sheep & Wool!)