Here we go, Steelers!

I am very excited to cheer on my beloved hometown Pittsburgh Steelers today. Two weeks ago, after they beat the Jets for the AFC title, I decided to knit a pair of socks for the Super Bowl. And I came up with these, finished with less than 48 hours to spare.



These were knit from far less than a skein each of Loopy Ewe Solid Series sock yarn in Sunshine Yellow and Black. Here's a Rav link.

Now if you'll excuse me, there is taco dip to prepare. I'm watching the game with my boyfriend and a hometown friend and want to make sure we have lots of yummy food to eat while the Steelers are dominating the Packers!

a new diagnosis

Last month, I blogged about an awesome Christmas gift -- an early biopsy found my dad was cancer-free (after a mass was found during a colonoscopy). He had surgery on Jan. 5, and, weeeeeelllllll.....

The more comprehensive post-surgery biopsy found that he actually has/had colon cancer. The surgeon is confident she got all of it out and that he won't need chemo, but we will see what's next after he meets with an oncologist next week. Tests of the lymph nodes came back negative for cancer, which is very, very good. So we are very hopeful here.

My boyfriend and I came to Ohio to visit my parents this week -- we found out the cancer news two days before our departure, so I am extra-glad we could make this trip! My dad is recovering well from the surgery. He and I have gone to the gym twice to walk a few laps, and he's feeling more like himself each day. We are hanging out and watching season 1 of "Modern Family" and having a nice time.



I delivered my dad's latest socks (which I dubbed "the hopeful socks" in person Saturday. Dad was willing to model them:





They're 2x2 rib socks, knit from two balls of Jojoland Melody.

I started another pair for him this week and knit an entire sock in 2.5 days. TWO AND A HALF DAYS. This is insanity, folks, even for me, because he has ha-yoog feet. I have not taken a picture of the finished sock, but I'm knitting them out of this yarn:


It's Socks that Rock mediumweight in Crabby McHappypants. I have dubbed them Crabby McCancerpants socks (what with the latest health news -- clearly we can find humor in even the toughest of diagnoses). Dad calls them Dr. Seuss socks. I have cast on the mate, but it won't be done before we head back to Virginia in a few days.

In the car on the way here, I turned the heel on the second sock in a pair for myself. I also knit nearly all of the leg. I finished it up in my spare time this week, so I have the second finished pair of socks in 2011:



I know I won't keep this frantic pace up forever, but I'm enjoying the swell of FOs right now!

Tomorrow is our last full day here, and we are going to lunch in Columbus and possibly seeing "True Grit," too. At the start of the week, my mom and I agreed we didn't need to go to any yarn stores, but, um, somehow our line of thinking changed. So we might sneak into Knitters' Mercantile tomorrow. We'll see if anything is purchased ... hmm ...

first FO of the year

These are some 2x2 rib socks for my dad -- he just got a pair at Christmas, but after I heard how cold he's been from his anemia, I had to make him another pair right away. The yarn is Jojoland Melody. It certainly looks lovely knit up, but the lack of nylon content leaves me a little worried about how they'll hold up. The twist on the yarn just isn't as tight as I'd like it. So we'll see ...

In other news on my dad, he had his surgery six days ago and he's home recovering. He's doing really, really well. I'm so thankful that he's had few complications. All really, really good news.

2010: A year in knitting

This year, I knit a total of 23 things:
16 pairs of socks (15 pair adult-sized, 1 baby-sized) (9 for me, 7 gifts)
5 hats (3 adult-sized, 2 infant-sized) (2 for me, 3 gifts)
2 little shawls (both gifts)

All of this means ... I met my knitting goals for this year! I wanted to knit 12 pairs of socks, and I most definitely topped that. I also wanted to make a shawl for my grandma, and I did that.

It'd be hard for me to pick a favorite thing I knitted this year, but I'd have to go with grandma's shawl or maybe these socks for myself. They're just so cheerful.

Overall, I knit fewer things than I did in 2009, but my output this year was more of what I love: socks!

My only knitting goal for 2011 is to knit more socks than I did last year. I better get crackin' -- I have several pairs on the needles already!

Happy knitting, friends.

Christmas knitting ... and a Christmas miracle

It's been done for weeks, and the recipients have received them, so it's time to blog about them!

Knit out of a hair over two skeins of Regia Tweed (thank goodness I bought three!), these socks were started in August 2008. Yes, I know. Embarrassing! It was a visit from my brother in October that kicked my butt into gear and got the first sock finished, and the second one followed soon after. These were knit cuff-down with size 1 needles, and each sock was 80 stitches around, so that's my excuse as to why they took so long. But because they're knit so tightly (and it's Regia), I'm hoping they last forever! I got a text message from my brother that "These socks f---ing rock!" So I know he's pleased. =)

Next up are socks knit from Colinette Jitterbug for my mom. She picked a skein out at a visit to a LYS here more than two years ago (gulp) back when I was new to sock knitting. I was worried the yardage so I got a half-skein from The Loopy Ewe and alternated them up the food and leg (they're knit toe-up). Boy, Jitterbug is plump and lovely to work with! I just wish skeins didn't have knots ...

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Finally, these are socks for my dad. My dad has large (size 13 feet) and I knit the first sock in FIVE DAYS! I just couldn't put them down. (Overall, the pair took about two weeks.) It's Universal Pace sock yarn on size 2 needles (I learned my lesson ... no more size 1s for my dad and brother!). I'm hoping the nylon content means they'll last a long time.

I have been quiet on the blog front because I've been going through some rough stuff lately. My dad was diagnosed with anemia, and he had a colonoscopy to check things out ... they found a mass on Dec. 9. So for eight days, we were in pins and needles waiting for the results. It was one of the toughest times of my life. But thank goodness, tests showed it was precancerous, not cancer, so they caught it in time! He will have surgery in early January and life will go on. It is the truly the best Christmas gift I could ask for!

With the anemia, he is cold all the time. So I've started another pair of socks for him. I started them during the waiting period between his colonoscopy and finding out the results, so I was knitting them with lots of thoughts of healthiness and cancer-free results. (And I'd like to think it helped in some way!)

So these are happy, hopeful socks now. And I can't wait to finish them!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing my American friends lots of happiness on Thanksgiving!

road trip to the Outer Banks

I nearly forgot to blog about the trip I took a week ago! My pals Tiffany, Tasha and I took a road trip to the Outer Banks to visit Knitting Addiction in Kill Devil Hills. I had been to the store's old location but this was my first visit to their new spot. I have to say, it is REALLY nice! The store was abuzz with activity when we were there, but the employees were helpful. It's a really nice, airy, large store. They have lots of Malabrigo and Spud & Chloe to boot. I came home with a beautiful skein of locally dyed DK weight yarn.

Sea Star Handpaints, colorway Avalon Pier

There are 460 yards ... I'm thinking about some kind of gorgeous knee-high socks.

I also bought a pair of Addi DPNs -- they are really nice. I'm using them on a pair of socks for my mom and the socks are just flying! I've knit a sock and a half in a week on them.

Thankful Thursday No. 2

The astute among you might've realized that I missed Thankful Thursday last week. Oops! In my defense, I had a 12-hour day at work so my blogging time was slim to none. So here are some things I am thankful for:

1. Fall weather. I've been taking advantage of these cool, crisp, not-a-cloud in the sky days as much as possible. Today, Josh and I took Gracie to the dog park and threw a ball for her over and over again. I know she enjoys getting the chance to run freely. And I just love walking the streets in our neighborhood with crunchy leaves underfoot.

2. Trivia games. Last night I competed with seven colleagues at an annual trivia competition. We came in 2nd in 2007 and 2009 and 1st in 2008. Well, we regained our title last night! It requires lots of knowledge about current events and world leaders. We were so surprised to win -- our main competition is a local defense contracting firm, and they're really, really good. This just adds to my desire to appear on "Jeopardy!". I'm on the e-mail list, but they so rarely announce auditions. Someday ...

3. Colinette Jitterbug. I've never worked with this yarn before but it's so lovely. It's squishy and works up at a nice gauge (only 60 stitches around for a sock is unheard of for me). The only downside? The knots and fuzzy joins. Still, though, it's got a great twist and I've got more than half a sock done in three days.

It's finally sock weather!

I'm so excited that I can wear wool socks every day and NEED them. Compared with a year ago, I probably have twice as many handknit sock options. And these are the latest added to my collection:

Yarn: Opal Kaleidoskop (90% of a skein)

US 1 needles

Time to knit: 20 days, all of which were in October, making these a nice pair of Socktoberfest socks!

Rav details

I'm hard at work finishing up a pair of socks I started for my brother TWO YEARS AGO. Holy moley. The first was on the needles that long but I finished it during his visit last week. The second is flying and I'm already past the heel flap. Let's hope I don't put it down for another two years just because he has enormous feet!

In other news, I'm thinking about signing up for a Woolgirl kit for my birthday month -- the theme is Victorian Writers, which I am perfectly fine with, but I'm more excited about an Anne Hanson sock pattern + sock yarn. It would be a lovely birthday treat!

I'm also looking forward to a road trip my knitty girls are planning, down to the Outer Banks to Knitting Addiction. No doubt I will be wearing handknit socks for the occasion. :-)

Thankful Thursday

I found out about the idea of Thankful Thursday on another knitting blog and thought: "I can totally manage blogging at least once a week. The idea behind Thankful Thursday is that you list three things you're thankful for, on each Thursday in November. So without further ado:

1. My brother. He flew in from Ohio a week ago and we did the Wicked 10K together. Most people dress up since it's Halloween weekend. We put together our Star Trek uniforms (patches from roddenberry.com), phasers from Amazon, my ears courtesy of a costume shop in Ohio -- thanks, Mom!) We walked the race (because of his bruised rib and my general feeling of yuckiness) instead of running, and it was a nice time. While he was here, we went down to the Outer Banks and played some pool one night, too. It was lovely!

2. My beau. Maybe it's getting to be that time of the year when I get all gushy and reflective around the holidays, but I just feel so lucky to have him in my life. He's hilarious and smart and cute and generous.

3. Lest you think I'm all about the humans ... I'm thankful for my flat-iron. After years of borrowing them from roommates or just going curly, I plunked down a little cash for a flat-iron of my own. It does not take anywhere near as long as I thought it would. I picked one of the top-rated ones on Amazon, and I'm definitely impressed.